We’ve drunks heaps of the local beers this month in Spain, Cruzcampo especially, and really enjoyed it. It has been cold, tasty and cheap, with a good alcohol content (5.5%) and not too sweet as many commercially-produced beers tend to be.

After finding a craft beer outlet in Ronda and enjoying several local IPAs, we found out about one bar in particular that we should visit in Córdoba – Califa, located in Juan Valera, just south of the Plaza Del Tendillas, right in the centre of the city.

Despite the irregular opening and closing hours (we waited one hour one evening after the advertised opening time and left disappointed and thirsty) this place is well worth the visit. Over a hundred beers, each advertised with their place of origin, alcohol content and price. The prices were very reasonable, the most expensive beer there was only €15, was an extremely rare high alcohol beer from America. Most are about €2-3 per bottle.

The two site-brewed tap beers, IPA and Rubia were excellent, however there are usually four on tap.

I have taken my research seriously!

The IPA was as bitter as a mother-in-law’s tongue, and the Rubia, while sweeter, left a wonderful bitter after taste.

I also tried a Califa Stout, which would satisfy any stout lover’s taste buds anywhere. It was bloody fantastic and at €3 / bottle, was great value. Especially when you consider that each of these beers was accompanied by a wonderful free tapas.

Because it was in the middle of the day, I finished that round with one more IPA – a Dougal’s IPA from the north of Spain. It was great because it was marked with an IBU (International Bitterness Unit) scale of 75.

Why the hell don’t all beer manufacturer’s include this scale on all their bottles?

We also stumbled upon a craft outlet in Toril, a small pedestrian street off the Carredera Plaza called La Trapperia. This had equally unpredictable opening hours, but was full of the most comprehensive range of craft beers I’ve seen in a long time. It had all the Cordobeer offerings plus wonderful IPAs from as far away as Scotland, and even a Coopers Stout from Oz.

Great atmosphere – and although the owner speaks no English the customers are only too willing to help. I went back around 11.00pm one night and found they were just closing but they still served me a wonderfully bitter IPA and played the guitar while waiting for me to finish. Great stuff

Janie was a bit worried about me when I headed off on my own, but all was well!