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It sounds like material ripe for a bromance film: four college students – all childhood buddies – take an epic road trip together in the 1990s during Carnival to a Rio beach town and rent a separate truck just to transport their 800 bottles of beer. Fast-forward a few years: each eventually settles down and goes his separate way – a phone company executive, a tax lawyer, a law grad, a gourmet chef. But each lives a life outside of his ho-hum routine one – a second life that involves copious amounts of beer.

That’s why these four friends bought a 19th-century warehouse-turned-carpet shop, which they then turned into Botto Bar. The venue boasts 20 beer taps, the second most in Rio. (We hear that Copacabana bar Escondido, owned by a friend of theirs, now has 24.) Since there are way too many tanks of beer to be stored under the bar, each tap has a tube leading from it to a giant refrigerated space in a front corner of the restaurant, nicely disguised as a ceiling-high barrel of beer. The brick walls are original to the warehouse and were discovered when Botto’s founders sanded down the old white walls. The recycled wood in the bar comes in part from the reforms taking place across Rio’s historical Port Zone, meaning much of the material is more than a century old. The bar itself is in the Praça da Bandeira, known for its budding gastronomic scene, the working-class red-light district called Vila Mimosa and its short distance to Maracanã Stadium and the delightful Quinta da Boa Vista park.

Botto Bar's croquettes, photo by Lianne MiltonThe bar’s namesake, Leonardo Botto, is the law graduate and a home brewer. The bar has only been open since April 2013 but already won the title “best draft beer” from the newsweekly Veja. The founders say they want to introduce locals to the four great schools of beer brewing – Belgian, German, English and American – but also to the budding Brazilian microbrew scene.

André Goes, the telephone company executive, says that beer is having its trendy moment in Brazil, the way wine did 25 years ago and cachaça did 15 years ago. Brazilians are looking more for quality and diversity. He estimates that the country has 250 microbreweries, and the number is on the rise.

The owners switch up their beer menu, which lists imports, national microbreweries and Botto’s own inventions, on their continuously revised chalkboard. One of our favorite Brazilian options was the Three Monkies, a light and spritzy golden ale. We were mistrustful of Bamberg Rauch, which smells and tastes like bacon, but one of our fellow drinkers took the beer home in a plastic cup. We also recommend the Noi Amara IPA, made by Botto and his students in Niterói.

Botto Bar, photo by Lianne MiltonThe chef buddy is in charge of the food, naturally, and prepares dishes inspired by the national bar food favorites of each represented country. The “Tribotto” is their version of English fish and chips, and the wings picantes are an homage to that great American tailgating and trivia night classic. André Goes says one of the most successful dishes, though, is decidedly more Brazilian: beer-marinated beef croquettes with spicy mustard.

To complete the bro vibe, the bar is decorated with coasters and a large-screen TV shows local soccer games. Goes said it’s pretty much like their “Animal House” school days. “We’ve always liked beer since high school,” said Goes. “We put on the biggest barbecues.” It’s a bromance we can raise our glass to.

 
 
 
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Lianne Milton

Published on July 15, 2014

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