More than 40 breweries take over Pasig for Manila craft beer fest

Pasig’s Bridgetowne Central Park was brimming with flavour, foam, and pride as more than 40 independent breweries gathered for the MNL Craft Beer Festival 2025. The two-day event marks a vibrant comeback for the local craft brewing scene, bringing together brewers from cities, small towns, and remote provinces across the Philippines.

Organised by the Philippine Craft Brewers Association (PCBA), and co-presented by GoTyme Bank and The Velaris Residences, the festival is more than a tasting event - it’s a celebration of a grassroots movement slowly gaining national traction.

“There are over 40 breweries that are participating. The highlight this year is the Visayan craft. They flew all the way from Cebu, Boracay, and Dumaguete,” said PCBA vice president Jun Flores III, who is also the owner of Cubao X Brewery, as quoted by GMA.

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The MNL Craft Beer Festival began in 2017 but was forced to pause during the pandemic. This year’s edition underscores how far the community has come, and how far it still aims to go. According to Flores, the event’s mission isn’t about pushing individual labels - it’s about pushing an entire ecosystem forward.

“This helps promote our industry. What we’re doing really here is not to promote a particular brand but promote the whole industry itself. We’re growing slowly, not instant but slowly,” he explained.

That growth is quietly fermenting in unexpected corners of the country. Flores proudly pointed to Valencia, Bukidnon - “a small town in the mountains,” he said - where a homegrown brewery now operates.

While mainstream beer remains dominant in the Philippine market, the festival hints at shifting consumer appetites. From Cubao X Brewery’s Kiamoy Sour - a salty-sweet pink beer inspired by the iconic dried plum snack - to dalandan-infused brews by Crows Beverage, the creativity offers an alternative to the usual pilsner.

“You’ll see that there are different breweries and they have different stories, different characters. We sell not just the beer but the whole experience. Every beer has a story. The beauty of craft beer is that you are able to talk to the brewer who made the beer,” Flores said.

Popular names such as Engkanto and Crazy Carabao joined the festival’s lineup, adding familiarity alongside experimental and regional offerings. But it wasn’t just about the beer - visitors could pair their drinks with lechon, tacos, gyoza, burgers, and other local bites from an array of food vendors.

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