For decades, Brazilian beer meant ice-cold pale lager — Brahma, Skol, Antarctica — consumed in large quantities at the beach and at Churrasco. While those brands remain enormously popular, a craft beer revolution has swept Brazil over the past fifteen years, and the country now boasts thousands of independent breweries producing world-class beers with distinctly Brazilian characters.
The Craft Beer Revolution in Brazil
The movement began in the southern states — Blumenau in Santa Catarina, in particular, is a town with German immigrant heritage and a deep brewing tradition. Today, Brazil has over 1,500 registered craft breweries.
Distinctly Brazilian Beer Styles
- Tropical IPAs — Brazilian brewers hop their IPAs with passion fruit, mango, and cupuaçu for flavor profiles that exist nowhere else in the world's beer landscape.
- Açaí Ales and Stouts — Açaí's rich, earthy flavor integrates surprisingly well with dark ale and stout bases, producing beers with deep purple hues.
- Witbiers with Brazilian fruit — The Belgian-style wheat beer has been adopted by Brazilian brewers, who add maracujá, caju, and umbu to create tropical wheat beers.
Key Regions
- Santa Catarina (Blumenau and Joinville) — The heartland of Brazilian craft beer.
- São Paulo — Home to the most experimental breweries and the most sophisticated craft beer bar scene in Brazil.
- Rio de Janeiro — Emerging craft scene, particularly strong in tropical IPAs.