BubblesandBugs.com - Travel and Scuba

Costa Rica

Here are the beers of Costa Rica -

Willits promised he would write a report, but he seems to be as lame duck as I am.  We drank all of these except for Rock Ice - sounds and looks nasty anyways.   If Willits wants to add to this…i will post it when he sends it to me.

Imperial - Most popular beer in Costa Rica and exported alot.  Not too bad - 3stars on the Opdycke scale.

Pilsen Red - almost like a red ale…but actually a pilsner.  To be honest we only had one of these while in a hurry to taste them all.   I think it was one of the last so our taste buds were beer’d out.  I remember it not being too bad at all.  Hard to find this beer - we only saw it in 1 mid-to-upscale hotel. - 2 stars because I am not that easy.

Pilsen - 2nd most popular beer in Costa Rica - Willits favorite…for 2 reasons (most alcohol % and it comes in a tally can) 3 stars

Bavaria Beers - They have a dark, a light, and a gold.  I actually liked the dark beer, but the light and the gold weren’t that good - dark gets 3 stars.  others get 2 stars. 

Imperial Light - my favorite beer in Costa Rica….but still not more than 3.5 stars on the scale.   

 Cuba Libre - yes this is Rum and Coke w/lime in a can.  Finally you don’t have to mix drinks for the girls…or the lady boys. ( they come pre-made at 8% for you)!! This gets -1.0stars

Bamboo - yet another (newer) brand of rum and coke in a can.   This one scores for the cool can, but was even nastier than the aforementioned Cubre Libre Brand.  We drank both of these on Tortuguero.  -1.5 stars

If i ever get motivated enough I will come back and write more about these drinks with research included.

later jason

My lame duck beer reports…

I’M SORRY!!  I  really am, but I am having too much fun traveling and actually drinking the beers.  Not enough time to write about them (and it feels a little too much like work- haha).  I have been taking pictures of the beers so I figured I would at least post them with a one liner about the beers.

So - Costa Rica on the way now!

Jason

Panama

It’s been some time since I drank the beers of Panama in beautiful Bocas Del Toro (where dolphin and moray eel sightings, beautiful beaches, somewhat decent snorkeling, great fun with worldly friends, excellent BBQ tacos from Shelly, and happy hour all happen in 1 day.)

I remember initially not liking the beer so much as we first triend them with the nastiest cheeseburger I think I ever ate.  But as we ended our time in Panama on Red Frog Beach drinking Panama Lager from the tiny green glass bottle, I remember now that the beer was pretty damn good.

The beer here is built like most other central american beers…light ales and lagers that make for a great beer when it is hot as hell.  There are 2 main brewers in Panama…Cerveceria National Panama and Cerveceria Baru.  They share the market at numbers around 70%/30% with Cerveceria National Panama beating out the competition.  I frankly and not sure why this is…we preferred the Baru by far. 

Cerveceria National Panama was established in 1909 and I don’t have a clue as to when Baru was founded. 

Balboa…from my experience is the main beer in Panama.  It is the one that is always available on every street corner and beach shanty.  Served in both bottle and can it runs at 3.8% .  It is a very light colored pale lager leaving alot to be desired.  Definately not enough hoppiness.  To be honest, it would be hard for me to choke down enough of these to get tipsy, but the local bums and travel commission crooks didn’t think so.  I must saw however, they were much better when it was blistering hot, on a tiny unamed island of Bocas Del Toro, fresh out of the water snorkeling,  served ice cold, and cheaper than list price thanks to Willits and his cunning cheapness.  Cindi, Willits, Trevor, Kaye, and I built a byramid of cans.  Brewed by Cerveceria Natl Panama.  I give it 2 stars on the Opdycke 5 point scale.

Atlas…aslo from Cerveceria Natl Panama was my least favorite of the 3 sampled.  I only drank a sip of this nasty from Cindi’s bottle and vowed to never try this pale lager again.  You too should heed my advice.  Not even good enought to research.  1 star on the Opdycke scale.

Panama…aha…a halfway good one finally.  I think up to this point on our journey, this was the beer that I have preferred the most.  But I am afraid still does not qualify for more than 3.5 stars on the Opdycke scale.   At 4.5% alcohol this beer was a natural choice for Willits who most often shuns taste and enjoyment for raw drunk-delivering power.  At first glance, we couldn’t stop teasing about the puny bottle…makes you feel like a giant…or a teenage girl.  Cerveceria Baru did a decent job with this brew.  I usually hate green glass beers like Rolling Rock, but this beer…light as it may be had more character and hoppieness that I yearn for.  This one is worth trying if you can seek it out. 

