Catalonia Calling
- Limetree
- 19 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 7 minutes ago
Another European Beer Tour in the Books
It was new ground for the Ale Street gang – we still call ourselves that, even though the mothership, Ale Street News has been dormant for 8 years – Catalonia, Spain, and as usual we found a solid craft beer scene, some diamonds in the rough, and on this particular trip some spectacular offerings from the vine.
I have a 30-year travelogue with Greg Dennis and his company Short Hills Tours. The first 20 years were under the auspices of our craft beer newspaper Ale Street News. Now I work directly with Greg, but we have retained the same corps of travelers over the years. We don’t even advertise the tours any more, newbies come by word of mouth. We had three of our 34 on this trip.
In the beginning it was usually the beer paradise of Belgium, with the odd exception such as Prague/Germany or northern Italy. This year was the 30th anniversary of our first foray in 1996 (which I forgot to mention on our bus). We always changed up the itinerary before diving into Belgian beer treasures – an entry through the champagnes of France, or the ciders of Normandy, the grapes and grains of Germany, or an Amsterdam and Netherlands aperitif or digestif. Lately we’ve changed country completely. Last year beer and whisky in Scotland, the year before northern Italy, this year Spain.
Also, we used to travel in spring, April for Belgium’s renowned Zythos beer festival; the last two years it’s been July. It’s hot. Last year in Scotland the locals were gasping for air in the high 70s. This year we were with temps in the high 90s, even tipping into the 100s. Good beer drinking weather you might think, well if you can stay in the shade.
Catalonian craft beer has grown steadily over the past 20 years with now about 100 operating breweries. The hub is the Barcelona Beer Festival and the accompanying Barcelona Beer Challenge competition. We missed this year’s edition by a few months, but thanks to one of our travelers a few of us early arrivals caught a glimpse of the Catalonia craft beer scene as well as a sneak peak at some of the breweries we were to visit at the relatively small Pablenou beer fest which had been postponed a couple of weeks because of the start of the Tour de France.
As we have witnessed in other European countries, the influence of American craft beer is pervasive. In countries that do not possess an embedded beer culture, historically wine drinking cultures like Italy, France, or Spain, it seems craft beer culture has come directly from the US. In countries that have a long beer culture, the UK or Germany for example, the American craft culture has merged more gradually.
IPAs, mostly hazies, are ubiquitous; red ales and imperial stouts seemed popular in Catalonia. Their take on sours, at least the ones we tried, were on the fruity side, fruity smoothie as they call it. A typical line-up on our visits was Pils (or Mexican lager at one location), IPA, red ale (rye or imperial) and imperial stout.
The group’s thirst quencher off the plane was at the mega Damm brewery. Originating from Alsace, August Van Damm, established his brewery in Barcelona in 1876, adding rice to lighten his recipe for the Spanish palate. They own the taps in Barcelona and beyond; their 600-employee brewery is well positioned next to airport, port and highways. We tried a variety of their brews including Compot IPA lightly hopped with 8 different varieties.
After a tapas themed lunch at well-established Fabricia Moritz brewpub in Barcelona, we were whisked down the coast to our beach hotel with a stop at La Sitgetana brewery in Sitges. Considering the heat, La Meridien Ra turned out to be a great choice, and an unusual chance for our group to chill, a break from our normal incessant beerhunting, sipping sparkling Cava on the shores of the Mediterranean. Greg and wife Vicki had done their research well.
It was the grape that was our prey for the next couple of days. Atavus Priorat winery is located in the heart of the Priorat region, one of only two Spanish regions to hold elite DOC status. Granache and Carignan grapes hold sway here on the steep, slated-soil terraces, producing concentrated full-bodied reds. Our host Paloma Romeral lectured long and passionately about the winery she and her husband acquired a few years ago. She told us that some of their wines require grapes from 17 vines to make one bottle.
