Beer in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has a very strong beer industry centered on mass-produced Lagers. Imperial beer, produced by Florida Ice & Farm Co. is known and associated with Costa Rica all around the world.

Due to its geographic location, Costa Rica is not able to grow the raw materials for beer, which hinders the growth of a completely local food product, and depends heavily on imported raw materials.

History

In 1867, James Hasland, British, and Arthur Kopper, German, opened a beer brewery in Cartago. Next year, 1868, the President of Costa Rica, José María Castro Madriz, requested that Carlos Johanning construct a brewery in San José.

José Traube Tichy, born and raised in Saaz, Bohemia, founded Cervecería Globo (Globe Brewery) in the late 19th century in Cartago, which was later moved to San José and was known as Cervecería y Refresquería Traube (Traube Brewery and Bottled Drinks). This brewery produced the Pilsen Traube, Selecta and Pájaro Azul beers.^[1]

On September 16, 1908, the three Lindo Morales brothers from Jamaica started in Siquirres, Limón Province a company located in a farm called La Florida, which until then was a major producer of ice and other agricultural produce. This company was called Florida Ice & Farm Co., inscribed in English due to their native language, which was the most common in the Costa Rican Caribbean by then.

In 1912 Florida Ice & Farm Co. acquired Cervecería y Refresquería Traube with which the company started to brew its own beers, the beer known as Pilsen is the same as Pilsen Traube.

Around the same decade, in 1914 an immigrant family from Spain, headed by Mr. Manuel Ortega, and his sons, Antonio, Eloy and Manuel, were the owners of a bottled drink factory which used mineral spring waters from Salitral, Santa Ana, San José, and decided to start to brew the beers Imperial and Bavaria using such source of water. In 1957 Florida Ice & Farm Co. acquired the Ortega beer brewery, and continued the production of the Imperial and Bavaria beers to the date.

Cervecería Tropical, founded and owned by Cuban immigrants brewed Cerveza Tropical, in 1977 Florida Ice & Farm Co. acquired part of the company, and finally bought it completely in 1988, thus consolidating the beer production in the country in a single company.^[2][3]

Craft beer in Costa Rica

Until the beginning of the 21st Century, there was no easy way to acquire or taste other kind of beer brewed in Costa Rica other than those produced by Florida Ice & Farm Co., which reduced the available styles to industrial-scale Lagers. The lack of local ingredients and not very clear laws restricting the volume of beer brewed by individuals or small companies, were also factors on the lack of variety.

The now defunct restaurant K&S in Curridabat, which opened in 1997, started the production of craft beer for general consumption in its premises.^[4] After closing the restaurant, they continued the production of their beers "Chivo Blanco" and "K&S Lager" until 2009.

Later, in 2010, Costa Rica Craft Beer Co. jumpstarted the trend by producing its own brands, "Segua" and "Libertas", and several microbreweries started to appear in the next years, many of them guided by the experience of expatriate residents coming from the United States.

Around 2012 a few companies such as TicoBirra and La Bodega de Chema started to import and sell to particulars the required ingredients (such as malt, hops or yeast), the equipment and tools, and also started to teach in workshops how to brew beer. This accelerated the creation of new breweries.

Since 2012, the Festival de Cerveza Artesanal (Craft Beer Festival) ^[5] showcases the current brews in the craft beer scene of Costa Rica, its growth from 400 attendees in the first appearance to around 3000 in the 2014 edition shows the significant growth of the industry and the newly acquired taste for different kind of beers for the local Costa Ricans.^[6]

By 2014 the impact of the microbreweries on the local market prompted Florida Ice & Farm Co. to start its own craft beer division, called La Micro Brewing Company.^[7]

Trademark disputes

In 2013, the microbrewery El Búho Cervecería Artesanal, started to sell their beer, Búho, an imperial stout style of beer, however the trademark was not registered. In 2014, the microbrewery offshoot of Florida Ice & Farm Co., La Micro Brewing Company, started to produce and sell Búho, a bock style beer, and registered the trademark name. A legal dispute was ensued, and the trademark office of Costa Rica, finally issued the trademarked name "Búho" to Florida Ice & Farm Co. El Búho Cervecería Artesanal changed its name to Bora Brewing Company. ^[8]

List of Breweries

List of Beers

Costa Rica Beers gallery
Cerveza Imperial, brewed by Florida Ice & Farm Co.  Cerveza Segua, brewed by Costa Rica Craft Beer Co.  Lineup of some of Costa Rica craft beers in mid 2015  Beéche Cervecería Artesanal bottled beers  Costa Rica Craft Beer Co. bottled beers.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beers of Costa Rica.

• Beer in Central America
• Costa Rican Craft Beer Guide: The Bars
• Costa Rican Craft Beer Guide: What to Order

References

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