There are two large independent breweries based out of Barcelona. S. A. Damm makes the ubiquitous Estrella Damm (the Toohey’s or VB of Barcelona. They were founded in 1876 by a couple of Alsatian brothers with the surname Damm. Moritz is even older having been founded by Lewis Moritz (also Alsatian) in 1856. It is less common but the Moritz would appear to have making a real crack of it lately with some impressive taprooms.
I reckon about 90% of corner Cerveserias, bars and cafes have Estrella Damm on tap. It is just everywhere. Damm also make Turia, a lovely Marzen, which is available on tap in some places. They also make a budget pale called Xibeca, which I picked up at a nearby Aldi.
Moritz are more boutiquey, but that hasn’t stopped them dropping some pretty impressive coin on a few venues around town. The headline act is Fabrica Moritz Barcelona – a taproom with serious brewing capacity – where the pitch is to drink Moritz Fresca straight from the brewery. It is housed in the original site of the Moritz brewery.
It is a very cool place and their website tells the story of how the Moritz took back control of the brewery and branding. Great merch as well.
They have another site called Casa Moritz on the Rambla Catalunya, which famous street in Central Barcelona. I had the original lager inside and wanted to take my Red IPA outside, but I would have had to pay more. No thanks.
back of the ferry 