Over
the past 5 years my wife and I have enjoyed 4 brilliant holidays to
Carvoeiro, a small resort 40 minutes east of Faro on Portugal’s
Algarve.
We
first visited in October 2014 and immediately fell in love with the
place. We found that Carvoeiro had everything we wanted from a
relaxing holiday destination. But could I get a good Beer?
Carvoeiro
has developed from a small traditional Portuguese fishing village and
is now a small but bustling holiday resort with a great selection of
bars, restaurants, shops and hotels. It’s still small enough that
it’s retained its traditional charm whilst still moving with the
times, providing everything you would expect from a modern vibrant
town.
Moving
with the times has meant that even Carvoeiro has not escaped the
‘craft beer revolution’. When we first visited I was only just
discovering craft beer myself, back in the UK the craft beer scene
was still very much a work in progress. In Carvoeiro craft beer was
non-existent. Going for a drink involved four choices, wine, beer,
cider or cocktails. If you chose beer your choices were relatively
restricted. The only beers available in nearly all establishments
were ‘Superbock’ a 5.2% ABV pale lager from the Carlsberg group,
‘Sagres’ a 5% ABV pale lager ultimately owned by Heineken and of
cause Guinness!
On
our next visit the following year not much has changed. The only
subtle difference was that ‘Superbock Stout’ had started to
appear in a few select bars and restaurants, but on the whole its
availability was very limited. In most venues I would be met with
blank stares when I requested in at the bar, on more than one
occasion when asking for a Superbock Stout I was proudly presented
with a pint of Superbock lager!
‘Superbock
Stout’ is a 5% ABV dark stout produced by Superbock who are part of
the Carlsberg group. I was impressed by the smooth creamy mouthfeel
which coupled with a milk chocolate, sweet vanilla and roasted coffee
flavour resulting in an extremely drinkable and enjoyable stout. It
wasn’t as heavy as Guinness and as it was sold in 330ml rather than
pints, it was also much more sessionable; just what I wanted for a
long afternoon in the sun!
In 2017 we returned again, on the face of it nothing had changed. Superbock and Sagres were still the most popular and available beers while Guinness was still the go to dark beer. Superbock Stout was now available in a wider range of venues, most important of all being my hotel bar!
But once you scratched the surface subtle and important changes were beginning to appear. Firstly in many of the restaurants were now offering other European Lagers on draught, San Miguel, Stella Artois and Heineken were all available depending on the venue. Not exactly ‘craft beer’ but at least there were now more options.
On a slightly more exciting note, when I was in the town’s main bottle shop selecting a bottle of Port to take home for my parents I noticed 3 different brightly coloured 330ml bottles. On closer inspection I realised I was looking at 3 bottles from a Lisbon based brewery Cerveja Musa. I found to my delight an Oat Stout, an IPA and a Red Session IPA, all with a music, theme. ‘Twist and Stout, ‘Born in the IPA’ and ‘Red Zeppelin’…..see what they did there! Unfortunately all were sat on a warm shelf in direct sunlight, also being my last day of the holiday I decided to give them a miss. There will be a next time I thought!
Sadly
I had to wait 2 years for the next time but when it came I certainly
was not disappointed.
By
this time it was May 2019. The craft beer scene in the UK was well
established, Magic Rock had just found their way onto Tesco’s
shelves and breweries like Cloudwater, Deya and Verdant were
producing top quality beer that were giving the Americans a run for
their money.
When
we arrived in Carvoeiro I was pleased to discover things has also
improved there too. At my first opportunity I walked down the very
same bottle shop that I had spotted the Cerveja Musa 2 years
previous. As I walked in I immediately spotted a large fridge full
of all types of alcohol, wine, port, cava and most importantly 1
shelf dedicated to Cerveja Musas’ four beers and four other craft
beers from another Portuguese craft brewer +351.
