What We're Drinking 3:
As we head into the depths of winter (although here in Valencia I'm sitting on the terrace in my shirt sleeves as the mercury's at a pleasant 21ยบ) it seemed like a good time to have another tasting session, so here's another round up of some more Spanish beers. In a radical change of format, I tasted 4 (count 'em - 4) beers rather than the usual 3. Exciting times!
VLC Lager
The first beer I tasted was VLC Lager. This is a beer brewed for La Boutique de la Cerveza, a bottle shop here in Valencia, by Cerveza de Benicalap, but you can find it in other bottle shops as well. It's quite an interesting beer in that it seems to be trying to tempt in Spanish drinkers who would never usually dream of trying anything other than a typical pale lager. A gateway beer, if you will.
It's 5.5% alcohol and describes itself as a bottom-fermented lager which proudly announces the fact that it uses Spanish malts (Pilsener and Caramalt) and hops (Hallertau and "Fluger") in the brewing process. I'm not entirely sure what "Fluger" hops are; I can't find anything on the internet about them so either a) they've misspelt "Fuggles", b) I'm not translating things properly or c) "Fluger" is a mysterious type of hop about which I am completely in the dark. Either of those 3 is a very real possibility.
It pours a pale, hazy golden colour and has a big fluffy cotton wool head. There is a subtle, fruity touch of orange in the aroma and there is a high level of carbonation, something which you find with a lot of Spanish craft beers. There is a nice fruity taste which gives way to a satisfying touch of bitterness in the finish.
Overall, it's a very pleasant, refreshing beer. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a lager, it tastes similar to a lot of blonde beers, but who cares what it's called as long as it tastes ok? Whether it will convert the ice-cold San Miguel lovers I don't know, but I can certainly see it being drunk on terrazas in the summertime. Or indeed wintertime, as it turns out.
Senia Rossa
Second beer of the evening was from the Senia brewery and was their blonde / pale ale offering "Rossa". This is a 5% beer and - like all the Spanish artisan beers written about so far - is bottle conditioned. It's a hazy, golden-copper colour in the glass with very little head and a fruity, citrus aroma (a touch of grapefruit?) which is very common is this style of Spanish ale.
Taste-wise, first impressions are of a slight tartness with a decent level of bitterness right through to the finish. Fruit flavours are at the fore with a yeastiness in the mix as well. There's a slight touch of biscuity chewiness which reminds me a little bit of the kind of body you'd find in a classic British bitter.
Not unlike the VLC Lager, this is another beer which you'd be happy knocking back on a balmy summer's evening. It's very refreshing and that nice bitterness makes it very moreish. Overall a really nice example of a style which is very popular amongst Spanish craft brewers.
Spigha Na Valora
Spigha is a brewery based in Alcoy between Valencia and Alicante. One charge which could be levelled against some of the new Spanish craft breweries is that there is a lack of consistency in their products - I have tried some Spanish beers which have been great one bottle, dodgy the next. This is not a criticism that one could make of Spigha whose beers are always of a consistently high quality.
Na Valora is a pale ale which pours a deep orange-copper colour with a small white head. On the nose there are fruity notes again, citrusy, with perhaps a touch of peach, which all adds up to a very tempting package indeed!
There's a fairly high level of bitterness from the start with the fruitiness coming through later along with a touch of sweetness for balance. The dry bitterness makes it a very quenching drop and leaves a long lasting taste in the mouth.
This is a very good beer, part of a range of 3 (soon to be 4) produced by Spigha, all of which are very pleasant indeed. Spigha is a great example of a quality Spanish brewery making genuinely good beers - not just good Spanish beers. I've seen their beers for sale on some UK mail order sites and have heard of them being sold in some British pubs as well so it's nice to see them having some deserved success further afield.
Tyris Smoky Porter
The last beer on the menu was one which I mentioned last time out - Tyris' Smoky Porter. It's a 4.5% porter drawing its influence from the classic London style and using a touch of smoked malt to keep things interesting. Black, chocolate and smoked malts are used, along with English hops (it doesn't specify which on the website but I *think* I remember reading Fuggles and Goldings).
Smoky Porter pours a dark black colour with a dirty white head. There's a nice roasted malt aroma with some coffee notes and a touch of the promised smokiness. In the mouth it has a fairly sweet, dry flavour with the roasted malt flavour coming through and a flick (perhaps that should be a wisp) of smoke. There's a touch of bitterness along with coffee and chocolate flavours as you'd expect from that malt line up. It's actually surprisingly light for a porter (I've seen it criticised as being a bit thin but I think that's slightly harsh) and very drinkable.
I mentioned last time that I'm a big fan of Tyris as a brewery and I really like this porter. It's not as deep or complex as some of the sturdier British and US examples but as a Spanish take on a classic style it definitely wins me over.
So there we are, 4 more Spanish beers helping to demonstrate further that beer is on the up here. Tyris and Spigha beers are available via mail order from several UK beer retailers and it's good to see them getting recognised outside their own back yards. I'm back off to the terrace to crack open one more bottle to see out the evening.
http://www.vlclager.com/inicio.htm
http://www.cervezasnacionales.es/cervezas-artesanas-senia/ The Senia website seems to be down so info is here
http://www.spigha.es/es/cerveza-artesana-spigha/cerveza-artesana-na-valora.php
http://www.cervezatyris.com/portfolio-view/smoky-porter/
