Spanish beer
In the craft scene, Spanish beer is mainly Pale Ale and IPA, brewed by a generation of brewers that only got going around 2013. At Hoptimaal you'll find Spanish beers from, among others, Basqueland Brewing, SOMA Beer and DosKiwis, from IPA and Pale Ale to Lager & Pilsner.
- In stock now21 beers
- Breweries7
Breweries from Spain 7
All beers in stock 21
Beer in Spain is older than Spain itself
In the Cova de Can Sadurní cave near Begues, close to Barcelona, archaeologists found traces of malt and beer from the middle of the fifth millennium BC. They are the oldest beer remains found in Europe. It was brewed with barley and wheat, sometimes with honey and herbs.
After that, beer faded into the background. The Greeks and Romans looked down on beer, and in Southern Europe wine won out for centuries. From the fall of Rome to the Industrial Revolution, little about brewing in Spain has been recorded. It was probably small-scale and local. One exception is Emperor Charles V, who in 1557 had brown beer brought in from Mechelen and brought a Flemish brewer to the monastery of Yuste.
The modern breweries emerged in Barcelona in the nineteenth century. In 1851 Louis Moritz Trautmann arrived from Alsace, followed in 1871 by August Kuentzmann Damm. Around 1900, Cammany and La Bohemia joined them.
Craft beer with Pale Ale at its core
The Spanish craft scene is young. Brewery Espiga started around 2013, when craft beer was still barely known in Spain. The founders started with British bitters, pale ales and IPAs. When American hops became available in Europe, they wanted to brew with them themselves. Edge Brewing from Barcelona is also regarded as a pioneer.
By now there are an estimated 650 or so craft beer brands. Research on the Spanish scene shows that it is closely tied to Pale Ale, and that is also what you can usually expect as a drinker.
Spanish brewers like to use local ingredients, such as thyme, pine and citrus. Inspired by the wine tradition, many breweries age beer in barrels. For example, Cerveza Mica ages beer in wine barrels from Ribera del Duero. Espiga makes a Porter with notes of roasted almond, coffee and cacao.
Spanish beer at Hoptimaal
With us you'll find Spanish beer from Basqueland Brewing, SOMA Beer, DosKiwis, MALANDAR BREWING, Garage Beer Co. and Grupo Cervezas Alhambra. The styles range from IPA and Pale Ale to Lager & Pilsner, Stout and Bock. Beers from SOMA Beer, Basqueland Brewing and MALANDAR BREWING score high on Untappd.
Every brewery has its own page with us, with all the beers we supply from it. If you want to get to know a brewery better, start there.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical Spanish beer?
In the craft scene, that is mainly Pale Ale and IPA. Many brewers work with local ingredients such as thyme and citrus, and age beer in barrels that come from the wine tradition.
Which Spanish breweries are well known?
In the craft scene, Edge Brewing, Espiga, Cerveza Mica and Cerveza Milana stand out, among others. At Hoptimaal you'll find, for example, Basqueland Brewing, SOMA Beer, DosKiwis and MALANDAR BREWING.
How old is the beer tradition in Spain?
Older than the country itself. In a cave near Barcelona, beer remains from the middle of the fifth millennium BC have been found, the oldest discovered in Europe.
Beer from other countries
- Dutch beer 175
- American beer 71
- Belgian beer 68
- Canadian beer 54
- German beer 37
- English beer 37
- Romanian beer 17
- French beer 16
- Swedish beer 15
- Norwegian beer 14
- Estonian beer 17
- Polish beer 11
- Irish beer 8
- Finnish beer 9
- Hungarian beer 8
- Latvian beer 8
- Croatian beer 8
- Danish beer 8
- Portuguese beer 4
- Welsh beer 5
- Scottish beer 4
- Brazilian beer 4
- Ukrainian beer 2
- Greek beer 3
- Slovenian beer 3
- Czech beer 3
