I’LL HAVE ANOTHER or HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE WITH WHATEVER BEER THEY HANDED ME
The history and fame of
wine from the Canary Islands is long. Written about by Shakespeare, and popular
with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the seven islands of the
archipelago off the coast of Africa, but belonging to Spain, have been
producing wine even before the Bard starting tapping at his word processor.
THE FORTUNATE ISLES
Because of its
isolation the Canary Islands were spared the devastating phylloxera plague that
destroyed nearly 90% of the vineyards of the world in the mid-1800’s and today wines
are still produced from some vines dating back over 200 years.
On Tenerife, the
largest of the Canaries, with Mt. Teide rising dramatically the climate changes
from hot beaches to alpine forests within a few short miles. Harvesting can
start in August and continue through to October with the five different micro-climates
of this “mini-continent”. 
Because of the trade
winds, the Canary Islands were the first and last stop in sailing across the
Atlantic, and the islands became very wealthy as a result, attracting merchants
and missionaries and adventurers. Wine exports to England and the Americas
helped and this “tourist’ trade flourished.
SOME THINGS NEVER
CHANGE
The Canary Islands are
still attracting “tourists”. Lured by the year-round sub-tropical weather,
millions of visitors from all over Europe and the Americas visit the islands. Of
course, one would think that the wine from this historical archipelago or the natural
beauty like the looming Mt Teide on Tenerife would be a main attraction, but I
have it on good authority (family members from England who have visited
Tenerife and other Canary Islands several times), and they have never bothered
to explore the islands beyond where the cheap beers are located. 
MAS CERVEZA
We did more than that
as we poked around Tenerife for the first week, taking a tour of Mt. Teide and
a wine tour to the Monje Bodega and a visit to the Casa del Vino a museum dedicated
to wine, but much of the island’s visitors are more interested in finding
modestly priced adult libations than they are negotiating the strenuous road to
Masca.
Our family from England
spoke fondly of the times when a pint was just €.75 cents, but on this current
trip there was nothing less than €1.50, which is still damned cheap. And, the
beer is very good, especially on a blisteringly hot day.
Mostly cold lagers,
that weigh in around 4.5-5% ABV, the main beers of the Canary Islands are thirst
quenchers that pair well with lots of different foods. Wine is great, but when
it’s hot outside, a lager in a frosted glass (readily available) is best. It’s
just that you don’t have a choice of what beer to drink, as you usually would with
wine.
YOU TAKE IT AND YOU
DRINK IT 
Often there is only one
sort of beer served in bars and restaurants, maybe two, but basically what the
establishment has is what you get. Places that cater to a more UK crowd will maybe
have Guiness as well, and areas that cater to German tourists may carry ales or
heavier beers like Paulaner, but that would not come from a tap, usually.
There was only one
place that had a beer menu and that was at the Centro Comercial Pasarela
shopping mall in Los Cristianos, and this place, located on the top floor near
the food court and a children’s play area had an array of lagers, pilsners and
ales from all over Spain and Germany and all of them on tap.
As the boys frolicked
on their kinder apparatus, we quaffed Paulaner and Victory from Malaga and
Cruzcampo from Seville.
Here’s a quick listing
of beers we got to drink on our many pub crawls and dinners in the Tenerife Sud
tourist areas.
Dorada
With Mt. Teide as its
logo Dorada is everywhere. A pilsner with an ABV of 4.7% was on tap nearly everywhere
we went. Dorada also makes “especial” beers that are about 5.5% but never ran
into one of those… or never thought to ask for one.
Tropical
Brewed on Gran Canaria
but available in many places on Tenerife, especially in Los Cristianos, this 4.7%
pilsner has a slightly different, and more appealing, taste than Dorada. The logo
features Perro de Presca a large Canarian Island pooch.
If you go to a supermarket
to purchase a bottle of Tropical, the dog’s head will conveniently turn blue
when it’s cold enough to drink.
Estrella Damm
Brewed in Barcelona, Estrella
Damm was the only beer available in certain restaurants near the resort. At
5.4% ABV and stronger than the ubiquitous Dorada a pint usually went for just €1.5
with dinner and happy hour prices. 
Victoria 1928
Brewed in Malaga on the Costa del Sol, finding a place serving Victoria 1928 was in the Golf de Sur section of Tenerife was unexpected. It tastes different than the Dorada and Tropical with a slight bitterness to the golden colored lager. Victoria 1928 was excellent with my fish and chips and the logo, in deference to the tourists that have traveled to Spain for vacations for decades features a German tourist from the 1960s drying sweat from his forehead with his refreshing cerveza.
Brewed in Malaga on the Costa del Sol, finding a place serving Victoria 1928 was in the Golf de Sur section of Tenerife was unexpected. It tastes different than the Dorada and Tropical with a slight bitterness to the golden colored lager. Victoria 1928 was excellent with my fish and chips and the logo, in deference to the tourists that have traveled to Spain for vacations for decades features a German tourist from the 1960s drying sweat from his forehead with his refreshing cerveza.
Cruzcampo Especial
Now part of the Heineken fanily,
the brewery was first started in 1903 in Seville, Spain. The one and only time
I had a chance to drink this pilsner was at the shopping mall in Los Cristianos.
Slightly hoppy, it was a different tasting beer from the Dorada, Tropical and
Estrella Damms I had been drinking up that point.
Store brands
Supermarkets in
Tenerife will have a full selection of beers from Spain and Europe, and they also sometimes carry their own brand of beer made especially for the supermarket chain.
 |
| Coviran Beer |
Obviously cheaper than the rest and not
that bad considering, the Coviran market down the road from our Santa Barbara
Golf and Ocean Club in Tenerife carried their beer called appropriately enough Coviran,
and at €.65 cents I had to buy one! Evidently this is a thing in Spain and a
lot of market chains carry their own brand and for the desperate cheapskates, a
perfect elixir.
Craft Beer in the
Canary Islands?
With all the wine
history of the archipelago and the desire to drink mass-produced beer as a way
of slaking one’s thirst, you would think there’s no room for craft brewing, but
craft brewing is increasingly more and more popular in the Canary Islands. Even
the big beer labels like Dorada and Tropical offer their beer in different
flavors like Tropical offering Lemon Shandy or beer infused with tequila, or
Dorada offering a stronger “Especial” or the limited edition Roja that weighs
in at 6.5% ABV! 
I was quite surprised
that even the Monje Winery, that was part of our gastronomic tour
of Tenerife and boasting a vineyard that is over 200 years old also makes a
respectable craft brew. The Enoloca is an American Pale Ale at
5.5%ABV, but much more expensive than the €1.5 beers found throughout the islands
at €8.75!
Two other craft brewers
of note in the northern part of Tenerife are Tacoa and Tierra
de Perros. These two microbreweries produce APAs, IPAs, Bocks, Witbiers
and Saisons, but we are really writing about drinking cheap beer on hot days in
Spain here. I quickly fell into not really caring what beer they handed me as long as it was cold and refreshing...and cheap. The novelty of craft brewers and their hefty prices would have been short-lived at best, and I never bothered trying to push our English family fellow travelers into exploring beyond the nearby and plentiful watering holes.
Hopefully we won't ever make the same mistake twice.
Thanks for reading
Love Janet and greg
© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj
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