Is there any good beer in Colombia? How could there not be? But a quick glance at the shelves of a typical supermarket will offer a different impression (at least at the place I glanced at): Heineken, Corona, and Budweiser galore! But anything local, maybe artisanal? Hmmm... Maybe I just need to keep looking? In the end I managed to find something that seemed to be at least compatriot, of not entirely local (from Santa Marta, where I spent last week).
Welcome to the Club
With the Colombia included in the beer's name, there can be no doubt about its origin, even though the brewery it's made in is called "Bavaria". The fact that it's owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev is just one of those things to put up with. Just like in Mexico, all the major breweries are owned by one of the two global brewing conglomerates. Nevertheless, it felt good drinking the beer of the place I was in, so this is what I used as my regular afternoon drink to mix my lime juice with.
An Impression of Choice
Club Colombia even offers three varieties: the golden one is a refreshing light lager, the black one is super dark, though without the intensive taste of a porter or black ale. Finally there is my favorite, the red one, which is supposedly a red ale, at least from the looks of it. However, all three varieties say Pilsener on it, which explains their similarity in taste. At the end of our stay I even saw a green Club Colombia at the store, which was supposed to be a wheat beer, but I did not end up trying it. After all, in the heat of the Caribbean eating sorry, drinking something like that seemed too heavy for me.
If you are from Colombia, or have spent more than a week there, you may be calling out some deliciously unique local craft beers, maybe even from Santa Marta itself. (Actually, please do, I am still interested even though I am not there any more.) But to tell you the truth, I did come across something like that. But that special beer experience I want to leave for next time.
Beer Saturday
This post is my entry to this week's #BeerSaturday challenge, brought to us each week by 