# Argentina

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country/ar/info

- Official name: Argentine Republic
- Local name: República Argentina
- Caps in the collection: 247 (https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country_caps/3)
- Brands: 134

## Beer in Argentina

Argentina is a wine country, and beer gained ground only towards the end of the nineteenth century, with the demand of immigrants from Germany and England. It is often said that the first brewery stood in Retiro, Buenos Aires, in 1738, a place called Zerveza founded by the Englishmen Thomas Stuart and Thomas Ilson; another popular article gives 1744 and calle San Francisco, today Moreno. No source with an archive document confirms either date.

Real brewing came with immigrants. Emil Bieckert, born in Barr in Alsace, reached Buenos Aires in 1855, worked at Juan Buehler's Santa Rosa brewery and on 15 February 1860 began on his own in a yard in Balvanera with two casks; in 1866 he bought the building at Juncal and Esmeralda, where 600 people made about 100 casks a day. Bieckert is called the oldest industrial brand of the country. Otto Bemberg, a German from Cologne who had arrived in 1852, and his son Otto Sebastián founded the Brasserie Argentine S.A. in Paris in 1888; the Quilmes brewery, chosen for its water and its railway station, put its first beer on sale on 31 October 1890. It took over Schlau in 1907 and later Palermo, and by the early 1930s the group led the market in Santa Fe, Bahía Blanca, Córdoba and the north. The Cervecería Santa Fe followed in 1912, with Otto Schneider as its first master brewer; its Schneider beer became Bieckert's national rival.

Consolidation came after 2000. AmBev bought 37.5 per cent of Quinsa, the parent of Quilmes, from the Bemberg family in May 2002, and in April 2006 InBev took up its option on another 34.4 per cent for 1.2 billion US dollars and held 91 per cent; the brewery has belonged to AB InBev since the merger of 2008. To clear that deal Quilmes had to sell its Luján brewery, a malt plant and the Bieckert and Palermo brands, then about 10 per cent of the market. CCU of Chile, part-owned by Heineken since 2003, bought that group in 2007 with the Luján plant of 2.7 million hl for 88 million US dollars. Warsteiner had built Cervecería Argentina Isenbeck at Zárate in 1994 and sold it to SABMiller in November 2010, after it made 600,000 hl in 2009. When AB InBev took over SABMiller in 2016 the authorities had it give up seven brands: in 2018 CCU received Isenbeck, Dioasa, Norte, Iguana and Baltica and the Warsteiner and Grolsch licences, in exchange for Budweiser. Without the sale AB InBev would have held 85 per cent of the market.

Craft brewing grew in the south. The oldest craft brewery, at El Bolsón, began in 1985 and no longer works; Blest of Bariloche, founded in 1989, is the oldest still brewing, and its brewpub is called the first in the country. Bariloche, the cradle of Argentine craft beer, saw Berlina open in 2004 and held a festival with 16 local brands in February 2023; the 2024 festival was cancelled for lack of money. Antares began in Mar del Plata in 1998 and now franchises bars in many provinces; Epulafquen, founded in 2001, is the first craft brewery of Villa La Angostura; Viejo Munich was the first brewery of Villa General Belgrano in Córdoba, 25 years old in 2025; the Beagle and Cape Horn breweries of Ushuaia merged and won the Tierra del Fuego quality seal in 2012. El Bolsón grows more than 70 per cent of the hops, and the malt comes from the Pampas.

Two groups lead today: AB InBev (Quilmes, Brahma, Stella Artois, Corona) with about two thirds of the market and CCU (Heineken, Schneider, Imperial, Isenbeck) with about a third. In 2025 Quilmes, with over 5,000 direct employees, put 3 million US dollars into a dealcoholising line at Zárate, and CCU has invested 57 million US dollars since 2020 and another 23 million in 2022 at Luján. Craft brewers had a hard 2025, with double-digit falls in consumption and closures.

