13 Most Popular Spanish Beers in 2023 You Have to Try • ConvoSpanish (2024)

Did you know that beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Spain? It’s true!

Spanish beers beat the wine consumption in the country! No wonder, given that the Spaniards order a beer to accompany almost every meal.

According to the report made by the Cerveceros de España, Spain was the third country in Europe in terms of beer production in 2021, after Germany and Poland, and tenth in the world!

Spain can boast about the production of its beer brands, which we will talk about in this article. And if you are a beer fan, you should know what the 13 most popular Spain beer brands are, so check them out below!

The Best-selling Spanish Beers

For Spaniards, there is no better drink to accompany any meal than Spanish beers. Especially if they order salty food. Beer is a must when Spanish tapas are on the menu because this combination goes so well! And you should see it for yourself!

Even though there are many famous Spain beer brands across the country, almost every region has its own. Shortly, we will go through the list and show you the most popular Spanish beers.

Spaniards don’t need a special reason for a glass of beer. However, if we must name at least one, it would be a football match. Especially when the national team plays!

In those moments, along with a few portions of peanuts or olives, football fans like to drink these Spain beers:

Mahou

Founded in Madrid in 1890, Mahou is the most popular of the Spain beer brands by far. This lager beer is a favorite among Spaniards and foreigners who visit the country.

There are many types of Mahou beer you can enjoy while in Spain. However, the most popular batches are Mahou Cinco Estrellas and Mahou Clásica. These two Spain beers are different and here is how.

Cinco Estrellas has an intense taste and a larger amount of alcohol than the classic one (5.5% of alcohol). It’s great for those beer lovers who enjoy stronger beer and have a palate more accustomed to the taste of it.

Mahou Clásica, also known as Mahou Original or La verde de Mahou (because of the green color of the bottle) has a lighter texture and is less bitter. The intensity of its aroma is high-medium and you might notice a certain fruity flavor that gives it a special touch.

San Miguel

According to the words of the company itself, a group of Spaniards had a crazy idea – to open the first brewery in Southeast Asia. So they did! The brewery was opened in Manila, Philippines on September 29th of 1890, on the day of St. Michael (San Miguel) and this is how this Spanish beer got its name!

San Miguel is a beer of Spain with many different types and textures. The most known to the world, San Miguel Especial is a balanced beer, with a pleasant bitterness and toasted notes of barley. It goes well with potato chips and olives!

Estrella Galicia

The company Hijos de Rivera manufactures this pale lager Spanish beer in La Coruña, Galicia. Estrella Galicia is a big name, given that this Spain beer brand is exported to many countries across Europe and overseas.

It’s a bright-golden beer made of extremely bitter malts and hops. The whole fermentation, cooking, and maturation process last over 20 days.

A fun fact about the company is that to this day, the production of this popular Spanish beer has remained within the Rivera family. This may be the very reason Estrella Galicia has remained at the top position for so long when it comes to Spain beers. And maybe that’s why it’s called Estrella (Star).

Estrella Levante

Another Star! But this one comes from Murcia and, compared to the previous Spain beers, Estrella de Levante is pretty young! The company started producing beer in 1963.

Although Estrella de Levante is one of the Spanish beers, its origin dates back to Bewer, a great German master brewer who perfected the recipe for Estrella de Levante.

Estrella is a bright and refreshing Spain beer brand that many like to savor on hot summer days. Beer lovers should know that the factory opened its own tasting room in 1964.

See Also

Madri Excepcional, the beer served 'everywhere' and taking the UK by stormMolson Coors launches Madri Excepcional – a new collaboration with La Sagra Brewery | The British Guild of Beer WritersMadri’How Madrid's MODERN LAGER BEGAN

Cruzcampo

Founded in Seville in 1904, Cruzcampo was one of the first Spanish beer companies. Since 2000, this beer of Spain belongs to the Dutch Heineken group. At the same time, it merged with El Águila, another Spanish beer company, becoming the second largest beer producer in the country.

Thanks to the quality of its waters, brothers Tomás and Roberto Osborne, the founders of Cruzcampo, chose Seville to build their brewery. They opened it close to the Templete de la Cruz del Campo, where the name came from.

Cruzcampo is a pale blond lager beer. It has a refreshing taste and a mild fruity smell with 4.8% of alcohol.

Estrella Damm

Estrella Damm is a Spanish beer company founded in Barcelona in 1876 by August Küntzmann Damm.

Even though it contains 5.4% of alcohol, beer fans will love this light lager beer, also called Mediterranean lager beer, adapted to the climate and tastes of the Mediterranean.

At first, this beer was called Strasburger Bier. However, over time, people started ordering it as the one with the star or just the star because of the symbol (the five-pointed red star) on the label, so it’s more than clear which name prevailed.

Although, it was not until 1921 that the name changed to Estrella Dorada (Golden Star) and in 1991 to what we know today as Estrella Damm.

El Águila

In 1900, businessman Augusto Comas y Blanco founded Ltd. El Águila in Madrid. At that time, many beer companies launched their brands. However, the Spanish beer brands were not so popular and known because the wine was still the preferred drink everywhere.

El Águila 1900, as we know it today, is a lager beer made of caramelized malts and a mixture of hops with a special new ingredient: Lemondrop. The beer has a bright golden color with consistent white foam.

There are two variants of this beer of Spain that you will see after this caramelized malt and Lemondrop taste: El Águila 1900 and Sin Filtrar (Unfiltered).

