Barcelona Beer Festival
EDITIONSOn this page, we invite you to read the summary of the previous editions and discover, or remember, what our main achievements were.
I BBF -2012
Everything has a beginning and for the Barcelona Beer Festival it was at the cloister of the Convent de Sant Agustí, in the Born district of Barcelona. The dedication of four friends to organise a great craft beer festival in their city began to materialize. The previous months of work were full of doubts, but these dissipated quickly thanks to the great reception that the initiative received from the public from the very first moment. An enthusiasm that was reflected in queues and more queues – a sell out! The almost 10,000 people who were there remember the feeling of creating something big and being part of the incipient history of craft beer. The 35-tap bar that was featured was something never seen before. All this added to the attendance of the huge and affable Norwegian brewer, Kjetil, by then part of the Nøgne Ø team.
The first BBF premiered with a Racó d’en Cesc workshop, which has never failed since the first edition. But if that first BBF has to be summed up in an image, it is Steve, glass in hand, enjoying and emitting passion and devotion to good beer.
II BBF -2013
After a successful first edition, with much more demand than space, the festival sought out a new location, and through sheer need it chose the Dome of Las Arenas. An open space of 2,500 m2, located in the upper part of the old bullring. The anecdote goes (and it is completely true) that the first investment of that year was to buy a bell found on EBay (Wallapop did not yet exist yet). The iconic BFF blackboard was born, emerging to accommodate more than 50 taps. That year also saw the start of a project with an educational vocation that lasted five more editions: the BBF-Pack, where four brewers are invited to make a beer that explains each of the four basic ingredients of the beer (water, malt, hops and yeast). The number of international guests increased, with attendance by brewers including Richard Burthouse of Magic Rock (the brewery was less then 2 years old), Mikel Murphy of Lervig and Giovani Camari of Birrificio del Ducato. The festival makes a huge leap in the number of attendees and hits 25,000 people, although this capacity still leaves many people unable to enjoy it. The Dome was not the ideal home for the BBF either.
III BBF -2014
The first of three editions held at the Sala Comillas in the Barcelona Museu Martítim. An emblematic and spectacular space, in the centre of the city, which gives the festival a magnificent wrap. A firm commitment is made to link beer to gastronomy, with a selection of quality places to eat within the festival, which will later become a feature of all future editions. The ‘Meet the Brewer’ bar is created, the place where you can come face-to-face with the leading European breweries of the time (De Molen, Alvinne, Baladin, Brewfist, …). The collaboration with the Brewers Association begins and, for many beer fans in our country, it is the first opportunity to taste mythical beers such as Dogfish Head, Stone, Jolly Pumpkin, Founders, FiftyFifty, Due South, Lagunitas, … Again, the BBF closes with a great response from the public, raising the number of participants to 30,000 attendees in the three days, close to the space’s capacity.
IV BBF -2015
For the first time in its history the festival is held in the same venue as the previous year even though there were to be long queues again. The event poster is commissioned to the local artist Eleduworks who creates a marvel illustration with allegorical taps. Brewery speaking it is a very powerful year. Evit Twin is in charge of the international special edition, which, together with Naparbier, creates the Dark Raven and Black Raven, two beers designed as Black&Tan to be served in the same glass although they do not mix.
The activities highlight the first debate in Spain on the use of cans, bringing the innovative Fourpure company, who was the first European craft to start this format, which would become an absolute trend in the coming few years. A cask corner is established with ten English breweries serving beer in this characteristic and delicious conditioning that was so unusual at the time. We enjoyed a visit from Garret Oliver from the Brooklyn Brewery, an international star that stands out for his friendly character and desire to share knowledge. And of course, the Meet the Brewer section, full of the breweries that were to set the trend thereafter: ToOl, Beavertown, Adnams, Bevog, Hof ten Dormaal.
