what, again?? (w/ pics)

Yeah, yeah, finally getting around to posting impressions of the second day of the Beer Fair.  I went in the afternoon, thinking that most people would still be at work on a Monday, and indeed it was quite quiet at first.  I took the opportunity to go all the way to the back, since the day before it had been exceedingly difficult to squeeze down there. 

I found Birra y Paz looking a little lonely, although there were people sitting on the benches with their glasses in calm conversation.  The star promotion is a beer made with sea water.  The idea might make some people hesitate to try it, but it's actually a very normal tasting brew, with just a little bit of bite that surrounds the tongue.  It is, of course, filtered water, so no algae, but the mineral content is intact according to the rep.  It's more mineral than salt, kind of like a lot of mineral waters.  It's very easy to drink, possibly "dangerous".  The other offering was Socorrada, a triple malt with rosemary and rosemary honey.  Definitely a little more kick in the taste, very herbal, something of menthol in it for me.  In spite of the honey, it's not a sweet beer, the spice is much more perceptible.  Drinking the two together really accentuated the differences for me without diminishing any of their characteristics.  The rep insisted they were the first company to brew with sea water and rosemary honey, and that they had been shopping the product in the US, Mexico and ... Guinea.  Ok, then.

Socorrada on the left, sea water on the right, doing some teamwork

Moving towards the front, we had Mammooth of Granada.  I remembered the name from the first fair, and had tried their dark at the time, although it wasn't terribly memorable.  This time I went for the stout, which was as characteristic of its kind as could be: rich, black color with a dirty beige head and smoky and earthy in taste.  It might also be one of those dangerous beers, since it gets smoother and smoother with every sip.  Might be the reason for the name: Hecate.  The rep insisted on speaking some English with me, guess he's gotta practice, and since I was hanging around anyway, I got a bit of the other tap.  It's called Fósil, if I'm not mistaken, a blond beer, lemonade yellow with a heavy floral scent, and very foamy.  It also contains rosemary, but not rosemary honey!  It called to mind FM's Valverde, something summery and spicy, light and energetic for a warm evening.  While I was there, the rep didn't charge the tasters for their beers, so I have to give an A+ for the friendly and welcoming attitude.  And those beers, definitely memorable this time around.

Almost forgot the picture...

Up at the front, I found Dawat, and was convinced to try their special fair pilsner.  It's a 10º beer that they don't plan to put into real production, it was more of a gimmick for the moment.  Normally they have a lighter 5º and are brewing up a 17º for the near future.  The reps explained that pilsner is one of the most difficult beers to make and isn't profitable by itself.  The alcohol content is their something special on the market.  The fair pilsner was a translucent tan, slightly bubbly and a bit sweet.  The sweetness became almost a bubblegum taste, although after a while there was also a certain smokiness underneath it.  On the whole, Spanish pilsners just aren't my glass of beer, so to speak.

While mildly disappointed by Ebora the day before, this time they were serving their Christmas (or Navidad) special, so I gave them another chance.  The beer is just a bit fruity with a very light, fizzy head, and a sort of caramely color.  It's not as heavy as I might expect a Christmas drink to be, but it has some sweet candiness.  Maybe a little too sugary after a while, but the lightness keeps it from getting syrupy.  Ebora redeemed by Christmas magic.

I was about to leave, but decided to take one last look before the place filled up.  The afterwork crowd was arriving by that time, and it was getting busier.  I found Tyris in the corner, with another pils.  The rep insisted on just giving me the tasting, since the keg was almost empty.  I suppose that accounts for much of the generosity of the reps: they didn't want to carry back a lot of not-quite-empty kegs after the fair was over.  This was really a nice ending to my fair experience: very citrusy smell, very snappy taste, again with a bright, lemonade color.  Very refreshing with herbs and citrus pith.  There's something a little dirty in the smell, but it's a respectable dirt, the dirt of hard work and fun, kind of like a locker room, and the taste is clean as can be.

The last hurrah of the fair

If I haven't misread the trend, I'll be back to this in May for the summer releases.