Barcelona Beer Festival 2019 - A quick guide
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.
Basic info
- Venue: La Farga de l'Hospitalet -map-.
- Dates: March 15, 16 and 17, 2019.
- Timetables: Friday 11am - 11pm. Saturday 11am - 11pm. Sunday 11am - 9pm.
- Edición: Eighth.
- Attendees: 33.000 -in 2018-.
- PurposePropósito: A Beer Festival for tasting, for the disseminatation and knowledge of the beer culture, and for the industry professionals to meet and share.
- Organised by: Beer Events, S.L.
How does it work?
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| Original picture: Jordi Bertran Hermosilla. |
Tickets for the Festival can be obtained at the door or through the website. Unless you have professional accreditation, you have three different options:
The official guide has all the information about the Festival, including the full list of beers. The Craft Beer Map is your best ally, as it pins the different places where to drink quality beer the rest of the year.
At the BBF we use tokens to pay for the drinks and food: 1 token = 1 euro. The price is variable in the food, moving between 2 and 4 chips in the case of beer. If you have the special tasting glass, you can ask for reduced pours of 10cl. for just 1 token. Beer is only served in the official glass or the special tasting glass of the Festival.
To know which beers are available at any time, you can check the blackboard behind the large bar -classic bar-. Each time a keg is emptied, the next one is tapped. When a beer is replaced, the blackboard staff eliminates the old reference, and chimes our characteristic bell.
- 1 day ticket (€ 8): includes access for 1 day, the official glass and guide of the BBF, the Craft Beer Map and 2 tokens.
- 3-day pass (€ 10): includes access for the whole weekend, the official glass and guide of the BBF, the Craft Beer Map and 2 tokens.
- BBF-Experience (€ 50): includes access for the whole weekend, special tasting glass -small tasting option-, limited edition BBF 2019 T-shirt and tote bag, the official guide, the Craft Beer Map and 20 tokens.
The official guide has all the information about the Festival, including the full list of beers. The Craft Beer Map is your best ally, as it pins the different places where to drink quality beer the rest of the year.
At the BBF we use tokens to pay for the drinks and food: 1 token = 1 euro. The price is variable in the food, moving between 2 and 4 chips in the case of beer. If you have the special tasting glass, you can ask for reduced pours of 10cl. for just 1 token. Beer is only served in the official glass or the special tasting glass of the Festival.
To know which beers are available at any time, you can check the blackboard behind the large bar -classic bar-. Each time a keg is emptied, the next one is tapped. When a beer is replaced, the blackboard staff eliminates the old reference, and chimes our characteristic bell.
Beer and food
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| Original picture: Jordi Bertran Hermosilla. |
In this eighth edition, we have a variety of up to 646 different beers, from 314 breweries, which rotate through the 120 taps available, distributed between the classic bar -50 taps- and the different dedicated stands of our befriended festivals from around the globe and different highlighted brands. The beers available at any time can be checked on our blackboard, as well as in the official BBF application, available for Android and iOS.
To facilitate the election, this year a special categorisation was created to divide all Festival beers into seven families: Acid, Barrel Aged, European Classics, Dark Side, Hop Heads, Lots of Malt and Miscellaneous. You can learn more about this initiative and the characteristics of the beers of each family in the explanatory videos that were created for this purpose.
If you still need help when choosing among so many beers, the Beer Informers are at your disposal to guide you. You can identify them by their colorful yellow vest. In addition, if you feel like it, you can sign up for the BBF Discovery, an activity consisting of a tour around the Festival that includes the guided tasting of 3 beers with an accredited Beer Informer.
In terms of food, we have local businesses that offer high quality products that pair very well with beer: from Asian food to burgers, as well as tapas of various origins and local dishes. And since a good beer festival would not be the same without coffee, we also have a stand to enjoy high quality coffee.
Note that we offer gluten free and non-alcoholic beers. The allergens associated with food and beer are indicated in the descriptions, both in the application of the Festival and in the official guide.
