CoffeeBeer >> Pint Pleasures >> Porto 10


In March of this year I spent a week in the city of Porto, located in northern Portugal. Oddly enough, even though I've lived in the UK for years, this was my first visit to the Iberian Peninsula. Not only did I love the city for its beauty, all the places to walk, and the friendliness of the people, but I was especially impressed with the beer scene.

Currently the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto's origins date back to the second century BC, when it began as a small Celtic-Roman settlement called Portus Cale. By the eighth century AD it was under control of the Moors, until it was reclaimed in the following century by Vimara Peres, who established the first County of Portugal, with Porto becoming the capital of the country. By the 15th century, with its perfect location on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Douro, the city had become a shipbuilding centre, and Porto native Henry the Navigator started to explore the African coast. By the 18th century, trade ties with the UK led to the growth of what Porto is most famous for: the port wine industry.

I did spend a day touring the Douro Valley to visit a couple of the port wine houses and vineyards--and of course to taste some of the ports. But I also tasted a lot of good beers. On my first evening, on the recommendation of my AirB&B host João, I headed up the hill from my flat to Catraio Craft Beer Shop. I passed through the main bar and walked upstairs and out into the covered terrace. I was surprised to hear the two barmen chatting to each other in English, and one had a distinct American accent, but it turned out he was Portuguese. This was my first impression of the bilingual nature of the city, and a local later explained to me that all Portuguese are required to take English in school. And like the Chinese students I meet at the university where I work who are fluent in English, the Portuguese students are for some reason taught to speak English with an American accent.

For my very first beer in Porto, I decided to have a half pint of Flowers & You IPA (4.5% ABV, Whiplash Brewing, Dublin, Ireland), which was satisfyingly hoppy. I sat on the wooden bench at the back of the terrace, between a couple and a group of friends. I was amused by the fact that here I was, on my first night in Portugal, sipping a craft beer from Ireland. But this was simply the first of several cross-nationality experiences I would experience over the week.

The next evening, after I returned from an afternoon excursion down the coast to Costa Nova and Aveira, I stopped into Armazém da Cerveja, and I instantly felt like this was a proper craft beer tap. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a half pint of The Ruling Class (6.0% ABV, Dois Corvois Cerveira, Armazem, Lisbon, Portugal). A proper NEIPA, this is hopped with Bru-1, Vic Secret, Motueka, and Mosaic, so no wonder it was so satisfyingly In-Your-Face hoppy. Obviously the beer's name refers to a different definition of "ruling class" from what I've learned, because this beer rocks in a universally appealing way. While I sipped this fine accessible brew, I chatted with the barman about the three fridges well stocked with cans, one with mostly British beers and another with lots of sours; and he seemed pleased that I was impressed by the variety on offer. As I still had four more evenings in Porto, I ended up buying two cans to take back to my flat.

Having opened in 2018, Armazém da Cerveja is popular with a wide mix of people, and they serve snacks. There are also board games available and books to read, if one so wishes. I was hoping I could make it back for another visit, but it just didn't work out that way.

Moving on and around the corner, I headed for Sigilo Craft Beer Bar & Garden, where I wanted to get a half of something a little less strong in ABV. Once again I sat at the bar and had tastes of two different blonds, but neither of them impressed me much. So I ended up going for a half of No Sigilo Pilsner (4.5% ABV, Sigilo, Porto, Portugal). A Czech-style pilsner, this is also Siglio's house beer. It was okay, but not as good as some Czech pils I've had. I took my half out into the beer garden, which I really liked, especially because it was after dark and the setting felt quite rustic. As I sat by myself at a little garden table I felt like I was in the countryside--or perhaps a little corner of Stoneyland in California. The other imbibers in the garden seemed very young, and there was a good mix of genders and races, making it seem like a really inclusive pub. And apparently there is a pub dog in residence, although I didn't see it this evening.

