OCTOBER 19 - 25, 2025
BARCELONA & BEYOND
TOUR OVERVIEW
Visitors flock to Catalonia, and especially its capital Barcelona, to explore castles, wander medieval alleyways, sip sangria and sample tapas. What most miss is its lively new craft beer scene. Joel Shelton got hooked over ten years ago, becoming the first and only US importer to offer a substantial selection of Catalonia’s fresh lagers, decadent sherry-barrel stouts, and effervescent indigenous-grape ales to American drinkers.
Now we’ll guide you to Barcelona’s best craft beer destinations, exploring as well the quirky breweries that have popped up in the mountain and farming towns of the beautiful Catalan countryside. We’ll also include some of the area’s finest wine, tapas, and sightseeing. Because Catalonia isn’t just about the beer, you know.
DAY 1
SUNDAY OCTOBER 19, 2025
PRE-TOUR BAR-ÇELONA HOP
On Sunday afternoon we have an optional pre-tour meet up to explore some unique Barcelona sites. We’ll congregate at Plaça d’Espanya, one of the city’s most lively and important transit hubs, and from there make our way gradually up the adjacent hill known as Montjuic, pausing at the steps of the grand National Art Museum to take in the impressive city and mountain view.
Further uphill are the vast grounds constructed for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, offering equally dramatic vistas of the other side of the city. From the Olympic site we continue our ascent, past the Montjuic fortress cable car station and finally arriving at an unlikely but very fun spot – Salts Terrassa Bar. This lively outdoor café, a locals’ favorite, sports a truly magnificent poolside view of most of the city of Barcelona. Here we’ll get our first semi-official tour tastes of Catalan tapas, along with local beer, vermut or cocktails.
After the quick hike back down the hill, we’ll head into the blue-collar but artsy Poble Sec quarter, and specifically into the cleverly-named Brewpub Le Sec, one of our very favorite Catalan neighborhood beer bars. After a few pints of delicious house or local guest beers, we’ll wander over to the city’s so-called “pintxos street,” Carrer de Blai. Here we’ll free-range our way through countless casual pubs serving the small Basque-style toothpicked tapas bites. The rest of the evening is free for those wanting to find more beer or other delights in Catalonia’s capital city.
DAY 2
MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 2025
INTO THE HINTERLANDS
We wake up Monday morning to begin our unique, off-the-beaten-path Catalan road trip. Our first drive is short and eventful: a ride through the city to the outskirts, where lies the main production facility for Garage Brewing. Barcelona’s most visible and successful craft brewery creates the bulk of its product here and also puts on regular events at the taproom,, where we’ll be treated to a tasting.
We’ll then exit the city and head up the Mediterranean coast, soon arriving at the more modest little beer factory Cervesa Marina, tucked away in an unassuming neighborhood in the hills above the beachy city of Blanes. We’ll be treated to a brewery visit and a tasting of Marina’s core creations, accompanied by a sandwich lunch. Post-brewery we’ll have some time to explore the beach, boardwalk and boulevards of Blanes before then heading inland, towards the wild and mountainous Montseny region. .
We’ll check in at our hotel in the city of Vic before heading out again, soon arriving at the lovely and welcoming Cerveseria del Montseny. Our hosts here offer a very well-done talk on the craft beer process and history in the area and an even-better informal meal, accompanied by a range of ales and lagers, in the beautiful taproom restaurant. Though we’ve had a massively full day and evening, those seeking more culture can then find a lovely nightcap in the center of Vic
DAY 3
TUESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2025
CATALAN REVOLUTIONARIES
Several years ago we visited Vic on the advice of a local brewer. We decided first to add a tour night there, and since 2024 we spend two! While off the tourist grid and practically unknown as an international destination, this small city, with its well-preserved medieval center, actually offers much of what tourists flock to Barcelona to see, minus the absurd crowds. Our bonus full day in Vic today gives us a chance to take a fascinating historical and architectural walk through the compact city center with a local guide this morning – a great way to start off after so much beer the day before!
After our tour we head north, further into the Catalan hinterlands, until we come to a remote and rocky old farm, l’Horta Ferments, which now specializes in the cultivation and production of naturally-fermented vegetables and kombucha. After a quick visit to the kombucha production area, an amazing lunch spread of various homemade veggie tapas and the full range of kombuchas is presented on a communal outdoor table with glorious views of the surrounding countryside.
After lunch we head even further north, driving towards the Pyrenees Mountain range just shy of the French border until we come to the even more remote La Calavera. At one of the most peaceful brewery settings in the world we’ll be treated to a tasting of several super-high-end BA specialties poured straight from the wood, as well as a range of great core-range ales from this award-winning producer. After the ride back to Vic we have a free night there, which usually involves a great meal and then specialty gin cocktails at our favorite Vic bar, Cal Veguer.
