Hello from Colombia

sergio0514 · Jun 3, 2015

Hey everybody,

I'm Sergio, from Bogota, Colombia. Been helping a friend brew at his home for 1 year, maybe 2. We have our brewery which has a 500L brewhouse, and I've learned quite a lot in this process. I want to homebrew as well, to be able to learn as much as I can about all the specifics in each process. Do I know a lot? not at all, but I'm more than willing to learn, and super excited.

I'll be shadowing at first, eventually I'll post on other forums, as I get more experience.

Cheers!
Sergio
:tank:

Kharnynb · Jun 3, 2015

hello back from finland, was just watching colombia episode of anthony bourdains parts unknown

JohnSand · Jun 3, 2015

Hello, and welcome! I've been to Cartagena, but not for many years.

stpug · Jun 3, 2015

How's the beer scene in Colombia? Last I remember it was all Polar (Venezuelan I think?), then again I was in Cucuta during that time and that was 25 years ago.

sergio0514 · Jun 7, 2015

stpug said:
How's the beer scene in Colombia? Last I remember it was all Polar (Venezuelan I think?), then again I was in Cucuta during that time and that was 25 years ago.

Hahaha, Polar is still on over there, barely gets here anymore, cause of politics and economy, at least not to the big cities...

We, latin america, are behind from the US as always, at leats 10-15 years. We're starting to have a few micro brewries. Officially, we have around 80 registered in Colombia, but active, I'd dare say no more than 50-60. People are starting to get used to newe flavors, and not just the 2 other macro-beers we have available. There's a company (who was recently bought by AB InBev), Bogota Beer Company, who is (was...) the biggest craft beer brewery, and for 12 years it helped us little companies, with the education of the people's palates. Other than that, it's a completely unexplored market in here, and people are very excited to start learning about beer culture.

Curtis2010 · Jun 7, 2015

Bienvenidos Sergio!

I was in Colombia a few months ago (Cartagena, Bogota, y Medellín).

Craft brewing is booming there, relative to much of the rest of Latin America, Bogota Beer Company has something like 23 (?) locations! The same group that started it, has also started La Rana Dorada here in Panama (3 locations now & growing).

Also visited a few other smaller operators while there.