Waterfall in the mountain area near Aigua.

My odyssey with a young brewery.

We sometimes make very strange experiences in Uruguay. I like to call it
retirement adventure – why not ?
Some month ago I came along the information of a new private home brewery
in Uruguay. Interesting, I thought, lifestyle has finally arrived.
And may be interesting to write about in my new founded blog.

With my German experiences of wonderful hours in cozy little breweries,
where you can taste a few home made beers and  nice snacks , may be making
new friends over a cool glass of brew, I was very keen to see this brewery.

 
Above impressions went through my mind when I thought about a new home brewery. Nice restaurant,
atmosphere, some good food and lots of beer to taste. I know – my problem, having dreams as such.

Since I got a web address, I looked it up and found wonderful photographs of
lovely beer bottles in a fresh stream of spring water. A silver label (cerveza
negra) and a gold label (cerveza dorada) designed with a great lion head.

                       
The Lion beers, the silver – a porter like dark ale and the gold – a light amber style.

El Leon de Aigua.

*************************************
This is how they advertize on their homepage:

EL LEÓN DE AIGUÁ ®
Paraje El León – Aiguá, Maldonado, Uruguay
Ruta 109 Km. 13.5

Planta Industrial:
Libertad San José – Ruta 1 km. 44
Nº 183A – 1807- SERIE D – Receta ®

Empresa declarada de interés Municipal
por el Municipio de Aiguá en 2014
It is a small agro industry that begins on the banks of the
brook „the lion“ near Aiguá, Maldonado,
there is planted hops.
Barley is planted in Soriano.
The recipe is cooked in the area of Liberdad,
Glass bottles are manufactured in Montevideo,
Beer is distributed in Maldonado.
**************************************

All that looked very inviting and promising. I definitely wanted to see more.
The street address was shown in Aigua. Since I have never been in Aigua
before, I thought it’s a trip worth and have look.

Main street in Aigua, a sleepy town in outback Uruguay.

I make a long days trip short. Up and down the ruta 109, asking even at the
tourist information in Aigua. Nothing ! They never heard about, there is no
brewery and on the ruta – just dry desert . Over 400km driving for nothing.

Nothing but stony desert around km13.5 on ruta 109.

Back home, I thought, write an e-mail and see what’s going on.
So I did, and received a friendly answer with some lectures, that
1. I should have phoned before driving that far.
2. There is nothing to see at the ruta 109, all (the water stream may be ?) is
more inland and only to visit by appointment.

3. The brewery is in Liberdad and not in Aigua.
4. Sales of the beers are only through ANCAP stations in Maldonado. Wow !

O.K., I thought, all my fault. So I wrote again and asked if it is possible to see
the brewery, to buy some beers and to come to Liberdad. I never received an
answer on that. I tried a few more times, but no contact.
I am not the one giving up that quick.

Searching for the LION.

A few weeks later I was in Maldonado again and searched for the new beer
„El Leon de Aigua“, as they mentioned in their mail.
Two ANCAP stations never heard about, they looked at me like „strange gringo“.
But – hurray, the 3rd one had it in stock, gold labeled El Leon de Aigua !!!

I decided to buy a box with 9 bottles, and believe it or not, they even had the
wooden box. So, 9 bottles of beer in a box 1.480,– pesos, 165,–pesos per bottle
of 630ml. A 960ml bottle of local beer is usually around 70,–pesos !!!
What a surprise, I never thought about buying the whole brewery !!

But if I start something , I go through. So I asked the lady at the gas station
counter for the silver labeled beer .
Answer, „Silver is brewed in winter time only, now in summer time it’s the gold“!
An answer with no logic reason, but I could live with it.

Beer tasting.

Next I did, because the beer was lovely chilled, I surprised a couple friends of
mine in Maldonado, to taste this new beer with me. So, I drove along and guess,
we all were very positive about it.

A honey colored, or if you want amber colored, light cloudy beer with a nice
foam. Alcohol content is 4,8% and the bottle content is 630ml.
Most important, the taste is fruity, medium dry and fantastic to drink.
Spontaneously we decided, that can be our new home brew, but then – appeared
the price question and the positive discussion was over.

During the following days I enjoyed the remaining bottles and left the box aside.
Last month in Maldonado, I went back to ANCAP with the empty bottles, may be
receiving some bottle money!?
Short answer, we don’t deal with this beer anymore. O.K. bad luck again.

Another 200km Search.

Main street in Liberdad, San Jose.

Once again, I don’t give up. A few days later I decided to drive to Liberdad San Jose
and face the brewery at ruta 1, km 44. Guess what ? You are right – Nothing !!
So I went into the township and asked at the post office, a hardware store and at a
gas station where the brewery „El Leon de Aigua“ might be. No one ever heard about
and an hour circulating around the area brought up no results. May be I should have
looked into sheds, backyards or private cellars, who knows.

Beer bottles in a backyard, where ever. I couldn’t find them.

I decided to drive home via Canelones, visiting a very nice winery, having a wine tasting
with snacks and coffee ( no payment at all ), and finally spending my money on lovely
wines instead beers. Bad luck dear „LION OF AIGUA“.

Back home, I couldn’t help myself, and looked into the El Leon website again. Surprise,
surprise. Many more nice photos as there were before. The Silver label beer is not shown,
may be not existing anymore. Instead I found a pic, showing the shelf of Tienda Inglesia,
selling this beer for 186,–pesos a bottle. WOW again.

The shown shelf of Tienda Inglesia, but which one, where ?

Never give up ?

Many many nice „nature“ pics, like flowers, plants and horses, but not one of the brewery
itself, except a few bottles in a backyard, or on a homemade trolly.
Since Inglesia takes back all kind of bottles, I put my 9 goodies in a bag (wooden boxes
they won’t take anyhow – except may be in wintertime) and drove to Tienda Inglesia.

Nice photo of some landscape with horses. What does that „El Leon de Aigua“ trolly
in front mean ? Same trolly you can see in a short video they show. But brewery ???

Ha Ha Ha – they have this beer not for sale, they even never heard about it – means
of course, they can not take the empty bottles.
What – never give up ?  Yes, sorry guys, now I give up !
I have better things to do, as teaching an Uruguayan brewery about Marketing or Sales
or Management. Even if it was my profession for over 30 years.

Just thinking – May be, I could try to contact the „LION OF AIGUA“ again ???
Or copy the Tienda Inglesia photo and go back to them ???
Or may be I should drive around and find the „right“ Supermarket, where they sell LEON ?

Very clear, my friends, I am not negative, it’s just the way how they do business in
Uruguay, how they think marketing works and how they think they can be successful.
And for sure, it’s all my problem, if I want a special beer and if I am too stupid to find it.

All the „brewery“ pics are taken from the website of El Leon de Aigua. Meantime I saw a
pic there with a wooden box of 16 bottles content. Makes almost $uy3.000,– for the box.
Let’s be patient and give a young enterprise a chance to learn and to grow. GOOD LUCK !