Beer in Chile

Cristal Black Lager, a product of CCU

Beer in Chile is mainly pale lager, though the country does have a tradition of brewing corn beer, known as chicha.

History

There is long tradition of brewing a drink called chicha^[1] that might be classified as corn beer by modern standards, but is not considered as such in South America. The South Americans view this as their own kind of brewerage. While chicha was originally brewed from corn after influence from the Andean cultures of north, during colonial times apple and grape chicha stated to be brewed across the country as a cheaper alternative to wine. There were at least four major alcoholic drinks during colonial times in Chile; wine, pisco-aguardiente, apple chicha and grape chicha.

Modern beer (Spanish, cerveza chilena) history in Chile began in the 19th century when European beer was first introduced in the years after Chile gained independence.^[2] With the arrival of Germans immigrants around 1850, massive production began. By the end of the 19th century beer was consumed all over the country. Beer consumption and culture then spread across the country from cities such as Valdivia and Valparaíso that hosted a lot of immigrants. In the year of 1907 20 million litres of beer were produced in Valdivia.^[3] As of 1997 Chile has a consumption of 28 liters per year per capita.^[4]

Economy

Pisco and rum are popular alcoholic drinks in Chile, however there has been a slow increase in the sales of pale ale from local microbreweries and imported pale lager. Cía Cervecerías Unidas SA, a local company, is the dominant beer company. ^[5]

List of Chilean Beers

Compañía Cervecera Araucanía

• Cerveza Grassau
• Lager
• Pale Ale
• Weizen
• Bock

Cerveceria Chile

• Baltica
• Becker
• Brahma Extra

Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas-owned

• Cerveza Cristal
• Escudo
• Dorada
• Royal Guard

Kunstmann-owned

• Kunstmann
  • Bock
  • Lager
  • Torobayo Ale
  • HonigAle (Ale honey flavored)
  • Unfiltriert (Unfiltered lager)

References

1. ^ Ancient Peru's ritual beer binges, BBC, July 31, 2004, sec. Americas. Retrieved 31 August 2008
2. ^ La cerveza en Chile en el sigrlo XIX
3. ^ Investigación aplicada sobre Geografía Urbana: Un caso práctico en la ciudad de Valdivia Víctor Figueroa, Jorge Gayoso, Edgardo Oyarzun, Lenia PlanasGestion Turistica, UACh.
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ euromonitor.com Retrieved 31 August 2008

External links

• http://www.beercoasters.it/CHILEBREW.HTM