by Carl LaBeataLupuloRex – Valencia Beer Trip 4-January 2022
Road trip to Valencia for release of collab beer with our friends at Sáez & Son. A great brewery and really nice couple. Acerca de – Sáez & Son – Cerveza Artesanal (saezson.es)
Brewed on 28 December 2021, One with Carson – American IPA. We used Ekuanot hops (bitter and whirlpool) and Comet (dry-hop). Really nice, clear IPA with citrus, fruit, floral and spice. Good, smooth bitterness, clear, yellow beer with body, flavor and character 😉
We arrived in Valencia around 15:00 on Friday. Opening drinking of One with Carson was to start at Olhöps Craft Beer Lab at 19:00. We decided to visit a few breweries beforehand: Antiga, StoneCastle (new build) and Alegría.
Cervezas Antiga (https://cervezasantiga.com/inicio ) is a brew house and beer hall in a warehouse in Catarroja neighborhood, South Valencia very close to the Catarroja train station.
Antiga offers brewery visits combined with beer tastings and barbeques on specific dates and times. See the website for details. You can enjoy Antigaj’s varied and interesting lineup of beers. We bought a 6 pack to go received a can of the Hazy IPA they provide on the tours. It was very good.
StoneCastle Brewing was nice find, since we had an hour to kill before Alegria opened. I searched for breweries in Valencia and there it was: I was like, “That’s the first I have heard of this brewery!” So, we proceeded to Carrer de l’Arquitecte Alfaro, 8, Nave 6, 46011 Valencia.
Lo and behold, there was a guy with striped overalls standing in front as we drove up. I said to my wife, “He looks like a brewer/craftsman,” so I asked if this was Whitecastle brewing? And he said, “No, StoneCastle Brewing.” :/ my bad, beer not little burgers.
His name was Mauricio, and he was originally for Portland, Oregon! A brother from the Pacific Northwest, USA and obviously a man who knows how to brew.
His brewery has been under construction for some time and was to be his motorcycle workshop and brewpub…okay, I was intrigued.
We later learned about Portland Alehouse, that has been in Valencia serving StoneCastle beers since 2006! We are looking forward to the new brewery and trying Portland Aleshouse next time we come down to Valencia. Visit online: https://www.facebook.com/StoneCastle-Brewing-SL-239772312769374/ and https://www.facebook.com/Portland-Ale-House-35965599857/
We headed back south to find Cerveza Alegria in the neighborhood of Massanassa and say hello to owners Guillermo and Irene. Their brewpub is located in this commercial area near IKEA. People were strolling in right at 18:30, a good sign.
We met with Irene and tried a few of their beers, which were very good. Alegria Brewpup is a nice place with comfortable pallet furniture and tables. They have food available and brewery tours and tastings. Check them out at https://www.cervezasalegria.com/
We headed back into Valencia around 19:00 to find Olhöps Craft Beer House in the Russafa neighborhood and check in to our Airbnb.
Driving in Valencia is pretty easy but finding parking is a nightmare! Did you ever have the feeling that parking karma is not on your side? At least 4 times we passed a spot only to come back to see someone else had better karma than us.
Finally, we were able to check in to our AirBnB and find a parking spot about 10 minues walking to Olhöps www.olhops.com . We arrived at about 21:30 to find our friends from Sáez & Son, Cristine and Andreas enjoying pints with many other nice people on the terrace outside. The beer and conversations were excellent.
Once we had beers in hand and I had my first taste of One with Carson, all was right with the world. Then I said to Andreas, “Looks like it might rain.” Minutes later it started to, but not for long. Pedro from Olhöps ordered pizza and we had a great evening.
The next morning, we planned to pick up kegs of One with Carson for delivery in Barcelona and then meet Vicente at Cosa Nostra Brewing Co. in Port de Sagunt about 30 minutes North of Valencia. We planned to have a few beers and talk hops.
Cosa Nostra is an award-winning brewery making varied, hop-forward styles. Vicentes beers are excellent, and we enjoyed our early afternoon talking and drinking before we headed back to Barcelona.
Vicente gave us a box of oranges from his home as we left. What a fitting gift from Valencia, but I really liked the beers. The website https://cosanostrabrewing.com/ is under construction and a new brewhouse is on the way with plans for expansion.
Another beer trip to Valencia is on the horizon. We can’t wait to get back and explore some more of this beautiful city and the wonderful beer landscape.
Cheers to the beers!
LupuloRex
