1

Yep, Brazil is more expensive than most countries in the Souther Europe and most countries in the world...quality not always follows the price too.

2

Yeah, Brasil is a fantastic place to visit. I love the country. But it is staggeringly expensive. And considering what your paying for, you don't always get the same quality.

3

Not the only place where this is happening..

The traditional 'most expensive parts of the world' like Europe and Japan are being caught and overtaken by places like Brazil,Russia and Australia.....

4

Argentina can be chucked in their too. Its not far off Brazil in terms of prices.

5

#3 True, Brazil still seems cheep and great quality if you compare it to Australia.
In those days places like USA offer great value for a buck, so travellers from there might feel disappointed , as most things are cheaper back home.

6

Depends on what you're evaluating. I went to Italy and I was surprised by the prices in most of the restaurants. Very expensive, in my opinion.

7

Good restaurants are expensive in Europe in general, much more than eg USA (but there is not 15-20% customary tipping absurd over there). Accommodation on the other hand costs much less than Brazil and quality is far superior.

8

Brazil has long been expensive, and that takes many tourists by surprise. . Inflation is at least far less than it was when I first worked in the country (mid-90s), but it is starting to increase again, and the "booming" economy slowing down. Real-USD exchange rate is pretty steady at a bit over 2:1. Import duties have always increased prices. Cars imported to both Brazil and the U.S. can cost twice as much, or more in Brazil. Gasoline costs more in Brazil than in the U.S., where people complain more about its cost.

Most of the beer in Brazil is weak (a la Budwesier, which apparently is now brewed in Brazil along with its sister beer Antarctica). You can find some good ones, but most are harder to find than the pilsner watery brews.

Not discouraging anyone from vistiing Brazil, but they need to be prepared for, overall high costs (and they can still find bargains in food, etc.).

9

#8 Yeah, most beer in Brazil is simply piss. People like it like this. Bohemia is tolerable, but it's still just a lager. No way of getting nice ale, IPA, hefe...US is so much different, it's is a beer drinker paradise those days. Not as good as Belgium, but still great.

10

Indeed, the prices of accomodation are very high in Brazil. And I'm not even going to start talking about the absurd prices of electronics, cars, and other products that are inflated with 734798347834987 different taxes.

Gasoline in Brazil is cheaper than the world avarege, but still costs more than countries like US and Argentina, for example.

Most beers in Brazil are very light, I guess because of the heat. Try drinking a heavy beer in a 40 degree Summer!

11

That's true, in warm climates people prefer weak beers, but it doesn't have to be the lager all the time...Hefenweizen is awesome in the summer time, or any wheat beer in fact. Hoegaarden is a legend and it's bellow 5%, absolute summer brew.
Many nice things for the summer can be done, but mega-breweries don't really bother as people get used to drinking piss.
IPA tastes good in any weather IMO, maybe not heavy double IPA, but a regular one is a way to go. ;-)

12

Beer in South America is rather weak in general. There are some good microbrewies about (I didn't get to taste any in Brasil - if you have recommendations I'll try some when I'm there over summer). Down in Patagonia has some amazing beers. But you'll pay through the nose for them. I did stumble across my favoruite Australian Beer in Brasil - Coopers Pale Ale - and at the bargain price of $20 Reais, I decided to only have one of these and go back to drinking Brahma or Skol.

Accomm is pricey (20 AUD per dorm bed) and the quality is somewhat shocking. When you go to Peru for example, you can get a dorm for 10 bucks and an amazing bed/facilities. Not to mention, hot water. Which seems to be lacking in parts there.

It also depends on what you choose to do. Doing all the touristy things in Rio will set you back (I think its like 50 Reais to go to Cristo Redentor). When lying on the beach is free.

Its still an awesome country. And I'll still keep going back. But by god, it'll be bad come the Olympics/World Cup.

13

Well before you hit the microbreweries, there are a number of pretty good beers from the bigger makers to try. Bohemia pilsner is pretty widespread but they also produce a range of 'speciality beers' like Confraria, which is their abbey style beer. They also make quite an acceptable wheat beer too.

Some people swear by Itaipava. I wouldn't but I have been known to swear at it. I've been thinking about writing some free advertising copy for them. Alas all the punchy, pithy lines, like 'Porra!' or 'puta que pariu!' have been expropriated by the drinkers of Schin and Kaiser. I'm not sure that ' Itaipava, o sabor da urina' will work, although as tests have demonstrated if you put Ivete Sangalo in a revealing outfit on the ad, Brazilians will drink almost anything.

Devassa has become quite well known in Brazil and has picked up a number of international prizes. I still don't rate their India Pale Ale but it's still quite quaffable. The other beers are quite acceptable and increasingly common. Even some of the Bompreço supermarkets in Salvador stock it on their shelves. Their choperias in Rio are worth visiting.

It might have been the humidity but I very quickly developed a real taste for Cerpa in Belém. Not that easy to find outside of its home state but some of the boutique beer places in Rio have it. Very crisp and refreshing and I kept knocking them back.

I'm fond of Xingu Preta, allegedly the world's first black lager, as a opposed to a stout. Avoid most Brazilian malzbiers, they're usually as sweet as hell and quite vile.

Micros? Not been there but someone gifted me a couple of bottles from Colorado from Ribeirão Preto in SP. I quite liked the Demoiselle, it's a porter style. Like all such beers I think they're a little better suited to a cooler day. Their IPA was better than the Devassa imo I'd drink it again. I understand they also have a range of other good beers worth trying. One to look out for anyway.

Oddly enough, one of the 'micros' people rave about is Eisenbahn in SC and that's owned by Schincariol, makers of some of Brazil's worst beer. The Eisenbahn Lust, which is a champagne style beer is the one that seems to get all the buzz, personally it didn't do much for me but we're all different. I've tried their defumada and that was.. interesting. Not unpleasant but I'm unfamilar with this style of beer so probably not its best advocate.

The makers of Schin also own Baden Baden. Only one of theirs that I've tried was a Red Ale. If memory serves that was pretty good, I might trying digging out another bottle and seeing if my memory is correct.

There's a lot more out there but there's a few to get you started. Enjoy but just remember, always drink in moderation.

14

Thx for the intel, I see what I can find when I'm there...and don't let me start about Itaipava ;-) Still better than Skol IMO, if you can tell one horrible piss from another...