Record attendance at Barcelona Beer Festival as Catalans crowned winners

A best-ever turnout of 35,000 pint-lovers visited the Barcelona Beer Festival this weekend.

All in all, the eighth edition of the event – which centers on the biggest craft beer contest in southern Europe – pulled together 1,112 different beers from 218 breweries and 22 countries.

For the fourth annual Barcelona Beer Challenge, the artisan drinks were judged and given medals according to 69 categories by an approved international jury of around fifty members.

And the winners, in the end, were Catalans!

The Pirate Brewery, based in Súria, central Catalonia, won three gold medals for the best craft beers – for their takes on American Amber Ale, Russian Imperial Stout and a 'winter seasonal beer' – which meant they came away with the overall award for the most successful brewery.

Over three days at a convention center outside Barcelona, punters were also able to sample hundreds of different concoctions as part of tastings, brewing workshops and conferences.

But The Pirate went home with the booty, becoming the second Catalans to win following the Montseny Beer Company, from the west of the country, who won the inaugural prize in 2016.