What do I have to do to get a good craft beer in Costa Rica?
I've spent the past few years becoming a good beer geek in the United States. My 2 years in Europe was fine for drinking good beer, but Costa Rica put that to a stand still. As anyone who has been in Costa Rica for more than one day knows, it's pretty much Imperial or Pilsen everyday. One of Costa Rica's brews, Rock Ice, even got on a list of "Worst Beers On Earth." It looks pretty desperate.
What I found was "Costa Rica Craft Brewing" in Cartago. This is possibly the most awkward, obvious name for a microbrewery in existence, but it serves a purpose. The name clearly communicates to any gringo traveler or American expat beer nerd that this is not just another yellow, watery, mass-produced Central American beer. To avoid typing out this ungainly name, I shall now refer to the brewery by their initials, CRCB.
CRCB's flagship brews are Libertas, a light, fruity "tropical ale," and Segua, a sweet, hoppy red ale. Libertas caters more to the local Costa Rica market, which typically finds big beers like IPAs and Russian Imperial Porters to be too strong. Segua is for American Hopheads who need a fix in Costa Rica because they can't find any IPAs. CRCB also has seasonal beers which show up on tap every 3 or 4 months around the country. You can find draft and bottle locations at their website: http://beer.cr/ Additionally there are specialty beers which they only have at the brewery itself.
My goal on a rainy Saturday in October was to locate the CRCB brewery and buy a few dozen bottles to sell (illegally) at the hostel I managed. If you don't have a car, take a bus from San Jose to central Cartago. After searching for a local bus to the "Tejar de El Guarco" neighborhood, you either walk a mile or take a taxi. The specific address is: "800 mts oeste de RITEVE El Tejar de El Guarco" but as I've discussed in a previous post, directions in Costa Rica are meaningless. Just call them first: (506) 2573-3724.
I went with two lovely Quebecois girls from the hostel who were in Costa Rica representing their clothing company, Poze, for a 'fashion bicycle tour.' I'm still not sure what this means, but I got to take lots of pictures of two good-looking, French-Canadian girls. Oh-la-la, eh?
Our first bus dropped us off in downtown Cartago, so we spent some time checking out the historic ruins of Santiago Apostal Parish. Technically they aren't ruins, but were in mid-construction in 1910 when an earthquake struck. The Costa Ricans figured - eh, Pura Vida - we'll get around to finishing them, and 100 years later... The earthquake is the source of much myth; one 'telenovela-style' story says the priest who helped found the Santiago Parish fell in love with his non-clerical brother's wife. God sent the earthquake as his punishment for being unfaithful.
After (literally) jumping around on the ruins for awhile, we found the bus to the rural Tejar neighborhood where CRCB is located. With rain impeding our progress, we opted for a taxi down the country road and actually drove by the brewery once before finding it. I don't know about the Quebecois girls' sentiments, but I felt as if I had arrived at an oasis in the middle of a beer desert.
CRCB, however is not a desert. It is officially the coldest place in Costa Rica due to sub-zero refrigeration used in the building to maintain stable beer fermentation temperatures. We were given a Spanglish tour by friendly Juan and one of the brewers, Stefan, a young half-German, half-Tico who favored the German side. After showing the us the tanks, grains and bottle-works, we finished the short tour with the most important part - tasting.
Cartago is surprisingly more insanely, religiously-conservative than most of Costa Rica. What this means for CRCB is that the provincial law prohibits you from opening bottles of beer in the brewery! You are allowed to drink three tap samples, but you can't actually enjoy a full beer pint there...unreal. The nice part of the tasting was getting to try a Blueberry Stout which was only available at the brewery. When I realized I couldn't drink bottles or pints there, I attempted to abuse my sampling privileges then quickly got out of there with a 24 case of Libertas and Segua I had purchased for $50.
We briefly stopped at the Cartago City Market so the girls could go shopping for random, handicraft crap. I wandered aimlessly around the market with my box of beer, listening to the Cartago rain fall, and savoring the moment I would return to the hostel and open the first hoppy Segua bottle.
I've spent the past few years becoming a good beer geek in the United States. My 2 years in Europe was fine for drinking good beer, but Costa Rica put that to a stand still. As anyone who has been in Costa Rica for more than one day knows, it's pretty much Imperial or Pilsen everyday. One of Costa Rica's brews, Rock Ice, even got on a list of "Worst Beers On Earth." It looks pretty desperate.
What I found was "Costa Rica Craft Brewing" in Cartago. This is possibly the most awkward, obvious name for a microbrewery in existence, but it serves a purpose. The name clearly communicates to any gringo traveler or American expat beer nerd that this is not just another yellow, watery, mass-produced Central American beer. To avoid typing out this ungainly name, I shall now refer to the brewery by their initials, CRCB.
CRCB's flagship brews are Libertas, a light, fruity "tropical ale," and Segua, a sweet, hoppy red ale. Libertas caters more to the local Costa Rica market, which typically finds big beers like IPAs and Russian Imperial Porters to be too strong. Segua is for American Hopheads who need a fix in Costa Rica because they can't find any IPAs. CRCB also has seasonal beers which show up on tap every 3 or 4 months around the country. You can find draft and bottle locations at their website: http://beer.cr/ Additionally there are specialty beers which they only have at the brewery itself.
My goal on a rainy Saturday in October was to locate the CRCB brewery and buy a few dozen bottles to sell (illegally) at the hostel I managed. If you don't have a car, take a bus from San Jose to central Cartago. After searching for a local bus to the "Tejar de El Guarco" neighborhood, you either walk a mile or take a taxi. The specific address is: "800 mts oeste de RITEVE El Tejar de El Guarco" but as I've discussed in a previous post, directions in Costa Rica are meaningless. Just call them first: (506) 2573-3724.I went with two lovely Quebecois girls from the hostel who were in Costa Rica representing their clothing company, Poze, for a 'fashion bicycle tour.' I'm still not sure what this means, but I got to take lots of pictures of two good-looking, French-Canadian girls. Oh-la-la, eh?
Our first bus dropped us off in downtown Cartago, so we spent some time checking out the historic ruins of Santiago Apostal Parish. Technically they aren't ruins, but were in mid-construction in 1910 when an earthquake struck. The Costa Ricans figured - eh, Pura Vida - we'll get around to finishing them, and 100 years later... The earthquake is the source of much myth; one 'telenovela-style' story says the priest who helped found the Santiago Parish fell in love with his non-clerical brother's wife. God sent the earthquake as his punishment for being unfaithful.
CRCB, however is not a desert. It is officially the coldest place in Costa Rica due to sub-zero refrigeration used in the building to maintain stable beer fermentation temperatures. We were given a Spanglish tour by friendly Juan and one of the brewers, Stefan, a young half-German, half-Tico who favored the German side. After showing the us the tanks, grains and bottle-works, we finished the short tour with the most important part - tasting.
Cartago is surprisingly more insanely, religiously-conservative than most of Costa Rica. What this means for CRCB is that the provincial law prohibits you from opening bottles of beer in the brewery! You are allowed to drink three tap samples, but you can't actually enjoy a full beer pint there...unreal. The nice part of the tasting was getting to try a Blueberry Stout which was only available at the brewery. When I realized I couldn't drink bottles or pints there, I attempted to abuse my sampling privileges then quickly got out of there with a 24 case of Libertas and Segua I had purchased for $50.
We briefly stopped at the Cartago City Market so the girls could go shopping for random, handicraft crap. I wandered aimlessly around the market with my box of beer, listening to the Cartago rain fall, and savoring the moment I would return to the hostel and open the first hoppy Segua bottle.
No comments:
Post a Comment