Alhambra

Cervezas Alhambra is a Spanish beer company founded in 1925 in Granada, Andalusia. The company focuses on the production and marketing of the different Spain beer brands they have: Alhambra Tradicional, Alhambra Especial, Reserva 1925, etc.

Alhambra Tradicional is a soft craft Spanish beer made of the best quality barley. It is slightly bitter but refreshing with an alcohol content of 4.6%.

The other trendy brand in Andalusia used to be Mezquita. It was a beer with a specific earthy taste and smoky touch. Before the company stopped producing it a year or so ago, Mahou tried to revive its fame and promote it but eventually, it was decided to discontinue the brand.

Ambar

The beer of Spain Ámbar is generally known as La Zaragozana after Zaragoza, the city where it’s manufactured. The company was founded in 1900 by a group of friends, including the mayor of Zaragoza.

Today, their catalog has a range of 13 Spanish beers, with Ámbar Especial being the most popular. La Zaragozana is one of the first breweries in Spain with such a catalog of products.

Besides that, this is the first national brewery that launched a non-alcoholic beer called Ámbar Sin and flavored Ámbar Lemon.

In 2009, the brewery got the honorary title of Ambassador of Zaragoza.

Turia

The beer Turia beer was launched in 1935 in the Valencian Community. However, it wasn’t until the Spanish Civil War was over that the brewery started to promote its first brand as a beer of Spain.

This Valencian beer name is, in fact, Turia Märzen, named after the typical beer made in Bavaria during spring. There, they would leave the beer to rest till fall and would consume it during big festivals, such as Oktoberfest.

As the label on the back of the bottle says, Turia is one of the most toasted Spanish beers, amber in color with reddish reflections, with persistent and highly aromatic foam.

On the palate, it stands out for its structure and balance, a toasted character with citrus notes, and is very refreshing.

Moritz

The history of Moritz beer dates back to 1856 when Frenchman Louis Moritz began to brew his Spanish beer in Barcelona. Three years later, he opened his factory.

The curious thing about Moritz beer is that, unlike Damm, its label is entirely written in Catalan, which makes it the authentic beer of the region.

Although the entire structure of this Spanish beer brand is located in Barcelona, where it produces its fresh, unpasteurized beers, its industrial beers are manufactured in Zaragoza.

The most emblematic Moritz beer is Moritz Original, made entirely with natural ingredients, using Saaz-type flower hops, which gives it its characteristic aromatic flavor. This beer has an alcohol content of 5.4%.

Rosa Blanca

It’s a Majorcan beer brand that dates long before 1927. However, this was the year the company started promoting this brand on the market. The founder was Bartomeu Roca.

Rosa Blanca means white rose and its drawing was incorporated on the label. It’s a traditional craft beer made with 100% natural ingredients and with 4.8% of alcohol.

The taste of this Spanish beer is refreshing with a characteristic touch of hops and citrus. It goes well with tapas like olives but also with meat and sauces.

Oro

Oro is another beer of Spain that in Spanish means gold. In 1912, a few Bilbao entrepreneurs opened a brewery called La Cervecera del Norte (The Northern Brewery). At one time, it was able to bottle 250 thousand bottles a day!

Oro beer was very famous in Bilbao. However, the factory closed in 1993 and, a few years later, its premises were demolished to build homes.

Over a decade later, in 2017 Oro is reborn! The people of Bilbao were so happy with its comeback, and the video on the brand’s website Bilbao sabe a Oro (Bilbao tastes like Gold) can testify!

The Best Spanish Beers That Go With Food

Spaniards love to eat well. But they also love to drink well! So, we think that the best way to explore Spanish gastronomy is to combine its delicious food with Spanish beers.

You may wonder which Spain beer brand to order and what type of food to order it with. We will give you some examples.

First and foremost, Spanish tapas go perfectly with Spanish beers! A nice cold caña will soothe your throat especially if you visit Spain in the hot summer months.

Light beers like Mahou Clásica or Estrella Damm go well with olives, pan con tomate, and little snacks like peanuts and toasted corn (kikos). Potato chips taste great if you combine them with San Miguel!

Anything that has olive oil and garlic in it is a perfect match with Estrella Galicia. And if you feel like eating chicken or a simple salad, go with Oro from Bilbao!

Now, if you forgot how to order a beer in Spain, we got you covered! Check out the video below and learn what is a caña, jarra, pinta, and other sizes of beer glasses.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot of history behind Spanish beers. A lot of effort, especially during the Spanish Civil War went into creating these brands. People who had ideas and dreams never gave up.

And it is not just an alcoholic drink you buy to refresh yourself and that’s it. There is a whole culture behind it!

If you keep reading these pages, you will find Spanish culture here in between the words. By reading these pages, you will gain a greater understanding of this beautiful country. Even though we cannot decide which one is the most popular Spanish beer, we sure hope that you get a chance to try these beers or at the very minimum, found this article interesting!

When it comes to this post, we wish to convey how important beer culture is in Spain. You can’t go to Barcelona without ordering a Mortiz. That is like going to Paris and not visiting the Louvre! Well, maybe the comparison is not quite the same, but you get what we mean.

So now, what we would like to know is:

• Have you ever tried Spanish beer?
• Did you like it?
• Which one would be your number one?

Tell us in the comments below!

GET OUR FREE PDF

Our goal is to offer free content for people to practice their Spanish. Creating and maintaining the blog takes a lot of our free time however, due to our love of sharing Spanish with you, we will keep adding and updating the content in the blog. If you like the content of this post and believe that it helps you, please consider donating. Any amount is appreciated. Donations will be used to support the free content of this blog.

Related