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I could not find a beer tour in Santo Domingo, so I decided to make one on my own. Want to do it yourself? How did I manage? Discover how it went
The first thing I did when we arrived to the Dominican Republic is to search for a beer tour. When I discovered there isn't one I decided to make one myself. My first idea was to market it among friends, just to show them the world of Dominican beers (and drink free beers). I prepared a route and a story, I planned who to show it to as a test, I even told everyone that I'm going to do it! Unfortunately too many distractions happened and the bottom line is that I was too lazy to actually make it happen.
The summary of this beer tour:
Tours that I have led - 3
Total amount of people participated with me as their guide - 5
Total amount of people that did the tour by themselves because of this post - 1
Why am I writing about my failure?
Well, first of all I own my failures. Second, my failure was the execution, I believe that the tour itself came out pretty well.
This post is for you, in case you want a beer tour in Santo Domingo but can't find one. Use this post as your guide, get some history and anecdotes.
The places that I'll mention here are all mentioned in the Best beer places in Santo Domingo post, so if you just want to find where to have a beer feel free to jump there, but if you want to know a part of the story of Dominican beer then keep reading.
The route
The whole tour is located in Zona Colonial, and you can do it walking. The walking part should be around 20 minutes in total, if you are drunk and slow. There are 4 stops, I planned to have one beer at each of the first 3 and a tray of tasters on the last one, but as it is your individual tour feel free to do whatever you want.
These are the tour stops:
Meeting point - The statue in Parque Colon. An easy landmark in case you are not doing this alone.
First stop - Zona Bici.
Second stop - Republica Brewing Draft Room.
Third stop - Parque Duarte. To feel the real local experience.
Fourth stop - La Cacata.
I recommend to start the tour around 18:00, as some of the places close early.
So what are you waiting for? Start walking!
First stop
If you start at the statue, Zona Bici is located one block to the north of the statue. I chose this stop as it is a hidden gem.
A bicycle rental store, with a twist. The twist is that they sell Dominican craft beer, and one of the coolest places for it in the city.
Surprised? I was too!
Treat yourself to one of the local beers either form a bottle or on tap, ask the staff for information. Just please do not try the Tina Bazuka just yet, you will have a chance to do that at your next stop.
I promised you information, so here it goes:
The beer scene in the country is heavily influenced by European beers, mainly Spanish.
But you can find a lot of German and American beer as well, but this tour is all about the local.
You can find the whole variety of styles in this country if you look very thoroughly. But
as you will see, the vast majority of beers will be the lighter types, so blondes, pilseners,
wheat, fruit, IPAs. The darker you go the less chances you have to find it. This is a
warm country so they like their beers refreshing and light, Porters and Stouts are not.
The craft beer culture did not fully arrive here like it arrived in other places, and the vast
majority of people will drink the commercial beer, also because it is cheaper.
There are a few micro/nano breweries in the country, and this shop usually has a good representation of them.
Second stop
Or as I like to call it, the Tina Bazuka stop.
There are a lot of places that sell Tina Bazuka around Zona Colonial as it is one of the most common craft beers, but the place I chose for it is the taproom of the actual brewery that makes it. Republica Brewing Draft Room is located on the other side of the same block, so just go east one block and you should see it.
The place has a lot of beers to offer, but I'm going to talk mainly about Tina Bazuka so if you managed not to drink it on the first stop now is the time!
Background:
The story of the name of this beer has some political context. The story itself is a long one and I’m not the expert on history.
But in short: Juan Bosch was the first democratically elected president of Dominican Republic in 1963, but he was overthrown very quickly by military commanders that expelled him from the country and installed their own president Donald Reid Cabral. This new president was not a favorite with the
people, and a resistance quickly rose from army defects, Juan Bosch supporters and groups of civilians, that were called ‘Constitutionalists’. And they fought the government and their supporters, who were called ‘Loyalists’. There were speculations that the revolution is getting support from Communist sources (Russia and Cuba), which led USA to intervene and send in troops. This fight ended after 6 months, after which new democratic elections were held with international attention and a new president was elected. This chain of events is called the Dominican civil war.
