An ever-expanding beer world welcomes new brewing scenes
Pints | by Jason Foster
In North America we’ve gotten used to a vibrant craft beer scene. In some places, it’s bigger than others, but no matter where you go in the U.S. or Canada you can usually find some decent, locally brewed craft beer.
In a way, Europe has done craft beer for centuries. And in recent years even non-beer countries, like Italy and France, are starting to churn out interesting craft pints.
It’s enough to make you complacent. We expect craft beer to be around. But, as it happens, the bulk of the planet’s population has not yet been touched by the craft beer revolution.
In fact, there are many parts of the globe where anything more than an adjunct-laden pale lager is almost impossible to find.
But the good news, my friends, is that is starting to change — at least in some regions. South America, East Asia and Central America are some of the fastest-growing craft beer regions in the world. China is witnessing a craft beer explosion, with breweries popping up in every city. Craft beer didn’t exist in Japan 10 years ago; today there are more than 260 craft breweries in that country. In Argentina, craft beer sales are growing at the rate of 50 per cent per year or more. Craft beer sales in Brazil quadrupled in the last five years.
Even smaller countries are getting in on the act. The number of breweries in Chile has doubled in the last four years. South Korea has tripled its craft breweries in the last two years (to a modest 52). Tiny Puerto Rico now has 13 breweries, half of which have opened since 2015.
There is no question it’s an impressive growth — a sign that craft beer is extending its reach. But it’s also important to not get ahead of ourselves. None of these places is Portland, not even close. In each of the countries named, craft beer still accounts for less than five per cent of beer sales, in many cases closer to two per cent.
Plus, on the ground, the number of breweries is an imperfect measure for craft penetration.
Case in point: Costa Rica. I recently visited this idyllic Central American country, the most stable democracy in the region. On the surface it, too, joins the parade of burgeoning craft beer scenes. This tiny nation of four million people had one brewery before 2010, which produced basically every beer sold in the country, all a variety of pale lagers.
Today Costa Rica has 45 breweries, a whopping 41 of which opened their doors in the last two years. Talk about a nascent craft beer scene.
It sounds great, but the reality on the ground is that it’s really, really hard to find craft beer in stores or bars. Almost every place sells the same standard beer, supported by ubiquitous advertising.
You have to know where to look, or rely on blind luck.
More likely a mix of both.
I found a great craft beer bar in the capital city, San Jose. I also found one or two stores in other parts of the country that carried some craft beer, but for the most part it was a monoculture of pale lager.
The reality is that the new Costa Rican breweries — like their brethren in Brazil, Argentina, China, Chile or South Korea — are very small and very localized. For the most part, you have to spend time in the neighbourhood where they reside to hear about them.
It’s a lesson in context and patience. Yes, Central America, South America and East Asia are the fastest-growing craft beer markets. But they’re also coming from almost zero. They have a long way to go before we can call them go-to places for craft beer.
That’s not to denigrate the beer being brewed in these countries. While in Costa Rica I sampled beer from eight or nine breweries. The results were a bit mixed but overall there were solid brewing fundamentals there — they know how to brew good beer.
In many ways, these regions are where Canada was 10 to 15 years ago, so we should be supportive and patient in making sense of what they are doing. And celebrate that they have gotten where they are as fast as they have.
It makes me think that the craft beer curve in these countries will be faster and steeper than what we experienced.
The other thing to keep in mind is that there are still huge swaths of the planet that craft beer has not yet touched — and may never touch. The Middle East, the Indian sub-continent and Africa continue to lag. Part of that is religion. Part of it is wealth and geography.
But then again, maybe, just maybe, they represent the last frontier for craft beer.
For now, I’ll celebrate the gains that have been made globally.
