What a great party the Annual Nicaraguan Craft Beer Festival turned out to be.  The port was a perfect venue for the event with the tasting tables under the large covered space in the middle of the complex. There was plenty of room to roam around the place and the backdrop of San Juan del Sur at night was delightful.  The festival pulled in people from around the country as I ran into friends from Managua, Popoyo, Rivas and I´m sure other places were represented.  The main crowd was from San Juan del Sur and we all had a blast drinking, talking and laughing our way through the afternoon.

Lots of beer to taste (18) and it was good beer!  Every producer had something I REALLY liked, at least one.  The Campo table had a stout the was unique and emphasized chocolate and coffee which they infuse into the beer, nicely done.  It reminded me of a sauce that I think can be coaxed into an amazing steak sauce.  The Carreta Nagua folks had a trigueña (blond) that was smooth and full of flavor.  Thier other beers (peli roja and the dark beer) were also excellent.  Martin from Porteña, produced in San Juan del Sur, showed off his line with my favorite being their deep yet smooth dark ale.  I really enjoyed Erdmans from Ticuantepe.  The brewmaster is German and it’s obvious he is passionate about his beers.  Thankfully he color codes his bottles because by the time I got to him I could just remember the colors, not the names.  His red label, a stout I believe, was perhaps my favorite beer of the festival.  A rich beer with unique flavors that were perfectly integrated.  The blue and Green ones were dynamite also.  Moropotente had an enormous booth and impressive list of beers including a Green beer which was my least favorite from them.  Their dark scotch was great as always but they had a bunch of new ones I had never tried which were all fantastic.  They represented different styles from lagers to ales.  My architect friend Jeff noted how cool their booth was using kegs and boards tied together to make the bar.  Very functional and great looking.  San Juan Cerveceria had a big booth also and a nice selection.  I liked their panga drop and bang something or other.  A hoppy beer with a lot of floral notes and an enormous finish.  Their mango beer was deeelicious.

The food stands were conveniently located on a side parking lot.  They did not disappoint with Kenny from Wrap n roll serving up some outrageous noodle bowls.  My wife had the chicken bowl and she was very happy, even let me try some.  I also tried the bratwurst from the cerveceria, what can I say good beer and good bratwurst – perfect.  Taco Spot had their truck churning out their goods to a line of folks and Ceviche express served up another classic beer food.

As the night went on the bands hit the stage (Ciclo and Revuelta Sonora) and put on some colorful shows.  Pirata took the stage and grooved us with ¨mas cerveza para la cabeza¨ and a lot of cool ass rhythms.  The metal rock band was heavy but tight.  Good solid latin rock.  Hard but rhythmic, I liked them a lot and thought they were a good addition to the musical menú.  Everyone was really happy by the end of the night as I ran into Bobby from the Cerveceria and let him know how epic the party was.  Cant wait till the next one.