Hey Latin America!

Discussion in 'Latin America' started by Khazadum, Apr 21, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Khazadum

    Khazadum Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2010 Illinois

    Whats going on? No one seems to be here... is this true? Whats your favorite beers down there? Got any crazy things we'd never expect?
     
    backfat likes this.
  2. sjverla

    sjverla Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2008 Massachusetts

    It's not really a huge scene, as far as I know. I went to Chile a couple years ago and it's dominated by adjuncts. There is one emerging craft brewery (Kuntzmans, I think). They had 3 beers, a lager, ale, and IPA. All were better than the typical adjunct stuff, but pretty bland by comparison to many brews we get in the States.

    The wine, on the other hand, was damn fantastic.
     
  3. Sean9689

    Sean9689 Pooh-Bah (2,270) Mar 17, 2009 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    You need some Latino Heat, Richard?
     
    MrKennedy, backfat and Khazadum like this.
  4. Khazadum

    Khazadum Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2010 Illinois

    I've heard their hips don't lie down there. Trying to get in before anyone else realizes it...
     
  5. cpinto6

    cpinto6 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2010 Georgia

    Those countries are very different. Small companies trying to take away business from the major players get stomped on. No laws to prevent it...why do you think Cucapa is brewed in Mexico but started distributing in the states before Mexico, that is if they even have started distributing in their home turf yet which it wouldn't surprise me if they still haven't.
     
  6. PaulQuinn

    PaulQuinn Initiate (0) May 27, 2011 Canada (BC)

    I cannot say about the rest of Latin America, but here in Brazil craft is growing as it never did before. Each week I hear about a new micro brewery somewhere. Sure the quality (usually) and variety is not even close to the US and the price is much bigger but it's better than drinking adjuncts.

    But talking about the big ones stomping the smaller ones with no laws preventing it. It is only partially true here. For instance: The first two micro breweries (with good quality) that got a bigger (Eisenbahn and Baden-Baden) and eat into the big ones market share (even if just so slightly) were bought a few years ago by a big player (Schincariol) but the two were kept complete control over production but with a integrated distribution, and were able to keep expanding. The quality I must say is not the same, but that's probably me who developed my palate over the years.

    Anyhow, I don't think that has ever had any commercial brewery here that didn't start with, and always kept producing, a Pilsner, which is sad and shows we are still miles away from ideal. Maybe that's because we have a strong German beer inheritance.
     
    Holland likes this.
  7. BrewRevolution

    BrewRevolution Initiate (0) Sep 22, 2011 El Salvador

    we opened June 1st. people are loving our american style craft beers. crazy flavors and local ingredientes El Salvador will have two craft breweries by next year http://www.brewrevolution.com/
     
    pedrufa and trxxpaxxs like this.
  8. MasterSki

    MasterSki Grand Pooh-Bah (4,824) Dec 25, 2006 Canada (ON)
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Brazil and Argentina have booming craft beer industries. There's actually a guy in Florida who tried to order virtually every beer from West Lakeview Liquors so he could ship them to Brazil and resell them at a profit. Not much going on in the other countries AFAIK.
     
  9. pedrufa

    pedrufa Initiate (0) Sep 19, 2007 Brazil

    My wife might be going to El Salvador in April for work and I already asked her to bring me some bottles :slight_smile:
     
  10. bylerteck

    bylerteck Grand Pooh-Bah (3,143) May 17, 2009 Canada (ON)
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It's gonna be hard to find anything outside the U.S. if you hold other countries' beer to that standard
     
  11. luisfrancisco

    luisfrancisco Zealot (606) Dec 1, 2009 Mexico

    Cucapá does distribute in Mexico (and it did start only in the US). I don't know for sure, but I assume they now sell much more in Mexico than the US (a lot less competition, although also a smaller market). Craft sales have been steadily increasing, I'd say for the past 4 or 5 years. There's already several decent breweries, and a couple of very good "interesting" stuff.
    That being said, other than ticking rare brews, the US is still waaaaay ahead.
    Some interesting breweries in Mexico are: Minerva, Cucapá, Primus (Tempus beers), Calavera, Baja, Insurgente, 7Barrios, as well as some other very tiny breweries that are spawning here and there.
     
  12. DoubleJ

    DoubleJ Grand Pooh-Bah (4,397) Oct 13, 2007 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I've travelled to Brazil on four occasions in the last four years, starting in January 2009, and much has changed even in that little timespan. Brazil did have some players in Jan 2009, but it's weird that some of the brands that were being talked about (DaDo, Schmitt, Devassa) have taken a back seat to the growing number of craft breweries not only being produced in the country, but being imported as well. What was the scene like in 2009? I didn't find a single Double IPA or Imperial Stout, no American craft beers were being imported, and if your bar had more than 2 taps, you had a large selection of drafts.

    My most recent trip was last year. More breweries have made a splash, and more brewers are pushing the envelope with their beer. Wals recently brewed a saison using almonds, pineapple, lime, and coffee. Bodebrown brews a monster 14.5% ABV Imperial Stout (which I have a bottle of at home) on occasion. Way disected their APA and created three seperate single hop beers. Even Eisenbahn (think of it as the Sam Adams of Brazil) released an oak-aged (and tasty) blonde doppelbock to commemorate their 10th annviersary. More bars are offering an extended draft lineup to compliment their bottles. I've had a Brazilian friend in Sao Paulo buy Founders Breakfast Stout at a store in Brazil, and two more American breweries (North Coast and Green Flash) are rumored to be available soon.
     
  13. sfoley333

    sfoley333 Pundit (799) Oct 26, 2006 Brazil

    Double J is right and if you go back even just to 2005, you can see that right now in Brazil the craft beer scene is starting to mimick more of the American scene than the traditional German scene. Just 4 years ago it would have been very hard to convince most beer aficionados down here that American beers were as good or even better than German or British beers. Now among the beer geeks down here I think that the palate has changed just like it did in the states because of better distribution of some styles. Nowadays, you can find some american beers like Sixpoints, Founders, and Brooklyn that were not distributed in San Diego 3 years ago. Mikkeller did a tap take over of over 8 taps at the EAP a few weeks ago. Greg Koch, Garrett Oliver, Pete Slosberg, and others have been down here to either speak or collaborate. The single biggest problem down here is the price of beer. And I cant emphasize that enough because the norm down here is to sell all bottles in all places(supermarkets and bottleshops) not in six or four packs but individually. Because of taxes, the prices are high so we usually pay 3 times the price of what you pay in the states for American craft imports and even national craft beers are usually very expensive. However, one thing good about the government is by law every product has to have a expiration date, and usually most beer down here has a one year validation period after that its against the law to sell the beer and the retailer can be heavily fined if he tries to do so.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.