Birraire - Beer Blog

In which I meet Randy

2023-06-02T06:00:00.122+02:00

The 2023 edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival was held last weekend. Nothing strange, on paper: the eleventh edition of a major event, which is already part of the annual calendar of relevant events.

The change of venue meant a return to the city that was the origin of craft beer in this country, as well as a regrouping of the different initiatives that have appeared around the festival -i.e. Challenge and Innbrew–. Ingredients, all of them, that made it not just another edition.

Birraire Podcast - Round Table of the Barcelona Beer Festival 2022

2022-10-21T06:00:00.062+02:00

Photo by Dani Ruiz (CerveTV)

As a part of the X Barcelona Beer Festival, held on October 14, 15 and 16 at La Farga de l'Hospitalet, a new Round Table session was organised to continue with the time-honoured tradition of -almost- every edition of the festival.

A very topical topic: wild fermentation. For this, the invited speakers were some of the bestexponents of our local scene: Montse Virgili and Carlos Rodríguez -Ales Agullons-, Guillem de Lorenzo -Santa Pau Ales-, Quiònia Pujol -Lo Vilot-, Marc Baulida -La Calavera-, Dani Ruiz -La Salvatge- and Aleix Puig -Màger-. For the understanding of all those present at the session, it was held in Spanish.

Innbrew, present and future

2022-04-15T06:00:00.114+02:00

The first week of April had two dates circled with a red marker on the beer calendar, due to the celebration of the second edition of the trade fair Innbrew, and the first edition of a very promising event, Rustic & Wild. For today, let's focus on the former.

In its second year, this B2B event had the challenge of consolidating itself as a recurring professional meetpoint, after a first edition that proved the potential for a fair of these characteristics, but that, in the midst of a pandemic, it became more of a reunion than a fully functional trade fair.

In this sense, I summarise below a series of quick thoughts and reflections after following the event both remotely and in person:

Birraire's Golden Pints 2021

2022-01-03T06:00:00.259+01:00

In spite of my pessimism about the state of the local beer blogosphere, I still firmly believe in the role that blogs can play as a fundamental piece for the dissemination and quality discussion in an environment open to all audiences.

To avoid settling into perpetual criticism and start leading by example, I hope to resume blog activity a bit this year, also as part of a return to good habits that I have definitely lost due to the pandemic and excess work, the combination of which has led me to a terribly monotonous kind-of-monastic life.

To begin with, I would like to recover a decade-long initiative that started in the international blogosphere: the Golden Pints awards, which every blogger assigns to beers, establishments or projects that they feel deserve to be praised.

Concentration

2020-11-23T13:00:00.077+01:00

It feels good to hit the 'publish' button again after an uneventful period. Despite a remarkably active start this year, I suppose that I was finally caught up in the depression and standstill inherent in the sector given the current social and economic situation, as well as the burden associated with my own work and family commitments, which have also undergone notable changes in this fateful year 2020.

The thing is that despite the fact that my main job is pure dynamism and adaptation to constant change, I have a high sensitivity to routine changes, the effects of which I do not transfer to my professional field, but which do affect me personally in the organisation of my free time. In this sense, the huge change that COVID-19 has meant has been painful for me to process. But by resorting to self-observation I have finally been able to unblock body and mind to be able to concentrate on carrying out certain pending projects, such as the book that I am working on, and that I hope to be able to publish during 2021.

Back of the Closet - May 2020, #BotCW summary

2020-06-03T06:00:00.002+02:00

So here's the summary post of the Back of the Closet Weekend -BotCW-, which as you know from the previous entries is a collective virtual event consisting of taking out beers that, for one reason or another, be it accidental or voluntary, have been waiting for their moment in the depths of our closets or cellars for some time.

After its celebration, I would like to highlight the satisfaction for the good reception that the event has had, with a very remarkable number of participants and beers. Although the most positive thing, in my opinion, is the generation of content and reflections around beer that it has triggered, sharing impressions and experiences, recalling past times when the local community online was a powerful source of disclosure, constructive discussion and thought leadership. Many of us miss it.