One warmish afternoon, when all of my plans were failing, and two craft bars I'd searched for didn't seem to exist anymore, I stumbled upon O CaIçula Cervejaria Nobody was sitting at the front white bar, but the barman seemed friendly, so I took a seat and scanned the small selection of beer casks mounted on the wall. I decided on a glass of Orange Weiss (5.0% ABV, A Fábrica da Picaria, Porto, Portugal), which turned out to be a zingy Belgian-style fruited wheat beer with the subtle taste of orange. As I sipped I chatted with the barman who turned out to be from Brazil. He told me he was learning the Portuguese form of his language, which has as many differences to the Brazilian form as British English does to American English. He was also starting to learn English, so he asked what my accent was. We ended up having a great chat about languages and writing.

Later the same day, after walking all over searching for a supermarket that was very tricky to find, I visited a craft beer bar, Baobab. And the first thing I did when I walked in was to ask to use the toilet. As soon as I rejoined the very congenial barmaid, I took a seat at the bar and had a couple of tasters. The Alfa Hoppy Ale (5.1% ABV, Cerveja Brighops, Bragança, Portugal) had a subtle hops taste. Cascade hops with Meladorin and Munich malts. But I was much happier with a half of the Messy Ride Session NEIPA (4.5% ABV, Locals Only Brewing Company, Sao Paolo, Brazil). This won First Place in the Best Brazilian Craft Beer category of the HGA, 2024. I was first struck by the gorgeous aroma of, of, what was it, Nelson? Mosaic? It turned out to be a dreamy hops combination of Talus, Vista, Eclipse, and Cascade. So how could you go wrong? it was gorgeous before I even tasted it. And when I did finally taste it, after nearly hyperventilating as I smelled it, it tasted really satisfying. It was an Oohhmy! beer, and for only 4.5% ABV. I say only because most of the craft beers I'd seen in Porto so far that appealed to me had been quite strong.

The other beers currently on the list were very interesting: for instance, a gose with nettles, elderflower, dandelion, and smoked salt. I mean, smoked salt? There was also an apple, pear, vanilla, and cinnamon sour. But as I was on my own and couldn't just stay here and drink all night, and then stumble back to my flat (which required a bit of finesse to get through the outside door in the first place) I decided I wouldn't stay. Oh, well…

But I did really like this little place. Again, there was a fridge with cans and bottles. But as I already had three cans in the fridge at my flat, and I couldn't take any back on my two flights, I couldn't justify buying any more cans. If I'd only got here by train…but then I'd probably end up too weighted down with cans of beer from Porto.

The place itself smelled really nice, like incense, and the music sounded very Portuguese--or possibly Brazilian. And there were tables out on the pavement as well. Baobab also offers cocktails and house wine including ports. What a great feeling this place imparted: a totally chilled sensation. The "No Worries" plaque on the wall enhanced the chill feeling, and it looked like the beer list included a lot of brews from Basqueland Brewing in Spain. This, of course, made me think of my sibling group in Bakersfield, California, which is the Basque centre of America.

On another night, after spending a full day's tour of the Douro Valley and its port houses, I felt like a quiet snack and pint, so I wandered up to the intriguingly named Voyager 1. Primarily a cocktail bar with food, Voyager also features a short tap list. When I walked in, I found myself in a narrow room with the long bar to one side, and a rather bohemian-looking man and woman working behind the bar. I took a seat at the end of the bar, quickly realising that the stool was a lot lower than the bar itself. The place was very quiet this evening, and the ambient music harkened back to former bohemian times. I have to admit the beer list wasn't very interesting, so I went for a pint of Punk IPA (5.4% ABV, Brewdog, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland). I also ordered the Crispy Prawns appetizer, as that was about as much food as I felt like. Even though there was hardly anybody in the place, it took a long time for my prawns to be prepared, and I could see an older woman in the back who appeared to be the chef, but she was moving very slowly. Meanwhile the barman and woman took turns very slowly stirring something on the bar that was out of my view. When both of them walked off somewhere, I took the chance to stand up on my stool's legs so I could get a glimpse of what appeared to be a little bowl of salad dressing.

