Standing out in Spain's craft beer industry

Our book, The National Geographic Atlas of Beer is in the final proof stage. It's full of geography, history, and culture of beer, as well as stories told to us by brewers. Here is one interesting story, among many you will find in our book, which will be for sale in mid September, 2017. 

Brewmaster Liz Luyben

Take internet dating, goats, red tape, a 6 foot blonde, mix in a passion for brewing, and you end up with La Cabra Azul (The Blue Goat) brewery. Meet Liz Luyben. As a college student in the Netherlands, Liz got her hands on a brewing kit and became quite good at changing water into beer, especially with Belgian tripels. Then along came love. She and her husband not only met on the internet, they subsequently founded the largest free dating site in the Netherlands, which meant no time for her brewing hobby. With the success of their website, they relocated to the mountains outside of Malaga, Spain to enjoy life. But good beer was hard to come by in her remote village. 

So Liz dusted off her brewing kit and started to brew American IPAs. A local bar owner tried one and invited Liz to brew at his bar, where he would sell it. Mountains of red tape later, La Cabra Azul was born. The brewery was named after the blue skies of Andalusia and the goats that graze on the hills. The use of local ingredients whenever possible is essential. Liz has even started to grow hops (Emerald, Simcoe and Citra) for her beers! Berliner Weisse is her next big project. When asked what it is like to be a brewer in Spain, Liz said, “I am a six foot tall blonde, pretty much all Spanish brewers are short guys with beards. That does tend to make me stand out just a little. Then again I am not easily overlooked, which is a good thing!” Agreed. Like Liz, her tasty beers should not be overlooked!

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BrewTALES from the road - la cave à bières

Strolling around Paris (isn't that what you do in Paris? Stroll?), we stumbled across a nook of a beer cellar ("la cave à bières") called Le Binouze. The name of this beer bottle shop, as we learned from another Frenchman in a nearby pub, is a slang for beer in French.  Two opposing walls were high with various glass bottles of beer, representing brews from Paris and beyond. The two young gentlemen working there - the one being a classic cliche of a college student who is earning his degree in cinema while working this "odd" job in order to make ends meet - unfortunately, were limited in their knowledge of beers and brews. And considering the dearth of knowledge in Paris regarding beers, they should know more.  How else does one pick out a beer but by the label?

Le Binouze beer shop in Paris

 As professional educators, beer drinkers and the latest inductees into the North American Guild of Beer Writers, we took it upon ourselves to teach these lads a few things about beer.  And no better way of doing that than with their stock of beer - we spent the next two hours pulling from their stock of bottles and opening then one by one, giving them an identity and explaining the nuances like each was... well, a French wine.  The terrior of the hops, the types of yeast and the resulting tastes. How to train the palate for bitter, for sours, and for maltiness.

During this time, several customers stopped by. Some were local Parisians curious to try something new or on an assignment to pick up a specific beer brand. Others were tourists who knew a bit about beers, and sadly at times, looking only for ones from their country of origin.  Some however, began asking us questions about beer and we even had one take home a special Lambic we think they'd like (even though they were German - the couple, not the beer).

In the end we shared six different beer styles - two IPAs (to compare the use of hops), a true lambic, a faro (to understand the use of sugar in beer), and an American wild ale (to underscore the role of yeast) - and took another five with us to drink later, while watching Parisians stroll the rues - a bier de garde, a "spring" ale, a lambic, a flanders style ale, and a hoppy amber French beer.

I'm sure these guys have a great story to tell their college buddies... (Now imagine the next part in French) Ah oui, remember that time that American and that Canadian started opening these crazy beers off the shelf and making us drink them while they went on and on about what makes a good beer...?