Hopping on the latest beer trends: Barcelona's Beer Festival 

The Barcelona Beer Festival returns April 11-13, offering another extensive range of treats for any beer-loving palate.  

For three days, Barcelona will become the world's beer capital, where the shared passion for the culture of craft beer will be celebrated.  

Brewer Roger Marin from the Sant Jordi brewery tells Catalan News about the art of crafting ale and his journey as a small brewery in Catalonia: "We started 11 years ago, at a time when the beer culture wasn’t very well-established in Catalonia. Our idea was to make very classic beers, very drinkable, very easy beers, with which people could connect and that would help introduce a bit of beer culture." 

Now they've moved on from the classic styles to more experimental types, producing drinks like New England IPAs, Irish Extra Stout, a seasonal winter beer, and several other styles of IPA.  

"It’s about learning from the moment, beer accompanies us at different times: when it’s hot, when it’s cold, whether you’re eating or not,” Marin says. “We have about seven fixed styles that are very adaptable to daily life, and from time to time, we create new styles and releases.”  

But the festival goes beyond letting enthusiasts taste different types and brands of beer. Several studies found that hops effectively reduced early menopausal symptoms, and Lo Villot Farm Brewery have since developed pills for women in their menopause made out of hops they produce. 

"The pills are made from ground hops that we grow,” explains Kiona, one of the brewers from Lo Villot Farm Brewery. “This plant is actually very suitable for hormonal regulation in women, especially during later stages of life, when entering perimenopause or menopause.” 

Besides the production for their beers, the farm grows hops to grind up and put into capsules so the hop can be taken directly in the form of a pill.  

"There is a difference between drinking a beer and taking a capsule. You could get the same benefits from beer as from the capsules, but beer usually contains alcohol, so it wouldn’t be very advisable if you're looking for something healthier," says Kiona.  

"With this, you can take it directly,” she says, adding “you could also take it as an herbal infusion, but the infusion is very strong and bitter so it’s not pleasant to drink, and with the capsules, it’s very easy and convenient." 

The festival also hosts initiatives like InnBrew, a meeting point for professionals in the beer industry, and the Barcelona Beer Challenge, the largest beer competition in the city which honors the best brews of the past year.  

There's also the Gastro Show, the gastronomic part of the festival that highlights the organizers’ belief that beer is an essential part of a country's culinary and cultural identity. 

This year, the event has teamed up with Barrel & Flow Fest, an American festival that celebrates creativity, inclusion and Black-owned breweries and its culture in the world of craft beer. 

The collaboration between Barrel & Flow and the Barcelona Beer Festival brings beer fans a unique chance to explore breweries visiting Europe for the first time but, above all, to learn first-hand how a beer festival can be transformative in its immediate environment, both in society and in the industry. 

Tickets for the Barcelona Beer Fest are already available on the event website.