Finally my prawns were served: six breaded and fried prawns with a rather nondescript aioli dip. I felt like a little girl who was too short to sit at the adults' table. I had to lift my elbows up into the air just to reach a prawn, not to mention any time I wanted to have a sip of my beer. I mean, I could have just moved all of my stuff over to a side table; but that wouldn't be nearly as fun, and they looked disproportionately high as well. After all, I was an astronaut on Voyager I, and I was just happy I didn't have to sip my beer or eat my prawns out of a squeeze tube.

Apparently Voyager 1 calls itself a "bar from wanderers for wanderers". And I had just wandered in. I like that.

On a Friday night, I had bought myself a ticket for a Fado concert at a guitar shop very close to my apartment. As I had a couple of hours to kill, I decided to check out a nearby place near Sao Bento station, Prost Haus, located up a steep, steep hill above the tourist office. When I walked in, I was greeted by a very nice and eager man and an equally nice woman. I decided to be dangerous and order a full pint of Creature (6.3% ABV, Dois Corvois Cervejeira, Lisbon, Portugal), as it sounded like a decent pale ale. The woman informed me that I could take my pint out to their highly-perched beer garden just over the way. But as the weather was a bit chilly, I decided to go downstairs into a slightly bigger but quite snug room, where a large group of older Irish men were sitting around a table and discussing all manner of politics. In front of them on the table was a growing collection of empty beer steins, while bizarre 1960s and 1970s rock hits played loudly. One of the men, who had his back to me, reminded me very much of my Sheffield friend Dodge, with the same walk and swagger-- but of course it wasn't him. Because I was in no hurry at all, I sat at my corner table for a long time, slowly sipping my really nice pint and listening to the group's conversations about Democrats and Republicans, Gaza, Ukraine, and other current issues. At one point a group of about eleven younger people, all speaking English, came in together and sat at the large table in the other corner. I gradually noticed that everybody in the place was speaking English, and the atmosphere was very vibrant and happening. And my IPA was pretty much a truly superb quaff.

I felt sad that it was already Friday night, I was flying back on Sunday, and I had lots of stuff still planned for Saturday. So I wouldn't have a chance to return to Prost Haus, even though I really liked the place. Perhaps on my next trip to Porto, whenever that may be.

On my last full day in Porto I ventured down the hill to the riverside to check out Exposiçao de Modelos Feitos com pecas de LEGOS, which was obviously a Lego exhibit. And anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for Lego exhibitions. It was a great exhibit, and I especially like the full-sized pool table. When I was well sated from plastic brick creations, I moved back upstream, where I found a hidden back lane that led to a tiny tap called simply Cask Beer.

When I entered this micropub and bottle shop. I took a seat at a tall table just off the bar, where I could chat with the barmaid Veronica and the two British men sitting at the bar. It turns out they were from the Midlands north of Birmingham, and they were in Porto for a daughter's 30th birthday celebration.

I first went for a taste of the Bloody Goose Mary (5.5% ABV, HopSin Craft Brewpub, Colares, Portugal), which is a Sour Tomato Vegetable Gose. And you know what? It tasted like a Bloody Mary! All it needed was a bit of Tabasco and a celery stick. I ended up going for a half of the Flashback Centennial Single IPA (6.5% ABV, Tough Love, Esmoriz, Aveiro, Portugal). Single hopped with Centennial, this was another traditional Pacific Northwest hoppy brew, and it was very nice.

I learned that the barmaid, whose name is Veronica, is from a village in the mountains just outside of Porto. She liked my six-colour hair, because she's had green hair followed by purple hair. So she was sort of a hair-colour soulmate.

I also learned that this micropub and bottle shop is the taproom for Tough Love, their in-house brewery. Anyway, I really enjoyed the conversation with Veronica and the two British men, ranging from Halloween in Portugal and other festivals to skulls as a brewing icon, escape rooms, axe throwing and beer, etc. I also loved the skull and skeleton decor which gave the place a nice comfy Day of the Dead feel, and songs by the Doors were playing when I was there, which added to the ambience. And seated at a table on the upper level is a skeleton called Maria, who was clad in a black dress.