It is clear that this is a merely periodical amusement, although in the sense of the above there are reasons in my opinion to propose a new call within a few months. But there will be time for this: let's go for the summary of the current one.

Back of the Closet - May 2020, my #BotCW

2020-05-29T06:00:00.147+02:00

In line with what was commented in the previous post, the #BotCW is a collective virtual event consisting of taking out beers that, for one reason or another, be it accidental or voluntary, have been waiting for their moment in the depths of our closets or cellars for some time.

Happy to have recovered this tradition born in the blogosphere, but with an increasing weight in social networks, last Friday I set out to review my inventory of aged beers to choose several candidates and put them in the fridge. Of those chosen, I finally took four: all of them national, being my choice absolutely deliberate so as to highlight our breweries during these difficult times. In all cases, the aging was voluntary and not by mistake. Let's go see them.

'Satisfaction with the results of this prolonged aging, with an average of 76 months, and for the great reception of the event'

Back of the Closet - May 2020, #BotCW confinement edition

2020-05-18T06:00:00.058+02:00

In the current situation of confinement, a social recovery of old habits has been observed in different areas: from cooking certain foods at home to the production of all kinds of handicrafts or DIY jobs, as well as a reinforced feeling of community, which would be great if we managed to extend beyond this period of seclusion.

Along these same lines, I have being following with interest a timid but jolly resurgence of beer blogging, with the comeback of presumably deceased blogs, or a higher frequency of publication in some others.

Nobody asked for it -or maybe they did-, but following this trend of recovering customs and traditions, I am preparing to retrieve a small institution from the Spanish beer blogosphere of yesteryear. So let us give way to the confinement edition of the Back of the Closet Weekend, the BotCW -originally FFdA, for its acronym in Spanish-.

At Home #3 - America and the meaning of local

2020-05-15T06:00:00.081+02:00

At the end of 2013, during the celebration of Fes-t'hi beer festival in Vilanova i la Geltrú, two Americans -Scott and Alan- appeared all of a sudden announcing that they would open a brewery in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona. With the fascination for North American beer in full rise, the popularity that Edge Brewing managed to achieve as a project was such that it succeed in being the best rated new brewery at the Ratebeer Best 2014 awards -which used to be quite relevant-. Their totally avant-garde approach, with American-style recipes, various limited editions and high-voltage collaborations marked the beginning of what we now think of as normal.

'Paradoxically, Edge became a very powerful ambassador of Catalan and Spanish beer'

At Home #2 - Seasonal beer

2020-05-08T06:00:00.108+02:00

One of the brands you will easily find everytime in my fridge is Cervesa del Montseny, currently the oldest operating microbrewery in Catalonia*. If there is one thing I always highlight about them is the great adaptability they have shown, which has not only allowed them to survive these years in a highly dynamic scene with an initial approach that would not be valid today, but has allowed them to be among the most respected breweries thanks to the reliability of their products. Many of them aim for a certain wide reach of palates, but they also have a line of canned beers and collaborations with highly popular craft breweries to satisfy the most inquisitive consumers.

'Seasonal beers seem to have lost their appeal as a product with limited availability, due to the avalanche of weekly releases'

At Home #1 - On trends and styles

2020-04-24T06:00:00.000+02:00

With the present post I start a series -At Home-, with no determined duration or periodicity, with the will to write a bit more during this period of confinement due to Covid-19, while sharing some reflections that come to mind when I drink certain beers. The intention is that it serves as a quick read, to stimulate ideas, without becoming a compilation of extensive tasting notes, or leading to long musings. And, of course, with the aim of encouraging local beer consumption in these difficult times for our breweries. Let's go.

After confirming the confinement, quickly seeing the implications that it would have for the industry, one of the first things I did was ordering beer from La Pirata, one of the most strictly local breweries, being just a few kilometers from my home. No need to introduce these guys at this point, being one of the most popular breweries in the country, with wide and well-deserved recognition outside our borders. The unquestionable quality and soundness of their products make it possible to place large orders for the same beer without fear of finding any spoilt batches, or beer that is not up to expectations.

