Your Favourite Cuban Beer - Bucanero Beer

[oliverdst]

So today I received an e-mail offering Bucanero in a beer shop in Brazil (first time I heard about it around here).

To my palate it's the best beer in Cuba.

What is yours?

Any hint about beers in Cuba?

Some months ago I posted about a new brewery in Cuba but I cannot find the post anymore

Just to let you know US$1.5 - 2.0 each Bucanero.

[Scrubber]

Looks like El Prez on the bottle.

Never tried any Cuban beers but I'd like to. Might try to find some here in Aus.

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[Ryan]

The "generally available in tourists bars" Cuban beers I've tried are Bucanero and Cristal.

Bucanero is available in some markets as "Cubanero" and Cristal as "Palma Cristal".

Bucanero probably has more flavour but it is quite a bit stronger than Cristal.

Cristal is a very pleasant "lolling around" beer.

There are two breweries now in Havana that I know of and I think there are more.

The brew pub in Plaza Vieja has been doing drinkable light and dark beers for years.

There is another brewery in the harbour in an old wood and tobacco warehouse.

The opening event of this year's festival was held in there and beer was laid on all night. Very decent beer.

The best festival opening night event yet. The toilets stayed working all night.

[oliverdst]

There are two breweries now in Havana that I know of and I think there are more.

The brew pub in Plaza Vieja has been doing drinkable light and dark beers for years.

There is another brewery in the harbour in an old wood and tobacco warehouse.

The opening event of this year's festival was held in there and beer was laid on all night. Very decent beer.

The best festival opening night event yet. The toilets stayed working all night.

Do you remember if this last one was new?

[Ryan]

Do you remember if this last one was new?

Yes, I think it just opened last year

Cerveceria antigo almacen de la madera y tabaco

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d6776637-Reviews-Cerveceria_Antiguo_Almacen_de_la_Madera_y_El_Tabaco-Havana_Cuba.html

[Ken Gargett]

i know we have had posts on this ages ago but glad it is revived.

in our early trips, we drank a lot of both buc and cristal. occasionally a beer - can't recall the name - that was about 10% and came in 500ml. a few of those and it was swiftly downhill. was it any wonder rob knew all the nurses in the hospital by name - he injured himself so often.

there was another called hatuey. and it was awful but i did some research and it was once THE beer of cuba. i also came across it in one of hemingway's novels - i suspect 'old man and the sea' (would seem more likely than say 'for whom the bell tolls' or 'the snows of kilimanjaro'). apparently it went with bacardi, though possibly not till the 90s, and is made in florida so how the hell there was any in cuba, i have no idea. it might have just been stock left over for a decade. which would explain why it was so dire.

for us, it was personal taste between buc and cristal.

for me, buc the much richer, heavier beer and cristal much fresher and more elegant (you could actually buy cristal in brizzy for many years though i have not seen it for ages). the climate and culture of cuba made cristal far more suitable and enjoyable for me. always much preferred it, but only from bottles. out of tins, horrible.

anyway, i'll do some research next week and let you know - if i am allowed back on the forum.

[Ryan]

There is Bucanero Max at 6.5%. I haven't seen that stuff very often though. I have had Bucanero Malta, it's like a non-alcoholic stout. I was buying one for someone in a bar and tried one myself. One was enough.

Mayabe is popular with the locals, I can't remember ever trying it.

All of it is brewed by the Bucanero brewery anyway.

[Cohiba Stevie]

Fascinating...

I took a real liking to both when i was in cuba. I drank cristal all day every day and when it came to the evening i switched to the bucanero.

Both great beers in my opinion. As a homebrewer i make it my mission to try as many beers as possible. God i wish i could get 'buc' and 'cris' over here in ireland...

[AussieCanuck]

Both Bucanero and Cristal are tasty enjoyable beers but to be honest I think a lot of the 'love' for these beers comes from the location and 'feeling' you have in the place you are drinking it e.g a Cristal with a custom roll outside the Hotel Nacional, it doesn't get much better than that !

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[Bill Hayes]

When I was there about 10 years ago I remember trying a bottled beer in Cienfuegos that had rum in it. It was awful but great fun trying to pretend to be a hardened local.

[oliverdst]

Both Bucanero and Cristal are tasty enjoyable beers but to be honest I think a lot of the 'love' for these beers comes from the location and 'feeling' you have in the place you are drinking it e.g a Cristal with a custom roll outside the Hotel Nacional, it doesn't get much better than that !

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I don't know. I remember Bucanero as a good bottled beer.

I will buy some and check your theory.

[Ken Gargett]

I don't know. I remember Bucanero as a good bottled beer.

I will buy some and check your theory.

i must say that while i would have referred to have been drinking them in cuba, the cristal tasted pretty good in brizzy.