A new Dominican beer!

[Jock Pereira]

Want to put a question out this audience. I am an American living in Jarabacoa. Thoroughly fed up with the limited selection of beer I have started brewing my own. It has a label and a following now in Jarabacoa, as Dead Rooster Ale. See http://www.jockandkendra.com/deadroosterale.htm for a rather humerous synopsis of the beer itself.

My question: for those foreigners living in this country: would you pay a bit more for a wider selection of slightly darker, more flavorful beers? Would you go to a specific supermarket in your town if it was only carried there? Would like to move distribution into tourist areas on the North and South coasts. Advice? Comments?

Thanks,

Jock Pereira
jpereira@sweetlobster.com

 

[DeanO]

Good luck to you......

Good luck to you,
I bet is a tough market for a micro brewerie in the land of "Presidente", even if is a different kind of beer.
DeanO

 

[Joe]

Re: Good luck to you......

as a canadian living in the dr,and one who enjoys a good beer, the bottom line is that presidente tastes great simply because it's served ice cold---ice----cold--bottom line
in a hot climate you couldn't ask for anything better
I'd love to see you make it but in my opinion this is not land for those who appreciate tasting beer---give it to them ice cold along with the merengue

 

[Juliana]

Re: Good luck to you......

I really agree with Joe! It will be hard to beat the presidente,
because the beer is so cold and it's not expensive and I don't think that the Dominican want to pay more and even the tourists, if they taste the Presidente at this cost, I don't think they would pay more! So I wish you good luck anyway!

 

[Another Gringo in Pto.Pta.]

Re: Good luck to you......

wrong thoughts....
because most of the people here don't drink beer at home.....so not from the supermarket.
And its important that you everywhere you drop in, get the same.....and that is a cool Presidente.
cu/charly....(but good luck to you...)

 

[Marvin]

You sound like an entrepreneur, so you know

that you have to establish a niche' in the market. How 'bout this - a beer that tastes great only chilled. While the resort I was at this past year had Presidente on draft, it was never as cold as the bottles we got down the street at the bar. As someone else above said, the great thing about Presidente is that it is always sold ice cold. If you could sell a beer to the resorts that tasted better than Presidente when it isn't quite so cold, you might have a winner. I'm sure the resorts would prefer something that required less chilling if the price was comparable. By the way, don't the europeans prefer their beer just chilled?

 

[james]

Re: You sound like an entrepreneur, so you know

I don't think it would work out as beer is already 4 times as much as in Germany,for example(at the supermarket)As you get a headache from Presidente,it would be nice to have a nice natural beer and not a chemical like Presidente

 

[Henry]

interesting point - chemicals!

The presidente can be drunk only, if it is very cold, otherwise it tastes bad! The reason for this may be, because somebody told me it contains an anti freezer in it, which makes it possible to be stored in very cold condition without breaking the bottle! Now I remeber a couple of years ago, that in spain they did in fact find that same liquid in wine and had to withdraw them from the market! Interesting point to think about! In the US they had cases of homicide with antifrezers!!!! (I personally stoped drinking presidente long ago!) Is there somebody who might have the possibility to get that presidente analised in the US, if it could be sold over there?????

 

[Jim Hinsch]

Re: interesting point - chemicals!

Anti-freeze in the USA is ethylene glycol and/or propylene glycol. The USA Food and Drug Administration has classified them as additives generally recognized as safe for use in food. They absorb extra water and maintain moisture in certain medicines, cosmetics, or food products. They are also solvents for food colors and flavors. Eating or drinking very large amounts can result in death.

Presidente does freeze, just like any other beer. I've been handed many a frozen bottle.

The bottle doesn't break because of cold, it breaks because of the pressure inside caused by expanding ice. No chemical will prevent the ice from expanding. The tiny amounts of antifreeze potentially added to food products would not have a significant affect on the freezing point.

Alcohol is a good anti-freeze because its freezing point is below that of water. That's partly why it is sometimes mixed with gasoline - it prevents fuel line freeze-up.

The alcohol in beer is likely to be far more harmful than any tiny amounts of chemical additives, which are in almost all of our commercial food products to some degree.

 

[puchungita]

Re: interesting point - chemicals!

bright answer..did somebody reamrks that presidente in usa (i had some in n-york) doen't taste the same ..less alcohol i guess .

 

[Henry]

Re: interesting point - chemicals!

I believe , a lot of people know, that ice expands and makes the bottles break - but why is presidente the beer (the only), which is served right out of the freezer? I wonder, whether somebody had tried to do this with a Heineken or some other brand! And with what result! (To the bottle)

I do agree, alkohol could be harmful to a human body, but will leave the body also fast! Chemicals mostly never leave the body fast and sometimes tend to accumulate in certain body parts!

And of course due to different kind of testings and attitudes in Europe may be something forbidden, what is approved within the US!

Henry

 

[hillbilly]

man, I hope you have girded your loins!

If you have one little "paper" missing from your set up, they will be on you like flies on sugar!!.

Presidente can be a truly vicious competitor, as you might find out. they will spend millions to keep you out of the marketplace. Remember, they are owned by Phillip Morris/Miller Brewing being a part of them....or did you think Presidente got that way from "native" smarts????

Just recently, in Utah, a small local Bock beer company wwas literally forced off the shelves, and is no longer available.

I wish you well, but please be prepared for an onslaught.

Try getting some in the Golf Club there in Jarabacoa, if possible, especially for the weekends.
As your consumer base grows, try getting it into Nacional Supermarketsw, where there is an upscale market for finer things...

lastly, keep a close eye on anyone conected with production, since, according to the folks at Cervesa (Cerveza Soberana) they are not above sabotage, nor bribery....

a word to the wise....

HB