Birraire - Beer Blog

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.

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.

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 '

It is always pleasant to attend a beer festival in Barcelona, ​​especially if you can relax since you are not the organiser. After a long period of promotion, this past weekend came the Mash Craft Beer Festival , an event with a remarkably different format from those that until now we have seen here. Its peculiarity: to be organised by four distinct brewers, two locals - Edge Brewing and Garage - and two from abroad - Brewski and What's Brewing -; the installation was the organisers' responsibility, limiting the offer to two taps for each participating brewery; and, very relevant, it was the first fair - not festival - * to have a greater percentage of international companies. "We must be grateful to the organisation for being able to attract so much beer talent to our city"

Article by Mikel Rius - Director of the Barcelona Beer Festival Translation from Spanish by Joan Villar-i-Martí Three out of three. We have had the privilege of living the three editions of the Leuven Innovation Beer Festival , the last of which just a few days ago. Again, it has been a success in terms of attendees, participants and, above all, dissemination of beer culture. The festival is organised by local brewery Hof ten Dormaal, the Janssens family , which brings the concept of hospitality to an extraordinary level, making all the participating brewers feel literally at home. Every year, the Janssens select fifteen breweries under an Innovation criterion, gathering an impressive constellation of brewers in the old factory of Stella Artois - De Hoorn -.

There has been lots of writing and talking around the Mostra de Cervesa Artesana de Mediona , one of our oldest beer festivals. Not only for its twelve editions, but also because many of the attendees from all over this time regard it as a very special event. The Annual Celebration for local beer lovers. I have previously published several texts on it. The magic of Mediona is, in fact, difficult to explain if you don't experience it yourself, and it is something that gets you hooked: something that makes many people want to experience it edition after edition. This year, the wedding of a good friend collided frontally with the appointment that is reserved earlier in my calendar each year. After the initial moan, I thought I would take the opportunity to live Mediona in an alternative way : looking for its magic in the previous day. Trying to understand what makes it so special. "We all carry a bit of Mediona inside of us"

Today's post is from my friend and colleague Mikel Rius, to whom I hand over the blog for a day to enable him to post a reflection on his visit to the mythical Zythos Bierfestival of Belgium. The translation from Spanish is mine. Salut i birra! On 23 and 24 April Belgians celebrated the twelfth edition of a beer event that many regard as unmissable: Zythos Bierfestival , in Leuven. The meeting gathered 88 breweries, who had more than 500 beers to choose from, making it a true paradise for enthusiasts. “The casualness in coexistence is reflected in the stands: all identical, for very different sized breweries”

  Believe it or not, the BBF team has been working for months already, on what will be the fifth edition of the festival: Barcelona Beer Festival 2016. Following our main aim to spread the culture of quality beer among the public, our efforts focus on preparing an inclusive event for everyone to enjoy, as always collecting the valuable feedback we receive from our demanding but appreciative visitors, who always look joyful in the pictures. We have done lots of work, but we still have plenty of things to do. For now, we can already announce that we have the definitive venue and dates for the festival. And yes, I guess we can also announce a new huge newness for this year: the  Barcelona Beer Challenge .     "Today, terms like "craft" are not sufficient to position the quality of the product"  

Taking advantage of a long weekend provided by the celebration of the International Workers Day, I used the invitation received by the organisation of the Wroclawski Festiwal Dobrego Piwa  (WFDP)  to assist the sixth edition of this popular Polish beer festival. It would give me the great opportunity to have a first-hand experience with the new beer scene in Poland: so young, so bright. I had read few things about their brewing industry, but I was forewarned of what I'd find during my trip. So as I was driving early to the airport on April 30th I knew I was about to fly to a city that would amaze me as a beer aficionado . Besides, it was another nice chance for me to learn new things about life from the locals and their culture. Sounded like a plan.

The day's arrived, and early today I fly to Wroclaw (Poland) to attend one of the most massive beer festivals in Europe: the  Wroclawski Festiwal Dobrego Piwa , or Wroclaw Good Beer Festival. It's a great oportunity to learn about a beer scene that you seldom hear or read something about, not only about their beers but also about the general development of the industry. As for beers, I've known  Zywiec  (specially their Porter) for quite a long time. Lately, some new Polish brews have appeared in our shops and bars, as well as on tap during the last edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival. We are mostly talking about Browar Ninkasi , but specially about Browar Pinta , a brewery that has won some local drinkers' palate lately with their reproduction of the most varied styles.

One week before our summer vacations my missus and I had an important date to attend. On July 25th the guys from Cooperativa La Barricona along with the owners of Microcervesera (a beer shop and distributor near Girona), celebrated the second edition of their beer festival  Brewtast . It was held at the headquarters of the cooperative, in a tiny little town called Sant Joan de les Abadesses, at the northern part of Catalonia. We had quite been looking forward this festival. Just last April, at the Barcelona Beer Festival, the parallel activity led by La Barricona was a stunning success according to the assistants, being both entertaining and delicious (they got to eat some really good stuff). Unfortunately, we had no time during that particular weekend, so we decided to go on Friday to have a closer look at their innovative work with food and beer. And, of course, to attend the inaugural event: El Sopar del Llúpol (" The Hop Dinner ").