Spanish Craft Beer Finds in Madrid and Santiago de Compostela

I love drinking good beer. I love traveling to Spain. However, those two don't mix together well, since as we all know, Spain is wine country. Sure, I love Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Rueda, but I knew that at some point on my trip I'd be craving for a tasty, flavorful Spanish craft beer. No offense, but Mahou, San Miguel, and Estrella Damm need not apply.

What to do? Like any diligent food tourist, I devoted a lot of time and effort in doing my research, i.e. I googled "craft beer Madrid", and presto, this article "Madrid craft beer revolution" by a local food blogger popped up, and voila - problem solved!

Fabrica Maravillas

Using the article as my compass, the first stop was Fabrica Maravillas, a popular brewpub in the Malasana district, and by happy coincidence, only a few minutes walk from my hostal. The place is a bit small, consisting of a bar as you enter, and a few tables to the side. Gleaming tanks holding the beers being brewed on-site are visible. Fabrica Maravillas serves a rotating menu of 5 or 6 beers, and the staff are enthusiastic and knowledgeable in explaining each variety's flavor profile. Being pressed for time, only had the chance to try refreshing saison valverde. 

Only a couple of minutes away, also in Malasana, is Irreale. A long, narrow space with the bar deep inside, it offers 10 rotating beers on tap, along with numerous bottles from all over the world (I recognized some Belgian favorites, among others). I visited on a couple of occasions, and both times out of 10 draft beers, 2 were local Spanish craft brews so I opted for those. And boy, they didn't disappoint...the porter from a brewery in Toledo, and the pale ale from El Pedal (also based in Madrid) were pretty good, as well as the black IPA from Navarra. (I forgot to take down names of the breweries, sadly).  

On one visit, a fellow patron sitting at the bar beside me started asking the bartender about other craft beer options in Madrid. Sensing a fellow beer enthusiast, and seeing as they had difficulty communicating, I volunteered to translate, and also chipped in my tiny bit of knowledge gleaned from the article. The guy was visiting from Norway, and had walked around Madrid for hours, looking for bars serving more than the usual suds. I circled Fabrica Maravillas on the map for him, as well as La Tape, which I didn't get a chance to visit. Nothing like bonding over a beer and sharing info with like-minded tourists.

Lastly, and this also goes under the classification of good fortune, upon finishing my Camino de Santiago hike in Santiago de Compostela, I spent a day sightseeing around town, eating pulpo, navajas, and anchoas, and guzzling all the albarino and godello humanly possible. What I didn't expect was to stumble upon a newly-opened craft beer shop a mere five minutes from my hotel - La Atlantica Beer Shop.

Having opened just over the summer, La Atlantica offers a lot of international beers, as well as local craft beers, mostly from Catalonia and Galicia. The owner is quite friendly, and with my serviceable Spanish we managed to chit-chat about different beers, and I eagerly quizzed him about the burgeoning craft beer scene in Spain. 

He admitted that the best craft beers in Spain came from Catalonia, but that Galicia is currently on the upswing. Although the shop is quite spacious, there isn't an area for imbibing; however, in addition to the bottles displayed on the shelves, there were a few local brews inside a small refrigerator. 

Figured I might as well try the hyper-local Galician beers which he gladly opened - Keltius Mosteiro, a strong dark ale brewed just down the road in Ourense by recently-established Keltius, and Menduina's Imperial Stout called Demo Neghro, brewed in Pontevedra. Both were outstanding interpretations of their respective styles, and much to my liking. So, beer lovers out there, there is hope for finding good brews in Spain - although it takes a bit of looking - and hopefully they will become more numerous and mainstream in coming years. That's something we can definitely raise our glasses and drink to! 

For a more comprehensive list of Spanish craft beer, check out Birrapedia.

Great Belgian Beer bars in NYC

Where to find Great Belgian Beer in NYC 

 
After years of barely drinking any beer (and not having much liking for the watery light beers that were my default options), I've become obsessed with Belgian beers since last year. 

The catalyst for this transformation was my trip to Belgium, where my friend Luc introduced me to the wide variety of Belgian beer styles - lambic, geueze, dubbel, tripel, Flemish ales - culminating in the highlight of my week-long trip - a visit to St. Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, where the namesake delicious Trappist beers are brewed.  Quite a treat for this beer novice considering that the much-coveted Westvleteren 12 is hard to find even in Belgium. In New York City, forget about it. 

Anyway, a year has passed since that trip, and I've been tasting more Belgian beers either by buying them at the liquor store (Whole Foods Bowery is particularly outstanding), or at the Belgian beer bars/restaurants in NYC (The Belgian Room, Vol de Nuit, Petite Abeille, Resto) or at outstanding bars in general (The Ginger Man). If I see a Belgian beer I haven't tasted before, most likely it will be purchased on the spot or placed on the "must try" list. 


