All Mixed Up MNL: Raoul Masangcay of Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits

Asia's got a knack for knowing the best ways to unwind, and we're diving into that vibe with "All Mixed Up." You'll find us in cool bars, drink in hand, escaping the tropical heat and spicing up our nights. With this series, we're exploring Asia's hottest bar scenes, chatting with the wizards behind the concepts and drinks — mixologists, bartenders, brewers, and more. Whether you're a cocktail whiz or just curious about the craft, we're serving up the stories behind the faces that fuel our nights out. So grab a drink and relax as we uncover the secrets behind our favorite bars. Trust us, these stories are best served chilled!

Talk about beer here in the Philippines and the first brand you’ll likely hear is San Miguel. Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, or Red Horse – Filipinos order these by the bucket until they stumble out of bars in the wee hours of the night. Craft beer, on the other hand, has been steadily gaining a loyal following over the last decade.

While still a small industry, many more are starting to appreciate the intricate craft – despite the higher price point, the passion poured into each bottle is palpable. This translates to a variety of complex taste profiles that are different from (while not necessarily better than or superior to) a commercial beer’s flavor.

In fact, for Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits' Co-Founder Raoul Masangcay, San Miguel was his earliest recollection of tasting beer, and Pale Pilsen continues to hold a place in his heart. Filipinos, after all, love to drink, so there’s enough space for both commercial and craft beer to exist in our hearts, right? Cheers!

The Beat Asia talks with Raoul about his microbrewery and passion for craft beer which eventually led him to become the Philippines’ only certified cicerone (beer sommelier).

So we heard about your love for San Miguel Pale Pilsen – is that why you initially chose beer as your craft?

That’s true. Filipinos, we like San Miguel, we’re a beer-drinking country. I recall my college days [were] when I learned to try different beers. Also, during every family gathering, my grandfather would always have a Pale Pilsen.

Then, when I lived in Singapore for four years, I was exposed to craft beer, particularly Sierra Nevada. When I arrived in the US, I wanted to try the different craft beers available there. Craft beer in the US started around the 80s so by the time I migrated there in 2013, it was already a big industry with tons of breweries. I would go to different breweries every weekend – that’s where it started.

Then you decided to make your own beer at home?

When I moved to the US, I got curious about making beer so then I tried to learn – bought books, watched videos. Six months after moving, I bought semi-professional equipment thinking that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right the first time.

Then I made my first beer; I remember bringing it to a homebrew club in Virginia. They tried it and were kind of surprised, going: ‘This is your first beer?’ It was good and so that night, I couldn’t sleep, thinking: ‘Maybe I’m doing something [great] here, something I enjoy doing.’

Do you remember what beer it was?

Yes! Until now we have it here, but [it's] altered considering the available ingredients here in the Philippines. Our Mixtape Pale Ale is close to that flavor, but it was an American Pale Ale.

You mentioned that Filipinos tend to drink a lot – by the bucket or by the bottle for hard liquor – how do you encourage them to try out craft beer and practice mindful drinking?

The hesitation in the market right now in trying craft beer is because they’re double the price of commercial beer. Our beers are around 160 pesos, twice the price of a San Miguel beer, but because of the quality and quantity of the ingredients, the cost will really differ. Especially if we add more ingredients, such as the Sour Ales, they’re expensive to make because we buy our fruits fresh then we age them a little bit. But we want more people to try our beers so we’re doing our best to compete in terms of price range.

We highly encourage people to [practice] mindful drinking instead of binge drinking, akin to enjoying wine. Drinking beer can also be a similar experience. And sometimes we want to drink because we want to get drunk – quantity, not quality. Here [at] Elias, what we’re trying to promote is to enjoy both the drink and the food and their flavors. To drink, not to get drunk, but to experience the flavors.

Elias’ complete name is Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits. In 2018, you had plans to make whiskey, Manila Moonshine. Can you tell us more about that?

We planned to make some spirits; I got [the] inspiration from a US brand – they’re a brewery that makes whiskey as well. Whiskey is made out of malt and barley so why not do both [beer and whiskey]? But then I realized that we don’t really have the capacity to do that, it needs another [set of] equipment. It’s another industry on its own. So right now we’re focusing on craft beers.

But we did release a product, Moonshine. We made some bottles and sold them to our regulars but after that batch, we decided to stop making them. Right now our goal is to make our beers accessible to a lot of Filipinos. We’re starting now as a taproom brand, we have two taprooms. Hopefully, in the future, we’ll have another one coming up in a more central location since we have a taproom in the North (Quezon City branch) and South (Alabang branch). After that, we want to have more bottles or cans in the market – fortunately, several of our products are FDA-approved already.

Are you thinking of partnering with supermarkets?

Right now, we don’t have the capacity yet but we’re working on it. We just installed some equipment this year so slowly, we’re growing it organically. We don’t want to push it if we’re not ready yet. At the end of the day, we need to have a quality product that people will love; we want Elias to be known as a quality craft beer brand.

When you’re conceptualizing a new flavor, where do you get your inspiration from?

