Howdy! My wife and I are going to be in Spain and Portugal (Barcelona, Madrid, Porto, Lisbon) this October, and I'm looking for recommendations in those cities. I'm particularly interested in visiting craft breweries, although it looks like aside from Barcelona there's not much out there. Aside from that -- are there beers or breweries whose beers I just can't miss? Thanks for the recommendations!
In Barcelona, I have been to, and can recommend, Brew Pub Le Sec and Garage Beer Co. and BlackLab Brewhouse & Kitchen. I also visited Kraftank and Edge Brewing, but they are now permanently closed. I have never been to the other cities you mention, but in Lisboa you may try the Dois Corvos Tap Room, Canil and many other breweries / brewpubs. In Porto there are 6 breweries / taprooms that may be visited. In Madrid, try Mad Brewing and Fabrica Maravillas.
In Lisbon, Outro Lado is magnificent. Great beer menu & fantastic ambience. The beer is Porto is good not great. I'd strongly recommend visiting the waterfront port makers & forgetting about beer while you're there. This made us very happy!
Thanks for the Lisbon rec! And yeah, I'm sure we'll be drinking a lot of port (we want to go on one of those river cruises up into wine country), but I feel like I gotta visit one brewery while I'm there
I was in Lisbon and then Barcelona in 2014. And I found no beer in those days. I think it's changed since then, but we drank a lot of wine. Sorry to post here, I am curious what others have to offer!
In Lisboa, you may be right that a lot has changed beerwise since 2014. But if you found no (good) beer and no good beer places in Barcelona in 2014, you must have been both deaf and blind - at least you must have skipped even the most elementary homework.
Some commendable Spanish beers, from my own limited experience (I have sampled 316 Spanish beers and real ciders, but there are many more to choose from): Nómada Royal Porter Ratpenat Imperial Stout Garage Tapawera, NZ. NaparBCN / Montaigu Oude Gueuze Little Bichos Araña Riojan Porter Montseny Mala Vida - Brandy Freddo Fox Not Just A Bird Freddo Fox Beat The Heat Garage Virtue Signal
I have only had 29 Portuguese beers, most of them from my visit to Madeira this January. You might enjoy 3 beers from Dois Corvos: Finisterra Imperial Porter, Weekend and Creature.
Just got back from Lisbon. Dois Corvos was very good. Good enough that I'd visit it on a regular basis if it were here in Virginia. Unfortunately Outro Lado was closed on the day we were in that neighborhood. Also, I found large bottles of Cantillon (not available where I live) in the El Cortes Ingles department store. Unfortunately, I would have had to pay $70 for a checked bag and it was my last night, so I had to pass.
We're in Lisbon in September and plan on hitting both port and beer hot spots. We love the river cruises. Been on three and the fourth upcoming in Nov 23.
Lisbon is a great beer city these days. My favorite spots were Outro Lado, Duque Brewpub, Crafty Corner, Cervejaria Artesnal.
OK, I'm back! I made it to some spots, perhaps woefully few My favorites in each city: Barcelona - Garage Beer (brewery) Madrid - Be Hoppy (small craft bar / bottle shop) Porto - Letraria (taproom for La Letra) Lisbon - Outro Lado (craft bar) Outro Lado was indeed great. The best brewery was definitely Garage in Barcelona -- the Soup IPA is on point!
Did you go to Catraio in Porto? They appears to have a much better beer list than Letraria. Plus, it's like a two minute walk from my airbnb. https://untappd.com/v/catraio-craft-beer-shop/2524942 https://untappd.com/v/letraria-craft-beer-garden-porto/5990772
Just tried a six from the local supermarket, and I'm quite liking it. Very fresh out of the bottle. Haven't been in Portugal since 1984, and was glad to find this today. We only had hashish from the waterfront and rotgut rum back then. Beautiful city and the friendliest people we ever encountered in Europe, by far. Things were very different before the internets totally spoiled the world.
