Cole Sinanian
THE Sun features writer Hayley Minn published an article last week ranking each Spanish beer sold in the UK, and her results are sure to cause a stir among Spaniards and expats alike.
Cruzcampo
We’ll start with the winners.
Minn was blown away by Cruzcampo, the Sevillano brew with a special place in the Spanish popular consciousness for its inclusion on the menu of the cheap sandwich giant 100 Montaditos.
She found that the beer has a particularly immersive quality, writing: “As soon as I had my first sip I felt like I was back in Seville, drinking in a stunning rooftop bar and looking out over the cobbled streets.”
It’s fruity, light-yet-hoppy, and refreshing, the perfect qualities of a summer beer.
All in all, Minn gave Cruzcampo a perfect 5/5 score.
READ MORE: Top Spanish beer Cruzcampo launches in UK as Iberian brands continue British invasion
Estrella Galicia
“As soon as I had my first sip of Estrella Galicia, all the memories of sun, sea, and sand from my Spanish holidays came flooding back,” Minn writes.
She gave the beer a perfect 5/5 score, and praised the A Coruña lager’s “bready flavours of malt and hops” and “citrus notes.”
Spanish beer drinkers are likely to agree with her assessment.
Estrella Galicia is near-ubiquitous in Spain, found on tap at cervercerias from the rainy Atlantic coasts of its Galician homeland, down to the scorching sun-bleached resort towns of the Costa del Sol.
The family-owned Hijos de Rivera company which makes Estrella Galicia is among the most productive beer companies in Spain, producing some 4.81 million hectolitres of beer in 2023.
And in 2022, Estrella Galicia was the third most consumed beer in Spain, after Mahou and Amstel, La Vanguardia reported.
Madri
Though not brewed in Spain, Madri Excepcional has Spanish roots, and has gained a following in the UK recently, as The Sun notes.
The self-described “Modern European Lager” is inspired by the cultural fusion that forms the soul of the buzzing Spanish capital.
Its name, ‘Madri’, is a reference to the way in which ‘Madrid’ is pronounced by locals, while the sharply dressed ‘Chulapo’ on each can represents the spirit and style of the modern Madrileño way of life. Minn gave the brew a generous 4/5 score, noting its ‘distinct, citrusy smell and taste.’
San Miguel
The Sun also weighed in on another classic Spanish lager, in what’s sure to be a divisive take.
Minn found San Miguel, owned by the Spanish beer giant Mahou San Miguel, to be disappointingly bland.
Bitter and malty though well-balanced, San Miguel finished with a mediocre score of 3/5.
Estrella Damm
Brewed in Barcelona since 1876, Estrella Damm is Spain’s oldest beer brand.
With a stated commitment to sustainable brewing, it’s loved throughout Spain, although The Sun’s take was lukewarm.
The smell is just a bit too bitter, and while Minn notes the “hops and citrus notes coming through,” the lager, with 4.6% ABV, earned a score of just 3/5.
Rosa Blanca
The Mallorcan beer has been brewed on the island since 1927, and advertises its “well-balanced,” “creamy” flavour, with “hints of lightly roasted cereals.”
It’s sold in larger, 660mL bottles, giving it more bang for its buck, The Sun notes.
However, this value might be diminished by the fact that it’s only 3.4% ABV.
Despite the mildness, Ms. Minn found the flavour stronger than expected and therefore a bit off-putting, giving it a final score of 2/5.
“The taste was extremely lemony, which was very odd,” she writes.
Mahou
Mahou, with a potent 4.8% ABV, was a bit too strong for her liking.
The odour upon cracking open a can is rife with malt and citrus, as well as alcohol.
“I was expecting it to be really fruity but, instead, it left a very bitter, unpleasant taste in my mouth,” she writes.
In the end, Minn gave Mahou a dismal 2/5 score.
But should she bring her complaints to the Spanish capital, she might find some disagreement.
The beer, whose drinkers divide themselves into teams — team red Mahou and team green Mahou — is regarded as being one of the beverages most emblematic of Madrid.
Any given Saturday afternoon one will find hordes of Madrileños sipping the stuff leisurely over green olives and cigarettes on any one of the metropolis’ sunny terraces.
Chances are, they might have some problems with The Sun’s assessment.
READ MORE
- Top Spanish beer Cruzcampo launches in UK as Iberian brands continue British invasion
- ‘I’ve been trying the best non-alcoholic beers in Spain – these are my favourites’
Seems very badly researched – as you might expect from such a rag. Mahou Green is 4.8% (Red is 5.2 or even 5.4%%) and as such is the LEAST alcoholic of the beers she savoured. Why didn’t she try any of the really good (and much stronger) bottled beers like Alhambra 1925 or Estrella’s 1906 which are classics?
The Sun doesn’t get anything right, so hardly a surprise this is nonsense. Red Mahou is known as 5 Stars (cinco estrellas) for good reason as the premium beer in Spain in both taste and strength, at 5.5% The green Mahou is good but doesn’t match up to red Mahou as its around 4.8% so still a little gassy. How anyone could rate Cruzcampo as the best and give it 5/5 is beyond me, I’d give it 2/5 and that’s being polite – a very gassy beer, not even that refreshing unless drunk very cold (like at a chiringuito where the glass has been in the freezer) I’m also not too keen on Estrella of any type, another gassy beer and seems to have spread all over Spain now.