I’ve made many trips to Spain over the years and one thing has remained constant- the beer. Spain has been a producer of refreshing lagers for a long time- I’m quite partial to a Mahou Classica on a typically hot Costa del Sol day. It’s very pleasant in those conditions and the same can be said for similar beers like San Miguel, Estrella Galicia (never understood why Galicia is prevalent in Spain and yet it’s Damm that’s exported) or Cruz Campo.

What surprised me on my last visit was when I was in an Italian restaurant in Benalmadena and was presented with a beer menu. I was further confused when I thought it was a beer menu from a Portuguese lager brewery. I quickly realised that I had mistaken La Sagra for Sagres.

I opted for a La Sagra and was treated to an American style IPA that was very good, it was chilled and light enough to be refreshing in the hot climate but still with enough bite to it. It gives me yet more hope that real beer is spreading if even a lager dominated Spain is starting to produce some really good beer. It’s anecdotal evidence so far but it does show that it’s possible and that there are green shoots there to be nurtured.

So is the picture below a thing of the past? Probably not but it could be something that starts to be slowly replaced by something with a bit more flavour to it.

I’ve just had the pleasure of my first visit to Ireland having spent a few days in Cork. One of the best things about Ireland is how friendly the people are wherever you go, but especially in the pubs. I made it to half a dozen or so and all were excellent with great beer- gives me some more future options for our annual trip! I’m not a big fan of stout but I did have a couple of the obligatory pints of Guinness, it’s probably at least partially the psychology but it definitely tastes better in Ireland.

What I really did enjoy though were the various versions of Irish red beer. At the risk of stating the obvious, the most common Irish beer I’ve come across is stout, which is generally Guinness but when I’ve come across other beer from the Emerald Isle, it’s always been red beer. The same was true in the first few pubs I went to in Cork and I assumed that red was simply to distinguish from stout and that it was a generic term for bitter.

What I discovered however, whilst doing a tour of Franciscan Well Brewery, was that Irish red beer stems from a time when tax was high on hops and so Irish beers therefore were made with a high proportion of malt and a low proportion of hops. For me it makes great beer because I love that malty taste and several nice pints of Smithwick’s Red and Franciscan Well’s Rebel Red went down very nicely!

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Post-Brexit can British beer now challenge the dominance of Superbock in Portugal?

The Fourtharch is a group of British beer and pub enthusiasts and we, or I want to know if Post-Brexit along with the growing global demand for new beers and novel flavours, if British beer exports will now increase into continental Europe and in particular Portugal so when I am there on my hols I am no longer faced with the choice of Superbock, Superbock or Superbock.

I thought the EU was all about the free movement of goods and services and yes the supermarkets here in England and Wales are full of wines and beers from all over the world, especially from Continental Europe but in the Portuguese supermarkets I see only Portuguese beer in boxes piled high along with Portuguese wine – you can’t even pick up a slightly more passible San Miguel from next door in Spain. Don’t get me wrong, I love Portugal and the Portuguese [even with Ronaldo] and in particularly the Algarve where the sun is always out and the breeze coming in from the Atlantic acts like outdoor air conditioning, but I cannot get to grips with your beer Portugal it just does not give me that looked forward to first beer bite of the day taste experience.

I could never see EU trade commissioners who 27 times out of 28 would have been European continental lager drinkers ever putting a strong case for British beer so now that the UK is to leave the EU maybe independent breweries such as Woodfordes in Norfolk already with ambitious sales plans for China and the location for the very first fourtharch outing can now move in on Portugal – what better than an Englishman or Welshman to promote British beer abroad. So Post-Brexit let the Super see the Bock and mount those dray horse to introduce our continental cousins to real British beer – especially that little bar I know on the beach on the Eastern Algarve please. [Other members of the Fourtharch may enjoy Superbock]