# Dominican Republic

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country/do/info

- Local name: República Dominicana
- Caps in the collection: 19 (https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country_caps/166)
- Brands: 8

## Beer in Dominican Republic

Beer reached the Dominican Republic as an import. Through the 19th century the island's drinks were chocolate, ginger, coffee, mabí and cane spirit; a brewery concession of 1882 found no investor, and the American Simon J. Flatow's New Jersey and San Domingo Brewing Company, with its brewery in Calle La Misericordia in Santo Domingo, sold Cerveza Nacional only from July 1893 to the end of 1897. Imports meanwhile grew from 372,000 litres in 1909 to almost 1.7 million in 1929, mostly strong German beers.

The lasting brewery was Cervecería Nacional Dominicana (CND), formed in Santo Domingo on 11 March 1929 by the New York businessman Charles H. Wanzer with American and Dominican partners, with hops from Czechoslovakia and the German brewmaster Henry C. Gronau. Its beers were Colón (1930) and Reina (1931), then in 1935 the pilsener-type Presidente, which replaced Colón at once. The present plant on the Carretera Sánchez (Avenida Independencia) was built in 1950 and opened in 1951; a Colonial Zone guide says beer outsold rum for the first time in 1950. A rival, Sociedad Cervecera Antillana, opened in January 1949 with La Dominicana and Cibao, two labels of one softer beer; CND took it over in 1952 and closed it within two years, keeping its Malta Morena brand.

In La Vega, Cervecería Vegana (CERVESA) was created in 1975 with the capital of Casa Bermúdez and launched the Quisqueya pilsener on 24 September 1975; it later added Dry (1990), Guinness under licence (1993) and, with Labatt, Soberana (1996), and now lives mostly on Malta India. A second large company, Cervecería Bohemia, was founded on 23 June 1979 by the cigar maker E. León Jimenes with Miller's support; a dismantled brewery of 100,000 barrels a year from Alaska arrived in mid-1981, and it opened on 14 February 1983 with Bohemia and Löwenbräu, adding Heineken under licence in 1984-85. At the end of 1985 E. León Jimenes and Heineken bought 92% of CND, and Bohemia became its subsidiary in 1988. Ambar, the first dark lager, followed in 2002 and Presidente Light in 2005.

Ambev entered in 2004 by buying the Pepsi bottler Embotelladora Dominicana and built a brewery at Hato Nuevo, west of Santo Domingo, for over US$100 million; it began selling Brahma on 16 August 2005. In April 2012 E. León Jimenes and Heineken sold Ambev 51% of CND for US$1.237 billion; the two companies merged on 1 December 2014 as Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, and on 18 January 2018 Ambev raised its stake to about 85% for another US$926.5 million. CND then added 144 million litres a year at Hato Nuevo (2016, over US$43 million), a can line of 957,000 hectolitres (October 2020) and a logistics hub in Santo Domingo (October 2025); in 2023 it held a little over 90% of the market.

Craft beer came late. The craft brewers' association ACAD was formed in 2015; by January 2019 more than 20 craft brands existed and Santo Domingo Brewing Company, a contract brewer of 72,000 litres a year, counted 12 breweries with permits. Cañita, launched in January 2017 as the beer of Punta Cana, has been brewed there since 2020, and La Cacata Brewing Company opened in Santo Domingo around 2020. The tax office's list of 20 May 2026 names 25 beer-making licences: 14 current, 4 lapsed and 7 ceased. Beer exports were worth US$8.84 million in 2024.

Sources:
- [Historia de la cerveza dominicana, after Roberto Cassa (2013)](https://vacacionesenrepublicadominicana.blogspot.com/2013/10/historia-de-la-cerveza-dominicana.html)
- [Diario Libre: Historia de una fria](https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/lecturas/historia-de-una-fria-FJ4649016)
- [La Aurora (E. Leon Jimenes): History](https://www.laaurora.com.do/historia/?lang=en)
- [Colonial Zone DR: Cerveza / Beer and Vino / Wine made in Dominican Republic](https://www.colonialzone-dr.com/products-beer_and_wine.html)
- [elDinero: AmBev Dominicana y sus 39 marcas (2015)](https://eldinero.com.do/10530/ambev-dominicana-y-sus-39-marcas/)
- [Diario Libre: Ambev and the Dominican National Brewery Co. include the merger (2014)](https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/ambev-and-the-dominican-national-brewery-co-include-the-merger-EJDL891511)
- [inside.beer: AB InBev buys additional 30% in CND (2017)](https://www.inside.beer/news/detail/dominican-republic-ab-inbev-buys-additional-30-in-cnd)
- [Ambev: Form 6-K, 18 January 2018](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001565025/000129281418000172/ambevsa20180118_6k.htm)
- [elDinero: La CND invierte US$43 millones en la ampliacion de su fabrica de Hato Nuevo (2016)](https://eldinero.com.do/33079/la-cnd-invierte-us43-millones-en-la-ampliacion-de-su-fabrica-de-hato-nuevo/)
- [elDinero: Cerveceria presenta innovadora linea de latas (2020)](https://eldinero.com.do/124991/cerveceria-presenta-innovadora-linea-de-latas/)
- [elDinero: La Cerveceria apuesta a mas eficiencia con hub logistico (2025)](https://eldinero.com.do/340570/la-cerveceria-apuesta-a-mas-eficiencia-con-hub-logistico/)
- [elDinero: Industria cervecera dominicana abraza economia circular (2023)](https://eldinero.com.do/260388/industria-cervecera-dominicana-abraza-economia-circular-con-inversiones-millonarias/)
- [elDinero: La cerveza artesanal fermenta en suelo dominicano (2019)](https://www.eldinero.com.do/75684/la-cerveza-artesanal-fermenta-en-suelo-dominicano/)
- [elDinero: Canita, una cerveza de Punta Cana que se expande en RD (2017)](https://eldinero.com.do/36954/canita-una-cerveza-de-punta-cana-que-se-expande-en-rd/)
- [Revista Mercado: Hecho en RD, pensado para el mundo, Cerveceria Punta Cana (2025)](https://revistamercado.do/mercado_interviews/hecho-en-rd-pensado-para-el-mundo-la-vision-de-cerveceria-punta-cana/)
- [Good Beer Hunting: La Cacata Brewing Company (2021)](https://goodbeerhunting.com/b-roll-blog/2021/8/30/no-608)
- [DGII: Contribuyentes con licencia oficial de produccion y fabricacion de alcohol (2026)](https://www.dgii.gov.do/publicacionesOficiales/avisosInformativos/Documents/2026/07-26.pdf)
- [elDinero: Dominicanos celebran dia de la cerveza consumiendo mas (2026)](https://eldinero.com.do/375579/dominicanos-celebran-dia-de-la-cerveza-consumiendo-mas/)
- [Archontology: Dominican Republic, Polity Style 1821-2026](https://www.archontology.org/nations/dominicana/01_polity.php)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of the Dominican Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Dominican_Republic)

## Breweries (3)

- [Compania Cervecera AmBev Dominicana](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/2191.md) — 1 cap, 2005–2012
- [Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana C.A.](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/881.md) — 14 caps, 1929–
- [Cerveceria Vegana S.A.](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/1560.md) — 4 caps, 1975–