The Manila Beer Brewmasters were a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

. It was formed after Basic Holdings, Inc., a company controlled by

Lucio Tan Lucio Chua Tan Sr. (; born July 17, 1934) is a Filipino business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He presides over the Filipino conglomerate company LT Group, Inc., a company with extensive business interests in sports, banking, airline, ...

, acquired the PBA franchise of

Delta Motor Corporation Delta Motor Corporation was a South African car manufacturer, which was created through a management buy-out after General Motors (GM) divested from South Africa in 1986. It was headed by former GM executive, Bob Price, who had returned to South ...

, owner of league pioneer

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. The team was named after the brands of

Asia Brewery, Inc. Asia Brewery, Inc. is a Philippines-based diversified beverage company owned by LT Group, Inc. (), a publicly listed holding company of Lucio Tan. History Asia Brewery, Inc. was established by Lucio Tan on January 27, 1982, with the inaugurati ...

, another Tan company - Beer Hausen (1984) and Manila Beer (1985-1986). Beer Hausen intended to make

Ramon Fernandez Ramon Sadaya Fernandez (; born October 3, 1953) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Fernandez won four PBA Most Valuable Player awards and a record 19 PBA titles. F ...

its franchise player with Jaworski relegated in the background. It acquired seven players from the Toyota team.

Robert Jaworski Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1998 to 2004. He played 23 seasons in the Philippine Ba ...

refused to be a part of the new team, describing the sale as a 'farce,' and that players should not be sold "''por kilo''" ("

lock, stock and barrel "Lock, stock, and barrel" is a merism used predominantly in the United Kingdom and North America, meaning "all", "total" or "everything". It derives from the effective portions of a gun: the lock, the stock, and the barrel. History The term was ...

" or sold like cattle). Jaworski,

Francis Arnaiz Francis C. Arnaiz (born June 4, 1951) is a Filipino former basketball player. He is best known as a PBA player, playing for Toyota and Ginebra San Miguel from 1975-1986. Early basketball years Arnaiz had a love for sports and was shooting stu ...

, Arnie Tuadles, Chito Loyzaga and Abe King refused to join Beer Hausen. Then-PBA president Carlos "Honeyboy" Palanca III offered to take in Jaworski and Arnaiz to his team, Gilbey's Gin; Tuadles and Loyzaga joined Great Taste and King joined Gold Eagle Beer. This marked the beginning of the Jaworski-Fernandez rivalry and directly contributed at being the cornerstone in making the Gins arguably the most popular team in Philippine basketball history with Jaworski at the forefront. In the team's inaugural season, Ramon Fernandez achieved more than 20 triple-double performances, won his second MVP and led his team to a runner-up finish in the 1984 PBA Second All-Filipino Conference, losing to Great Taste via three-game sweep. The following year, the ballclub was renamed Manila Beer and they bolstered their lineup through the acquisition of Crispa players

Atoy Co Fortunato "Atoy" Gan Co Jr. (born October 15, 1951) is a Filipino former basketball player and coach who played 13 seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basket ...

, Yoyoy Villamin and Matthew Gaston. On October 1, 1985, three weeks into the Third Conference, Fernandez was traded to

Tanduay Tanduay Distillers, Inc. () is a Philippine alcoholic beverage company. It is a subsidiary of LT Group, a conglomerate owned by Filipino business magnate Lucio Tan. As of 2019, it is the world's largest rum brand. History Tanduay traces its ...

for

Abet Guidaben Alberto "Abet" Guidaben (born September 14, 1952) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the PBA. He was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub that won two Grand Slams, in 1976 and 1983. He was a two-time PBA Most Va ...

. Manila Beer made it to the finals for the second time in the

1985 PBA Reinforced Conference The 1985 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Reinforced Conference was the third and last conference of the 1985 PBA season The 1985 PBA season was the 11th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Board of governors Execut ...

but were swept in four games in the best of seven series against guest team Northern Consolidated (NCC). The year 1986 saw the Brewmasters having a new coach in national team mentor

Joe Lipa Jose "Joe" Lipa, Jr. is a Filipino basketball coach and executive who currently coaching the Terrafirma Dyip's 3x3 team in the PBA 3x3. Lipa formerly coached his alma mater, the University of the Philippines, in the University Athletic Asso ...