Trevor liked it too.

I wanted to include some other pictures as we passed by the beer cooler in the grocery store.  Below is a pre-mixed rum and coke that I don’t really care for.  They are usually around 8 % alcohol and at first they are a novelty that we don’t get in the states.  Once you taste the cheap white rum and sam’s choice quality coke, you realize that you might as well buy that bottle of Flor De Cana.  2 stars on the Opdycke scale…it would be a 1 except for the convenience of a pre-mixed drink in a can.

I failed to try Soberana before, mostly because when buying a beer, the hinting of the word sober is usually last on your mind.  We also ran out of time.  A few other reviews told us this beer tasted like a corona light in a can.  Somebody please send me their opinion of this beer and I will add to this report.

Hope you enjoyed-
Jason

Finally…the Beer of Nicaragua

2 things Central America does have going for them is that they serve their beer ICY cold.  Nicaragua follows suit here.   I would hate to try one of these nasties warm.

The other is that the beer is only 75 cents to a 1$.

In Nicaragua they have one major brewer called Cerveceria de Nicaragua.  Apparently the company dates back to the 1920’s and they employ a German brewmaster classically trained at Weihenstephan brewing school.  I bet he is proud of producing millions of gallons of “beer”…that most people wouldn’t bathe their dogs in.

Here they are…looking rather delicious as Cindi and I snapped pictures just before checking out at a small pulperia in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua.  

People… don’t let those glistening bottles, shiny labels, or our superp photography skills fool you.  These beers also follow the standard theme of Central American beer. 

The Tona on the left is a “Lager Especial” that is a ultra pale golden color that carries a 4.6 alcohol by volume.  According to the Tona website, it is produced… “using only the finest North American and European malts and hops, certified by world renowned laboratories (Siebel Institute of Technology, Chicago and Brautechnische Prüf- und Versuchsanstalt, Munich-Weihenstephan).”

Their marketing department could sell shit to pigs.  It is terrible, horrible and after a hot day hiking Volcan Mombacho, sweating bullets, Tona only tastes good because it is cold.  If you never drink this beer consider yourselves lucky.   1/2 star on the Opdycke beer scale.

The Victoria on the right is labeled a “Pisen Especial”. This is definately the best of the Nicaraguan beer line, but still only pulls 1 star on the Opdycke beer scale.  I would say that this is the most popular and most widely available beer in Nicaragua.

Later All…Costa Rica and Panama to follow!

jason

save us from utila beer

ok …i know i know - you people are waiting for the beer report. i finally had a few minutes to spare in our busy diving schedule.

besides…the beer here is terrible and shitty.

there are basically 4 beers on the island…and because of the poor turnout this will be the only beer report while we are on utila.

The only one we somewhat can handle is “Salva Vida”…translated into English means Life Saver. Yeah - please save us from:

Honduras Imperial: we can only hope that Imperial from Costa Rica is better. I once woke up sitting in C-bottom in a recliner in the dorms at 4am…must have been asleep holding that beer for a few hours…someone had put a cigarette butt in it….and it was warm. i had a swig…and it was better than this beer.

Port Royal: for some reason this ass juice costs 10 lempira more than the others…

Barena: we saw some dutch guys drinking this and all the girls were teasing them that is was girly beer. tastes kinda like a cross between corona and mgd light. nasty.

Salva Vida…costs 25 lempira or a little more than 1$. unless you look really like tourists and someplaces will get your for 35 lemps. When I asked Cindi what it tastes like she said “no idea…not good” definately worse than miller lite…pabst…schlitz…and all the regular cheap american beers.

On another note…we have found that the best way to drink is to buy a handle of Flor De Cana rum…from the local dirty habit salesman. he sells the rum for 265 lempira and it lasts a long time. tastes great with coke, lime, and “purified ice” - yeah right purified my a$$. here is a shot of cindi with her grog..

hope everyone had a great 4th of july.

jason

Cerveza Informar!!

This will be my World Beer report page. For now, enjoy this shot of my beer belly.

Later, Jason