Whenever I talk to people and mention Belgian beers, quite a sizeable number of them have this concept of "Belgian beer" as the mass-produced InBev brews like Leffe, Hoegaarden, and Stella Artois. If that's what you like, then nothing wrong with that. However, especially in New York City there are many more brands available, being served at a ton of bars and restaurants, so here are a few recommendations  on where to find great Belgian beer in NYC. 

Westvleteren: The Hunt for the "Best" Belgian Trappist Beer

Where to find Great Belgian Beer in NYC 

When I landed in Brussels for a week-long vacation, I was a certified Belgian and Trappist beer (brewed inside monastery walls, though not necessarily by monks) novice, but my friends Luc and Carl wasted no time in indoctrinating me about the various styles of Belgian beer - lambic, kriek, gueuze, Trappist, tripel, dubbel, Flemish reds, etc etc. - and of course we spent quite a lot of time tasting all these "liquid gold", including a particularly hilarious experience at Dulle Griet bar in Ghent.

Through sheer luck, I was able to participate in the annual Belgian Beer Weekend at the Grand Place in Brussels - it was amazing: fun atmosphere, hundreds of different Belgian beers available, and surrounded by incredible architecture. Travel memories should all be like this.

Even though I had done some Lonely Planet guidebook reading about Trappist beers, I hadn't really tasted any prior to my trip except for Chimay. I was particularly intrigued to sample Westvleteren, the rarest among all Trappist beer and voted as the "best beer in the world" (we know how meaningless these "best of" lists are) by a website a few years ago. This honor simply resulted in more people driving through the Belgian countryside on the way to St. Sixtus Abbey in the town of Westvleteren. Pretty much the only way to get your hands on Westvleteren beer is to call the St. Sixtus abbey hotline and pick up a few cases (three cases annual quota), or relax at the nearby In De Vrede cafe and drink all afternoon.

So, when Luc and Carl suggested a road trip to Westvleteren, even a Trappist beer newbie like me realized this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and quickly replied, "Sure. When?". Our adventure (pictures here!!) commenced the next day from Ghent, and within a couple of hours we were outside the abbey, taking videos of the abbey workers loading cases into customers' trunks (lucky bastards), and then drinking Westvleteren 12 and Westvleteren Blonde at In De Vrede. At the small shop inside the cafe, I also bought a Westvleteren glass and even some Trappist shampoo (which didn't work out too well)!

And yes, Westvleteren 12 is an incredibly delicious beer. I savored each sip, trying to prolong the sensation on my taste buds. Although most of the Trappist beers are available stateside, Westvleteren is the exception. The monks frown on their cherished product being sold commercially, unfortunately. (Having said that, on two occasions I've tasted Westvleteren in NYC, but the beer came from the establishment owner's personal collection). Most Belgian beer enthusiasts can only dream of tasting the trio of Westvleteren beers (Westy 12, Westy 8, and Westy Blonde), but thanks to my friends, I had stumbled upon the Holy Grail just like that (or at least it felt like that). Lucky Belgian beer newbie me. A votre sante!

P.S. Click here for a few recommendations for great Belgian beer bars in NYC.

Belgian Beer - simply the best!

Note: A slight change in scenery. This post is from my recent trip to Belgium.

I admit, before my trip to Belgium I only had a passing knowledge about Belgian beers. Mainly the brands I see at the liquor store - Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, that's about it. (For some reason i actually assumed Stella was a British import). However, after a week going around the country drinking at different pubs with my friends Luc and Carl, highlighted by our visit to St. Sixtus abbey in Westvleteren, I have seen the light.

Beer is to Belgium as wine is to France. Beer drinking culture pervades this tiny country of 10.6 million people, with 150 breweries producing about 800 different types of specialty beer ranging from the world-renowned Trappist (brewed by monks inside monasteries), lambic (“wild” beers produced by spontaneous fermentation), and kriek (lambic beer mixed with cherries, a “ladies” beer), to mention a few.

In short, Belgians appreciate variety and high quality stuff, and despite the relatively high alcohol contents of their beers they rarely drink to excess nor get drunk.

One of the highlights of my week-long trip in Belgium was sampling a wide variety of their home brews with my friends Luc and Carl, both of them beer connoisseurs whose houses are equipped with beer cellars. Their precious bottles reside there awaiting to be popped open on some unknown date for a special occasion.

Thanks to these two beer masters who served as drinking buddies and teachers, my beer adventures were loads of fun (as you shall see), and my crash course in Belgian Beer 101 ensures that I will never order a Bud Light again. Ever. Nor a Heineken ("80% Marketing, 20% Beer", sniffs Carl).

Follow our adventures in this beer slide show that I created. Note that each beer comes in its own distinctive glass with its own logo. Serving a Westmalle in a Chimay glass is guaranteed to incur the wrath of Belgian beer fans. Drinking from the bottle (as we do here) is an even bigger no-no. No plastic cups, por favor.

Pictured: Kwak beer served in its distinctive tall round bottomed glass, held in place by a wooden stand. Read a fantastic anecdote about this drinking adventure here.