Servus, the Arequipa craft beer that connects German tradition with Peruvian inputs

Craft beer is a passion shared between father and son Rolando Caro and Esteban Caro Lucioni. They both trained professionally in Germany in the art and science of brewing beer and today they are responsible for Servus, a craft beer from Arequipa with which they want to reach the entire national territory.

“I remember that when I was about 5 years old, my father worked on Saturdays at Cervesur in Arequipa and I accompanied him to ride a bike inside Cervesur in the free-traffic areas because this was much safer than riding a bike on the street. As I was a restless child, I sometimes strayed from the areas allowed to ride a bicycle and one of my most interesting discoveries was to see when they unloaded the malted barley from some trucks that were gigantic to me”recalls Esteban Caro Lucioni, co-founder and general manager of Servus, about how he began his first approach to the world of beers.

“I remember that when the trucks finished unloading the malted barley, I picked it up with my little hands and encouraged myself to chew it. I’ll never forget that unique taste – it’s like a sweet crunchy cookie with a very special aroma similar to baked cereal. From there I was very captivated by the world of beer”Add.

The beggining

Esteban indicates that 20 years later he can affirm that he and his father are passionate about making beer. “Together we add more than 55 years of experience brewing around the world. My father is the only Latin American to receive an award as an honorary member of the prestigious Weihenstephan beer university in Germany, which is part of the Technical University of Munich. Our passion for beer motivates us to contribute so that the beer culture in Peru develops in a positive way”, indicates.

On how Servus was born, the businessman reveals that it was a topic they talked about at night. They learned about new brewing technologies and they wanted this to be in Peru, providing a good product to Peruvians. So in 2019 they started with the project. “We flew to Germany together, visited several brewery machinery suppliers, bought the high-tech brewery machinery, and months later we were setting up our own craft brewery in Arequipa,” Stephen adds.

Currently, Servus is the only brewery in all of Latin America that is a promoting member of the German Slow Brewing Institute. “We have imported our state-of-the-art brewing machinery directly from Germany. Additionally, we brew our beers according to the German purity law, which originally dates back to 1516.complements.

craft beer

For Esteban and his father, making beer is a passion. “It motivates us to wake up every day to work in our brewery, cleaning the floors, carrying bags of malted barley, supervising production, creating recipes so that the quality of our products is always perfect.“, Add.

Servus promotes the slow production of beers with which the finished products are of a much higher quality. “We select our inputs in a special way. For example, malted barley, malted wheat and hops are imported directly from Germany. We know that this results in higher production costs but we are committed to always maintaining our high quality standards.”complements.

Good flavor and body

For the Servus team, the secret is in “understand that making beer is a science and not just an art”. “There are more than 400 biochemical reactions that have been identified during the brewing process and a brewmaster must master these reactions in order to perfectly balance the flavors and body of the beers.”, indicates Esteban.

craft beer “It is produced slowly and is usually not filtered or pasteurized which maintains the freshness of the beer.”. As they indicate, for a craft beer to be good, it must contain top-quality ingredients, specific yeast strains must be used for each style of beer that is brewed, different varieties of hops must be used for each recipe that is brewed, and treated water must be incorporated. specific way for each variety of beer.

The varieties they offer

Currently, Servus has 5 varieties, each with a different personality:

• Servus Trigo has 5% alcohol and 12 IBU of bitterness. It is refreshing par excellence with fruity and clove aromas.
• The Servus Lager has 5% alcohol and 20 IBU of bitterness. It achieves a perfect balance between aromas of malted barley and freshly baked bread.
• The Servus Ale has 5% alcohol and 25 IBU of bitterness. It has a fresh aroma of geraniums with citrus notes of lime and peach.
• The Servus Fest has 6% alcohol and 25 IBU of bitterness. It has an intense character of malted barley and aromatic cereals.
• The recently launched Servus Dark Lager has 4.8% alcohol and 18 IBU bitterness. It has a black color and cream-colored head, light aroma of caramel malt, and moderate notes of roasted coffee and roasted malted barley.

To start in the world of beers

If you are a beginner or do not know much about craft beers, Servus has some recommendations to choose the right one. “It depends on the occasion of consumption and the taste preferences of each person. We have beers with relatively low bitterness to moderate bitterness and none of our beers are astringent because we use the best quality hops.“, Add.

“I would recommend everyone start with neutral beer varieties like the lager family beers and then try more aromatic beer varieties like the ale family beers.”, he concludes.

To culminate in 2022, Servus will incorporate a new variety of beers into its catalogue. “I can anticipate that our new beer will have 7% alcohol and a unique balance between bitterness and sweetness.”. indicates. Finally, they are planning to open their own tap room or bar soon.

Retail:

• Web: www.cbaperu.com
• Sales in Cusco, Arequipa and Lima: 989 602 615
• Instagram: @servusperu