Brewery Tour – Micro Cervejaria Bamberg in Votorantim, São Paulo

I am very fortunate to have a job where I get to travel all over the United States, and occasionally to various spots around the world.  Most of my international work puts me in Brazil, where there is a very young and exciting craft beer scene in development.  I caught the later end of the microbrew movement here in the US in the late 1990s, and to me it feels very similar down there right now.  There is a great deal of enthusiasm for new and exciting flavors, but I don’t believe the country’s collective palate has matured enough yet to fully appreciate the good from the great.  I also get the idea that experienced brewers and quality supplies and equipment may be hard to come by right now.  In a nutshell… I love drinking Brazilian beer in Brazil, even if most of it really isn’t that good.

My most recent trip down south was to Sorocaba, which is a relatively small town about a hundred kilometers due west of São Paulo.  I was there with a native German who also has an appreciation for good beer, so we had spent the week trying to find the best the town had to offer.  We had some hits, several misses, and almost got into a fight with the staff at one brewery when they tried to put us into a fake cab (that’s another long story).  On the Friday I was scheduled to head home, we had a few hours to kill in the afternoon before my flight, so we headed over to Micro Cervejaria Bamberg in Votorantim, which is a small industrial city that borders Sorocaba.  The brewery was closing for lunch, but we were told that if we came back in an hour and a half that we may be able to have a quick look around.

So of course eighty nine minutes later we were standing outside the brewery, ready to rock.  My hope was that perhaps we could poke our heads back into the main production area and take a look at the fermentation tanks or something, but when Alexandre Bazzo, the owner/operator of the brewery, came in to meet us, he proceeded to give the two of us a full and complete thirty minute private tour that included samples of his Pilsen and Alt right out of the aging tanks! 

The external façade of the brewery is designed to have a European look, with woodwork similar to something you’d find in Germany.  Immediately inside the front door you are greeted by a receptionist in a small gift shop.  Here you can purchase bottles, cases, or kegs of their beer, some glassware, and a handful of t-shirts.  A door on the other side of this room takes you into a large space that holds all of their brewing equipment, pallets full of raw ingredients, cases of beer, a forklift, and delivery vehicles. 

There is a building immediately adjacent to this one that contains all of their storage tanks, their empty packaging materials, their old brewing equipment, a small yeast lab, and a smaller cold storage room.  Alexandre told us that he’s even got a small barrel program buried in the back. 

So the brewery is beautiful, and the brewer is one of the nicest and most generous people you’ve ever met, but how is the beer?  Damn good.  In fact, I am very comfortable calling this my favorite Brazilian brewery at this point.  Their Altbier is rich and malty, their Czech Pilsner is brilliant and crisp, and their Weizen is wonderfully refreshing (I wish I could comment on more, but my suitcase was only so big).  Everything is restrained with nothing going over the top.  It’s just beautiful, mature brewing with very careful attention to balance and detail. 

As a final note, I’d like to point out that the Bamberg website states that tours are conducted on Friday from 4:30pm to 6:00pm, email confirmation is required, and the cost is R$15 per person.  We were there at 1:00pm, got a full personal tour from the brewer himself, and were not asked to pay a dime.  I am humbled by the generosity and hospitality of Alexandre Bazzo and his staff at Micro Cervejaria Bamberg.  I hope that I can demonstrate half as much warmth and kindness the next time someone requests a little bit of my time. 

If you ever find yourself in this beautiful country, I strongly recommend seeking out a Bamberg beer or two. 

Rua Sebastião Benedito Reis, 582

Votorantim, São Paulo 18117.370
15 3242.7685
http://www.cervejariabamberg.com.br/

-Matt