V BBF -2016
The festival faces its 5th anniversary with many changes and new projects. Two of the pillars parallel to the festival itself are created, which, over time, become keys to the project. On the one hand, the professional area where 13 companies in the sector take a chance on the festival and the B2B part in conceived. And on the other hand, we created the Barcelona Beer Challenge, which since its first edition, has positioned itself as the reference beer contest in the state. There are more than 500 beers registered where the best beers in each style are recognized and where the winner is the local brewer Cerveses Montseny. This was the edition in which the thematic stands began. The Brewers Association was a feature once more and the Bíiéres et Saveurs festival from Québec premiered, with breweries such as Les Trois Mousquetaires, Benelux or Farnham. The festival of reference in Vermont (US), where the NEIPA were born before they became popular was also invited, with breweries such as Lost Nation, Lawson’s Finest and Zero Gravity attending for the first time. One of the other great novelties is the appearance of the tasting glass, with which professionals and the greatest fans who want to live the BBF-Experience were able to enjoy greater access to small tastings of a greater variety of beers.
VI BBF -2017
After three consecutive successful years at the Museu Marítim, the festival needs a new location to grow. The space chosen is La Farga de L’Hospitalet, a modern space, with unbeatable facilities and services and a large area that can assume the level of quality service desired.
Tripling the number of square meters, the professional area (BBF Pro) grows, now hosting twenty-eight exhibitors on a large central island.
On the other hand, the collaborations with other countries are also expanded, with new exchanges with festivals in Russia, France and Sardinia.
The second edition of the Challenge opens a new recognition that awards the most outstanding novel beer, obtained by the Navarra brewery Brew&Roll. This time the main prize for the best beer is won by the American Founders Brewing Co from Michigan.
It seems that America has a strong presence at the BBF 2017, taking into account that the special edition of the festival is also organised by the American company Stone, in this case based in Berlin with their new project for Europe. There was also a coffee milk stout that generated a lot of interest.
And, finally, to point out that it was the first year that the Gremi de Elaboradors de Cervesa Artesana i Natural (GECAN- Craft and Natural Brewer Producers Guild) was visible with its own stand, where all the attendees could enjoy the good work that is being carried out locally.
VII BBF -2018
The second year that the BBF took place at La Farga, it meant an expansion of the participating beers, approaching the figure of 500 beers. To respond to a great demand from the public and breweries, the festival featured a fixed tap area where it was posible to find mostly local beers throughout the festival. Most leading breweries in the country joined this initiative.
At the same time, stands dedicated to large breweries that want to present their craft line to an expert public were created, and festivals from new countries (England and Finland) are hosted.
During the third edition of the Barcelona Beer Challenge, a brewery from Sardinia, Birrificio di Cagliari, was the highest winner, and the Wylie Brewery wins as a revelation brewer.
On Sunday morning the first live music concert took place inside the BBF, and a large number of families were in attendance and danced to the rhythm of The Penguins Reggae per Xics.
But if the seventh BBF will be remembered for something, it is for the special edition beer made by The Alchemist, the creators of the first and the most famous NEIPA in history. The special beer they made, and which was presented by their team, generated great queues throughout the festival. The project was linked in solidarity to a collaboration with the Casal d’Infants del Raval.
VIII BBF -2019
The eighth edition consolidates the three great pillars of the festival: The most classic BBF, which is the gastro-recreational part of beer discovery, reaches a record attendance figure with over 35,000 visitors.
The BBF Pro had 1500 accredited professionals in attendance. The Barcelona Beer Challenge hosted 1100 participating beers.
The festival grows by revitalizing the experience of the public with the creation of BBF-Vibes, spaces located in the Grand Hall, which offer varied activities aimed at all audiences. Highlights include the Cornhole (a game of skill that is very much in vogue at breweries around the world), the Cellar (a bar where you can taste the most exclusive bottled beers), Homebrewing live (a small installation where beer is made live), tin art (decorating our particular wall with messages written in cans), and the wooden play space for boys and girls. The poster for this edition is commissioned to Jean Goovaerts, the Belgian artist known for creating the image for the Brasserie de la Senne brewery.
The Meet the Brewer event takes places in a more focussed manner, offering the highest quality content and receiving visits from top world breweries such as Bionoc, BFM, Flying Dog or Kings Brewing.
