Cervecería Cristal
Santiago, Chile · Est. 1850
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Chile's best-selling beer, and the anchor of a beverage group that dominates almost everything Chileans drink.
The Beer Library
Beers
Cristal
Year-RoundPilsner
Registered by CCU in 1977 and launched the following year, this Cristal shares nothing with its Peruvian namesake but four letters and a country border. Two of South America's best-selling beers happen to be called the same thing, brewed by unrelated companies who never coordinated on it.
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Sources
- controlConfirmed
Cervecería Cristal is controlled by Founder / family.
CCU — SEC Form 20-F 2025 · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2026-05
PrimaryHigh reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-05Reviewed 2026-08-05
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Cervecería Cristal
- Who owns Cervecería Cristal?
- Cervecería Cristal is owned by Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU). Cervecería Cristal is based in Santiago, Chile.
- Is Cervecería Cristal still independent?
- No. Cervecería Cristal is owned by Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU) and is no longer independent.
- When was Cervecería Cristal founded?
- Cervecería Cristal was founded in 1850 in Santiago, Chile.
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