Brazilian craft beer
Craft Beer in Brazil
Beer was introduced in Brazil by German immigration in the beginnings of the 19th century, being the first beer produced under the name of Bohemia in 1853—brand that is still on production. In 1880 two of the main lager brands of the country appeared—Branhma and Antarctica, and the market is today dominated by industrial lagers, being Brazil the third country in the world in total beer consumption behind China and USA. Craft beer did not take off until the early 2000. In 2002 there were less than 50 craft breweries, while in 2018 there is more than 830, and over 2000 if we count gypsy breweries—cervejarias ciganas—in Portuguese. Some of the breweries among the Brazilian best are Trilha, Cervejaria Dádiva or Perro Libre.
Brazilian beer brands
Dogma
Cervejaria Dogma is a Brazilian brewery founded in 2015 by Bruno Moreno, Leonardo Satt and Luciano Silva in São Paulo. The three founders already had experience as professional brewers, and in fact each had a previous brand: Serra de Três Pontas, Prima Satt and Noturna. They have a brewing facility in São Paulo with a capacity of 50 Hl per month.
They pioneered the introduction of canning in Brazilian craft beer as early as 2016 with their Rizoma Double IPA. They have been considered the best brewers in Brazil by Ratebeer in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Go to Dogma
Cervejaria Dádiva
Cervejaría Dádiva is a brewery founded in 2014 by Luiza Lugli Tolosa in Várzea Paulista (Brazil), after leaving his job in an NGO in order to found the company. Their symbol is a dragonfly and they are characterized by the use of local ingredients such as jabuticaba or myrtle applied to international styles of the craft beer scene.
Go to Cervejaria Dádiva
Everbrew
Everbrew is a Brazilian brewery founded in 2016 in Santos (São Paulo) by Célio Ongaro Jr. and Renê dos Santos, first as a nomadic brewery, and then in 2018 they opened a brewpub on the outskirts of the city. Both have known each other since 2011, when they started experimenting as homebrewers.
They focus on very hoppy styles, both IPA's and NEIPAS, such as the Evermaine and the Evermont.
Go to Everbrew
Trilha
Trilha is a Brazilian brewery founded in 2016 in São Paulo by Daniel Bekeierman and Beto Tempel. Daniel was a real estate entrepreneur who, due to the crisis, decided to change sectors and convinced his childhood friend Beto to set up a brewery. His beginnings were marked by the brewing of the first Brazilian NEIPA, the Juicy IPA. Its name comes from the word used for trail in Brazilian Portuguese. Its logo was created by designer Pedro Mattos.
Go to Trilha
Salvador Brewing
Salvador Brewing is a Brazilian brewery founded in Caxias do Sul (Brazil) by brothers Leonardo and Andrigo Salvador. They both started selling beer in 2014, with a beertruck that they used to tour fairs all over Brazil. Their aesthetics are inspired by military aesthetics, so much so that their taproom in Caxias is called P47 in homage to a Brazilian Air Force aircraft, and mimics the aesthetics of a hangar. In 2020 they opened a new factory with a capacity of 25,000 L per month.
Go to Salvador Brewing
Zalaz
Zalaz is a Brazilian brewery located on a farm in Serra da Mantiqueira, Minas Gerais. It was founded in 2015 by Fabrício Ameida and Júnia Falcão, as part of their family farm, opened in 1915. Their production is organic and based on locally grown raw materials. They also grow coffee, with which they develop spontaneously fermented beers, such as Ybyra Guaia or Oud da Mantiqueira.
Go to Zalaz
Juan Caloto
Juan Caloto is a Brazilian brewery founded in 2015 in São Paulo by Felipe “John” and Marcelo “Calote”. The two knew each other since 2010, when they were still amateur homebrewers. After distributing the beer among their friends quite successfully, they decided to do a trial at a brewpub in Mooca (São Paulo). Although the original agreement was to produce 30 L. and keep the other 30, the success was such that the 60 L. were consumed, and from that moment both decided that the project could have a way out.
They decided to crowdfund through Social Beers, a project of a friend of both, raising more than the money needed in a week. With the money raised they were able to release their first reference, the Wild West IPA.
Their name comes from the nickname of both owners, John and Calote, and has become the brewery's icon, a cowboy who speaks Portunhol mix of Portuguese and Spanish.
Go to Juan Caloto
Augustinus
Cervejaria Augustinus is a Brazilian brewery founded in São Paulo by Gabriel Cunha and Leonardo Indini. Its name was taken from the patron saint of beer, Saint Augustine. They have done collaborations with some of the best brewers in Brazil, such as Trilha or Dádiva. They are characterised by extreme beers, some with up to 21% alcohol, such as their Dead By Dawn.
Go to Augustinus
Joy Project
Joy Project Brewing is a brewery founded in 2018 in Paraná (Brazil) by Everton Delfino and Diego Nery. Both met as homebrewers in the Acerva Paranaense—Association of Artisan Brewers of Paraná—, and their beginnings were as gypsy brewers. They recently opened their own brewery in Paraná in the neighbourhood of Xaxim, which they also open as a brewpub.
Go to Joy Project
Hop Mundi
HopMundi is a Brazilian brewery founded in 2018 by Cyro Calcavanti Neto in Natal. They produce their beers at the Raffe brewery in Natal, and also at Startup Brewing in São Paulo, where they share space with other new Brazilian breweries such as UX Brew or Juan Caloto.
Go to Hop Mundi