Cartagena Beer

You may have guessed from what I wrote earlier about my time in Columbia that it wasn’t a beer trip. Well, not in that sense. I wasn’t going out of my way looking for good beer.

Club Colombia was what I mostly drank. A perfectly OK Lager. If you drink it while it’s cold. As good an incentive as any to keep up the drinking pace. I was perfectly happy to drink it. Always from a bottle. I don’t think I ever saw it on draught.

Over at Beer Advocate, Club Colombia gets varied reviews. A few gushing with praise and a few others gushing with venom. And lots of mediocre scores. The negative comments I find undeserved. It’s a perfectly practical drinking beer. Which was all we needed. One that was easy to get hold of.

While having a breakfast – the one with the very loud man – I spotted a “craft beer” sign on the restaurant opposite.

“Do you fancy a quick one over the road? It is almost ten, after all.”

It didn’t take much arm twisting to get Mikey to agree. He’s as big a pisshead as I am, when on holiday.

We took seat on the balcony, which overlooked a small square. Very scenic to look down on. And we were beyond the clutches of the dreadful buskers.

They sell three 3 Cordilleras beers on draught: Blanca, Rosada and Negra. We both opted for the latter. It’s nice and dark, with a hint of roast. A pleasant enough Dark Lager, I thought. According to both RateBeer and Beer Advocate, it’s a Stout. OK. Didn’t particularly strike me as being a Stout. 

A perfectly drinkable beer, but pricey at $14,000 for 30-35 cl. I knew I had zero chance of getting Mikey to have a second one.

“Fancy moving on to the local?”

“Sure, Mikey.”

Which is what we did for a few hours. Bottles of Club Colombia Negra and shots Medellin 3 year old rum. Very nice that is. The rum, I mean.

More about that next time.