. Manila Beer failed to make past eliminations and Lipa was replaced by Tito Eduque in the following conference. The Brewmasters were powered by imports Michael Young and

Harold Keeling Harold A. Keeling (born September 18, 1963) is an American-born Venezuelan former professional basketball player who briefly played for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the mid-1980s. Born in New Orleans, Louisi ...

in the Third Conference and went all the way to the finals and placed second to

Ginebra San Miguel Ginebra San Miguel Inc. (GSMI, ) () (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.) is a Philippines-based diversified beverage company majority-owned by San Miguel Corporation (SMC). History La Tondeña was established in 1902 by Carlos Palanca, S ...

, which had the super import tandem of

Billy Ray Bates Billy Ray Bates (born May 31, 1956) is a retired American professional basketball player. Bates played shooting guard at McAdams High in Mississippi and attended Kentucky State University. Bates played four seasons in the National Basketball ...

and Michael Hackett. In January 1987, the franchise announced its disbandment. The Lucio Tan group would return to the PBA in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

with the second incarnation of

Trivia

In their first season, the Brewmasters had seven former Toyota players and two players namely Itoy Esguerra and Ramon Cruz, who were acquired from Crispa. In their third and final season, the team had six players from Crispa's 1983 grandslam team and two former players from Toyota, Edgardo Cordero and Tim Coloso, from their roster. Esguerra, Cruz, Cordero and Coloso are the only four players who completed three seasons with the ballclub. While teams that disbanded would either placed last or were booted out of the semifinals in their last conference, only Manila Beer and the legendary Crispa Redmanizers ends up a losing finalist in their final PBA conference.

Season-by-season records

Notable players

''Members of

PBA Hall of Fame The Philippine Basketball Association Hall of Fame is an institution that honors selected former players and personalities of the Philippine Basketball Association. It was launched on May 29, 2005, during the Reunion Game pitting two teams consist ...

and PBA 25 Greatest Players are in boldface.'' *

- #10 center-forward * Alberto "Abet" Guidaben - #55/#5 center * Lim Eng Beng - guard * Fortunato "Atoy" Co, Jr - #6 guard *Nicanor "Nick" Bulaong - #20/#19 forward *Emerito "Emer" Legaspi - #18 guard *Leopoldo "Pol" Herrera - #14 forward *Edgardo Cordero - #3 forward * Ricardo "Ricky" Relosa - #15 center-forward *Timoteo "Tim" Coloso - #32 guard-forward * Elpidio "Yoyoy" Villamin - #13 forward-center *Mon Cruz - #24 guard *Mike Bilbao - #34 guard *Rodolfo "Rudy" Lalota - #9 center *Gary Vargas - #11 forward *Matthew "Fritz" Gaston - #22 guard *Abet Gutierrez - #13 - guard *Vic Sanchez - #12 - forward *Angelito "Itoy" Esguerra - #16 -guard-forward *Roberto "Bert" Dela Rosa - #7 - guard *Eddie Boy Mendoza - #17 *Ricardo Cui *Tito Varela *Ranulfo Robles *Adonis Tierra *Jesus Migalbin

Imports

*William 'Butch' Hays - 84 3rd Conference - 86 Reinforced *Doug Harris - 85 Open * Lewis Brown - 85 Open (replaced Harris) *Francoise Wise - 85 Reinforced; lost to NCC in the finals *George Turner / Carlton Cooper - 86 Reinforced * Michael Young /

- 86 Open; lost to Ginebra in the finals

References

{{PBAdefunct Basketball teams established in 1984 Defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams Sports clubs disestablished in 1986 1984 establishments in the Philippines 1986 disestablishments in the Philippines

Trivia

Season-by-season records

Notable players

Imports

See also

References