To facilitate the election, this year a special categorisation was created to divide all Festival beers into seven families: Acid, Barrel Aged, European Classics, Dark Side, Hop Heads, Lots of Malt and Miscellaneous. You can learn more about this initiative and the characteristics of the beers of each family in the explanatory videos that were created for this purpose.
If you still need help when choosing among so many beers, the Beer Informers are at your disposal to guide you. You can identify them by their colorful yellow vest. In addition, if you feel like it, you can sign up for the BBF Discovery, an activity consisting of a tour around the Festival that includes the guided tasting of 3 beers with an accredited Beer Informer.
In terms of food, we have local businesses that offer high quality products that pair very well with beer: from Asian food to burgers, as well as tapas of various origins and local dishes. And since a good beer festival would not be the same without coffee, we also have a stand to enjoy high quality coffee.
Note that we offer gluten free and non-alcoholic beers. The allergens associated with food and beer are indicated in the descriptions, both in the application of the Festival and in the official guide.
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| Original picture: Óscar Sánchez de la Torre. |
The dissemination of beer culture is one of the purposes of the Barcelona Beer Festival. That is why a wide range of beer-related activities, open to all audiences, are planned every year to complement the long list of beers on offer.
Lectures
- Barrel Aging & Blending, with Jérôme Rebetez and David Santiago from Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes -BFM-.
- Fermentation Beer & Brewing Radio - Live Show, with Emma Inch.
- Lambic: about time and passion, a film by CerveTV, with Dani Ruiz.
- Cicerone: estilos y vocabulario, with Chema Mora de Cicerone.org.
- Bionoc, on Sour Beer, with Nicola Coppe.
- Simposi - Al·legalitat dels Taprooms, with Irene Dorado -Alegría-, Eneko Neira -Laugar- and Alex Lazarowicz -Barna Brew-.
- GECAN: fites 2018/2019: with Montse Virgili, Judit Càrtex, Kike Hernández, Anna Hereu, Arola and Mikel Rius.
Tastings
- Live-tasting: Danish breweries, with Philip Hulgaard -Gamma-, Jakob Norbu Houmoller -Flying Couch- and Peter Sonne -Aben-.
- Live-tasting: Cerveceras de Costa Rica, with Ignacio Castro and José Alberto Acosta -Treintaycinco-, Benjamin Chaverri -Costa Rica’s Craft Brewing Co-, Andrés Fabres -Cervecería Gracia- and Michael Lindeman -Costa Rica Meadery-.
- Brewdog: an extreme tasting, with Martin Dickie and Fraser Gormley.
- Live-tasting: Llúpol Lolita, with Albert Vilardell -BioLupulus-, Albert Barrachina -Art Cervesers-, Aran León -La Pirata-, Kike Hernández -Hope-, Arnau Rovira -Espiga-, Jordi de Mier -Cesc & JK-, Carlos Rodríguez -Ales Agullons- and Birra Salvadega.
- Live-tasting: cerveseres catalanes, with Cervesa Montseny, Guineu, La Pirata and Edge Brewing.
Gastronomy
- El Racó d'en Cesc, with Edgar Rodríguez and Toni Romero.
- Cuina amb cervesa, with Bernat Plana, CETT professor.
- Sense sobretaula no hi ha revolució!, with David Palau and Alejandro Berenguer.
- La flor de llúpol com a ingredient a la cuina, with Iolanda Bustos.
- Maridatge de formatge i cervesa, with Làctium, la mostra de formatges catalans, and Ariel Caballero.
- Fumats Carpier amb cervesa, with Carpier and Ariel Caballero.
- Embotit i cervesa, with Josep Dolçet -Fundació Oficis de la Carn- and David Sanglas.
- Ho fermentarem tot!, iniciació a la fermentació vegetal, with Jordi Coromines -l’Horta de Tavertet- and Pol Torrent.
