Any recent Costa Rica intel?

well… what did you find?!

I see that the brewery Numu is right next to the Liberia airport…. I’m tempted to check it out.

 

Just got back from Costa Rica a couple weeks ago. Here's my thoughts for all you BA's out there:

Imperial is the main beer you'll find everywhere (literally). The same company owns a number of other brands (Pilsen, Bavaria, etc.) along with multiple ABV variants. I'm guessing that this company has 95% market share in the country. Was not a fan of regular Imperial. The lighter silver variant was ok on hot days. Pilsen was workable.

Liberia Airport - Tried to visit Numu. A little bit tricky to find as it's in the back of an industrial park. I ended up getting vetoed by the family to go somewhere that had food so we stopped by the first roadside restaurant right up the street and they ended up having five beers from Numu so worked out well.

Monteverde - Monteverde Brewing was at quite a few places. Made it over to the brewery one day because that was the only place serving their coffee stout I really wanted to try. Food was pretty good. They have a "beer garden" in town. Seating was right near the restrooms that were emitting some intense aromas though... Belmar Brewing is a really cool spot. Even though beers were not the best I would still recommend just to hang on the patio. Didn't get a chance to try the food.

Arenal - We hit Lake Arenal Brewery. They had a pretty good selection of styles, but all were pretty rough. The blonde ale with chilis was OK. They have a really nice view of the lake and the food was pretty good. Overall, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, but if you're driving by might as well pay them a visit. In town there is La Fortuna Pub that had a great selection of craft beers from local spots and abroad. Would highly recommend. At Baldi Hot Springs I went for their white labeled IPA (believe it was brewed by Costa Rica Craft Beer Co.). And finally, while in the Arenal area keep an eye out for beers from Suizy Tico. You can spot them by the really nice animal artwork on the labels. Apparently, it's a Swiss guy that has a tiny little brewery somewhere in the area. All of those were good to very good.

Quepos/Manuel Antonio - Found Ambar and Papagayo bottles at the local grocery stores that were generally OK. the Ambar lineup seemed a bit like same beer different color. Also, a couple bottles from Sanroque that I wasn't really a fan of. Not for beer, but would recommend El Avion restaurant for lunch or early dinner at sunset. Somewhat of a touristy place, but the plane is cool to check out and the view is killer. The BBQ place down the street a little was pretty good for dinner.

Dominical/Uvita - As mentioned above, Fuego Brewing is a really cool place. They must have spent millions building it. Would fit right in at any resort area in Hawaii. Beers were OK to good. It was super hot that day so I gravitated to the helles. Food was really good. Whale Tail was an interesting spot. Beers were so so. Nice little patio area out back. Food was OK.

On the last day headed back to the airport we decided to take the Inter-American highway. Stooped by Chirripoberg Ceverceria for lunch. Beer was rough. Food was pretty good tough. Didn't realize it when we decided to take that road, but north of there on the way back to San Jose is an extremely high mountain pass. Traffic was really bad getting stuck behind trucks. Was amazed that it went all the way up to 11k feet. Very well might be the highest I've ever been in a car (altitude wise!).

Didn't have a chance to make it to their brewery, but bottles from Costa Rica Craft Brew Company are available at quite a few stores everywhere we went. You can recognize them easily as they have custom made bottles with their name on the neck. All of them were OK to good.

It had been 12 years since I was previously in Costa Rica and it was great to see how many breweries have popped up all over the place. Overall, the quality of beer is not going to knock your socks off if you've visited great breweries in the U.S. Also, most places are open to the elements so at times it was tough to want something other than a lager/helles or just water. Maybe just me though as I've lived in low humidity climates my whole life so it kills me. Still lots of fun though to try the local beers and support the craft brewing community!

On the non-beer front, guaro (sugar cane spirits) as mentioned above is great. It's really cheap in the grocery stores and unbelievable how smooth it is. I think just about every day I had a glass of guaro mixed with fresh juice of some sort. Bought a big bottle in Duty Free at San Jose airport (much cheaper than the gift stores) to bring home. Also, the chili guaro shots seemed to be a hit. Oh and tried a couple really nice shots of aged rum that were great so don't snooze on that.

Other random tip: The car rental place recommended that we use Waze instead of Google Maps. Turned out to be a really good tip for navigating around the country. The feature it has to warn about upcoming disabled vehicles, potholes, etc. was really useful.

Pura Vida!