Antigua Cerveza
By: Daniel P. Smith | Categories: Alumni Interest
Though Guzman’s home country remained a rum-loving nation with no existing craft beer marketplace and neither he nor his partners knew anything about brewing, Guzman marveled at the possibilities.
After devouring homebrewing books, attending a one-week intensive brewing course in California, and devoting every Saturday to persuading the owner (Glenn Golden) of Jailhouse Brewing in Hampton, Ga., to let him work for free in exchange for learning how to brew, Guzman quit his investment banking job, convinced Spehn and Virgil to fund his living expenses—$1,500 a month—and began lobbying Guatemalan officials for a brewing license.
“We argued it was our constitutional right to brew and sell beer,” Guzman says.
After an arduous three-year quest, Guzman, Virgil, and Spehn launched Antigua Cerveza in 2017, wisely overcoming the lack of draft beer infrastructure in Guatemala by funding the installation of draft systems in restaurants and bars agreeing to serve its beer. In quick time, Guatemalans and tourists alike began enjoying award-winning Antigua Cerveza beers like the Muy Noble blonde ale and the Nectar de Jade, a seasonal barrel-aged stout.
Today, Antigua Cerveza brews upwards of 250,000 liters annually, including five staple beers, and rotating seasonal selections it then spreads to its four taprooms as well as some 150 restaurants and bars around Guatemala. Antigua Cerveza’s on-the-ground leader in Guatemala and its head brewer, Guzman says the company is investigating additional taprooms as well as expansion across Central America, ambitions propelled by about a dozen Georgia Tech alumni investors.
“Seeing people order our beer, take a sip, and smile, there’s just nothing like that,” Guzman says. “That will never get old.”