Our Meet the Brewer, on the other hand, gives the opportunity to meet the people behind the beers that are poured from the taps. In 3-hour time slots, the people in charge of 6 reputed breweries 'occupy' several taps of our classic bar to offer their products, while being able to chat with the attendees. This year we have the award-winning breweries at the Barcelona Beer Challenge 2018, Wylie Brewery -Catalunya-, Birrificio di Cagliari -Italy-, Bionoc -Italy-, as well as reputed international brands such as Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes BFM -Switzerland-, Flying Dog -USA-, Kings Brewing Co -USA- and To Øl -Denmark-.
To check the details of each activity, the schedules and the availability of tickets, you can follow the link below.
BBF-Vibes
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| Original picture: Óscar Sánchez de la Torre. |
There is life beyond beer, and under the BBF-Vibes concept this year we planned all kinds of parallel activities, which through their different expressions and their cultural aspect have a certain link with the Festival and its beer focus. Thus, the different initiatives of the Vibes include:
- Tin Art: creations based on repainted cans with graffiti letters.
- Cornhole: the trendy sport among American breweries. Two teams compete to get the maximum number of cereal bags in the hole of a wood platform. In addition, the breweries will compete in the 'CornHole BBF-Cup by PolyKeg'.
- Homebrewing: a corner to discover homebrewing live, with Family Beer.
- Children's area: area supervised by a team of educators, so that the little ones can enjoy themselves in a safe and fun environment.
- PizarraCall: our iconic blackboard at a small scale so that everybody can take souvenir photos. With the hashtags #BBF19 and #PizarraCall a tasting menu for 2 people in El Racó d'en Cesc will be raffled.
- The Cellar: an exclusive bar for accredited professionals and BBF-Experience in which very exclusive beer bottles are served in small tastings.
- Music and show: Say it Loud! Say it Craft !, Mutan Monkey Beeruments, The Boozan Dukes, Dj. Mr. Love Daddy, Give a Huerta -circus-, DJ Supah Lion and DJ Ponent Roots & Cisco KSL.
For more details about the different initiatives included in the BBF-Vibes, you can check the following link.
Professionals
Up to 1,500 accredited professionals will be present in this eighth edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival. Under the scope of BBF-Pro we offer a full range of services for professionals who visit us, with the objective of facilitating the exchange, business and relationships between companies in the beer industry.
Among other offerings, professionals with a BBF-Pro accreditation have a meeting point, an exhibition area, a special guide for professionals, an information dossier, a programme of professional conferences, BBF Pro Point as an exclusive space for meetings and a digital tool to ease dating and networking.
Related with professionals, one of the highlights as in previous editions is the awards ceremony of the IV Barcelona Beer Challenge, on Sunday at 12pm. This year we will also award the I Premi Steve Huxley, as a recognition to a remarkable career in the brewing industry.
Among other offerings, professionals with a BBF-Pro accreditation have a meeting point, an exhibition area, a special guide for professionals, an information dossier, a programme of professional conferences, BBF Pro Point as an exclusive space for meetings and a digital tool to ease dating and networking.
Related with professionals, one of the highlights as in previous editions is the awards ceremony of the IV Barcelona Beer Challenge, on Sunday at 12pm. This year we will also award the I Premi Steve Huxley, as a recognition to a remarkable career in the brewing industry.
BBF-Off
The city of Barcelona has been welcoming the celebration of the BBF for years, and the beer businesses offer all kinds of events during the BBF week for everyone to enjoy. If you want to get on your marks for the Fest, in the following link you can find some of these parallel events. Through the social profiles of the different bars and shops in the city they will surely announce more.
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And this is as far as this quick guide went. I hope you find it useful to see this BBF 2019 from a bird's-eye view, remembering that this information can be complemented with each of the website links provided.
Although I cannot assure any quality time given the hustle and bustle in which all the BBF Crew is involved, at least I hope to say hi you all during the weekend.
Salut i birra!
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