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Bavaria Brewery

Logo: Cervecería Bavaria y AB inBev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Colombian brewery company

Bavaria Brewery (Spanish: Cervecería Bavaria), formally known as Bavaria S.A., is a Colombian brewery company founded on April 4, 1889, by Leo S. Kopp, a German immigrant. In 2005, Bavaria Brewery became a subsidiary of SABMiller. Before the merger, Bavaria was the second-largest brewery in South America.2 It is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1889Founded1

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Sede Bavaria en Bogotá
Photo: EEIM, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Bavaria Brewery (Spanish: Cervecería Bavaria), formally known as Bavaria S.A., is a Colombian brewery company founded on April 4, 1889, by Leo S. Kopp, a German immigrant. In 2005, Bavaria Brewery became a subsidiary of SABMiller. Before the merger, Bavaria was the second-largest brewery in South America.2

Corporate structure

Bavaria Brewery is part of a group headed by Anheuser-Busch InBev. 72 entities, 29 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

In 1876, Leo Siegfried and Emil Kopp arrived in Santander seeking business opportunities. In 1879, with the brothers Santiago and Carlos Arturo Castello, they formed in Bogota the company Kopp y Castello, for the trading and importing of goods.

On April 4, 1889, the acquisition of a lot for the construction of a brewery was registered in Bogota. In 1890, the society Kopp and Castello was dissolved and was created the company Bavaria Kopp's Deutsche Bierbrauerei, which on 22 April of the following year recorded as factory image the German imperial eagle, and opened its headquarters in San Diego, downtown Bogotá, on 28 May.

In December 1911, during the centenary of independence, they used the figure of Policarpa Salavarrieta in their La Pola brand.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bavaria Brewery (Colombia), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • beer
  • malt beverage
  • water bottle

Listed on Wikidata.1

Bavaria's products are produced in six breweries located in different cities of Colombia, including Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Tibasosa, Medellín, Tocancipá and Yumbo. It also has two malteries, one in Cartagena and another one in Tibitó via Zipaquirá-Briceño, two labeling factories, and one tapas factory.

The national beers produced by Bavaria are Poker, Aguila Original, Aguila Cero, Aguila Light, Aguila Fusion Limón, Club Colombia Dorada, Club Colombia Roja, Club Colombia Negra, Club Colombia Trigo, Club Colombia Oktoberfest, Club Colombia Siembra, Azteca, Redd's, Pilsen, Costeña, and Costeñita. The imports it distributes are Corona, Budweiser, and Stella Artois. Their non-alcoholic drinks are marketed as Zalva Water, Pony Malta, Pony Malta Mini, Pony Malta Vital, Malta Leona, and Cola & Pola.

Beers

Águila (pilsner, 4% alcohol by volume)

Águila Light (pilsner, 3.5% alc. vol., light variant of the above)

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Brava (pilsner, 6.5% alc. vol.)

Club Colombia (pilsner, 4.7% alc. vol.)

Costeñita (pilsner, 4% alc. vol.)

Costeña (pilsner, 4% alc. vol.)

Leona (pilsner, 4% alc. vol.)

Pilsen (pilsner, 4.2% alc. vol.)

Póker (pilsner, 4% alc. vol.)

Other brands

Agua Zalva

Malta Leona (high-energy drink)

Pony Malta (energy malt beverage)

Cola & Pola (refajo)

From Wikipedia’s article on Bavaria Brewery (Colombia), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1889Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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