The rich history of Cerveceria La Tropical can be traced back to Havana, Cuba in 1888. It is here where a Spanish immigrant family, Blanco Herrera, founded the brewery on the banks of the Almendares River, near a section of Havana known as the Kohly neighborhood, which was established by my great great grandfather,Federico Kohly, who ended up selling his lands to the new brewery venture. The brewery was Cuba’s first and now oldest brewery and became a symbol of Cuba’s golden era. La Tropical achieved international recognition as “La Gran Fabrica de Cerveza” or world renowned brewery. La Tropical, next to other Cuban icons such as tobacco, rum and music became the pride of Cuba. Everything came to an end when in 1960 the communist revolution nationalized the brewery and its owners fled to Miami never to return.
In 1998, I acquired La Tropical. And in 2021 after 23 years working as an executive in the food and beverage industry with companies such as Anheuser-Busch, AmBev and Burger King, I decided to open Cerveceria La Tropical in Miami, Florida, on the brewery’s 133rd year anniversary, as a tribute to Miami’s Latin/Caribbean heritage and its unique place as one of the world’s true exotic and fun cities.
Our beers are hand-crafted in small batches and infused with Latin & Caribbean influences; hot tropical rhythms; my love of sun and sea and lots and lots of fun! ©
Salud,
Manny Portuondo