There is also a seating area outside which connects to the seating of all the other riverside bars and cafes. This area of Porto, which I was thinking of as Down Here, gives off a totally different feel from Up There, where I was staying and which involved either taking the Funiculair or Elevator or walking up 500 steep stone steps to get there. Which is what I was faced with to get back to my accommodation.

Before I left I browsed through the cans in the fridge. The range of breweries is impressive, from Polly's, Beak, and Overtone in the UK to Pravda, which is brewed in Ukraine. But on this particular day there were a lot of Canadian beers. So the selection varies week by week.

On a late Saturday afternoon, gradually leading into what was going to be a busy Saturday night, I stopped for a pint at Cervejaria Gulden Draak Bierhuis. The front room was already crowded with groups of friends seated in the booths, so I headed further on toward the also-crowded back room and found an empty seat at the bar, between a smiling older gentleman in a flatcap and a well-dressed younger man who appeared to be watching the football on the distant wall screen. The music on the sound system ranged from the Doors to Fat Boy Slim, punctuated by a bit of somewhat tiresome dance music, so I figured that was probably just a herald of another Saturday Night arriving. The place seemed very friendly, though, and I was immediately handed a massive beer menu booklet, titledThe Journal, that explained all the styles of beers first and then listed all the tap beers in detail, and then the bottles. They apparently offer the largest beer selection in the country.

I decided to have a pint of Born In The IPA (6.5% ABV, Cerveja MUSA, Lisbo, Portugal) an American IPA with IBU 70 and the designation 3.60, marked by a menu symbol that I couldn't figure out. Hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and Columbus hops, this is described on their detailed menu as "citrus, pine, and tropical fruits". Which is just what I like, me. It tasted more fruity than pine, but it was eminently drinkable, which was dangerous at that high ABV. But somehow it just didn't matter as much here in Porto. I was wondering if the ABV is rated like it is in the USA, where 6.5% feels no stronger than 4.5% in the UK? I did notice that there was an abundance of beers on the menus here with ABVs way up there at 10% and 10.5%, whereas those barley-wine-strength beers are very limited on UK menus.

The name Gulden Draak is Flemish for "Golden Dragon". There are three Gulden Draak pubs, all backed by Brouwerij Van Steenbergen, with the first one having opened in Prague in 2015. The Porto location opened three years later, and in 2023 a third opened in Lisbon. This Porto location also offers a food menu, which is basically meaty, but they also have Belgian frites with mayo, cheese bites, more cheesy snacks, fried prawns, nachos, and bar snacks. Happy Hours are every Sunday 5-8pm.

Finally, I wanted to make a brief mention of O Porto dos Gatos, Porto's cat cafe, which I made a point of visiting for lunch one afternoon. Along with my gorgeous Ragamuffin Sandwich, made with tofu, vegan cheese, vegan mayo, rocket, sundried tomatoes, and roasted aubergine, I also had a really nice bottle of Letra Harvest Bohemian Pilsner (5.0% ABV, Letra Brewery, Porto, Portugal), which tasted just like a really good, sharply hopped pilsner should taste. (I would have tried the IPA, but at 6.5% abv, it was a bit too strong for an afternoon where I intended to cover a lot of ground.) (The Letra Brewery, which is an hour north of Porto in Vila Verde, assigns letters to their beers, so I was drinking Letra B, and the IPA has the letter F.)

As to the combination vegan cafe and cat refuge itself, there is a nice back garden where one can eat and pet the cats. And when I finished my sandwich and beer, I then visited the indoor cat room to meet the cats. So if you like cats and good beer, this is a great place to visit--as is Porto itself, which has pretty much adopted a cat theme. And of course I didn't have time to visit all the breweries and craft pubs, so all the more reason to come back for a visit.

