Category Archives: Country: Spain

Tonight’s review comes from the Damm S.A. Brewery in Barcelona, Spain.  This will be my first time experiencing a brew from the Mediterranean.  I don’t really know what to expect.  It was given to me by my friend Jay, whom I thank, and it’s called the Estrella Damm Daura Lager.   

I found a little bit of information about the beer from the website estrelladamm.com.

Loving work and having an eye for every detail is Estrella Damm’s formula.  Brewed according to the original 1876 recipe.  We have no secrets.  Just a job well done.

We work with the farmers in the Ebro basin to obtain barley of the characteristics that our Master Brewers need.  We continue to malt in our own Bell-Lloc (Lleida) malthouse, making us one of the few brewery’s in Spain and in the world, that still produces all of its malt barley in its own malthouse.  Likewise, we continue to use our original recipe as our basis, including pearl rice, a very Mediterranean ingredient that characterizes Estrella’s flavour. 

Rice???  Hmm… Don’t know what to think about that.  I guess we’ll see.

This is a 5.4% ABV beer that comes in a 11.2 oz. vessel.

Poured a clear straw, golden color.  A bright white, soapy textured head with ok retention as well as ok lacing.  Some patches of lace were left behind, however they slowly started to slide down the sides of the glass after a few swirls.  Quite a few small bubbles were rising from the bottom also.

I was anticipating adjunct notes before I even stuck my nose in, however the bouquet was clean and fresh.  I did detect hints of wheat and grain, but I never found any aromas of rice or overly putrid, stale adjuncts.  It wasn’t anything very complex or tantalizing, but rather strait forward.

The taste was a bit better.  A dry grain mixed with a bready/biscuit malt that gave it a negligible toastiness.  Somewhat bitter to coerce a fresh, clean, crisp bite.

The mouthfeel was medium to medium/light.  Smooth, dry, thirst quenching and very refreshing.  A inconsequential amount of flavor was left on the palate only for a brief moment, but I’m not sure a “refresher” of this type would require an abundance.

This beer is a true “warm” climate beer.  Easy to drink, refreshing and thirst quenching.  It’s pretty good and fairly well balanced.  I’m not under the delusion that this is a world class beer, but sometimes the situation calls for something a little less provocative.  In all actuality, I would say this a step above a “macro” and it was a nice little change for me.  I think it’s important to have an easy going beer on occasion.  One to just drink and not ponder over too much.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to try to find this beer, but if you see a single on the shelf, pick it up and give it a go.  Judge for yourself.

What do you find to be a great Summer brew?

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have a suggestion.

Thanks for reading.

Score:  3.25 out of 5
Grade:  C+