Initial thoughts on the Beer Festival in Molins de Rei

Once we found the place, last Saturday's Beer Festival was definitely the place to be for Catalan microbrews. We met some great new brewers (we'll post some notes about Vella Caravana, Auskekens, Alpha and Maquis in upcoming blogs) and tasted some great beers from some of the already established brewers as well. The prize for me for best beer of the day went to the Reptilian Imperial Stout -  just an out-and-out fantastic beer, even if the summer-like temperatures made for less-than-ideal drinking situations. Also nice to see the girls from 2D2Dspuma. 16 brewers in all, and while there weren't a huge amount of people, the small size made it a great way to really get to go one-on-one with the brewers, ask them about why and what they are making now. And from what we heard Saturday, looks like 2011 is in for some great new beers as the year moves on. Next beer fest is the big one in Mediona, and most of the guys I spoke with (brewers and visitors alike) are already getting excited about it!