Since our visit in 2017, at least one of the breweries featured has ventured to the UK so piece is a little dated, but hopefully it will be of use to some who are visiting the city.
Most
drinkers planning an overseas beer jaunt would likely be looking at booking for
the Netherlands, Bruges or Prague with their rich brewing heritages. However,
the “craft beer revolution” is happening all over Europe and the
well-researched beer tourist can find quality local brews in a variety of
specialist beer bars in most major cities.
Even then,
Portugal is unlikely to be the first destination that would come to mind – the
dominance of Sagres & Super Bock, who share 80% of the market, hasn’t made
it a beer lovers paradise. Sagres is part of the global Heinekin empire while
Super Bock comes from the Portuguese privately owned Unicer group who also make
soft drinks, wines plus Carlsberg lager and Somersby “cider” under licence.
However,
things are changing with the major cities of Porto and Lisbon now boasting a
variety of craft beer bars and brewery taps which have sprung up over the last
half decade. So it was that in seeking a late summer sun break with added beer
incentive, we set off for Lisbon armed with some internet research and a healthy
thirst.
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| Beer Station |
The first
bar we came across is one of the newest – The Beer Station is nestled in a
public square just below the city’s Rossio train station. It’s clearly aimed at
the more tourist end of the market with laminated beer menus set out on the
extensive outdoor area indicating a fairly static range of both draught and
bottled beers – although a few white spaces do have the current guests entered
in marker pen.
With all
draft beers priced at €3 for 20cl and €5 for 40cl (with flights of 3 x 10cl for
€5), it was time to dive into the menu. Letra F, an American IPA from Letra
brewery in Portugal’s third city Braga was a well-balanced refreshing drink
that hid it’s 6.5% strength well. Lisbon’s own Cerveja Musa take musical
inspiration for their beer names – our first experiences of what would be a
brewery we would become very familiar with were Red Zeppelin – a red session
IPA – and Mick Lager.
Lisbon is a
city built on seven hills with steep slopes and staircases linking its
districts. Climbing up hill from The Beer Station we arrived at the city’s
first brew pub – Duque Brewpub which opened in early 2016. A wall of taps and a blackboard boasting 12
beers suggested a bar aimed more at the local craft beer fans, although the
majority of accents heard on both of our visits here were American.
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| Duque Brewpub |
The brewery
was visible through a door to one side of the bar, but surprisingly there was
only one ‘Duguesa’ beer on the bar, the 4.5% Pilsner – the barman explaining
that while there are three regular beers in their range, they can’t brew them
quick enough to keep them all on at once in the bar. Both Letra and Musa that
we had already encountered each had two beers each listed so in the interests
of experimentation as well as the Pilsner, we selected Joe Da Silva – a Sorachi
Ace hopped APA from Oitava (written 8a) Colina, another Lisbon based
brewery.
A couple of
booths, a central table with stools and a drinking shelf with high stools exude
the kind of trendy chic that sees the humble pallet being the UK equivalent’s
material of choice. Sadly, being chic didn’t make up for them also being
incredibly uncomfortable so we didn’t hang around. At a later visit, we got one
of the limited number of seats outside and took the opportunity to sample from
the extensive bottle menu.
Away from
the more touristy areas of the city, the city’s first craft beer bar Cerveteca
Lisboa shuns the shabby chic for the clean minimalist look – light coloured
walls, polished wood floors and simple modern artwork on the walls in this bar
set into the base of a steep hill. The obligatory wall of fonts is supplemented
by two handpumps on the bar with a total of 12 draft beers listed on the
blackboard – the Portugese offerings being indicated by an asterisk. A wide
selection of cans and bottles can be selected from the retail shelves with
chilled versions behind the bar if you want to drink there.
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| Museu de Cerveja |
Given its
location on the corner of the central waterfront Praça do Comércio (Commercial
Square), unsurprisingly the Museu da Cerveja (Museum Of Beer) is an unashamed
beacon to tourists. Primarily a restaurant where a steak & fries will set
you back €25, the menu includes a selection of 20 bottles from micro-breweries
advertised as “Home Made Beers” alongside a selection from other Portuguese
speaking islands and countries. Unfortunately, the only draft beers advertised
on the menu as “Do Museo” turn out to be from the Super Bock range.
