In March the Spain Beer Subscription takes us to Catalonia, a region that can boast of having everything: sea, paradisiacal beaches, mountains, fantastic skis, field with top quality products, etc. In addition, its culture and gastronomy are tremendously rich and provide us with delicious proposals such as calçots, escudella, butifarra, romesco, esqueixada, fricandó and sweets such as Catalan cream or panellets.

But if Catalonia stands out in anything, it is in the national craft beer scene, for being a pioneering and benchmark region. In this community, some of the first craft beer recipes in the country were produced and marketed, and there are some of the leading breweries of the Spanish craft movement, awarded on numerous occasions at a national and international level. We have selected 4 of them, some better known and with more volume, others more recent and with a lot of projection, but all with a top quality product to have an unforgettable beer experience.

FDL Project

FDL Beer Project was born from a hobby lived with passion and turned into a profession. The origin of everything was in 2013 when they opened Flor de Llúpol, "the most alternative brewery in Sant Andreu" with the aim of turning the hobby of a couple of entrepreneurs into a professional project. Its founders, Juanjo Figueroa and Lorena Bazán, managed to establish a beer paradise located in a corner of the center of Sant Andreu, in Barcelona. Now they continue the beer adventure with FDL, creating their own recipes, doing tastings, events, etc.

From FDL Beer Project we have selected its two beers, several times awarded, the Comrade Belgian Dubbel and the Pirouette Belgian Tripel:

• Pirouette Belgian Tripel: Amber colored beer with a clean appearance, with white and creamy foam. Aromas of ripe white fruit, spices, vanilla and toffee. On the palate, a silky texture with a medium body and a sweet entry that evolves towards a pleasant dry nuance. Bronze medal at the 2019 Barcelona Beer Challenge.

• Comrade Belgian Dubbel: mahogany-colored beer with a creamy beige head, in aroma you will appreciate hints of caramel and notes of ripe red fruit. These nuances that you will notice when you smell it, integrate perfectly with its flavor: with a sweet touch at the beginning, which evolves towards a balanced taste.

Spike

“From Sant Llorenç d’Hortons to your fridge”. Espiga was born from the passion to create a different, natural and local beer. Arnau Rovira, the head brewer, and Teresa Galván, the director of management and sales, jointly started the project in 2012, after their international experiences in Denmark and Germany. Starting out as nomadic brewers, making room in bars, fridges and beer fairs; They soon made the leap and opened their factory in Sant Llorenç d'Hortons. After eight years giving life to beers full of life, and with a team that has expanded to eight workers, the brewery continues to grow, it has a production capacity of 2,000 hL per year, distributing throughout Spain, while they export to other European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Norway, France, Italy, Serbia, the United States and Russia.

From Espiga we have chosen two beers, their Blonde Ale and the English Pale Ale both winners of the Gold Medal in the 2021 National Beer Championship:

• Blonde Ale: a clear blonde beer, with fine and abundant bubbles that make up the white foam that crowns it.⁠ With 4.5% alcohol, it gives off herbal, citrus and fruity aromas that, together with a light body and cheerful carbonation, provide accessibility and increase the refreshing sensation of the liquid. It concludes with a dry, pleasant and moderately bitter finish.⁠

• English Pale Ale: attractive amber hue with reddish reflections and creamy ocher foam, with different aromatic nuances of malt, reminiscent of bread crust, grain or toasted caramel as well as earthy, floral and herbal notes typical of traditional hop varieties. On the palate, it has a light body and moderate carbonation, pronouncing the earthy and bitter character, hints of chocolate and spices.

The Pirate

La Pirata Brewing is one of the most traditional breweries on the national scene. Created in 2012, the brewery began its production in homemade batches at home and “Pirata” was born. After 3 years also brewing beers as nomads, on October 10 they inaugurate their own facilities in Súria. La Pirata has earned its fame thanks to a wide selection of beers, among which the darker styles (Imperial Stout) and those in which the protagonist is hops stand out. In 2014, La Pirata won two bronzes at the Global Craft Beer Awards 2014 in Berlin, in 2015 they won the Best National Beer Award 2015 at the Fira del Poblenou; in 2016 they won for the second consecutive year, the Prize for the Best National Beer 2016 at the Fira del Poblenou. In addition, in 2019 La Pirata won the award for Best Brewer of the Year at the Barcelona Beer Challenge for achieving the highest number of medals.

To create its beers, La Pirata has a top-quality team imported from the United States that, added to the knowledge of its brewers, allows them to achieve the quality that we demand in their beers.

For the selection of the month we have chosen their Sansa Amber Ale and Hard Decision Oatmeal Stout, the two distinguished with the Gold in the Barcelona Beer Challenge of 2019:

• Sansa Amber Ale: a classic Amber Ale where hints of malt mingle with hops. Fair bitterness, well balanced between its alcohol content and body. Malt and hop bitterness are balanced and mutually supportive, but can vary either way. Caramel sweetness and hop flavor/bitterness that can linger to a medium to full finish.

• Hard Decision Oatmeal Stout: beer that is based on the evolution of the acclaimed and award-winning LAB001, a real treat for the most delicate and demanding palates. With extreme creaminess and absolute density, it is the perfect dessert that will last until after dinner. Coffee, glass and cigar brewed.

La Guineu

“Guineu is an attitude and a way of understanding life that distances us from standards and conventions.” The origin of the brewery dates back to 2006 as a small company located in Valls de Torroella (Bages), where machinery for brewing beer was manufactured. Since 2008 and today, La Guineu has been making its own recipes, always seeking to make the best beer for everyone, seeking to explore, experiment and discover diverse and highly intense tastes. The name of the La Guineu brewery, comes from the fox in Spanish, an animal deeply rooted in the forests, which the brewery is identified by its daring and mischievous character, because it takes care of its own, but at the same time it is a free soul. "It's an animal of the world, like us!" declare.

For the selection of the month we have chosen their IPA Amarillo IPA and Blat de Sac Weisse:

• Yellow IPA IPA: American-style blonde IPA with a light body and creamy head, and a powerful but balanced. Long, dry bitterness. Recipe with 4 hops where Yellow stands out, both in flavor and aroma. This beer is made with Amarilo hops, which are characterized by having a very powerful citrus aroma. Bronze Medal at the Barcelona Beer Challenge 2021.
• Blat de Sac Weisse: Classic wheat beer. Along with the classic aromas of a wheat beer, we find that of hops. In the mouth, the sweetness of the wheat is noticeable, but this does not hide the herbal hops used in this recipe. It is a light beer with a low alcohol content.

ESPAÑA CERVECERA SUBSCRIPTION, your Spanish craft beer club

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