Istmo Brew Pub

Brewery, Eatery

Av. Eusebio A. Morales And Vía Veneto
Panama City
Panama

265-5077 | map
BEER STATS
Average:
3.26
Beers:
8
Ratings:
2
PLACE STATS
Average:
2.6
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
5
pDev:
25.38%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
 
Rated: 2.93 by misternebbie from Pennsylvania

May 23, 2016
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Reviewed by radshoesbro from California

2.48/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 2
Beer wasn't good, food wasn't good. Staff has absolutely no idea about anything involving the beer. It's an alright location, but nothing special. You're honestly better off skipping beer when in Panama all together and just drinking Club Havana rum the entire time you're there.
Oct 06, 2015
 
Rated: 2.5 by aoampm from Hawaii

Aug 05, 2014
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Reviewed by dogfooddog from Panama

1.53/5  rDev -41.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 1 | service: 2 | selection: 1
I have broken a 4-year period of non-contribution to BA over the rubbish at this locale.

I have not put a review on BA in years, but a visit tonight to Istmo Brew Pub inspired me. I was that annoyed, overall.

The start - I go with a friend, and we order the 'colon' lager both. They bring us something we both identify quickly as a german hefeweisse, probably paulaner (edit - we both see a lot of paulaner bottles being opened back-bar through the night. I declined to get into the -follow-the-bottle- gotcha game, but the first part was nearly in front of us).. The waiter-person denies we are drinking a german wheat beer, sets out on various explanations of why the beer is cloudy, etc. We don't dislike wheat beers, so we finish it, and begin the comic routine of trying to guess what bottled product our next beer is going to be. I have had nearly a thousand different beers and far too many german hefeweissen to waste much time on this conversation.

We know we are in comic-relief land at this point, but we order the stout (they have a lager, an amber, a mix of the lager and stout, and a stout). We get a beer that you can see copper on the edges of. There is a malty, roasted, chocolate taste on the first drink, after that, it is gone. I get a distinct taste that tells me I am drinking a lager on the back end of my palette. We conclude I am either drinking the guinness contract brew or a mix of the stout and alleged lager.

I corner the waiter, and coax out of him that they don't have pumps on premises for the lager because there is an event on the causeway (ft amador) due to the soccer game today (a major event). He agreed the 'stout' was copper toned. He didn't actually admit lying to us and serving under false pretense, but he went a long why towards explaining why it happened. Presumably they know most of their clients wont' know the difference between a german hefeweisse and a small--batch lager.

Unfortunately, an establishment that lies with such facility to its customers is banned, permanently, for me. I live in Panama City, eat regularly 30 yards from this place, and won't set foot in it again under current ownership in my mortal life.

If you are here you are already in beer no-man's-land, but in any event take special effort to avoid this locale. They will serve you bottled beer from germany and tell you it is locally homebrewed.

zero-star death-knell rating to a locale that assumes its clients are too ignorant to know when they are being sold rubbish. They almost certainly violated local ordinances selling beer under false label, but who cares. The establishment lies without conscience and will doubtless sell you something under false pretenses for a premium price.
Apr 17, 2011
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Reviewed by hopsjunkie23 from New Jersey

3.54/5  rDev +36.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3
Had a lovely afternoon of playing cards and drinking the Chiriqui Amber on draft. They were out of two of their house brews... I chose the amber over the generic, bullshit lager. The amber was amazingly malty, no presence of diacytle.. but no presence of hops either. Great place to chill out and get away from the tremendous amounts of really bad domestic lagers in Panama. Nice Belgian and German selections as well.. really enjoyed my time.. the amber was better than drinking a Yuengling if anything. Would definitely go back if I was ever in Panama City again! Cheers!
Aug 25, 2010
Istmo Brew Pub in Panama City, Panama
Brewery rating: 3.26 out of 5 with 2 ratings