Tina Bazuca:
Tina Bazuca, or by her real name Agustina Rivas, was a combatant in the civil war on
‘Constitutionalists’ side. A 28 years old woman, in the beginning of the war she was
making Molotov cocktails and was seen bridge carrying the Molotov cocktails hanging
on strings around the neighborhoods around Duarte, that was the center of the
revolution. She became famous in the POASI Commando, dressed in olive green and
military boots, a 45 pistol on her belt, an M-16 rifle on her shoulder and two bazookas in
a jeep that she and two men had taken from some American soldiers. She was one of
the heroines in the battles of April and May against the intervention troops. And she
fought during ‘Operacion Limpieza’ (A US operation meant to clean Santo Domingo
from resistance soldiers) in the end of May 1965. There are a lot of stories about her
from the people that served with her, mainly about how loved she was by both soldiers
and civilians, her wearing olive green clothes and her battle experience. She survived
the war and died in 1996 from natural causes.
What we got from this story, is a red amber ale, that is named in her honor. Beware, it is strong!
Third stop
The third stop of the tour takes us to the local beer drinking experience. From Republica Brewing, you need to walk 2 blocks west and 3 blocks south and you will reach it.
Once you have reached, you arrived to the best party in town. If you are up for hanging out with the locals, that is where they hang out in the evenings, usually you will hear a loud local music, and see many people having their drinks. That
is one of the most local ways to have a beer, if the place does not have sitting space, you usually take you beer bottle and some cups and just hang out in the park or on the street and share it with your friends. Go buy a beer in the colmado (probably Presidente), and read the information below.
Some beer history:
Throughout history, we can find beer of some sort from the ancient times dating back
thousands of years (I found an article about evidence of beer making in the area of
Israel 13000 years ago, and in China 5000 years ago). In Europe the mass
consumption of beer started in 14-15th centuries, and after the invention of the steam engine in late 1700s it also became industrialized. The European beer of course arrived
anywhere the Europeans went to, so of course it got to Dominican Republic as well.
Not many know, but before the Europeans got here the Taino people that were living in
the area were making a version of beers made from yuca.
The first attempt to start a brewery in the country happened at the end of the 19th
century, with the New Jersey San Domingo Brewing Company. In 1890, Simon J.
Flatow was granted the right by President Heureaux to establish "a factory of beer, ice, and bottling" that turned two years later into "exclusive privilege" for beer.
If it interests you, there is an 1893 engraving shows the façade of what was known as
“La Cervecería”, located on Arzobispo Portes street.
Around 1895, among the existing restaurants in the city of Santo Domingo, one stood
out above the others in relation to the consumption of beer. It was La Alhambra, located
next to the Cervecería Nacional, in Ciudad Nueva. It can be considered as the first
Dominican beer center.
The people liked beer, but not necessarily the local one. In 1901 a consular report on
the exchange between Germany and Dominican Republic indicated that tobacco and
cocoa led the exports, while bottled beer was the second largest import item. And you
can see many German beers in the supermarkets until this day.
In the mean time, the other kinds of alcohol became widespread, producing locally.
Rums,like Brugal and Bermudez, cashew, pineapple and orange liqueurs. These rums
and spirits took the place of the local alcohol, that was made in Dominican Republic and
to be proud of.
The turning point for the beer was in 1929 when New York businessman Charles H.
Wanzer, together with American and Dominican partners, founded the Cervecería
Nacional Dominicana (CND) with a capital of US$350,000. They also had a German
brewmaster named Henry C. Gronau, a veteran with previous experience in Puerto Rico at Cervecería Palma Real. Its pioneering products were the beers Colón (1930), Reina
(1931) and Maltina Reina, formulated by Gronau.
With a volume of 500 thousand liters per year, for a per capita consumption of 0.4 liters. In 1930, a full-page advertisement in Listín Diario called for a toast “to the perfect drink”, identifying Colón beer as “a pure and delicious drink that is healthy at the same time”. Also, “invigorating, appetizing, refreshing, invigorating” – almost a refrigerated Viagra. Another promotion presented it as “the national drink”, made “by a secret procedure whose formula belongs to us, exclusively – matured and seasoned in wooden pipes”. It was sold in the bottle, for consumption at home, and in barrels, detailing "by the glass in good cafes". This campaign, illustrated with cheerful and mischievous beer goblins, made some foreign brands consumed in the country replicate by reinforcing their advertising, such as the cases of the Cuban Tropical and Cristal Palatino.