Sources:
- [Wikipedia: Beer in Argentina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Argentina)
- [Wikipedia (es): Quilmes (cerveza)](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilmes_(cerveza))
- [Forbes Argentina: La historia de Bieckert, cerveza y mucho mas](https://www.forbesargentina.com/editorial/la-historia-bieckert-cerveza-mucho-mas-n1325)
- [Mercado: Venden Bieckert, la marca cervecera mas antigua del pais (2006)](https://mercado.com.ar/negocios/venden-bieckert-la-marca-cervecera-mas-antigua-del-pais)
- [Brauwelt: Chile's CCU buys Argentine brewer for USD 88 million (2007)](https://brauwelt.com/en/international-report/the-americas/626374-chiles-ccu-buys-argentine-brewer-for-usd-88-million)
- [La Nacion: SABMiller compro Isenbeck Argentina (2010)](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/sabmiller-compro-isenbeck-argentina-nid1327905)
- [inside.beer: Argentina, AB Inbev to sell 7 beer brands to CCU (2018)](https://www.inside.beer/news/detail/argentina-ab-inbev-to-sell-7-beer-brands-to-ccu/)
- [inside.beer: Argentina, CCU to invest another USD 23 million in increasing beer production (2022)](https://www.inside.beer/news/detail/argentina-ccu-to-invest-another-usd-23-million-in-increasing-beer-production/)
- [El Economista: Es clave que crezca la produccion, mensaje del presidente de Quilmes (2025)](https://eleconomista.com.ar/negocios/es-clave-crezca-produccion-fuerte-mensaje-presidente-quilmes-n90957)
- [El Economista: Bariloche, suspenden todo porque no hay plata (2024)](https://eleconomista.com.ar/sociedad-redes/bariloche-suspenden-todo-porque-no-hay-plata-n70457)
- [Rio Negro: Fin de ciclo para Blest en los kilometros](https://www.rionegro.com.ar/fin-de-ciclo-para-blest-en-los-kilometros-GD2317910/)
- [Vinetur: IPA Day Argento celebra la cerveza artesanal argentina (2026)](https://www.vinetur.com/2026040698468/ipa-day-argento-celebra-la-cerveza-artesanal-argentina-con-adn-100-nacional.html)
- [Billiken: Cual fue la primera fabrica de cerveza de Argentina (2024)](https://billiken.lat/interesante/cual-fue-la-primera-fabrica-de-cerveza-de-argentina/)
- [Welcome Argentina: Cerveceria Santa Fe, la abuela de la ciudad](https://www.welcomeargentina.com/santafe/cerveceria-santa-fe.html)
- [Welcome Argentina: Beagle, una cerveza premium](https://www.welcomeargentina.com/ushuaia/fabrica-cerveza-beagle.html)
- [InterPatagonia: Cerveceria Epulafquen](https://www.interpatagonia.com/villalaangostura/cerveceria-epulafquen_i.html)
- [Antares: Cerveceria artesanal](https://www.cervezaantares.com/)
- [Cadena 3: El Viejo Munich, 25 anos de tradicion cervecera en Villa General Belgrano (2025)](https://www.cadena3.com/noticia/operativo-verano-2025/el-viejo-munich-25-anos-de-tradicion-cervecera-en-villa-general-belgrano_404981)
- [Archontology: Argentina, Polity Style 1810-2026](https://archontology.org/nations/argentina/01_polity.php)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of Argentina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Argentina)

## Breweries (51)

- [Cerveceria Argentina Isenbeck S.A.](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2544.md) — 13 caps, 1994–
- [Cerveceria Artesanal Armstrong](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3077.md) — 3 caps
- [Cerveceria Artesanal BarbaRoja](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2551.md) — 2 caps, 2001–
- [Cerveceria Artesanal Carabela](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3082.md) — 4 caps
- [Bebidas Animadas](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3076.md) — 3 caps, 2008–2012, closed
- [Berlina Brew House & Restaurante](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1733.md) — 2 caps, 2004–
- [Berlina Cerveza Artesanal Patagonica](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3453.md) — 1 cap, 2004–
- [Microcerveceria Blest](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3081.md) — 3 caps, 1989–
- [Cerveceria Breway](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3089.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Brigadier](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3091.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Brunnen](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2062.md) — 8 caps
- [Cerveceros Caseros](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3088.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveza Amaranta](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3247.md) — 5 caps
- [Cerveza Artesanal Patagónica](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1737.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveza Artesanal Triada](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3434.md) — 3 caps
- [Cerveza Lester](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3432.md) — 4 caps
- [Cervezas Artesanales Antares](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1736.md) — 3 caps, 1998–
- [Chiruzza Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3442.md) — 3 caps
- [Cia. Industrial Cervecera S.A.](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1495.md) — 27 caps, 1912–
- [Cooperativa de Cervezas Artesanales de la Patagonia](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3438.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria De Grott](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5918.md) — 0 caps
- [Cerveceria De Grott](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3085.md) — 2 caps
- [De La Vaca Tranquila Cervezas Artesanales](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3445.md) — 11 caps
- [Diuka Cerveza Artesanal de la Patogonia](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1701.md) — 5 caps
- [Cerveza Dolvers](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5917.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Duham](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3079.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria El Bolson](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3087.md) — 1 cap, 1984–
- [Cerveceria Epulafquen](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3075.md) — 1 cap, 2001–
- [Fuegian Beverage Company](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3074.md) — 3 caps, 1999–
- [Gonnet Cerveceria](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1996.md) — 1 cap
- [Imayki Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3092.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Jagger S.A.](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3084.md) — 1 cap
- [Jerome Brewing Company](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3083.md) — 1 cap, 1985–
- [Kosfelder Esteban Planta](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3933.md) — 3 caps
- [Cerveceria Kraken](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3080.md) — 3 caps
- [La Serrana Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3433.md) — 3 caps
- [Lacar Brauerei Cerveza Patagonica](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5108.md) — 1 cap, 2004–
- [Cerveceria Las Bruscas](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3440.md) — 1 cap
- [Maikranz Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3435.md) — 4 caps
- [Memorable Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3437.md) — 1 cap
- [Once Y Medio](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5912.md) — 1 cap
- [Otro Mundo Brewing Co](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2543.md) — 11 caps, 2004–
- [Otto Tipp Cerveceria Patagonica](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3436.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Patagonia Primitiva](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1116.md) — 2 caps, 2007–
- [Cerveceria San Carlos](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3086.md) — 1 cap, 1884–2010, closed
- [Sheken Patagonian Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3465.md) — 1 cap
- [Cerveceria Social](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3439.md) — 1 cap
- [Tau Cerveza Artesanal](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3463.md) — 1 cap
- [Compania Cervecera Unidas](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1525.md) — 3 caps
- [Cerveceria Viejo Munich](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1568.md) — 2 caps, 1999–
- [Cerveceria y Malteria Quilmes S.A.I.C.A. y G.](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1161.md) — 102 caps, 1888–