Where Medellín's craft beer scene grows up
Campo Abierto — "open field" in Spanish — does exactly what the name promises: a sprawling garden bar on a quiet Laureles street, open to the sky, with 28 rotating Colombian craft beer taps and zero pretension. This is where the city's engineers, teachers, designers, and music producers drink on weeknights. It is not the place to take clients or to impress a first date; it is the place to drink well, spend very little money, and understand how the city's booming craft beer industry has changed what a neighbourhood bar can be.
The bar was founded in 2019 by two homebrewers from Laureles who grew frustrated with the lack of serious Colombian craft beer venues outside El Poblado's cocktail-bar corridor. Their tap list rotates weekly and draws exclusively from Colombian producers: 3 Cordilleras from Medellín, Apostol from Bogotá, Tres Lunas from Manizales, and a rotating guest slot reserved for one microbrewery per week that the owners personally visit and vet. No international imports on the draft list. The philosophy is local, always.
The food programme leans into Colombian street food tradition: arepas stuffed with hogao and cheese, mazorca with butter and salt, bandeja paisa elements served on small plates for sharing. Nothing costs more than COP 22,000 ($5). The kitchen is designed to fuel rather than impress, which is exactly right for a bar that understands its purpose is the beer in the glass and the conversation at the table.
The garden occupies a converted house lot: high walls strung with Edison bulbs, tropical plants in concrete planters, wooden picnic tables on gravel, a corrugated iron roof over the bar itself as insurance against the afternoon showers. The whole setup has the quality of a great neighbourhood find — like stumbling across a perfect bar in Porto or Lisbon that has no online presence and 40 regulars who share a secret. Campo Abierto has since accumulated an Instagram presence and a reputation among Medellín's expat community, but the Laureles neighbourhood crowd remains the core.
On weeknights the energy is relaxed and conversational. On Friday and Saturday nights a local band sets up in the garden corner — cumbia, vallenato, salsa, or local indie depending on the booking — and the energy shifts toward something more festive. No cover charge, no advance tickets. You either show up and get it or you arrive late and miss the last bar stool.
Campo Abierto is the bar for people who find El Poblado's cocktail strip a bit performative and Parque Lleras a bit expensive. The Laureles neighbourhood has developed into one of Medellín's most interesting residential zones — a mix of long-standing professional families, young creatives moving out of El Centro, and international residents who want city life without tourist prices. The bar draws all of them. A table of architects and one of hostel workers drink within 3 metres of each other on any given Wednesday.
For a full Medellín craft beer day: start at Pergamino in Laureles for coffee and then filter into the beer garden at Campo Abierto from late afternoon. For the cocktail side of the city, El Social and Alambique remain the standards. For the full picture, see the Medellín bar guide. For more on the global craft beer scene, our editors recommend also exploring our craft beer category.
Campo Abierto is the most honest bar in Medellín: no tourist positioning, no cocktail theatre, no prices designed for visitors on a strong exchange rate. Just 28 taps of excellent Colombian craft beer, an open sky, and a neighbourhood crowd that knows exactly what it wants. For anyone who has spent too many nights in El Poblado and wants to drink where the city actually lives, this is the answer. Take the metro, get off at Estadio, walk 8 minutes, and let the 3 Cordilleras do the rest.