I like trying out a lot of food, as well as a lot of beverages. Every time I try something, my mind gets creative like ‘Oh, this might pair well with this.’ Understanding flavor profiles helps a lot, knowing what pairs well with sweet or bitter flavors.

What’s your personal favorite out of your entire selection?

I love the Tropical Sour Ale, the one with mango, pineapple, orange, and toasted coconut. It’s the one with lactobacillus. I like sour ales. Drinking beer can also be a mood thing so it depends on the mood. In the US, they sell a lot of stouts during winter because it’s cold and you want something really warm with a high ABV (alcohol by volume).

Can you still adjust a beer during the process of making it or when they’re placed inside vats? Or is it like whiskey or wine wherein they’re untouchable once sealed in a barrel?

During the fermentation process, there are process controls, but it starts with having good ingredients. Because if your base product or the wort is bad, then it’s hard to fix the beer. You can still fix it during the fermentation process as long as you have a good base. It’s also the reason why we make sure to source our ingredients internationally. It’s hard to troubleshoot when you have so many factors – is it the ingredients, the process, human error, or our method? If you can lower your risk and lessen the variables, then that’s better.

Every day we check our beers, it’s our baby. For beer, we have to make sure every process is correct because we can only taste the product after 30 days and we don’t want to dump it after a month – spending all that time, effort, and utilities, only to dump it? That’s one of the risks of making beer.

What’s your favorite craft beer and food pairing?

I like stouts with desserts. Chocolate really hits the right spot for me and I like pairing it with stout. That’s the experience we wanted to share with the pairing of the Beeramisu and the Darker Vader. Plus with the roasted and bitter taste of the barley, it pairs really well with the sweetness of the dessert.

What are the biggest challenges when it comes to running a microbrewery?

First, getting the ingredients. All of our ingredients are imported, except for water. Secondly, I notice here [in the Philippines], we don’t really have a lot of incorporated systems for, let’s say, from POS to the bank. Even with payments, there isn’t really a lot of infrastructure that will help F&B entrepreneurs monitor their expenses in real-time and profits as well. Hopefully, AI or other technologies will emerge to help establish that system.

Speaking of AI, we read about your Chat GPT collaboration online, is that something you’re still doing right now?

I’m an engineer so I was very exposed to what AI can do. In terms of collaboration with AI, I believe we can optimize or make our process efficient if we use technology. For example, receipts or other back-office concerns. Bookkeeping, for one, is really hard. We have so many paper receipts, right? How about an AI camera that can read the receipts and transform them into digital receipts that will make things more efficient?

In terms of beer, we thought of asking Chat GPT to create recipes, we tried it for fun. But I believe that AI can change things in how we operate our business, and how we can get more creative with the flavors. I think AI and humans can work together to create new things.

What's one misconception about craft beer that you’d like to debunk?

One misconception is that it’s expensive and snobbish. Some think that craft beer drinkers are snobs because we’re picky, even with which glasses to use, and not wanting ice with our beer – those things. But it’s really because we want to experience the flavor of the product. We want to encourage the market to do the same, to enjoy the flavor of the beer rather than focusing on the quantity.

Do you have any controversial takes when it comes to beer?

Cans versus bottles – I prefer cans. People like bottles, the feeling of holding a bottle and clinking it when you ‘cheers’ with others. People also prefer to drink from a bottle – which you don’t want to do by the way because pouring your beer the right way into a glass releases the carbon dioxide trapped in the beer. To prevent bloating, pour your beer (correctly!) instead of drinking straight from the bottle.

Anyway, cans are less exposed to oxygen because it’s tightly sealed. That’s not the case with bottles and light can penetrate a bottle. For cans, there’s no sunlight exposure.

Also, craft beer vs commercial. How can you say that it’s craft beer – is it just due to the size of the business? It all boils down to the flavor profile that you’re offering to the customers. If you’re still offering high-quality, craft beer-style products then you’re still a craft beer business. It’s not about the size. If you dilute your flavor, making it lighter and [don't have] a lot of complex flavor profiles anymore, then it’s a commercial brand.

What’s your personal favorite craft beer brand outside of your own?

For [a local brand], it’s Mitchell’s Backyard Brewing Company. For international, I’d still go with my favorite, Sierra Nevada.

Congratulations on Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits' 6th anniversary! How do you feel?

It was [actually] really hard for us, especially during the pandemic because we had a liquor ban. During that time, we [couldn't] even sell alcohol or promote it. And I recall we had staff during that time and we wanted to keep them so we had to do other things for us to survive. We’re really happy that we did. It’s six years now, but I guess less than two years because of the pandemic? We’re still a young brand, but slowly, we want more Filipinos to try our products.

For you, what is the best or ideal beer drinking experience?

Drinking beer with my friends – good food, good vibes, good ambiance and music. The location and the temperature also – if you’re on the beach with a light beer, that’s perfect too, and very refreshing. The mood really matters. Payday, birthday – people often are excited and they want to drink because it’s about the mood and the company.

Check out Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits’ website for more information on their craft beer selection and follow them on Instagram to stay updated on their taprooms. Also, see "What's on tap?" in either their QC or Alabang branch here.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Enjoyed this article? Check out our previous All Mixed Up profiles here.