'Evolution, largely driven by trends, constantly redefines a dynamic reality that, in one way or another, we all try to express statically'

Self-identity - Views on the outcome of the BBC 2020

2020-04-17T06:00:00.000+02:00

The celebration of the Barcelona Beer Challenge -hereinafter BBC- awards ceremony, which until now had always been held during the weekend of the Barcelona Beer Festival, took place this past Wednesday and Thursday remotely, through YouTube Live, in response to the confinement limitations due to Covid-19.

Beyond the impact of the BBC at an international level, the relevance of this event for our industry, at national level, is undeniable. That is why I wanted to take the opportunity to sleep very few hours last night and make some reflections on the results. Let's go there.

Positive thinking - The three beers you wish to drink

2020-04-13T06:00:00.000+02:00

In these days of confinement I receive constant messages about how our life will be like after this situation. Leaving socio-economic and philosophical reflections aside, in terms of entertainment, some media have encouraged us to let our imagination loose and think, individually, what is the first thing we will do after spending a good number of weeks locked up at home.

From throwing uncontrolled parties and drying up bars, to visiting friends and family, craving after kisses and hugs. There are answers for all tastes. I think as I write but, in line with my calm disposition, I believe that my first day after confinement will be just like any other day: I am going to do just what I have to do. An ordinary day, only considering the fact that after a long time there will be no limit to my mobility, which will give me more possibilities. I guess I'll just work, and if I have some spare time I will spend it walking in the mountains. I am pure fun.

Barcelona Beer Festival 2020 - A quick guide

2020-03-02T15:00:00.000+01:00

After close to a whole year of work, we are in the final stretch to start the Ninth Edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival. Below I set out to summarise those key points to take into account to enjoy the Festival in its fullness, whether this is the first or the ninth time you join this great celebration of beer as a drink and cultural element.

Through the rearview mirror - highlights of 2019

2020-01-03T06:00:00.000+01:00

To start with some activity the year in which this blog will celebrate its tenth anniversary, I will proceed to briefly review some memorable beer moments of 2019, inspired by this publication in Original Gravity that I could read on these days of winter vacations.

Craft and local - with Jordi Sánchez Puig of Lupulina

2019-09-20T06:00:00.000+02:00

'I have intolerance to slackers. And to fascists'. With this forcefulness, Eusebi Sánchez replies to me after getting to know my own -food- intolerances. At 72, and after a lifetime of high physically demanding work, he is the most intense and tireless worker in Lupulina, a small family business in Cassà de la Selva dedicated to the cultivation of hops, founded by his son Jordi in 2013.

Graduate biologist, and 30 years younger than his father, in the midst of the past economic downturn he wonders why the raw materials used by local craft breweries, especially hops, come from foreign places. In light of that he decides to start a project to supply regular native products at reasonable costs, while promoting the local economy. Six years later, he dedicates all of his working time to his company, getting very few hours of sleep in summer. Of course, Eusebi cannot reproach him for anything.

‘The thing that makes a craft brewery different is its attitude, but also its raw materials'

Curated reads #2

2019-06-07T06:00:00.000+02:00

It was one week ago that we ended May, a month that will be especially remembered for the news -made public through a message in Beer Advocate- of the merger between two pioneering companies, symbols of American independent craft brewing: Boston Beer Company and Dogfish Head. With the large brewing multinationals unleashed, it is undoubtedly a defensive movement that, without knowing any details of the operation, seems to be beneficial for both parties: image for some, channeling for the others.

In praise of regular offerings

2019-05-10T06:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes it scares me to see how fast time goes by. It was at the end of 2017, that is a year and a half ago, when I published a tweet that for some reason I thought was far more recent. The fact is that after a year in which, as usual, I tried a lot of different beers, I found an unfortunate common pattern in many of them that made me want to virtually vent my frustration on a quiet winter night.

Brewers should refrain from throwing 'things' into beer without any previous testing. Too many times this year I've had rough-carbonated /geyser beers with 'things' down the drain.
— Joan Birraire (@birraire) December 17, 2017

Curated reads #1

2019-04-30T06:00:00.000+02:00

I have wanted to start a series like this for years, but had never found the formula that pleased my expectations. After chewing on it for a long time, one finally realises that making things simple is often more effective, and that in any case nothing has to be rigid or immutable.

