Great Tasting Brrrr...

INVENTED by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, beer is the third most popular drink in the world, after water and tea, according to the Wikipedia.

Beer has been mentioned in some of humanity’s earliest writings, like the Code of Hammurabi, which mentions laws regulating beer and beer parlors. The Mesopotamians even have a goddess of beer, Ninkasi, who is also known as the goddess of alcohol.

She was said to have been borne of “sparkling fresh water” and made to “satisfy the desire” and “sate the heart.” With a description like that, it’s no wonder Ninkasi is the goddess of beer and alcohol.

The Philippines has a great tradition of brewing beer, with our very own San Miguel Beer popular not only in our own country but also all over the world. While a lot of people enjoy a bottle of beer or two (or three, or four, or more), practically nobody likes drinking warm beer. Enter Beer Below Zero. Ever wished of drinking beer that’s so cold, it’s almost fozen? This is for you then.

Beer Below Zero, or “BBZ” as it is called by its fans, is not a brand of beer or beer variant. Rather, it’s a trademarked frosting process that enhances the “crispness” of a beer’s flavor. Unlike putting ice in beer (a no-no, almost a blasphemy, among true beer drinkers), which dilutes it and kills the taste, the BBZ process makes the flavors more pronounced.

To describe it simply, a beer is cooled down to just above freezing point, and served with a frost covering the bottle.

This gives beer drinkers an even more enjoyable experience drinking their favorite beverage, ice-cold but not frozen.

Be careful though. Handle the bottles roughly, clink them violently in a toast or slam them down hard on the tabletop and you’ll end up with a bottle of slushy beer, similar to the slush drinks you’ve enjoyed in your younger days.

Keeping it cold isn’t a problem, too. A beer that has undergone the process stays cold for at least 10 minutes, which is actually more time than you need to finish it.

Launched in Cebu in February of this year at four of Cebu’s most popular haunts (Formo, Moon Café, Handuraw and Yayoy’s), Beer Below Zero has generated a big following among Cebu’s beer-loving crowd. It’s even gained the attention of hotels, with the Marco Polo Plaza being the first hotel to carry it. TGI Fridays at The Terraces, part of the internationally-known restaurant chain, also carries BBZ.

BBZ has become so popular in Cebu that a lot of beer drinkers won’t hang out in an establishment that doesn’t have it.

With October right upon us, there’s going to be a lot of beer drinking going on. With Beer Below Zero available in many different outlets all over Cebu, beer drinkers won’t have any trouble getting their beers the way it should be served.