Hocus Pocus DNA is the taproom of one of Rio's best-known craft breweries, at Rua Dezenove de Fevereiro 186 in Botafogo. The brewery started in 2014, and SindRio marked its tenth anniversary in 2024 as one of the city's most distinctive independent labels.
Who would love it: beer drinkers who want a rotating board of strong, well-made house brews. Who would hate it: anyone after a cocktail menu, because the program is built around taps, not spirits.
The gastrobar leans rustic, with brick walls, exposed timber beams, and long communal tables. Fourteen taps run the wall, six pouring Hocus Pocus beer and the rest given to guest breweries, so the board changes week to week.
What to order: a house IPA off the core range, a guest pour to compare, and a plate of the kitchen's street-food bites such as the croquettes built to match the beer. Prices sit in the mid range for Botafogo.
Best time to go is a midweek evening, when the taps are fresh and the room has space at the bar. Weekends fill the communal tables and the board turns over faster.
It is a fixed point on any Rio beer crawl. See it set against the city's taprooms in our guide to the best craft beer bars in Rio de Janeiro, and find more Rio de Janeiro craft beer.
