Red Horse: The Filipino Beer That'll Knock The Wind Out Of You

Drink too much of Red Horse, a Filipino beer, and it'll feel like a horse kicked you in the gut, knocking the wind right out of you. That's because its alcohol content is particularly high — 8% ABV throughout most of the world, and it's reportedly even higher in the Philippines, its home country. For reference, the majority of mainstream U.S. beers sit somewhere around 4% ABV.

Red Horse "extra strong" beer is more than just potent, however. It's also a deep-gold lager that tastes smooth yet bitter with a slightly sugary aftertaste. This fragrant, malty beer pairs well with the savory and sour flavors common in Filipino cuisine. Lager is best enjoyed in a glass, so if you can find it on draft, that's ideal. Still, it also comes in cans holding up to 500 milliliters and hefty bottles holding up to 640 milliliters. With such voluminous containers, Red Horse often causes imbiber's eyes to become bigger than their stomachs, leading to tipsiness.

The San Miguel Brewing Company, based in the Philippine's capital city of Manila, introduced Red Horse to the world back in 1982. San Miguel Beer had existed there for almost a century prior, though, dating back to the year 1890. Back then, the Philippines were a Spanish colony, and the Spanish king at the time bestowed a royal grant for Southeast Asia's first brewery. This special permission gave it a head start against its competition, enabling it to become the top Filipino brewer in the modern day. According to San Miguel Brewery Inc., 90% of beer drinkers prefer its award-winning brands, such as Cerveza Negra and Gold Eagle Beer. The San Miguel Corporation also claims that its flagship product is now counted among the globe's top 10 beer brands.

In the 1960s, the San Miguel Brewery decided to branch out into other markets, including food products. It has, for example, partnered with Hormel Foods Corporation (a U.S. venture), and Kirin Brewery Company (a Japanese one). As a result, the San Miguel Brewery would eventually become a subsidiary of the corporation, a larger entity that now deals in energy, infrastructure, packaging, and transportation. Impressively, the maker of one of the world's strongest beers has become the Philippine's largest diversified conglomerate.

Red Horse is far from the only beer in the Philippines, and San Miguel Brewery is not alone in making beers. For quite some time, though, San Miguel did indeed have a monopoly over Filipino beer, until 1982, when Asia Brewery Inc. was founded to challenge that status quo. Not only has Asia Brewery succeeded in becoming the other major brewer in the country, but it's also gotten into the industrial packaging industry — in a move similar to its rival.

Even with a beer as strong as Red Horse, the San Miguel Brewery may have a reason to fear Asia Brewery. That's because the popular beer brand Heineken entered into a partnership with Asia Brewery in 2016, which allowed Asia Brewery and Heineken to be produced and marketed together. A small handful of years later, this agreement was modified so the two could promote their wares separately, meaning that San Miguel and Red Horse now have to keep an eye on two competitors at once. Over time, Red Horse could get knocked off its high horse, but for now, at least, it's still supremely powerful in more ways than one.