Craft beer in Colombia:
Beer traveler's guide to Bogotá,
Medellín and beyond
Craft beer in Colombia: Beer traveler's guide to Bogotá, Medellín and beyond
Colombia, often celebrated for its coffee, vibrant culture and stunning landscapes, is quickly brewing up another reason to visit: a thriving craft beer scene! For long, the country’s beer market was dominated by a few major lagers, but a passionate movement of artisan brewers has transformed especially major cities and tourist hubs into havens for hop-heads and stout-lovers alike. We traveled around this beautiful country in spring 2025, exploring the craft beer scene in the bigger cities and smaller towns – in this post a look into the current state of craft beer in Colombia, with tips for other beer travelers looking for local craft beer in Colombia.
The beer market in Colombia is, like in basically everywhere, dominated by big global players, but craft beer movement has been bubbling under for quite a long time already. When international tourists started to ask for local craft beer in the first decade of 2000s, brewing started to become kind of trendy. This lead to establishing several small breweries, but didn’t mean that all the beer brewed was of good quality – there weren’t much international quality craft beers available to compare to, and brewing quality craft beer overall requires knowledge, dedication and investmenrs, not just will to sell it.
It can be said that Bogotá Beer Company, founded in 2002, was the pioneer of craft beer in Colombia. The founder of the brewery, Berny Silberwasser, had travelled (and had pints) in the UK, which inspired him to set up a craft brewery home in Colombia. He established a microbrewery producing three types of British-style Ales, and found a chain of British-style pubs in Bogotá. The success of BBC lead to the growth of the craft beer scene overall, and while many of the first microbreweries had challenges, nowadays the focus is more on quality. Let’s take a look at the beer culture and craft beer venues in different parts of the country.
Craft beer in Bogotá, the heart of Colombian beer scene
Colombia’s high-altitude capital Bogotá is undeniably the epicenter of the craft beer revolution. In Bogotá you’ll find the widest range and highest concentration of microbreweries and brew pubs in the country. The neighborhoods of Chapinero and Quinta Camacho offer the densest pub-crawling experiences, while La Candelaria provides historic charm alongside your pint.
BBC, the Bogotá Beer Company
When exploring Bogota, is nearly impossible to not run into one of the popular taproom restaurants of the Bogotá Beer Company (and they do also have locations elsewhere in the country). While BBC started as an independent brewery, and still produces beers in a variety of styles, it was sold in 2018 to the international giant AB InBev. Due to this, BBC may nowadays be overlooked by hardcore craft beer fans, but it does have an important role in bringing different beer styles visible and easily available for everyone. Furthermore, their products are of good quality – we gave the best rating to their chocolatey, roasted Colombian Coffee Stout called Macondo.
Pola del Pub and their El Irish Pub taprooms
Another Bogotá favorite is Pola del Pub brewery, that has several taproom restaurants under the brand El Irish Pub. The story of Pola del Pub is in fact strongly linked to BBC (but it is a fully independent brewery). El Irish Pub concept was established by the same craft beer power figure, Berny Silberwasser, and his companions, back in 2001 already, first to offer an Irish-style environment to drink major brands like Guinness and Murphy’s.
After selling the Bogotá Beer Company (and after the non-compete clause in the sales agreement expired) the founders of BBC returned to the brewing industry, founded Pola del Pub microbrewery and rebranded the Irish Pubs to taprooms of their new microbrewery. The quality of the beers was top notch from the beginning, and we read that the first batch of IPAs sold out the same night they arrived from the brewery.
The main objective for the now award-winning brewery has since the beginning been to improve the overall quality and offering of Colombian craft beer. There are now 12 El Irish Pubs in Bogotá, in different parts of the city, including one in the El Dorado International Airport (what a great venue to visit while waiting for a flight!). The core selection of the brewery includes classics like IPA, APA, Blonde Ale, Wheat Beer and Coffee Stout. There are also special brews, like during our visit a delicious, roasted Imperial Stout called Año Viejo (2024).
Cervecería Gigante – quality beers with character
The only actual brewery visit that we did in Colombia was to Cervecería Gigante, a Chapinero-based microbrewery and gastropub. We had the pleasure to interview one of the brewers, Californian brewer Will Catlett, in the pub, and take a short tour in the brewery too.
We had a tasting flight with the light and easy German-style Sirena Pils, the floral, hoppy Paladín Pale Ale, the roasted, quite bitter Galeón Porter, the malty, nicely bitter Sequoia Red IPA and the interesting, funky Lulo Saison. In addition we tasted from bottle the Grizzly Bourbon Ale, a warming Strong Ale with lovely notes of whiskey.
Tips for other Bogotá brew pubs and microbreweries to explore
Hanna Hops: This nano brewery / brew pub in the trendy Usaquén is often recommended for its personalized service and excellent house beers. We unfortunately didn’t have a chance to visit.
Birrería Macha: An independent microbrewery with purpose to reclaim lagers within the complex world of beer and at the same time highlight the simplicity of beer life.
Statua Rota: A trendy brew pub in Chapinero Alto, famous for both its craft beer selection and its gastropub fare, including top-notch burgers.
Cara de Perro: Brew pub and gastrobar in La Candelaria, with a small selection of house beers.
Craft beer in Medellín, the city of eternal spring
The second largest city of Colombia and the capital of the Antioquia department is a popular tourist destination, and also a craft beer city. Beautifully located in a valley surrounded with green mountains, Medellin is often referred as the city of eternal spring, and the weather indeed is mild and lovely throughout the year.
