Bogotá Beer Co.: "the best beer in Colomba comes at a price" Top 5 Page for this destination Colombia Nightlife Tip by richiecdisc

When in South America, I rarely look for “American” food as people from the US like to call our national cuisine. I can get that at home all the time and generally only seek it out if in the middle of a long trip in a fairly boring country when it comes to food. The exception of course is when it come to beer made in a small brewery. Sure, Bogota Beer Company would have perhaps served me better if about a month into our two month sojourn to Colombia but that's not where Bogota fell on our trip. I had checked out their website in advance and knew it was quite pricey. For this reason, the original plan was to eat a hearty meal before going and just shell out the big bucks for their beer. Even at that, I was planning on only having one unless the beer was particularly good. Unfortunately, Doreen came down with a bad headache and a nap was more in order than a meal but after that she was ready go and we figured we would just eat at the brewery with time waning.

Now, the reason we came: the beers. Even though I had sworn off trying all the beers, I went for their lightest offering hoping the décor of the place was not just leading me astray. The Candelaria Classic (5% alcohol) was light golden with a fluffy white head and decent lacework. It had a great malt presence and fair hopping for a semi-dry slightly bitter finish. A sure notch above Club Colombia. Doreen loves dark beer and wasted no time by ordering the Chapinero Porter (5%) which was served via nitro tap ala Guinness. This dark brown beauty had a dense tan head and a nice roast chocolate palate. The finish was very clean, semi-dry and bittersweet. All was good so far so I ordered their Monserrate Roja (5%) which was deep amber with a rocky dense head. This was a classic Western US Coast amber with perhaps a tad less Cascade hops which made for a more balanced beer. Nice roast malt and very clean dry finish. Bitter but not crazily so. Pints were a again not cheap at 9,000 COP or $4.50, a pretty standard price in the US but certainly not Colombia.

This is not a must stop for a person visiting Bogota but if you like good beer and want to try Colombia's best, this is the place to go. It is pricey but the experience is pretty much exactly as you would get in the US if even more welcoming. Though I initially took it as a nice escape from the reality of town, it is actually very much what many natives of Bogota not only crave but frequent. It's obviously not built for tourists as it's a long way from where most tourists are likely to be.

Directions: In Bogotá
Theme: Eating and Drinking