Beerhouse Madeira

It's hard to beat the location, right down by the water and with a view of the city and the hills above it. Extensive selection of beers and other drinks. Worth a visit.

At a first glance, one would say that Beerhouse Madeira is a tourist trap. The way it's decorated, the place where it's located (in a pier in the most prestigious part of town) and the looks. But inside you have one of the most interesting brewing companies in Madeira as they brew everything in place running with over 30 different styles and at least a dozen beers at your disposal to choose from.

When speaking to the head brewer, I had the chance to know that he's growing his own hops in a part of the island where the weather is suitable for that, having Mosaic and Citra among others.

Service is very good as you'd expect from a well located place in Portugal and food, despite not being the best thing on earth, deserves an extra point because expectations for this location were quite low.

Try asking for:

Beerhouse 25 Anos, barrel aged barleywine.
Beerhouse Pé de Cabra, an imperial stout based in the local esoteric drink know as Pé de Cabra.
Beerhouse Rainha, another imperial stout.
Beerhouse Diva, an english barleywine.
Beerhouse Sabia, an english strong ale.
Beerhouse Hipnose, an American IPA.

Set on the marina in Funchal, I visited mainly to try the one beer they brew. The beer was very good & German in appearance, as is the place in general. A fine location to sit outside on a warm sunny spring day with good service. It's a pity they only have the Coral range of beers as a back up to there own one.

Funchal. First solid ground in over a week. Eight days adrift on a floating shopping mall packed with bad karaoke and worse beer. A transatlantic cruise, they said. A journey. A passage through time and tides. What they didn’t say was that the nitro ran out on day two, leaving nothing but lukewarm industrial lagers—the kind of beer that tastes like regret and aluminum. No hops. No heart. Just fizzy mediocrity at sea.

Then came Madeira.

Beerhouse Madeira stands right on the waterfront like a lighthouse for the damned. A place where weary travelers and cruise ship castaways wash ashore, salt in their beards, desperation in their eyes. I stumbled in like a man returning from exile. Sun-roasted. Hollow. Thirsty. Not for greatness—just for difference. For choice. For beer that didn’t come in a plastic cup and taste like disillusionment.

The beer? God knows it wasn’t special. Some generic blondes, an IPA that barely registered, a stout that tried. But none of it mattered. This was the first beer in a week that didn’t feel like punishment. The patio wrapped around the building like a dream. Open air. Ocean breeze. Locals and travelers alike sipping and squinting into the sun. I sat down, ordered a flight like it was the Eucharist, and didn’t speak for ten minutes.

This wasn’t about the beer. It never was. This was context. This was contrast. This was freedom in a pint glass, however flawed. A reminder that taste isn’t just what hits your tongue—it’s where you are, what you’ve endured, and what you’re running from.

Back on the boat, things returned to the usual slow descent into chlorinated madness. But for one shining hour in Funchal, I had beer, breeze, and my goddamn sanity back.

And that was enough.

Stumbled upon this place on the way back to our cruise ship in Funchal (Medeira), Portugal. Only had one beer on tap, or the only Funchal beer, Coral. The one on tap at the time was their brew which I didn't get the name of, but would classify as a Cream Ale. It was quite nice!

The entire area of the port around the beerhouse was under construction at the time, so it was a bit noisy, but it'll be a nice outdoor seating area when everything is done.

A good place to stop, as we did, if you're walking back to your cruise ship!