In the middle of 1931, CND announced the release of Reina beer, "absolutely pasteurized", designating it "the champagne of all beers". In 1935, another campaign employed a young woman in a Harlequin costume who highlighted the purity of her ingredients: "made from legitimate Pilsen malt and genuine Czechoslovakian hops, with no artificial essences or added preservatives."
At the time, the company jointly promoted Colón and Reina, not only
because of the attractive price and its national manufacture, but also because of the
"unbeatable" quality.
In the middle of 1935, CND, managed by C.K. Schmidt and having as brewmaster the
young Henry William Gronau, known as Jaime and son of the former Gronau, launched
a new beer, Presidente Especial, on the market. Four years later he introduced his
Corona malt extract as a nutritious and refreshing drink, being promoted alongside
Maltina Reina for its invigorating power. For the Centennial of the Republic, in 1944,
Presidente Especial De Luxe made its triumphant entrance, which achieved greater
acceptance.
Presidente:
The beer Presidente was made in the time of the Dominican dictator Trujillo, and from it’s start made it clear that the presidente beer is a ”tribute to the illustrious President of the Republic, Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo”.
Trujillo wanted to get into the beer market and became a shareholder in CND. This drove out the brewmaster Gronau (son of the original brewmaster) to open his own brewery Cervecera Antillana. Of course, he couldn’t compete with the power invested in CND.
Trujillo had a house in front of the brewery and he complained about the noise, forcing
the brewery to relocate. That relocation also allowed the brewery to get better, more
modern equipment (who said that dictators don’t do anything good).
Presidente started as a brown beer with an intense, fruity and very sweet flavor. Little by
little, around the 1960s, it was reformed and emerged as a blonde, light, moderately
sweet beer of excellent quality, which took it to the peak of success. By 1980, beer was
so popular in New York that sometimes more units were sold each month in that city
than in Santo Domingo.
1990 was the golden year for Presidente Beer since it reached almost every corner of the world. After this they launched "Presidente Light" A blonde beer, light in character and very pleasant to the palate, also with few calories, setting a trend for what would later be the other light beers.
By April 2012, Ambev bought 51% of CND's shares, for an amount greater than US$1,237 million, in a strategic alliance involving more than US$2,500 million. And
most of the commercial beer you will see in this country come from that group. There are other beer manufacturers that made it to the commercial status like Cerveceria
Vegana (a brewery from the city Vega, not a vegan brewery) that was formed in 1975.
And Canita, established in 2016, making a beer that has been marketed in the area of
Punta Cana (hence the name)
Fun fact:
Each year the brand produces 1.6 million liters in a plant located in South Korea, the
largest beer-producing country in Asia, after China.
By the end of 2019 they had plans to start manufacturing in the Punta Cana area, but
corona happened, and I’m not sure what happened to the plan
Fourth stop
La Cacata is located one block east and one block south from Parque Duarte, a 2 minutes walk.
La Cacata Brewing company was created by a Dominican that moved to US when was
young, got inspired by the craft beer scene there and decided to make some beer in
Dominican Republic. He started brewing at home, and now we have this place. There is
also another place at another part of the city.
Once you are settled, I would recommend to order the tasters so you can try out as many beers as possible.
They usually have the regulars:
Cacao Brown Ale – As the name suggests, a brown ale. Low bitterness, a bit of sweetness, with aroma of malt and cacao. ABV: 4.9% IBU: 24
Chinola Wheat – A refreshing fruit beer, Passion fruit aroma with a bit of a bitter kick in the end. ABV: 4.6% IBU: 15
Session IPA – An international IPA, high on bitterness, citric with floral aroma, typical Session. ABV: 4.6% IBU: 30
Kölsch Rubia – Fruity and hoppy, smooth malt flavor with a fresh finish. ABV: 4.9% IBU: 21
And a few seasonal beers that change all the time, so ask the staff what do they have on tap during your visit.
Final thoughts
So this is the beer tour I have come up with. I hope you enjoyed it, and that now you have more information about Dominican beer than you would like to have. Let me know if this helped you, and I will update the number of people that did the tour because of this post
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