BACK to "Beer Reports"

Our intention for this trip is to evaluate the viability of living here. There are many things to consider in making this decision. Of course, for us, one of them is beer. The varieties, number of brands, craft beers and home brewing options. If yesterday's experiences are anything to go by, we'd be on our way.

The day did not start well, we left the coast and headed into the mountains for Lake Arenal. Louie thought it would be cooler than the beach, because Costa Rica is famous for it's cloud forests, with Monteverde not far away. Our destination lived up to it's name as it started to drizzle half way to the lake and turned into a solid rain when we reached the summit. Our plan to circle the lake was aborted because we could not see the lake even with defrosters working full time. It was barely 10:30 when we reached the turn off to the brewery. "It's too early for a beer," I said. "We can only try," Louie replied. Being a hotel, the bar was open and the staff asked if we were interested in beer. Smiles appeared on our faces. The IPA and pale ale were true to there names. It's never too early for beer. We met two of the brewers, both American, and left with a liter bottle of pale ale for the road. So the day wasn't a total bust.

On our way to the lake I had seen a sign for Angry Goats Brewery, "We'll try that on our way back." Now, as we searched the roadside for the sign, we saw an indicator with an arrow that said brewery. After a stop for further directions, we entered a very modern industrial park and found the NUMU brewery. The tap room was open and Robert, the owner, served us cream ale for me, pale ale for Louie. And a great conversation about brewing in Costa Rica commenced. Numu is a local Indian name for sun and is depicted on their label. As we finished our flavorful beers. Robert mentioned, "There is another brewery here in the park you can walk to it. We just did a canning for them."

Following his directions, we wound up at Papagayo Brewery. No one seemed to be about. But we spotted the tap room and walked over to it and Paul appeared saying, "If you give me a minute, I'll serve you." He cleared the line on the Pilsner and we happily settled for it. An excellent example of the style. Paul has been in CR for two years and his wife is having a baby, which will help him with his citizenship. He also mentioned that if one bought a house, he/she would be allowed one container of household goods duty-free. Good information. We mentioned that we had come from NUMU and he said, "Have you been to the third brewery here?" "Third brewery we echoed." "Yes it's just outside the gate on the right. They have a very small sign."

So we got in the car and proceeded to find, the "Captain J. Match Brewery." As directed, it was just outside the gate of the Solarium Logistic Center, and there sat David, the sole Costa Rican owner, operator and brewer having a snack. We told him to finish his snack, but he wasn't about to let us escape. We ordered two of his four brews, each served in its own unique glass, also accompanied by a cup of mixed nuts and dried fruit. We then proceeded to have one of the best brewing conversations of all time. Turns out we share a liking for the same yeasts, malts and hops. When we paid the tab, he then grabbed two beer glasses, with the names of the beers we had just tasted on the label, and filled them with labels and stickers and gave us some coasters - we were flabbergasted. The close to our perfect afternoon.

Turns out the Angry Goats sign had nothing to do with the three breweries we visited. It no longer exists but has been merged with the Coconutz pub in Playa del Coco, which we had visited on a previous day.

As we continue our evaluation of life in Costa Rica we headed south and found a few more breweries. First was Fuego in the town of Dominical. It was flashy and the beer menu consisted of fruity named beers. Al had "Juicy Pale Ale" and Louie "Wina Guanabana." They were drinkable, but very expensive.

Once at our destination of Uvita we visited the Whale Tail Brewery, named for a beach formation in the local national park. We both wound up with a Mala Fama Porter which tasted better than it sounds. For the second round Al had a Whale Tail pale ale which was undrinkable. Louie insisted on taking it back and they replaced it with another Mala Fama and didn't charge us for either. Any pub can have a bad beer, but how they react to your complaint shows a lot.

Down the road at the Costa Rican "Beer Garden", which is a tap house not a brewery, we were served beers from the 35 Brewery of San Jose. Al had an IPA and Louie the Red Ale, both were very good.