Hence today I launch this section, in which I intend to share a small selection of articles related to beer that, in one way or another, have caught my attention during the last weeks. Being aware that I will not always comply, the frequency of publication will -hopefully- be monthly.

Barcelona Beer Festival 2019 - A quick guide

2019-03-12T06:00:00.000+01:00

After close to a whole year of work, we are in the final stretch to start the Eighth Edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival. With great enthusiasm, I set out to summarise those key points to take into account to enjoy the Festival in its fullness, whether this is the first or the eighth time you join this great celebration of beer as a drink and cultural element.

If you can't beat them...

2018-12-04T06:00:00.000+01:00

Europa Press published yesterday the piece of news that had been rumoured for the last weeks among people in the scene: Heineken acquires 51% of Madrid-based La Cibeles brewery. Founded by David Castro in 2010, the year in which the microbrewing scene in Madrid was almost identical to that of the late 90s in Barcelona, with little more than imported beer as an alternative to the major national brands, La Cibeles soon achieved notoriety and was a source of excitement for the few beer enthusiasts with concerns beyond the eternal cañita de Mahou.

"The ownership and independence of a company are secondary to a fundamental value such as consistency"

Little more than noise

2018-09-06T06:00:00.000+02:00

Five months ago, a piece of news caused a stir: Damm launches an IPA. A similar move, albeit much more daring, than the one by San Miguel with their Manila in December 2017, or Moritz's move when launching Red IPA at the beginning of 2016. In the same line, after a period during which they have been launching several limited edition beers under the series 'Ambiciosas', Ámbar hopped on the bandwagon with their IPA, announcing it just two days later than Damm. April was certainly full of excitement.

"And now what? Let's keep on working, innovating and growing"

Retrospection and new experiences

2018-07-20T06:00:00.000+02:00

My first two beer books, the beginning of a journey.

One of the nice things about getting involved with the beer industry over the last ten years is being able to observe the past with the perspective of time.

I still can remember the mystery surrounding the brewing process and the sensory profile of certain beers, the creators of which I know personally today. I can even say that some of them are my friends. I also recall the admiration I felt for certain authors, whose publications gave me knowledge and inspired me to write. During these years, I have had beers with several of them, getting to collaborate with them in various matters, in some cases. Festivals? From the initial uncertainty of getting there by yourself the first time, without knowing exactly what to expect, to feel more than comfortable attending them. And, finally, to have gotten involved in the organisation of some.

"After this new experience, I will have a more solid opinion on the basis of the scepticism that surrounds major beer contests"

Ripening in the sun

2018-06-18T09:00:00.000+02:00

Nine days ago the thirteenth edition of the Mostra de Mediona* was held: if we think about it twice, we will realise that thirteen years is tremendous. I could write the chronicle of the fair**, but I have long suspected that, judiciously, nobody cares too much about what I drink, and with whom I speak in my spare time.

For the umpteenth time, I could also copy those same praises that have been written again and again in a wide diversity of media. But I doubt that this is necessary beyond, of course, congratulating the big family of Ales Agullons for another year, including within it the entire team of people who work with determination to make the Mostra an indisputable success year after year.

'Under the hot sun of Mediona, we have witnessed how the brewing scene has been maturing'

As seen from the outside

2018-06-08T06:00:00.000+02:00

Saturday afternoon at the Barcelona Beer Festival 2018.

In a joint effort between the Catalan Tourism Board and Beer Events -the company behind the Barcelona Beer Festival- the Craft Beer & Gastronomy route was designed for the attendance of key people in the dissemination of beer culture. The main idea was to let leading writers and bloggers know more about the richness and gastronomic tradition from which we part as a country, with a special emphasis on the incipient microbrewing industry, which in recent years has begun to reap the fruits of its labours, shining both within and beyond our borders.

'I am proud to see how leading authors position themselves enthusiastically before what's been slowly brewing since the early 90's, with the contribution of many people'