Rosita Negra

After having a long break from beer during our time in Spain, we took an overnight train to Lisbon arriving just after 7am last Sunday morning. Portugal, as most of you my be aware of is famous for their port wine. Its so cheap too! On our first day, we bought a bottle of late vintage port for €10, which was awesome. There even happened to be vintage wine from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s that were all less than €10 a bottle.

It was great to finally get back into beer the next night, after a long day at the beach. We still had a few Spanish craft beers left over from our haul in San Sebastian, and whilst cooking dinner with a few new friends, we decided to open up some beers and share them around.

The history of Rosita started in Tarragona, a small Spanish town, just south of Barcelona. The history of the name stems from the name of the daughter born to Jaume and Nuria, and whilst this brewery has been around for some time now, they are now starting to branch out into craft beer, which is great if you live in Spain, because it is really hard to find any decent beer.

The Rosita Negra tastes like a watered down porter. There is a hint of coffee and chocolate, as well as a bit of smokiness that lingers after every sip. It’s a shame that there just isn’t enough roasted malt, and the beer tastes too watery as well. It smells really tasty, and I fear that this aided in my initial thoughts of “oh my god, a good Spanish craft beer”. Sadly, it was not the case. I think we shall have to keep experimenting with the beers until we find something decent.

Bought from La Boutique de la Cerveza for €2.45

JG

Alhambra Reserva 1925

Just a quick post to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this beer with our lunch we made one afternoon in Barcelona. Whilst there’s not much to say about the beer other than the fact that it’s your typical Spanish beer, it does have quite a bit of mid palate sweetness that makes it a perfect food match, and the ABV is somewhere just above 6%.

You can buy a six pack for approx €5 from any good supermarket in Spain.

JG

Tyris de Valencia

Whilst walking around the cobbled streets of San Sebastian a couple of days ago, I chanced upon this store, which appeared as a shining light amidst all of the darkness that is the majority of Spanish beer. What I chanced upon readers, was a Spanish craft beer shop, and whilst YM and I had already committed to sangria for the night, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to try some Spanish craft beers.

We needed up buying a selection of 3 from various breweries, along with a Flying Dog that YM really wanted to try. I think over the course of our month in Spain/Portugal, we’ll end up trying all of them, as the sangria and wine here are just too good to pass up on.

After our first day of sun in San Sebastian, I decided it was time to open up the Tyris de Valencia, in order to quench my thirst from lazing about on the beach being in the sun all day (which proved to be very very tiring).

I was assured by the owner of the shop that this was similar to Hoegaarden, but it really wasn’t. It had slight hints of orange peel and yeast, but the Spanish have a long way to go if they think they can make a beer that tastes similar to Hoegaarden (which i feel is a stock standard wheat beer).

YM had a taste, and gave me the rest to finish. He described it as “too bland to even bother with” and I totally have to agree with him. The beer did nothing for me, other than make me slightly bloated afterwards. Whilst it may have been refreshing, there is nothing that makes you go wow, this is awesome, or wow, I need some more of that.

Whilst I don’t regret buying it, I am very much looking forward to the other Spanish beers we’ve bought, to see if they are any better. Fingers crossed they are.

Bought for €2.15 from La Boutique de la Cerveza

JG

Estrella Damm

In keeping with our theme of sampling local produce, YM and I headed out for a dinner of paella with a few our our new friends we met at our Barcelona hostel. At first we tried the hostels recommended local restaurant, but upon arriving realised that they only served it in an entrée size, and that seafood was their only choice, which none of us really wanted.

After walking through the bustling Barcelona streets for only a few minutes, we chanced upon this small local restaurant offering sliced jamon (ham) from the bone, paella, and pintxos (small tapas) that one eats with toothpicks.

The day had been really hot, and even though the sun was down, the humidity and heat remained. Needless to say, I was really thirsty, and the beer menu consisted of two of the most popular Spanish beers, namely San Miguel and Estrella. We’ve also noticed that the Spanish are really into their beer with lemon, as well as sangria and kalimotxo, a 50/50 combination of house wine and coke.

However, since we’d been in Spain for a few days, I thought it was only right to get an Estrella, and paired with paella, I was seriously satisfied. Sadly, the beer by itself is a total waste of time. It’s bland, tastes like a common lager and doesn’t really do much more for my palate than keep it hydrated.

I think it was the time and place, along with the food that actually made me enjoy this beer, but there is no way I would go out and buy a six pack of this stuff from the supermarket. A total waste of money in my mind.

You can buy a glass/bottle from just about any bar in Barcelona for €1

JG