TOP OF THE HOPS
We tested the best Spanish lager in UK supermarkets – and the delicious winner is from budget store Iceland
Read to find out which other easy-to-drink other option also scored full marks
WITH the sun out, there is no better time to crack open a beer while sitting outside and imagining that you are on holiday in Spain.
And to make it feel even closer to the real deal, Brits are increasingly choosing to sip on Spanish brands.
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Thanks to the launches of Madri and Cruzcampo over here, the Spanish lager market in the UK is growing by 73 per cent year on year, with one in every five pints sold now coming from Spain.
It is clear we want to sit back and enjoy a sip of the sun from our No1 holiday destination.
Sun writer Hayley Minn tests the top Spanish beers available and gives each a score out of five.
Madri, 4x440ml, £6, Morrisons - 4/5
FOR the past couple of years, it feels as though everyone has been talking about and drinking Madri, and I understand why
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The beer has got a really distinct, citrusy smell and taste.
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It was lovely and refreshing, thanks to its citrus notes, and had a great balance of malt and fruit flavours. I really liked it!
However, it turns out Madri isn’t actually a Spanish beer.
It is merely “inspired” by 19th Century Spain and “the progressive spirit of modern Madrid”.
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In reality, Madri is brewed in the UK, and barely anyone in Spain has heard of it.
I definitely felt cheated learning this but I can’t pretend that I didn’t still feel like I was abroad when drinking it.
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San Miguel, 4x330ml, £5, Morrisons - 3/5
SAN MIGUEL is probably the best-known of all that I tried – and I’ve probably drunk it a million times before.
I normally enjoy it a lot. But this time, comparing it to the others, it was a different story.
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It just smelled and tasted quite bland.
It had a much fainter smell than some of the others and the taste was definitely more wishy-washy, too.
There was no citrus coming through, just a lot of malt.
It is also a lot more bitter than the other beers I tried, although it is well- balanced.
However, it is still a refreshing drink and I’d grab it if I saw it on the shelves.
I just wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it any more.
Mahou, 4x440ml, £6, Morrisons - 2/5
AT 4.8% ABV, Mahou is one the strongest beers of all the Spanish brews I tried.
And I could tell as soon as I opened the can.
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It has a very distinct, beery smell, with a lot of citrus notes coming through, as well as malt.
The flavour is just as strong.
I was expecting it to be really fruity but, instead, it left a very bitter, unpleasant taste in my mouth.
The flavour was definitely too strong for me.
There is no way I would be able to have a whole pint of this.
But I can imagine people liking it.
I reckon this could be a fair choice for lager fans.
Estrella Galicia, 4x330ml, £6.25, Waitrose - 5/5
AS soon as I had my first sip of Estrella Galicia, all the memories of sun, sea and sand from my Spanish holidays came flooding back.
It is a very refreshing beer that has a great balance of the bready flavours of malt and hops with the citrus notes.
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And it’s not surprising that this is an authentic Spanish beer, brewed by Hijos de Rivera, an independent, fourth-generation, family-owned brewery founded in 1906 in A Coruna, Galicia, where it still operates today.
It is also the only Spanish brewer that owns its own hops and it all seems to show in the taste.
This is a really easy-to-drink beer, I can definitely see myself sinking a few of these.
Rosa Blanca, 4x440ml, £5, Tesco - 2/5
I HAD never heard of Rosa Blanca before but I stumbled across it in Tesco, with the bottle proudly showing off that it is brewed in Spain.
You do get more for your money with this drink, thanks to 440ml cans (or a 660ml bottle which is £1.75) – just like how beer is sold in Spanish supermarkets.
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But it is quite a weak option, with only 3.4% ABV.
Because of this, I wrongly assumed the flavour would be weak too, but it actually has a very strong beery smell.
Despite not smelling of citrus fruits at all, the taste was extremely lemony, which was very odd.
I’m not a fan of this beer, unfortunately.
It just wasn’t well-balanced at all.
Cruzcampo, 4x440ml, £5.75, Iceland - 5/5
I RECENTLY visited Seville where you could not move for bars that were advertising and serving Cruzcampo as its main beer, thanks to it being founded there in 1904.
Despite those sold here being brewed in the UK, as soon as I had my first sip I felt like I was back in Seville, drinking in a stunning rooftop bar and looking out over the cobbled streets.
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It’s much more fruity than most British beers, making it delicious, yet you can still taste the hops and malt very clearly.
It’s such a nice, refreshing beer, just what you want on a warm summer’s day.
All that’s missing is the tapas.
Estrella Damm, 4x330ml, £5.95, Iceland - 3/5
NOT to be confused with Estrella Galicia, Estrella Damm is a completely different beer.
In fact, having been brewed in Barcelona since 1876, it is Spain’s oldest pint.
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Unfortunately, however, this one has a much more bitter smell than some of the others I tried.
Although there are still a lot of hops and citrus notes coming through.
The taste is also very bitter, but with a hint of fruit and citrus.
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I’m sure it is all down to personal preference though.
I still found it a really refreshing drink but I prefer the citrus flavours to the hops, and I wasn’t getting much of that here.
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