Yes, you heard it right – purple lager!

Engkanto Brewery’s latest seasonal beer is a spellbinding purple with subtle flavours from a Filipino staple, Ube.

The purple beer is the latest attempt by the Cavite brewery’s innovative Brewmaster Michael ‘MJ’ Jordan to expand people’s vision of what beer can be.

We all love a brew that stretches our senses with flavours and aromas that go beyond the typical drinking experience, so why not the visual also?

For Paint Me Purple MJ took his love of local Filipino deserts made with Ube (a purple yam) and bottled it making sure to catch the eye-popping purple hue that is the trademark of the sweet vegetable.

“It’s exciting because we are expanding people’s minds to what a beer can be,” says MJ, “During my time in Shanghai, China as Brewmaster for Boxing Cat Brewery, we’ve done this beer with Dragon Fruit that took on a unique look. The people then didn’t imagine that beer can take on a different color.”

Paint Me Purple Ube Lager

No longer just for desserts

The Filipino love of Ube deserts is well documented, as is their love of beer, so a marriage of the two was a natural evolution.

“We did one test brew, and everyone was really happy with the aroma and flavor profile,” says MJ. We hit a home run at first try, so it’s awesome.”

Since arriving in the Philippines from his previous role with Boxing Cat Brewery in Shanghai Michael has worked with the team at Engkanto to bring a distinctly Filipino feel to the leading craft brewery’s brewing repertoire.

This has seen the move away from a regular offering of US craft beer style staples to more locally influenced brews using products such as mango and honey sourced from local farmers.

“At Engkanto, we’re introducing different beer styles with distinct looks,” adds MJ.

Coming in at an easily drinkable 5.5% ABV (alcohol content) Paint Me Purple has a clean, crisp lager base style that allows the subtle flavours of ube and coconut to shine through. The good people at Engkanto recommend paring it with sweet desserts or, for a more intriguing match, they suggest trying with local dishes such as the rich and flavourful Kare-kare stew.

Paint Me Purple Ube Lager will be available for a limited time only – unless the ube loving locals can convince MJ otherwise.