The rise of the Craft beer en Spain it is an undeniable fact. We are facing a market that proliferates and increases year by year. This results in a multitude of new producers and an immense fan of new beers quality within everyone's reach.
The Spanish consumer is beginning to know craft beer
Like any great change worth its salt, it needs a period of adaptation. One of the big problems with which we are meeting in producers, distributors and specialized stores is the great ignorance that still prevails in the average consumer of beer.
While in other European or North American countries they have long been accustomed to the Craft beer. Its flavors, aromas and sensations that it transmits. Its consumption reaches quotas of up to 16% of total beer consumption (in the case of the USA). To who Spain the consumption of craft beer is something novel and residual. It barely reaches 1% of total beer consumption.
As many of you know, the beer It is made up of four basic ingredients: water, malt, hops and yeast. It is the result of the alcoholic fermentation process of the sugar present in the cereals (malt) by yeasts. Water, for its part, serves as the basis for this process. The hops, among other functions, aromatize the resulting mixture and balance the sweetness of the malts, giving the beer of its characteristic bitter taste.
The quality of the ingredients used in the process and the way in which fermentation takes place will directly affect the quality of the final product.
La Craft beer pretends to be and is, above all, a quality beer. Her surname, artisan or artisan, emphasizes the condition that the human part actively intervenes in its production process.
This does not mean that artisan producers do not use any machinery or technology during the process. If not, this is done in the most natural way possible and is much less automated than in the industrial beer.
The raw material is selected and pampered
The producers of Craft beer They are generally very passionate about the product they make. The quality of their final elaborations is non-negotiable for them. They are fully involved throughout the process and never skimp on raw materials. In addition, they use 100% natural ingredients of the highest quality in their recipes.
As opposed, large industrial brewing companies automate brewing processes. They lower the quality of their raw material - it is common for many of them to substitute millet or rice for part of the barley used. They also use additives and chemicals to stabilize the final mixture or provide it with the characteristic gas of beer.
With this they manage to significantly lower the beer price. Increase your production volume to thereby increase your bottom line profits at the cost of a lower quality of your product. Precisely for this reason, the flavor, aroma and body of a Craft beer Well prepared, it does not currently have competition with the industrial sector.
An immense range of possibilities
Many of the consumers of classic beer who are approaching for the first time the world of Craft beer they are very surprised. Especially when discovering the number of different beers that exist.
Blonde, red, toasted, white or black beers. Type Ale (high fermentation) or Warehouse (low fermentation). Style IPA, Porter, Stout… Existing varieties of craft beer They are almost infinite and their flavors, aromas or bodies vary in the same proportion.
As if this were not enough, each producer has his own recipe. In this way your beer, despite sharing style and ingredients with that of another, can have other different shades. They do not exist two identical craft beers.
In the foreground of this photograph, a Blonde Ale style craft beer. Behind, a porter style stout
(Photograph by Daniel Fernández, member of the cervezalia)
The wide variety of types can confuse the consumer
Used to drinking just the kind of beer blonde Lager Pilsner of low quality that industrialists generally offer us. Hitting ourselves face to face with such a variety of blows can lead to a serious rejection problem.
We live in a society of immediacy and comfort when it comes to consuming. When we want a beer, we want it now and we don't want to have to decide anything, just consume it.
So that wide range of possibilities What may seem like a blessing at first may turn into an outright curse for our product.
In this situation it is best not to despair or close in band. The producers, distributors and sellers we are aware of the importance of promoting our product.
We actively work to make it known to anyone who is interested. We know well the product and its high quality in general. We are convinced that Craft beer it will end up gaining a foothold and will be accepted and recognized by the vast majority of consumers.
So you know the next time you have the chance. Give the Craft beer and bet on her. Surely you will not regret