When it comes to craft beer, Medellín is, like Bogota, home to several microbreweries and brew pubs. Medellín’s craft beer community is energetic, collaborative and growing rapidly. The scene is slightly newer than in Bogotá, but the quality is very good, and the breweries are often blending classic styles with local flavors. The city also proudly hosts the Oktoberfest Artesanal Medellín, cited as one of the largest craft beer festivals in Latin America. We unfortunately didn’t have time for a thorough beer tour, but we did visit a few great taprooms and craft beer bars, having some of the best beers during the whole trip in Colombia.
Tips for brew pubs and taprooms to visit in Medellín
Bipolar Brewing Co: Excellent craft beer spot in Manila neighborhood! Bipolar offers an impressive array of styles, ensuring something for every palate. We loved their Triple IPA.
Cervecería Libre: A well-regarded microbrewery praised for its relaxed atmosphere and high-quality artisan brews. We quickly popped in for a hoppy, West-Coast style IPA and a juicy, resinous DIPA, and liked both of them a lot.
ÖlBröder Cerveza Artesanal: A small microbrewery who used to have a popular taproom bar in the Manila barrio of El Poblado. This venue is now closed, but the brewery still exists. We tasted Fugitivos, a fruity, piney, bitingly bitter but still balanced IPA.
Métropole Beer Lab: A craft beer pub and a microbrewery in Poplado, serving their own housebeers as well as other Colombian craft beers from nine taps. This is where we tasted ÖlBöder beers.
Sierra Blanca Cervecería: We unfortunately didn’t have a chance to visit this venue, located in the hip Provenza barrio of El Poblado, but it’s often said that it is a must-visit for craft beer lovers. They have a wide tap list and are known for, besides their signature beers, for creating experimental craft beers with unique flavor combinations.
3 Cordilleras: This relatively large microbrewery, founded back in 2008, is subsidiary of Central Cervecera de Colombia. From the early days they have had a strong core series of 6 beers from Golden Ale to Milk Stout. The original location is in Medellín, and since 2020 there is a second brewing site and taproom in Bogotá.
Craft beer in Cartagena de Indias
Being a super popular tourist destination on the Caribbean coast, one could imagine that Cartagena had a lot to offer for craft beer enthusiasts too. There is no shortage of restaurants or pubs in the colonial, walled old town and the colorful Getsemani neighborhood right next to it, but craft beer is not a super big thing in Cartagena. The craft beer scene focuses on dedicated beer bars that have Colombian beers on tap.
The noteworthy beer spots include at least the Beer Lovers Cartagena, a multi-tap bar with 18 Colombian and international craft beers, and the Clock Pub, a popular spot near the iconic clock tower, with a selection of craft beers and extensive pub menu.
There is also at least one local microbrewery, Cervecería Cartagena in Getsemani. This small brew pub has a handful of their own house beers and a selection of guest beers.
Looking for local craft beer in Cali
Our travels in Colombia took us for a few days to Cali, the third largest city of Colombia. This vibrant city in Valle de Cauca is best known for salsa schools and dance performances, and some still remember it for the Cali Cartel, but how about craft beer?
We had time for a quick beer tour in central Cali, visiting Cervezas Kalima pub and Cervecería Usaca nanobrewery. Both of these are small craft breweries with a handful of beers available.
In addition to these venues, there is at least Antaño microbrewery, with two Cervecería Artesanal pubs and a rather impressive range of beers – too bad that we didn’t run into this place, but you should def head there! Furthermore, there are several popular beer bars; Distrito Bar, Bourbon St. Pub, The Pub Legend and Route 66, and also BBC taprooms.
Brewpubs in colonial Santa Fe de Antioquia
Santa Fe de Antioquia is a lovely small town with a beautiful historical center filled with colonial architecture, cobblestone streets and lovely plazas. Not too far from Medellín, it makes a popular day trip destination, but is worth of a but longer stay – and in this place even craft beer pubs and taprooms are super cute!
We were happy to find two local artisan breweries and visit their pubs in the town center. The IPA by Cerveza Artesanal Patrimonial was nicely bitter and had plenty of hoppy character, and the English Porter by Artem Cerveceria Artesanal was pleasantly roasted, being light but tasty.
Craft beer in the Coffee Region of Colombia
In the heart of Colombia’s Coffee Axis (Eje Cafetero), the beer scene takes on a distinct local flavor, often utilizing the region’s most famous ingredient, coffee. The only destination we visited in this beautiful region Salento, a picturesque tourist town home to great adventure, food and drink experiences.
When it comes to craft beer in Salento, there is at least one nano brewery in town, called Cerveza Artesanal Mano Negra. We tasted their Schwarzbier, a light by flavorful dark beer with roasted notes of coffee and notes of caramel and molasses. They have a taproom restaurant right in the town center, with rock music and laid-back vibe.
Planning a trip to sip craft beer in Colombia?
Colombia’s craft beer scene is vibrant, growing and ready to be explored. From the high-altitude, brews of Bogotá and the innovative flavors of Medellín, to the coffee-infused creations of the mountains, there sure is a pint waiting for every palate. Colombia is an amazing travel destination – a warm recommendation to pack your bags and head to this a diverse, friendly country full of stunning natural attractions, fascinating cities, tropical beaches and pretty villages.
Read more about our tour in Columbia in our travel blog FinnsAway:
Adventure in Colombia from bustling cities to coastal destinations
About Craft Beer Nomads
Craft Beer Nomads is a blog about artisan beer, microbreweries and craft beer culture in Europe and beyond. The blog is written by FinnsAway, a nomad couple who has been on the road since 2017, and enjoys tasting new craft beers all around the world.
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FugitivosA tropical, moderately bitter IPA by ÖlBröder Cerveza Artisanal from Medellin, Colombia.
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