Text: Aitor Labrador, journalist specialized in beer. Author of the Spanish version of “Beer for dummies” (Planeta de Libros, 2019) and co-founder of Libros de Guarda, the first publishing house specialized in beer books in Spanish.
English translation: Øhm Sweet Øhm
LATIN AMERICA, THE GREAT UNKNOWN
One of the great dreams of any beer lover is to get know first hand the great temples where the millenary history of this drink has been forged and converted into the global phenomenon that it is today. But beyond these places of obligatory pilgrimage, which make all beer geeks feel unique for an instant when visiting them, another of the great attractions for beer travelers is to discover places not so recognized and that often hide more of a surprise.
Europe and North America are the dream destinations for any serious beer traveler. However, any corner of the globe can become an opportunity to taste reinterpretations of the most classic styles to the newest, that we find in the taps and shelves of specialized stores, and that local brewers reproduce with increasing success: Southeast Asia to South Africa; or from Lebanon and Israel to Latin America.
Luckily, the second craft beer revolution (that we mention in Beer for Dummies) has spoilt us with good beers. Because beyond the local breweries - which should never be neglected - and, of course, the Belgian, Czech or German classics that we must not forget either, we tend to get crazy about the latest Scandinavian and British launches. And, of course, being willing to pay huge amounts for indulging in the latest NEIPA or uncorking that Wild Ale that just arrived from the United States, where supposedly the cold chain has been kept intact.
Making an exercise in self-criticism (let him who is without sin cast the first stone), we have to say that as Europeans we have become snobs, capable of looking down on craft beer scenes that are not so far from where we were just a decade ago. Who would have thought. But, what if we brought back that curiosity that led us to our first craft beer festival or visit the first specialized store?
As in so many other aspects of life, there is nothing like a good trip to stop focusing on what is around us and discover that there are also many things worthwhile out there. And if we also stop resorting to easy comparison and destructive criticism, we will not only enjoy ourselves even more, but, more importantly, we will be more able to assess what we really have here.
One of the new destinations we should look at is, without a doubt, Latin America. For this reason, when we decided to adapt and expand the original American version of Beer for Dummies we were very clear that, in addition to including references and describing the history and evolution of beer in Spain, the Spanish version also had to look at what was happening on the other side of the pond, between the Sonoran Desert and the Land of Fire.
In addition to being among the top five producers in the world, Mexico and Brazil have independent scenes that have nothing to envy when compared to the most advanced ones in Europe, and events that should be included in the list of essential destinations for any beer tourist. For example the BeerFest of Ensenada, in Baja California, and the Brasileiro da Cerveja de Blumenau Festival, in Santa Caterina, a city that also hosts the second most visited Oktoberfest in the world... in the heart of Brazil.
Beyond these two main players, in countries such as Chile and Argentina, beer brewed by independent producers already has a higher market share than in Spain, while in others such as Colombia and Peru, large consortia (as has also happened around these places) are already making moves to take over the pioneer microbreweries.
TIME TO BUILD BRIDGES
Heirs of the pre-Hispanic tradition of making homemade drinks by fermenting grains (such as pulque or chicha), Central and South American have tens of thousands of home brewers that have taken the first step ̶ beyond mere entertainment ̶ to the creation of small local breweries.
In the same way that we in Europe began to look at the closest classics to end up falling into the arms of the latest trends that came from the other side of the Atlantic, in Latin America distance is also a key factor. For this reason, the United States is usually the main source of inspiration for brewers who, unlike what is happening in the Old Continent, are beginning to develop a Pan-American sentiment.
And not only in terms of collaborations, but also in terms of participation in international competitions such as the Liga de Maestros de la Cerveza, a new competition that integrates four of the most important "cups" of Central and South America: the Copa Cervezas de América (Chile-Argentina), the Aro Rojo from México, the Tayrona from Colombia and the newly created Indie Beer Cup (Costa Rica-Panama), where Cerveza para Dummies has been invited as one of the representatives of the breweries from southern Europe who wish to rub elbows with the main breweries throughout the Americas.
Because what better than a barrel of beer as a throwing weapon to tear down the walls that certain politicians insist on raising, and that we together build a bridge between southern Europe and southern America, which contributes to unite two beer cultures that until now the world have turned their backs on, despite having many things to contribute.