A fast-growing number of watering holes, clubs, and speakeasies may be making Friday night decision-making increasingly difficult, but Manila’s beer enthusiasts have long known where to procure their fill.
Opened by Jim Araneta of Global Beer Exchange, an importer and distributor of international craft beers, The Bottle Shop is modeled after Araneta’s favorite pubs in the United States and offers an unmatched selection of beers rarely found in the Philippines. Its second location in Bonifacio Global City feels much like its first branch in Paseo de Magallanes, with warmly lit interiors and bottles of craft beers lining the walls, only larger and with more beers on tap. “We’ve widened our offerings for this market,” Araneta says, citing as an example the introduction of cocktails and pintxos. “Here, a lot of people come in for craft beer but their dates want to have cocktails.”
Beers from breweries around the world and the Philippines complement its bar chow menu of pintxos and sandwiches by Miguel Vecin of Bar Pintxos y Tapas.
The Bottle Shop is the perfect avenue for Araneta to showcase his access to breweries around the world, offering—to name but a few—Anderson Valley India pale ales, Tripel Karmeliet from Belgium, and Dead Guy Ale, a maibock beer especially hard to come by but found here—“the only place you can get it in the country,” says Araneta. The rest of the beers are sourced locally, many of them from Cebu-based breweries such as The Cebruery, which produces small-batch beers such as the Boracay Blonde and the People Power Pale Ale.
On the dining front, the Bottle Shop’s bar chow menu features a selection of pintxos by Miguel Vecin of Bar Pintxos y Tapas, as well as crowd-favorite sandwiches such as the Cubano and the Choripan. Deli items such as manchego, jamon serrano, chorizo, and salcichon are also on offer to accompany a freshly dispensed glass of beer. Says Araneta, “Here, the food complements the beers, not the other way around.”
Net One Plaza, 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City.
