Barcelona Beer Festival 2012

Time to do some taste travel and activate your salivary glands!

Today was the very 1st edition of a beer festival ever done in Barcelona, all about handmade beers from around the world. As soon as I found out about this event, I made my way through it. I can’t call myself a beer lover or expert, however this is something you must try at least once in a lifetime, anywhere you are, right? And the idea of this being the very 1st edition, it all came as an interesting sunday option.

Celebrated in downtown Barcelona in a quite particular spot, probably appropriate for the occasion: the Convent Sant Agustí, an antique building where a convent used to be back in time and that has been now updated and used frequently for different city events, mainly in the cloister area. (Fun Fact: This is also where the Chocolate Museum of Barcelona is located).

Sant Agusti’s Convent, Barcelona.

So I made an appearance around 3:00pm. With a free entrance and few line, there was a generous load of beer waiting for everyone inside.

Let the tasting begin!

There was a pretty good organization of the event. Right at the entrance, you could reach a first spot: the ticket/package stand. Here you could buy a glass, a beer guide and/or the equivalent currency for buying beer at the beer stands.

Pack #1: 1 Fest glass, 1 guide and 3 “tokens” = 5 euros.
Pack #2: 7 “tokens” = 5 euros
Pack #3: 15 “tokens” = 10 euros

Of course the glass was totally needed and worth the price. After all it was yours to take home. After having it all and guide in hand, attendees should go to the main board where beer’s names and locations were shown. If they ran off any of them, you could read “sold out”. Sad but true! It was such a big variety of beers from unimaginable places, that it was hard to decide what to try first. But well, you gotta start somewhere! Afterwards, we went straight to the beer stands with tokens in hand. The stands were all very well labeled (33 stands and over 130 different beers), making it easier for buyers to find their dream beer.

Beer Board with guide to respective beer stands.

Beer stands all labeled with numbers and letters.

Beer time already!

Then, we just started drinking and sharing among friends, in order to try the most possible! Fun and pleasant afternoon. It was nice to see a moderate and civilized bunch of people over a beer festival. Hours passed by and still order was kept and the ambience went light and friendly. (I can’t imagine a beer fest back in my place without being 2 hours after started and already the cops getting inside for excessively drunk people). So yes, it was nice, friendly, on a budget and perfect for a relaxing sunday afternoon. Even more under a blue sky almost yelling “spring!” all over the place.

If you want to read more about this great event that took place this past weekend in Barcelona, you can search on their site or follow on Twitter through their hashtag #BBF12.

Great experience to my taste buds! Have you been to any beer festival around the world?