Requena is a place where wine is very important. We could say that Requena is a land of wines. Local economy is based in vineyards and there are dozens of wine cellars. However, most people drink beer when they go out for a drink. This fact always astonished me (even though I do the same) since I suppose we should support our local economy. But the reality is different…

It’s really common to meet up with buddies, relatives or coworkers to go out for a beer. It is also increasingly common that bars have several kinds of beers to choose from. A few years ago, your choices were just two or three domestic brands, nowadays it is much better.

Drinking beer in Spain is quite cheap if you compare the prices with others countries. Here in Requena, a bottle (33cl.) of domestic beer costs between one or two euros ($1.20- $2.45) in any bar or pub. In bigger cities and in some fancy pubs it could be much more expensive. If you want to taste imported beer, the prices increase a lot.

In some Spanish cities like Granada, Burgos ,etc… the drink comes along with a tapa and you can sometimes have a full meal if you order two or three of them. Maybe in these places it is a bit more expensive to have a beer but you don’t have to spend money on food, because it is included in the price!

For this outing, my partner and I went to an Irish Pub, O’Callaghan, located very near Avenida Arrabal, the most famous avenue in Requena and great meeting point. In this pub, you can try several kinds of imported beers or you can choose domestic beer in a pleasant atmosphere.

The first beer we tasted, Maredsous Blonde is a very tasty Belgian ale with a golden color, a powerful flavor, and 6% alcohol. This blonde is brewed in an abbey by monks and is made with pale barley malt. Maybe it’s a little strong to start with, but we both love Belgian beers. In fact the second one was a Belgian too, Affligem Double. Made in an artisanal way, it is a reddish-brown ale brewed with dark malts and 6.8% alcohol. I went to Belgium a couple of times and I really enjoyed drinking the awesome beers that monks brew.

Our third choice was the classic Irish Guinness. I think that maybe we should have had this stout before the Belgian beers, because we aren’t used to this sort of beer and the taste was pretty different. At any rate, it’s always interesting to try something outside the ordinary. As far as the flavor is concerned, it almost tasted more like coffee than beer. The fourth and last beer was German wheat beer called Weihenstephaner Vitus. In a 50 cl. bottle, this beer from Bavaria had a creamy foam and was the strongest, at 7.7% alcohol.

After four drinks, you reach a crossroads: do you go big, or go home?…Or actually just go home? In the end, I think we made the right choice for a Thursday afternoon and quit before we’d regret it the next day.