Red Horse Beer : Extra Strong

This about sums up the Philippines Peace Corps experience.

Oh, San Miguel brewery.  You're so proud of your 98% market share in the Philippines, but then again, you have no competitors.

The go-to beer for drinking to get drunk is Red Horse: Extra Strong beer. Yes, the Busch Light of the
Spanish-conquered archipelago is this working brew (it works on your liver.) Sharing the same sickly urine color of its American contemporaries, Red Horse gives off a familiar odor.

Cast your mind back into the days of late-night beer-pong competitions, and then remember waking up in the morning with a pounding hangover. You sort of stumble your way to the kitchen to get some water, and there you can see the dining table covered in mostly-empty light beer cans. That unpleasant smell of stale beer, potential vomit, and hangovers? That's how Red Horse smells immediately after you open the bottle.

Oh, yeah. When you smell that: you're in for a good time tonight, and tomorrow's forecast for Porcelain City is saying there is a 100% chance of gloopy precipitation.

The taste of Red Horse is much more elusive. When you first cast the bottle back, flavor takes a time to arrive. Mostly, it's just a carbonated tingle with little more to offer than carbonated water. This tingle abruptly accelerates into a high altitude acidic burn mixed with that delightfully mediocre rice water flavor of cheap, light beers. This ricey taste slowly subsides, leaving behind the semi-sweet aftertaste that people who hate themselves seem to love.

Does Red Horse smell good? No. Is it a good beer? No. In fact, Red Horse may be the very reason Philippinos habitually drink their beer on ice- to water down the lack of flavor. However, Red Horse does have a 7% alcohol content. So, does Red Horse get you drunk? You betcha!

And it's cheap.