Barcelona, the beer mecca
Until a few years ago, Estrella Damm, Moritz, and San Miguel were almost the only ones competing for the Catalan hospitality market. However, the beer sector has evolved. Today, the diversity of brands is evident in the wide gastronomic offering. Local, national, and international beers… They all share taps, fridges, and shelves.
Based on the latest data from the Health Registry, we can see that the province of Barcelona is home to more than 50 breweries. New companies dedicated to beer production appear every year, a sign of the market’s expansion. Among the most emblematic craft breweries are Edge Brewing, Birra 08 and Garage Beer Co. The latter also has a brewpub, that is, a venue that brews and sells its own beer. The brewpub BlackLab BrewHouse also exemplifies this trend; other examples are Maestrò and NaparBCN (now closed).
As for breweries where you can enjoy the best and widest variety of beers, we can highlight BierCaB and Beer’linale. Likewise, the Scottish brewery BrewDog and the Danish brewery Mikkeller each have their own bar in Barcelona. Based on this setup, we can see that the city’s beer scene enjoys strong international recognition. The new concept of beer bar stands out for its rotating selection of brands. It’s not unusual to find a different beer on each tap every few days. As a result, every visit is unique.
The best restaurants have also embraced the craft movement and now offer quality beers to their diners on a daily basis. Chivuo’s and Mosquito are some of the restaurants that are committed to including craft beer in their gastronomic offering. Other types of hospitality businesses, such as the café-bistro OMA Bistró, have joined this trend that puts quality beer in the spotlight.
Part of Barcelona’s beer scene is found in its shops. There are venues where, in addition to buying beer for our pantry, we can also drink it on site. La Cervecita, Flor de Llúpol and 2D2Dspuma are good examples of this type of business. Of course, Barcelona also has other services linked to the beer industry. Install Beer sells and distributes technical equipment. Salva Marimon provides specialized technical service, while Brew Home offers courses and workshops. In the field of marketing and design, Oh my Beer handles these areas. There are several homebrewing associations such as the Club Maillard.
What’s undeniable is that the Catalan capital hosts the country’s biggest event: the Barcelona Beer Festival, held every year in March. It is undoubtedly a must-pilgrimage for beer lovers. National and international brands come together to present their products. In the warmer months we also find the Mash! Festival in September and La Fira del Poblenou, held in July. In Barcelona, every month you can find a small craft beer fair in one of its districts or neighborhoods.
We can therefore understand that Barcelona is one of the cities where the craft beer sector has developed the fastest; more and more specialty venues are opening, such as Hopposite, Hoppiness, CocoVail, etc. The spread of a new cultural concept around craft beer has taken root in the Catalan capital. The Catalan province is the new stronghold of “craft,” and Barcelona is gaining prominence on the European scene.