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  • HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE, SHEFFIELD: I stopped here back at the beginning of May, on a rather calm Saturday afternoon. It was a bit strange, because not only was it the start of a bank holiday weekend, but it was also the final weekend of the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible, with Sheffield full of snooker tourists, and it was a really pleasantly warm and sunny day. Ah well, no worries. Sam first gave me a taste of Cartwheeler (4.8% ABV, Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell, Derbyshire) on keg. This is called an Altbier, but neither Sam nor I could figure out if we actually liked it or not. It possessed a Germanic character, somewhat amber in colour and bitter, but without a real hops character. Hmm, did I like it? Or not? I guess that was the cartwheel effect, rolling up and down on the rim of the wheel, up and down and up and down…anyway, I went instead for a pint of a new cask beer, Burton upon Haze (4.5% ABV, Neptune Brewery, Liverpool, Merseyside). A collaboration with Burton Bridge Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, this is described as a hazy pale; but it's probably the clearest beer I've seen in ages. Once again, Sam was in agreement with me: no haze at all in this beautiful-looking beer, and it's damn good as well. When I researched online, I learned that it's hopped with Dolcita and Strata hops, the latter which I love and the former which is a new one to me. So no wonder it's good. Ooh-ee-ooh-ah-ah, my brain is all tingtangwallawallabingbang, but my palate is in heaven: a crystal clear heaven. I mean, this is a beautiful, clear brew.

    On the day after I got back from my USA trip in June, stumbling around in sort of a narcoleptic jetlag, I stopped in and had a pint of Long Days Summer Ale (4.6% ABV, Thornbridge Brewing Company, Bakewell, Derbyshire) on cask. This was pretty much a drinkable quaff with a light hops character. I finished my visit with a half of Twin Peaks (5.0% ABV, Thornbridge), which was probably stronger than I should have had. But hey, I had such hideous jetlag I needed to knock myself out.
  • WALKLEY BEER COMPANY, SHEFFIELD: One lively day just before my trip to America I stopped in while a political argument was ensuing. One man was saying that if someone has a knife in their hand and has just stabbed a victim, the police should kick him in the head. Three others, including me, argued that the police should concentrate on disarming the knifer, possibly stomping on their hand or arm but definitely not their leg, because this would reduce the officer to nothing more than a lawless attacker, similar to I.C.E. Anyway, this is about beer, innit? So I went for two different halves again. The first, Are You Going Round The Twist (4.6% ABV, Farm Yard Brew Company, Cockermouth, Lancashire) was a fruit sour with passionfruit, orange, apple, and grape, soured to a perfect degree so as not to become tiring. My other half was the wonderful Half Brick: Simcoe Red Rye Ale (4.4% ABV, The Kernel Brewery, Bermondsey, Greater London). What can I say about this? The Kernel is a pretty amazing brewery for porters and stouts, and they've also created a pretty wonderful red rye ale. In fact, the conversation and company was so fun this afternoon that I went for another half of Half Brick, therefore ending up with a full Brick of excellent red rye ale.

    On my first visit after my trip, I had a really pleasant visit. I started of with a pint of the always satisfying Lightbulb (4.5% ABV, Verdant Brewing Co, Penryn, Cornwall), but then I ended with a half pint of the rather dangerous Window Seat IPA (6.2% ABV, Nothing Bound Brewery, Bewdley, Worcestershire). Hopped with Strata, Nelson Sauvin, and Nectaron, this hazy was very good, dreamy, and dangerous. The conversation in the pub this time was about the Marais district in Paris, the Sheffield Flood of 1864, and the Sheffield Flood of 2007. And no arguments ensued.

