Engkanto Brewery, a craft beer brand based in the Philippines, has achieved several milestones on a global scale after winning the title of the world’s best-flavoured honey and maple beer and five other accolades at the recently concluded World Beer Awards 2024 in the UK.
The local craft beer bested more than 70 of its counterparts from over 30 countries, including Canada, France, Brazil, Japan, and the Netherlands as its High Hive Honey Ale took home the World’s Best Beer award under the Flavoured Honey and Maple Syrup Beer category.
Engkanto High Hive Honey Ale is a craft beer brewed with pure and all-natural honey from local apiaries and farms.
The combination of hand-selected and imported beer brewing ingredients in this artisanal beer provides light floral honey notes and balanced bitterness in this medium-bodied, small-batch beer.
“I’m super stoked and proud of this accomplishment! The fact we’re using local honey is so cool as it really lets the world know that we have top-class ingredients along with a talented team in our brewery,” says Michael ‘MJ’ Jordan, renowned Brewmaster of Engkanto.
Aside from the High Hive Honey Ale, five other beers from Engkanto Brewery were also recognized at the awards. Its Live It Up Lager was the Country Winner and Gold Medal winner in the Classic Pilsner category, while its Green Lava Double IPA was the Country Winner and Gold Medal winner for the Imperial/Double IPA category.
Its Mango Nation Hazy IPA won the Silver Medal in the IPA Session category and its Paint Me Purple Ube Lager won in Flavoured Beer, Fruit and Vegetable category.
Finally, the brewery’s Dew Drop Dalandan Wheat Ale won the Silver Medal in the Belgian Style Wheat Beer category.
“It’s unprecedented, it’s historic, and we’re all ecstatic! The performance of our beers at the World Beer Awards is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the whole Engkanto Team,” said Engkanto Brewery founder Ian Paradies.
The World Beer Awards, which is under the umbrella of the World Drinks Wards, is an annual beer competition held in the United Kingdom that began in 2007 and joined by over 30 countries.
Engkanto competed with hundreds of beer entries from England, Japan, Belgium, China, Australia, Germany, and the US, according to the announcement.
This year’s panel of judges was led by Pete Brown, a world-renowned author who has written more than 10 books on beer and has for years judged beer competitions around the world.
Despite the global recognition, Engkanto said it will not stop innovating and improving its brewery processes. The brewery said it will launch more unique Engkanto beers for local and international craft enthusiasts to savour, enjoy, and celebrate.
“Who would’ve thought that a small craft brewery in the Philippines can reach the highest level in brewing the World’s Best Beer, right?” quipped Ricard Basora, Engkanto’s Managing Director. “The team’s putting in amazing work while sticking to our roots: quality first. We’ve been winning awards for consecutive years, but we’re not stopping in making the best beers possible.