Setting up a brewery is no small task. Doing it as a pandemic starts is a bit more difficult. In a country with a tiny craft beer scene is harder again. But then to manage that brewery from another continent and have it not only win the best brewery in the country 2 years running but also expand to new locations is almost unheard of.
But that's what Raoul Masangcay, founder of Elias Wicked Ales has done.
Raoul is a Product Engineer by training and during his work in the US he discovered craft beer and home brewing. He decided to try and bring his passion back to Manila and opened Elias Wicked Ales in 2018 as a small microbrewery. Just as he was getting the foundations of the business settled the pandemic hit, and all beer sales in The Phillippines were banned.
He managed to keep the business afloat but was forced to return to the day job, back in the US. Now he manages Elias remotely.
Raoul talked to me about the decision to open the brewery in Manila, the challenges he faced then and those he faces now, and what the plans are for the future.