The Can-Bas Domini Vinicola, another single-vineyard classic, provided some historical context with an old Roman road passing through the vineyards. “The locals sold wine to travelers on this road 2,000 years ago,” our guide told us. We were invited into a 1,000-year-old chapel that had been restored on the grounds. Three whites and three reds comprised our morning tasting before departing for Codorniu Cavas, Spain’s largest and oldest sparkling wine producer.
The welcome center presented shades of Gaudi architecture, designed by one of his protégés. Stages were being set up for a large corporate event on the massive grounds. We descended into the cellars where an amusement-park-like train chuffed us through miles of tunnels, literally millions of aging bottles of Cava. Then a tutored tasting followed by lunch in the banquet hall with basically unlimited Cava.
We wouldn’t have minded staying underground as above ground the heat was becoming challenging. Still, one more brewery en route to our hotel – Espiga. In many of the small craft breweries we visited the production area doubles as taproom and air conditioning is scarce. But the beers from can and bottle were decent – blond, fruity gose, IPA and imperial stout. Snacks usually accompany the tastings, another Catalonian tradition.
Our hotel in Sant Fruitos des Bages was about an hour northwest of Barcelona. We were never that far from Catalonia’s capital and our bus returned to the city each night. Our destinations were not too far apart, good thing as there was no toilet aboard the bus. Although our hotel, had grounds to explore including an old monastery, most of us stayed inside or at the outdoor pool. And in the evening’s there were the World Cup soccer semi-finals.
Day 4, a tour highlight for some, a visit to the Montserrat Abbey in its spectacular mountain setting. Here within the basilica resides the famed La Moreneta, Black Madonna which shares patron saintage for Catalonia with Sant Jordi (Saint George). Funicular and hiking trails were closed due to forest fire fear, not that anyone was in the hiking mood with over 100 degrees in the shade. At least it was cool in the cafeteria and basilica.
Down the mountain in Suria we found La Pirata (Pirate)…and a surprise. Menno Olivier of De Molen fame in Amsterdam has relocated and partnered up with Aran, the brewery’s founder. They each have their own brands – La Pirata, and Menno is continuing De Molen’s barrel-aged tradition under his own name. From La Pirata we tried a Marzen, a hazy IPA and a delicious cherry fruity sour from the tank. From Menno, 9% saison and a pair of imperial stouts, one with raspberries, one aged in an Islay whisky barrel. 11 % beer in 100 degree heat? why not. For the hard core, a 15% braggot collaboration with a half dozen European breweries.
The craft beer trail back to Barcelona took us to Montseny, Sant Jordi and Almogaver breweries. All solid brewers, Montseny with a nice taproom and well-organized for tours with a seated brewery overlook area. Sant Jordi, a Catalonian pioneer, showed us their brewery, then walked us up to their restaurant for lunch. Spacious Almogaver Beer Democracy provided an entertaining speaker to illuminate 5 of their beers including a Helles Rauch smoked lager.
On the bus I had reminded our group that we were engaged in an exercise in citizen diplomacy (beer diplomacy if you like). “Remember, we are guests in this country, be nice.” And although the US may currently not be so popular with Europeans for political reasons, people were nice to us; we were treated with genuine hospitality and respect at every brewery.
When I asked one brewer if he exported to the US, he made a diplomatic reply, “Not currently, there is someone in the office who doesn’t like me…my wife told me, ‘Don’t do politics today.’”
The last day in Barcelona our cats were let off the leash, free to roam the sites of the city – Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral and fanciful La Pedrera building; colorful Boqueria market; La Rambla walk; and Parc Guell to name a few. In the evening we met up for a final hurrah at Garage Beer Co., hosted by lively couple, manager Stefano and Anastasia, a beer tour leader in her own right.
Stefano credited Steve Huxley, a Brit from Liverpool, for bringing craft beer to Barcelona and opening Garage Beer, which now has three locations in the city. Farewell dinner at El Velodromo, and toast at La Textile Collective, sayonaras all around, and see you next year, wherever we go, but maybe not in July!