Regarding the Challenge, the recognition of the best brewer goes to a local La Pirata Brewing, while Madrid’s Cervecera Península takes the prize for the revelation brewer. But the absolute novelty of the eighth edition, in terms of recognition, comes with the inauguration of the Steve Huxley Prize, an award that is created to recognize professionals in the sector that stand out for their trajectory and contribution to the development of craft beer in the country. The winner of the first edition of the Steve Huxley Award is Carlos Rodríguez, from the Ales Agullons brewery.
IX BBF -2020
The 9th edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival had to take place on March 13, 14 and 15, 2020. With all our enthusiasm, we finalized details to offer you, upon once again, liters and liters of beer culture, and we had almost everything ready to inaugurate what had to be the best BFF in our history.
Months before, in full dedication, we never have imagined that an unprecedented health crisis was approaching that would sweep away all our forceful fundamentals. Among them, the meetings of more than 1,000 people in the same space, which prevented the IX Barcelona Beer Festival from being held.
However, if anything characterizes the craft beer sector, it is passion, perseverance and fighting spirit. Adverse circumstances have not diminished our conviction and determination to resist these years of pandemic and finally be able to organize the ninth edition (December 2021) after more than two years without BBF.
IX BBF -2021
After more than two years without BBF, in December 2021 we were able to celebrate the 9th edition of the Festival. With more enthusiasm than ever and still in pandemic. The edition was held at the usual venue, La Farga de L’Hospitalet, on 17th, 18th and 19th of December 2021.
More than 600 different beers were tapped and those attending the event were able to discover authentic beer gems, some rarities and, of course, the award-winning beers from the Barcelona Beer Challenge. The 9th edition of the BBF had some important reasons that we would like to highlight:
1. The event gave an important role to a new phenomenon that has emerged over the last year and a half: the new gypsy breweries. It was possible to taste beers from Animus Brewing (Barcelona), OK Boomer from FlyBrew (Barcelona), Kimura from Newaza Beer (L’hospitalet de Llobregat) or Avolar from Random Brewery (Vallgorguina), true artists of home-brewing, who have now become major gypsies.
2. The mixed-fermentation sours had a great prominence with the Rotative Tastings (round tables in which, for a few minutes, the brewer himself explains the secrets of his beers in “petit comité” and tastes them with the attendees).
3. Newly created styles were presented by their promoters, such as the Italian delegation that created Italian Grappe Ale (IGA), a 100% Italian style that fuses the best of wine and beer.
4. Once again, it was possible to meet the brewmaster in person and taste his beer with him or her at the Meet the Brewer: CASCADE BREWING, HOPALAA, LOVECRAFT BREWS, CERVECERA PENINSULA, TANKER BREWERY, THORNBRIDGE and BIONOC.
5. One of the big stars of BBF 21 was Cascade Brewing, one of the most prestigious breweries in the United States for its history and innovation in the use of wooden barrels for beer maturation.
6. One of the great novelties of this 9th edition of the Barcelona Beer Festival was the publication of a manifesto in favour of healthy and horizontal relationships, taking a stand against any kind of harassment.
7. And, of course, at the BBF it was possible to taste unique and exclusive beers. Because many brewers and breweries spend the year saving their best “potion” to release it at the BBF.
BBF 21 was back with a lot of enthusiasm and renewed strength. It was a more musical edition, with more complementary activities, more gastronomy, in which the winners of the Barcelona Beer Challenge (held in May 2021) were promoted with their own taps and stands, and in which the most innovative breweries of the moment, some of them created during the pandemic, were discovered.
X BBF -2022
X BBF 2022: The 10th edition of the Festival, on 14, 15 and 16 October at La Farga in L’Hospitalet celebrated an anniversary full of novelties. With a qualitative leap, with more exclusive international beers, more national and local offer, more activities, more gastronomic pairings. It was more and better. BBF22 had 168 taps, 600 different beers from some 250 brands, a real craft beer paradise.
Highlights:
– BBF Cask revolution: designed to celebrate these 10 editions: 10 emblematic breweries came with a unique cask for the BBF, served without a machine or pressure.
