AP--The Bogota Beer Company and another brewpub in Bogata, Colombia were brimming with customers on a Saturday night when rebels tossed hand grenades into the patios of the bars, killing one person and wounding 72.

The next day, Colombians holding candles and singing the national anthem flocked to the two bars to defy the rebels. But jitters soon led to a steep drop-off in customers.

A year later, the microbrewery business in Bogota has gone beyond a rebound. It is booming--more so than anywhere else in Latin America. Three more brewpubs have sprouted up, giving parts of this Andean capital of 7 million a flavor of London or the more recent beer haven Portland, Oregon.

"I have a passion for beer," Berny Silberwasser declares in an interview at one of his establishments as waitresses ferry pints of red ale, porter and beer to thirsty customers.

Bogota's unofficial brewpub king had modest beginnings as an entrepreneur.

The son of a German immigrant, Silberwasser opened his first business, a paintball field, fresh out of college seven years ago. That did not excite him, he said, since it didn't fit in with his passion for beer--stoked by his first taste of microbrew in California in 1994.

In 1997, after learning the trade at a brewpub in Atlanta, he invested in Bogota's first brewpub, Palos de Moguer. He left Palos four years later and with a partner opened The Pub, an Irish-style bar. Next, came the Red Lion in Bogota's trendy Parque 93 district.

In 2002, Silberwasser and his partner, English expat John Fox, bought used brewing equipment in Portland, OR, and shipped it down to Bogata.

The partners built a microbrewery in a gritty Bogota neighborhood and soon were serving their own beers at The Pub and the Red Lion.

"I had the know-how and we had two pubs going, so it really clicked," Silberwasser says.

Silberwasser then opened the Bogota Beer Company in 2003. But the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been battling the government for 40 years, almost proved to be the undoing of Silberwasser's bubbling business.

The Nov. 15, 2003, grenade attack--reportedly aimed at U.S. soldiers and contractors--came as Silberwasser was building a second Bogota Beer Company pub, and relying on profits from the first to help pay for it.

"The attack had multiple effects," recalls Silberwasser, 30. "The people of Bogota helped so much by coming out right after the attack. It was really emotional. But a few weeks later, customers began thinking twice about going."

Committed to building the pub but with expected revenues drying up, Silberwasser finally turned to a bank for help. After a few months--with no further attacks in the capital--people not only returned to the Bogota Beer Company pub that was attacked, but to the new one--and then to a third that Silberwasser built in Parque 93 this year.

For many, the pubs are a welcome change from the normal run of Bogota bars that feature loud dance music.

"I come here because of the atmosphere, to savor the beer and to talk," says Liza Pinzon, enjoying a glass with friends. "Places that have dancing are too loud for talking."

Silberwasser's brewpubs feature gleaming dark wood, brass and leaded windows. Signs--in English--offer "Handcrafted Beer." The music is a mix: The Doors, Tom Petty, U2, No Doubt. So is the clientele: young and old, Colombians and expatriates. The porter is rich, with hints of dark chocolate. The red ale is snappy with hops. The blonde beer is refreshing.

Customers have embraced the new beers--Silberwasser says 99 percent of the beer sold in the pubs is his own. But it is a niche market: Colombian beer giant Bavaria still controls 95 percent of domestic sales.

Palos de Moguer, the other brewpub attacked a year ago, recently opened a second outlet, giving Bogota a total of seven brewpubs.

Silberwasser next wants to expand the Bogota Beer Company--overseas if possible. Not content to sit still, in October he opened The Whisky House--Bogota's first bar featuring single-malts.

"We'll see if this takes off as well," Silberwasser says. "I think it will."

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