Social chronicles say so. most Queen Letizia In the spring of 2015, he went for a walk in the Malasaña neighborhood with his friends. To enjoy the Madrid night. In La Bicicleta, in Plaza de San Ildefonso, Letizia has relaxed her healthy diet without alcohol. a beer.
But what was served at this well-known hipster bar? A blonde with hints of hops that isn’t quite IPA, a 5.5-degree alcoholic beer that the British sent to India during colonial times. 360º of César Pascual’s artisanal brand La Virgen, which revolutionized the Spanish beer trade and once again triumphed at the recent World Beer Awards in London this August.
A jury of blind tasters Tasted more than 2,000 beers from fifty countries All four from Pascual have reaffirmed their titles of excellence, to the point where Madrid Lager from La Virgen won the gold medal for the sixth time in this competition hosted by the British publication ‘The Drinks Report’.
four kinds of malt
Madrid Lager is the beer of La Virgen low fermentation. It is traditionally made, fermented and aged for more than 40 days at low temperatures to obtain a subtle and balanced flavor. It is used for the preparation four kinds of malt and three kinds of hops. It is golden-white foamy, moderately bitter.
It also received the gold medal for Clean Wheat, a version of the classic German Hefeweizen, the secret of which is that it contains the best Bavarian yeast mixed with patience and calmness. Refreshing, banana and clove flavored, cloudy in appearance. It was previously named the best Hefeweizen style wheat beer in Spain by the World Beer Awards in 2017 and 2019.
In addition to these two gold medals, two other La Virgen beers won silver. 360º first place in the American Style Pale Ale category. A blond beer with extra hops. A top-fermented beer that uses three times more hops than a regular beer. A clean yellow colored Ale with a fruity flavor. Balanced, malty and bitter.
The second silver medal went to Indian Pale Ale, a beer freshly tossed with citra and cascade hops to deliver a citrus and resinous flavor for the most demanding brewers.
“The idea to create this quality beer without filtering or pasteurizing came up with two friends in San Francisco,” explains César Pascual at the La Virgen brewery in the Las Rozas industrial area. artisan breads, premium cheeses and meats and natural potatoes Who cooks daily? Sauces are also made at this time.
chefs restaurant
The “four savings”, where this business was founded in 2011 9 million euro turnover in 2019, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic hit hoteliers hard. “First and foremost, we supply bars and restaurants,” Pascual explains. The first place they bet on this craft beer was the Sudestada restaurant, Ponzano de Estanis Carenzo street area, which was christened the “chefs’ restaurant” by Dabiz Muñoz, which closed in 2017.
The beer brand is currently protected by the Corona group’s multinational AbInBev, and although 80 percent of sales are registered in Madrid, La Virgen is already in restaurants in France, the UK and Mexico.
All production is done with tap water from Madrid. very poor mineralization and ideal for ‘lager’. Barley comes from America, Belgium and Germany.