An
Oat Stout, Black IPA, 2 different IPAs, Red Session IPA, Pale Ale and
a Vienna Lager, truly spoiled for choice. The fact that they were
now refrigerated also showed that retailers were taking more care
over the beer they were selling, ensuring quality form brewery to
glass!
Things
had also improved in the hotel, the bar which on the previous
occasion had Superbock lager on draught and Superbock Stout in
bottles now had a 6 pump keg system with Superbocks’ ‘1927’
craft beer series available. This included a Munich Dunkel, Bengal
IPA and Weiss Bier as well as Superbock Stout on draught.
Over
the next couple of days I made it my goal to try all of the Cerveja
Musa and +351 330ml bottles. My first choice was Cerveja Musas’
‘Red Zeppelin’, a red session IPA. I paid for it and made my way
down the beach before cracking it open. It was delightful, dried
fruits and malty caramel on the nose which complemented a refreshing
toffee, fig, raisin and subtle citrus taste
Later
that day we visited one of our favourite bars, located in the cliffs
with stunning views over the Atlantic Ocean, to my surprise I spotted
some more Cerveja Musa in the fridge there……result!
This
time a thought I’d try the Oat Stout, again it was fantastic. Full
of flavour, an espresso coffee and milk chocolate aroma with similar
taste, it was certainly as good as stouts from the likes of Bristol
Beer Factory and Left Handed Giant.
The
+351 beers were equally as impressive with the Black IPA being a
particular highlight. It’s hoppy, smokey, roasted coffee and cacao
flavour proved to be very refreshing.
The
icing on the cakes was the discovery of Dos Santos, a small craft
brewery located on a golf resort just outside the town. They appeared
to be relevantly new, focused on light fruity beers following the
principles of the Reinheitsgebot. During the
first few days of the holiday I had noticed a few bars had their
beers on keg but despite checking most shops in the village I
couldn’t find any of their bottles for sale. Therefore on the
third day of the holiday we decided to take a trip up to the brewery
and taproom so we could sample then for ourselves.
After
a short taxi ride we arrived at the Dos Santos brewery and taproom in
a beautiful location overlooking a vineyard and the hills behind. The
brewery had a lovely modern feel, including a bright shiny stainless
steel brewing kit, a fully mechanised bottling line and a light
vibrant taproom and terrace area which made the most of the views. We
were greeted by the friendly staff who sat us down on a large table
in the window so we could really enjoy the views.
We
ordered our first beers, they offered a core range which include a
Pilsner, Lager, Pale and Amber Ale. They also offered a seasonale
beer, which on this occasion was a Watermelon pale.
I
opted for the Amber, whilst my wife chose the Watermelon Pale.
The
Amber arrived and was extremely fresh and chilled with just the right
level of carbonation. It had beautifully fresh citrus and dried
fruits aroma with a crisp orange, sweet toffee and fig taste.
After
enjoying the Amber I swiftly moved on to try the pale ale and the
pilsner, both were equally as crisp and refreshing with lovely malt
driven flavours.
The taproom had a simple menu which offered an interesting selection
of fresh tapas. My wife and I went for a sharing plate, including
local olives, breads, meat and cheeses which complemented the beers
excellently. As I sat there sipping the pilsner looking out over the
vineyards it suddenly dawned on me how far the Portuguese craft beer
scene had developed over the relatively short time I had been
visiting. Fresh local beer and fresh local food, this was a far cry
from our first visit when the beer never complemented the food, and
was nothing more than mass produced and flavourless! Craft beer had
defiantly arrived!
In
my view an important part of taking a holiday is relaxing and
enjoying the finer things in life, sadly the first time I visited
Carvoeiro everything was excellent apart from the beer. Now however
even on this small part of The Algarve a public demand and an
industry passion has resulted in change. Now quality and choice are
now in charge. If this is the story in just one small part of
Portugal in sure the cases is very similar right along the Atlantic.
The future looks promising!
