Birraire - Beer Blog

Six points to disseminate and promote cans within the general public. As pointed out in the 2016 summary post , last year we witnessed how cans began to gain ground on the shelves and fridges of our favorite beer stores and bars. We even saw the first cans of Spanish craft beer. Possibly one of the local actors that has placed a higher bet on cans until now is a distributor, Crusat, which currently has an extensive portfolio of beers in this format. That is why they have recently launched a campaign for the general public: 'Dando la Lata' - a set phrase in Spanish that would literally translate as 'Giving the Can', meaning hassling, or causing inconvenience -. Their aim is to get rid of certain widely popular beliefs about this kind of packaging, while praising its virtues . A good initiative that will certainly benefit them, but that will also benefit others. So good for it. "For me, the main advantages of cans are comfort and conservation, in that spe...

Had I been asked about American beer 9 years ago, a few months before knowing that my first job would take me to live in Brussels, I would have likely said that beer in the United States had no interest at all, with as much audacity as ignorance allows. But just half a year later, I found out at Delirium Café that there were far more American beers than the ones I knew, after spechlessly skimming their 2,500 plus beer menu. The first ones I drank were Anchor Steam Beer and its sister Liberty on tap, during my Honeymoon, in a fantastic seafood restaurant in the piers area of San Francisco. I was greatly impressed, and thought I had tried such local, unusual beer and that I would seldom have the opportunity to try it again. Time gives one perspective, indeed.

Innovation has been so far one of the engines that have allowed the increasing shift of the beer scene in many countries. A change that has certainly found an inspiration in American "craft" breweries, but that has been giving very good results to consumers of beer so far in Europe, especially in emerging markets like ours. For the present occasion, I am about to describe briefly the impressions I had while drinking the beers of three different breweries that since their inception, although in different points of time, have clearly opted for innovation. To explore, each one in its own way, the limits of beer and the interpretation of its styles.

José Benedicto , a fellow beer blogger from Spain and prolific rater at Ratebeer, summons the digital beer enthusiasts once again to celebrate the International Stout Day  and share our impressions of Stouts drunk in the context of this event, both through blogs and social networks. Last year I commented that I couldn't see the motivation behind this event, but in this year's official website  the organisers added a short description of what is sought, supposedly being the mere fact of celebrating a popular beer style like Stout. So on November 5th I joined the party.

 I barely had had no time to digest new beer trends according to Draft Magazine , after the conclusion of the 2015 Great American Beer Festival , when I found myself face to face with one of them: a Lager aged in Scotch whisky barrels. Daring, but it certainly will give more prestige to brewers who are able to tune the beers that follow this line. Beside it, a much more present trend: a contemporary Saison, where in addition to its own characteristic yeasty profile, hops play a quite remarkable role. Finally, one of those styles that locally seemed grounbreaking just four years ago, causing lots of excitement among beer enthusiasts: a Black IPA, which shamelessly continues with that oxymoron of a popular name.  

Matt Dick, brewer and founder at Boundary Brewing Coop ( picture was taken from here ). I still hadn't had the chance to get myself any beer from the rising scene in Northern Ireland. It was the same person who had enthusiastically told me about what was beggining to happen up there, fellow blogger  Steve Lamond , who at the last edition of the European Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference  in Brussels brought me three bottles from a young cooperative microbrewery based in Belfast:  Boundary Brewing . "For five years, the brewing scene has exponentially been growing, with more than twenty breweries today" 

Let's continue with the series of posts about my trip to Wroclaw and its great beer festival. As I mentioned on the post I announced my assistance to the Wroclawski Festiwal Dobrego Piwa  (WFDP), the organisation sent me a package with three beer bottles, along with other interesting items. I received it two days before the trip, so I couldn't taste anything beforehand to tease my palate. But no problem, I did it the other way around: once I got the picture of the state of brewing in Poland I calmly sat with these beauties to reflect on them with way more context. So a couple of weeks after my experience in the Slavic country I grabbed one of the glasses gifted by Doctor Brew guys during the WFDP and proceeded to taste those three beers, which were conveniently presented on 50cl. bottles. That's not common down here -we mostly get 33cl. bottles-, and it is something that I would really appreciate to see more often, as it responds better to my consumption habits.