Brewer of the Week

It seems rather apt that with the World Cup taking place in Brazil at the moment, I should have a Brewer of the Week interview from a Brazilian brewery, Amazon Beer. As I have to finish packing before flying off to Scotland on holiday today, I will leave you with Caio...

Name: Caio Guimarães
Brewery: Amazon Beer

How did you get into brewing as a career?

My father founded the Amazon Beer in 2000. Since then, I became a huge fan of craft beers. I started to study all about beers and make courses like Beer Sommelier and Master of Styles at Siebel Institute. Now I can join my passion and my job.

What is the most important characteristic of a brewer?

The brewer cannot be afraid to fail. We have to study and work hard, and be curious - always trying to innovate the brewing process and the flavors!

Before being a professional brewer, did you homebrew? If so, how many of your homebrew recipes have you converted to full scale production?

I have never homebrew before.

What is your favourite beer to brew?

Stout Açaí, because of the smell of the chocolate and roasted malts.

If you have worked in other breweries, which other beer did you enjoy brewing, and why?

I have never worked in other breweries.

Of the beers you brew, which is your favorite to drink?

I love drinking Witbier Taperebá. It´s a light and refreshing beer that works very well with the hot weather in Amazon Rainforest. Taperebá is a fruit which makes the beer a little bit acid and sweet. Awesome!

How important is authenticity when making a new beer, in terms of flavour, ingredients and method?

Authenticity is the soul of Amazon Beer. For us, doesn't make sense copying beers from Europe or US. We want to create brazilian beers with brazilian ingredients. And there's no better place to this as Amazon Rainforest. Here, we have a thousand of possibilities to make beers that people never tried before.

If you were to do a collaborative beer, which brewery would you most like to work with and why?

We brewed recently a Saison with Anderson Valley Brewing, Pete Slosberg and Sean Paxton (all from US) and it was amazing. I like very much the idea of collaborative beers. If it is possible, I would like to brew with Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head Brewing), because we have the same concept of discovering new - and strange! - ingredients to brew unique beers.

Which beer, other than your own, do you wish you had invented?

Pilsner Urquell. It's a revolutionary beer.