I'm traveling to Panama for 10 days towards the end of July and am looking for places to check out while I'm there. Most of the time I will be in the Renacimiento District, near the Costa Rican border, but I'll be in Panama City when I fly in and out of the country. I'll also be staying in Boquete for a couple of days. I know there is a recently opened brewery in Boquete that I am going to check out. Other than that, if anyone has any recommendations on bottle shops, beer bars or breweries let me know. Thanks
It's been almost two years since I have been to Panama. Where does the time go... We stayed on the Punta Chame peninsula and made lots of trips up and down the coast. Punta Chame is long and narrow with great beaches and not ton of tourists. The people are great and the food is pretty good. The roads & other infrastructure are all decent. Almost all of the beer we had was local and adjunct lagers. Looking back at my ratings, the best was Balboa, then Panama followed up by Atlas. Avoid Soberana at all costs as it is a nasty Corona Clone. If you get a chance, try and score one of the cool Balboa glasses. In the stores, I saw American Macros and a few of the expected European exports. I'm glad to hear of a new brewery opening up as I plan on going back in the not too distant future. I look forward to your reading your experiences/reports when you return!
Thanks for the reply @Redrover My wife is there now and she's been to David where she saw Founders, Rogue and some Casa Brujas beers. I'm more interested in trying the local craft stuff and it sounds like it's starting to catch on there. But I'm sure I'll try the three main lagers as well, since it sounds like they can be found anywhere. I read some stuff online about a guy from Portland, OR, who after a few years of planning, has recently opened a small brewery in Boquete (Boquete Brewery), which is where I will be staying for a couple of days. Looking forward to that. I'll definitely post my experiences when I get back.
Beer selection in Panama has grown exponentially over the last couple of years, although freshness of beers sold is still something that has room for improvement. You should definitely try Casa Bruja's beers. Here are a few tips for places in Panama City: Bottle shops: LB Bieren (specialty Belgian beer store): The place to go for Belgian beers Bodega Mi Amiga (liquor store): Good selection including some Founders, Brewdog, Rogue, Lost Coast, lots of German beers, etc. Felipe Motta (liquor store): Decent selection, a bit of everything Riba Smith (supermarket): Decent selection, especially the Costa del Este branch Brewpubs: Rana Dorada (several locations) Istmo Brew Pub (several locations) Bars: Lynchburg Red Lion Biergarten (Granada Riande Hotel) Brew Stop (expensive) Check facebook etc for more info on most of these places. Casa Bruja used to have brewery tours, but I'm not sure they still do those. Anyway it's just a small set-up in an ugly industrial park. I haven't been to Boquete recently so I don't have more info on the brewery you mentioned. They used to sell "homebrewed" beers in an excellent restaurant there called The Rock.
Casa Bruja is making the best craft beer in Panama. If you get a chance stop by their tap room; it's open in the evenings Thursday through Saturday. You can find their bottles at Filipe Motta shops and some El Rey grocery stores. While in the city you should definitely take the time to tour Casco Viejo and while you're there visit La Rana Dorada. Their beers aren't great, but they're better than the typical Panama macro brews.