A short
walk to the foot of the historic Alfama district will take you to LisBeer, a
dark almost cave like space on the ground floor of a centuries old house. A
loose-leaf beer menu lists an impressive choice of both local and world beers
(although we wasted no time in telling the bar man that Trooper and Spitfire do
not represent the best of British beer). Unfortunately, the majority of the
most interesting bottles seemed to be sold out - apparently the week’s delivery was yet to
arrive – so we selected draft beers from Dois Corvos and Musa – duly served in
a Trooper glass. It was late at night on a Tuesday when we called, so possibly
we didn’t catch them on the best night.
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| Quimera Brewpub |
To find
Lisbon’s real beer gems, it’s necessary to take advantage of the city’s
excellent public transport network – made up of metro, buses and trams where a 24
hour pass costs €6.15. A ride on the 15 tram takes you past the waterside clubs
to the hip Alcântara del Mar district where Quimera Brewpub oozes atmosphere
from its dimly lit tunnel of a home. Family run, when we called, the landlady
was practising for the bar’s weekly jam night on her ukulele, breaking off to
make us feel very welcome.
Eleven
beers included 8 of the pub’s own brews ranging from Cherry Sour to Coffee
Stout, supplemented by other local brews from Musa, Lince & 8a
Colina – the latters APA being the outstanding beer of the visit. The owner was
happy to offer us tasters of all the beers and talk us through the extensive
bottle selection. While quiet when we called on Monday evening, we’ll make sure
to head back on a weekend next time when reports are that the place comes alive.
On the opposite
side of the city, the industrial Marvila district houses two of the coolest
beer spaces you will find anywhere. Although the brewery was only founded in
2013, the tap room at Dois Corvos is already well established as the destination
for the serious craft beer fan in Lisbon. A long thin room boasts plentiful
seating running down one side with the shiny stainless steel brewhouse at the
end.
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| Dois Corvos |
Twelve taps
are mounted on a tiled wall below a blackboard which advertises beers available
in 25cl and 40cl measures as well as bargain rate growler fills in 1 and 2
litre sizes. Beers as diverse as a Hibiscus Gose and a 10% barrel aged barley
wine were available, but standout offerings were Last Mango In Paris, a 8.5%
IPA bursting with murky flavour and Galaxia a smooth milk stout. If the beer wasn’t enough to tempt you to
extend your visit, a range of affordable snacks including pizza and the local
speciality Assa Chorizo – a chorizo sausage grilled at your table - is available throughout the day.
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| Musa Taproom |
As of
August 2017, visitors to Marvila can also visit the tap room of Musa brewery,
located just round the corner from Dois Corvos. It is early days for this
newest entry on the city’s beer scene – evident during our visit by the number
of locals who were clearly calling in for the first time to check it out – but
they clearly expect their newly created tap room to become a popular destination
with a large ground floor space supplemented by a mezzanine floor overlooking
the impressive brewery beyond. A kitchen was due to open during September.
The brewery
which began brewing in 2015 must have great fun thinking up beer names with Gold
Save The Queen, Baltic Sabbath and Twist & Stout amongst those on offer –
even the water was imaginatively listed as Wish You Were Beer. While possibly not hitting the quality and
consistency of Dois Corvos, the beers are good – Café D'Ale Mar coffee pale and
Phycho Pilsner stood out from the brew tap’s selection.
Living
amongst Manchester’s well developed and burgeoning beer market, there is
something refreshing about witnessing the formative years of a craft ale scene
just emerging in a town and country that while it has a long history of brewing
has seen it suppressed and overshadowed for so many years.
It is only
four years since the city’s first craft brewery opened, with its first craft
beer bar following a year later and this is clearly a scene which is growing
rapidly and already has some breweries and bars that could hold their own
against the best in much more established brewing nations. With its Mediterranean
climate, numerous historic churches, castles and other attractions to help pass
the days, it’s a city well worth a beer lover giving it a visit.
