Multi-award-winning Engkanto Brewery, a pioneering craft beer brand based in the Philippines, has poured in more accolades in recent months after expanding its international footprint with exports to Thailand last May.
Founded in 2017 by Ian Paradies, the brewery offering a diverse range of lagers, ales, and IPAs to a growing number of Filipino craft beer enthusiasts, has continued to gain prominence by bagging several product and creative design wins from international award giving bodies.
2023 World Beer Awards
In this year’s World Beer Awards (WBA), Engkanto’s Green Lava Double IPA bagged the top prize for being named the Country Winner and Gold Medal in the IPA category by an international panel of judges. This mainstay variant, after winning a Bronze Medal in 2021 and a Silver Medal in 2022, finally reached the pinnacle of the competition in 2023 by securing the Gold. Green Lava Double IPA is the country’s entry for the World’s Best, vying for the coveted title against Brewdog from Scotland, Crew Republic from Germany, and Nbeer from China, among others. The judging happens late in August.
In addition, Live It Up Lager and High Hive Honey Ale variants each won a Silver Medal. In last year’s WBA, High Hive captured a Gold Medal, while in 2022, Live It Up Lager became the first to claim a WBA Gold Medal and Country Winner for the brewery.
In Engkanto’s blog citing these recognitions, Ricard Basora, the brewery’s managing director, remarked, “It’s overwhelming to think that Engkanto Brewery has been winning for three years in a row in the World Beer Awards and not just for one, but almost all our beers. I couldn’t be any prouder of the team that belongs to the best craft brewery in the Philippines.”
2023 Craft Beer Marketing Awards
The Craft Beer Marketing Awards or CBMAS, home of the ‘Crushies,’ is considered the brewing industry’s litmus test. Here, Engkanto’s rebranding campaign, spearheaded by the team at Creature Theory, was pitted against the best beer marketing and creative initiatives in the world.
In this year’s CBMAS, Engkanto’s reimagined artworks and brand concept bagged a Platinum Crushie for Best Bottle Design in the Asia Pacific region and the highly coveted Global Crushie for Best Creative Branding and Best Brewery Rebrand.
These brand recognitions are testament to Team Engkanto’s willingness to take risks, make mistakes, and being open-minded in its approach to achieving true creativity.
Parallel to the brewery’s performance and creativity on the product side, Engkanto’s marketing team has the tough task in building the distinct characters of the beers. The latest haul at the CBMAS confirms the creative processes in naming new craft beers, designing the labels and packaging design are working.
The team’s collective goal comes from the idea of making locals understand and realize that better beer choices exist, and Engkanto is providing better options in terms of high-quality craft beers.
2023 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA)
At this year’s Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) held in Melbourne, Australia last May, Engkanto Brewery reached a new milestone by entering AIBA for the first time and winning three awards: a Gold Medal for High Hive Honey Ale and Bronze Medals for Live It Up Lager and Green Lava Double IPA.
According to Engkanto Brewmaster Michael Jordan, who received the news via the official livestream of the awards ceremony organized by the Royal Melbourne, AIBA is one of the largest beer competitions in the world. “I’m stoked to win more international awards for our core lineup of craft beers. It’s a testament to our brewery team and our dedication to make amazing beer locally and of world class standards,” he said.
Now on its 30th year, the Melbourne Royal Australian International Beer Awards is the largest annual beer competition in the world for both draught and packaged beer, as well as beer packaging design. In 2022, the Awards evaluated over 2,600 entries from more than 350 breweries in 20 countries.
The international panel of judges for AIBA comes from countries that include Spain, the United States of America, Vietnam, and New Zealand, among others. The diverse panel of judges impart their unique skills, industry perspective, sensory strengths, and their own knowledge to the breweries taking part from all over the world.
“A huge congratulations to the whole Team Engkanto for once again bringing home several awards at AIBA for our core variants, including gold for our High Hive Honey Ale! We have so much more to give, and I can’t wait for the market to see what else Engkanto does within both the local and global craft beer scene. It’s a proud day for Philippine craft beer!” said Paradies.