– POP-UPs, which offered pairings, gastronomic harmonies and stimulating tastings, at La Pèrgola at the BBF. Pop Up Cheese Bar, Pop Up Oyster Bar, Pop Up Ice Cream Bar (L’Atelier) and Pop Up Chocolate Bar were presented with resounding success.
– International presence with major representative brands: THE ALE APOTHECARY(USA), CANTILLON (Belgium), UNETICKY(Czech Republic), KLAMBARRIQUE(Italy), OHARA’S (Ireland) ADROID THEORY(USA)… among others.
– The territorial presence of km 0, thanks to Prodeca, the stand Gastroteca Cerveses de Catalunya, where several Catalan beers could be tasted.
And between “beer and beer” and “bite and bite”, the X Barcelona Beer Festival also organised a lot of activities, gastronomic pairings, showcookings, meetings with master brewers, sensory experiments, podcasts, and a long etcetera. And of course, live music, performing arts and games.
XI BBF- 2023
The 11th edition of the Festival was held on May 26th, 27th and 28th, 2023. The Festival changed its location and moved to La Fira de Barcelona – Montjuïc. The Festival finally returns to the city where it was born. The new location means a remarkable qualitative leap and provides visitors with a much more satisfying experience. More than 15,000 unique attendees, between public and professionals have enjoyed our novelties:
The BBF, joined forces with its two other major events: The INNBREW, the professional convention of the sector, and the awards ceremony of the BARCELONA BEER CHALLENGE. Three events in one, offering a 360º experience for the brewer.
The BBF area, with its 50 stands with more than 150 breweries represented, presenting nearly 250 beers and representing 110 countries, placing the Barcelona Beer Festival as one of the main international beer festivals.
The third branch of this edition demonstrated the maturity of a sector that wants to work side by side with gastronomic creators. In Gastro Show, a total of 10 chefs each prepared a dish, showing the good gastronomic pulse of the city with proposals of traditional and international cuisine from renowned Barcelona restaurants and always paired with a BBF beer.
This eleventh edition is more experiential than ever, with this year’s program of activities has had a good participation, for example, the cheese pairings made in the Flanders stand or the rotating tastings of Basque breweries in the Euskadi Basque Country space, to name a few.
This Barcelona Beer Festival has been presented as the most expert, the most gastronomic and in a more ambitious format than ever looking for this enclave, with the number of attendees received, to be the definitive location for this very important annual event of the beer sector at national and international level.
XII BBF- 2024
The twelfth edition of the festival was held on March 22, 23 and 24, 2024, repeating its location at Fira de Barcelona – Montjuïc but moving to Pavilion 2, to a more diaphanous, cohesive and bigger venue with entrance through Plaça Univers. With more than 15,000 attendees, it thus reaffirms itself as the most important craft beer event in southern Europe and for the twelfth time makes Barcelona its headquarters of the world epicenter of craft beer, and confirms a growing industry that in Catalonia alone moves 40 million euros annually.
The festival has brought together forty booths of brewing companies from countries such as Belgium, Poland, Quebec, USA, Portugal or Czech Republic, more than 1,000 accredited professionals in the parallel professional fair –InnBrew: The Brewers Convention-, 400 brands of craft beers and a bar with 30 taps, which has once again become one of the most iconic elements of the event. On Friday, the Barcelona Beer Festival hosts the awards gala of the Barcelona Beer Challenge, the most important international beer competition in Spain. The Hernani (Gipuzkoa) brewery Basqueland Brewing won the “Brewery of the Year” award, the most important of the competition.
Among the novelties of this year, highlight the first official beer of the festival sponsored by a public figure, the journalist Samanta Villar who has inspired “Agosarada by Samanta Villar“, produced by the brewery of Súria, La Pirata and the Friday night concert of Koko-Jean and The Tonics. On Saturday and Sunday there was also music and was enlivened with DJ sets.
The Festival is thus established in Barcelona, giving attendees a more complete experience in which they can find fun leaving a very good taste in their mouths.