DAY 4
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2025
RAMPARTS, PIRATES & VINTNERS
Today we head into the heartland of rural Catalonia. In the morning we’ll explore the dramatic, well-preserved mountaintop Cardona Castle, the most important defensive structure in Catalonia’s long history. A walk around the various medieval portions of the castle, including the thousand-year-old cathedral, is stunning, as are the views of the city of Cardona and the surrounding countryside below. The old town of Cardona itself is also worth exploring before we head off and into the center of Catalonia’s ancient wine region, Bages. Here we’ll tour a vineyard to be determined and sample a bit of history as we do so, as this area represents one of the oldest established wine cultures in the world.
Having thus gotten our historic sites and alternative drinks in, we of course will now visit a brewery, and the nearby La Pirata is one of the very best in Catalonia. This award-winning craft beer producer welcomes us to a brew house and garage-like taproom that is at once very familiar to Americans yet very Catalan. Chances are good that one of the brewer’s young kids will help pour samples!
We’ll spend the night in nearby Manresa, another sizeable historic Catalan city that is almost completely off the tourist grid. We’ll have dinner here and almost certainly end our night at the very characterful little craft beer bar La Taverna dels Predicadors, located in a quaint alley in the old town.
DAY 5
THURSDAY OCTOBER 23, 2025
HEIGHTS OF CATALONIAN CULTURE
This is a day filled with just two destinations, but they are superb: the monumental mountain abbey Montserrat, and the absolutely unique and unforgettable brewery Masia Agullons.
We depart Vic in the morning and make a stunning drive towards Montserrat, the last half hour of which finds us winding our way gradually up the steep mountain with ever-expanding views of the Catalan countryside below. Once we arrive at the abbey grounds, it’s a grand, breathtaking free-for-all, with sweeping vistas, dramatic hikes, funiculars, museums, gift shops, cafes and, of course, the amazing church with its famous Black Madonna figure and perpetually sold-out choirboy concert.
It’s nearly impossible to be impressed after departing Montserrat, but in fact we have a smaller-scaled but equally-epic experience lined up for the evening: an extended evening visit of the world’s most authentically artisanal brewery, Agullons. Here we’ll be greeted by hordes of house dogs and cats, a characterful farmhouse tap room resembling an ancient British pub, absolutely wonderful homemade tapas and beer, and best of all the hospitality of our hosts Montse and Carlos. And to make it extra special, this will be Joel’s 65th birthday party celebration! At least for our fearless leader, it doesn’t get any better.
DAY 6
FRIDAY OCTOBER 24, 2025
OLD WORLD, NEW FLAVORS
We wake up in the tiny and typical Catalan village of La Llacuna, to a communal old-school restaurant breakfast spread. It may surprise some that there is a new spontaneous fermentation brewery just a couple minutes’ walk from our quaint quarters, but hidden away in a side street we come to the wonderful Màger Brew, built into and around the childhood home of its founder. Within the unassuming complex is a warehouse, a future taproom, an historical local bus to be utilized in some way to-be-determined, a brewery, a bottle shop and, in the family backyard, a makeshift outdoor tasting shed. And to boot, the brews are great.
After our visit and tasting we’ll make a short drive to the wine capital Vilafranca del Penedès. Penedès is a separate wine region from Bages, which we’ve seen two days earlier, and it is best known internationally for its cava (sparkling wine). Within the city of Vilafranca we pay a visit to Bodega Mascaró, a third-generation producer originally specializing in distilled spirits. The cellars here are impressive, and the cave-like tasting room, where we’ll sample four different cavas and hover over hefty platters of tapas, is as atmospheric as they come. Following a last-minute shopping spree at Mascaro’s bottle shop, we finally head back to Barcelona.
Having checked back in at our hotel in the center of the capital, we have a couple hours to rest up before we set out for the beautiful harbor area, where lies our final dinner spot, BlackLab Brewhouse. Our al fresco, elevated beer ‘n burger feast is the perfect ending to our official Catalonia tour. But the night is young, and tomorrow’s Saturday…
DAY 7
SATURDAY OCTOBER 25, 2025
ADÉU, OR PARTY ON
Those who remain in Barcelona post-tour have the rare option of attending MASH, Spain’s most prestigious international craft beer festival. Those who’ve had enough of beer will find more than enough to occupy themselves in town, or may choose to take a short train ride to the lovely seaside town of Sitges. And for anyone returning to the U.S. or moving on to other points in Spain or Europe today, ICBT staff will be on hand to assist with any travel needs, or just say farewell!
CATALONIA 2025 TOUR PRICING
$2100
PER PERSON, BASED ON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
(ADD $300 FOR SINGLE OCCUPANCY)
**Tour prices are per person and do not include airfare.
*Single occupancy rooms are limited.
More information about the destinations
we'll visit on our Catalonia Tour
**Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented on this webpage. Inner Circle Beer Tours (ICBT) is not responsible for errors in or damages resulting from use of the information contained herein. Information contained on this webpage is subject to change without notice.**