BOTTLED/CANNED BEER UPDATE:

  • Dream House Hazy IPA (6.2% ABV, Left Handed Giant Brewpub, Bristol). This is the brewery's house IPA, brewed with jumbo oats and flaked wheat and then dry hopped with Citra, Vic Secret, Galaxy, and Mosaic, creating a smooth tropical safari. It was just what I needed after our sudden rat invasion coupled with the planned power cut the next day. But at least the weather was suddenly much warmer and sunnier, which we really needed as a break from the cold weather we'd been having. The graphic on the can features a happy-looking tiger lounging on a sofa, with art exploding from the walls all around. And mmm, yes, I was drinking this on my own sofa, and it was very yessy-good!
  • Off the Floor, On the Board Pale Ale (5.0% ABV, Sure Shot Brewing Company, Altrincham, Greater Manchester). This hazy pale ale is dry hopped with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Dolcita. Described by the brewery as a cocktail of a tropical fruit punch with a cool coconut smoothness followed by refreshing bitterness, it actually gave me goosebumps. It was so good--and that description was very accurate. And I hadn't even asked Gary yet, as it said on the can, which featured a graphic of a hockey-playing duck. I mean, who is Gary, anyway? Back to the can's contents: I've only recently discovered Dolcita hops, and everybody should know by now how much I love Nelson Sauvin. After I reached a maximum stress level earlier in the week, with my nerves misfiring a bit because of it, this beer was like the deep muscle massage I wish somebody could have given me. And then I'd feel even more of those goosebumps wash over me. But wouldn't they be duckbumps?
  • Everybody Good Time (5.4% ABV, Thornbridge Brewing Company, Bakewell, Derbyshire, collaborating with Bundobust Brewing Company, Manchester). Hopped with Galaxy and Simcoe, this is another tropical hazy with bitterness. I sipped this at home after taking forever to get my two buses home from my work's ridiculous sequestering of my group at the faraway and dead campus library for two months while our city workplace is closed completely to everyone, including students, for electrical updating. And to add a little more pain to that, the weather was hot and extremely humid. And the gardeners we hired to clear our way-overgrown postage stamp of a garden took a bit too much, causing a near feud with the next-door neighbours. And my extreme jetlag was much better but it still wasn't quite gone. So…yes, I needed this reminder: Everybody Good Time! Everybody Good Friends! Bed Good Sleep, Stomach Good Food, Brain Good Thinking, everything better. This is a gentle beer, but I could definitely see it accompanying a selection of Bundobust's delicious vegetarian Indian fusion street food.
  • Free Treasure Pale Ale (5.0% ABV, Track Brewing Company, Manchester). Hopped with Mosaic, Galaxy, and Luminosa, this beer comes in a can with a nice kaleidoscopic pattern. It was just a mildly crunchy quaff to cool me down from a lousy, prolonged commute day in the extreme heat. The flavour was kind of a round, orange cradle for the strong but gentle hops. It headed for the top rear of my palate as opposed to flopping itself across the front and sides. Was that the "free" part of the treasure? I suppose so.
  • Mystic Day Hazy IPA (6.5% ABV, Left-Handed Giant, Bristol). Brewed with Simcoe, Citra, Superdelic, and Motueka hops, this beer was described as "sweetly tropical incantation. Bergamot and floral, lemon and lime." Yes, it most definitely suggested a tropical fruit punch with a generous dose of lime. And that was fine for the day, as I was feeling exhausted.
  • Fold the Map IPA (6.2% ABV, Nothing Bound Brewing, Bewdley, Worcestershire). Hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic, and Citra, this is a pretty good combination of Mosaic and Citra, as the balance usually has to be just right to make it great. And it's tempered quite a bit with the Simcoe. But for such a hot, horrid day, and after running for my last bus, it would do just fine. It'd definitely doo-doo-doo. At least, with my mad running in the heat to yell at a bus driver to open the door for me so I wouldn't have to wait another half hour, this was more than fine, and I was drinking it safely at home. Okay, all right, I'll fold up the damn map now…
  • Steady Rolling Nelson (5.% ABV, Deya Brewing Company, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire). This pale ale has been dry hopped with freshly harvested Crop Year 2026 hand-selected Nelson Sauvin from Freestyle Hops. Okay, now that sounds pretty fancy--but oommMWOW! Yep, this was pretty darn good. And it did taste freshly picked right outa the garden. It made me realise what a wonder a great hops variety can be. I mean, it's a plant, it's like a flower bud. So how can it be so exquisitely full-flavoured, dank, and expressive? It's truly a miracle, it is.