It seems that every city I visit lately in the US has some sort of craft beer tour. This is a wonderful thing for someone as obsessed with craft beer as I am (I guess calling myself a craft beer aficionado would sound a little better, but whatevs...). It combines two things I love, beer and tourism, giving me the chance to visit the city while checking out the coolest beer spots it has to offer.
This type of plan is however harder to come by in many other cities around the world, even those who do have as prominent a beer culture as some American cities. Happily, Madrid is an exception.
I have had the chance recently to meet Lauren Aloise, co-founder and CEO of Devour Madrid, the first and premier food tour provider in Madrid. Lauren started Devour Madrid in 2012, after deciding she wanted to stay in Spain but did not want to do so by being an auxiliar de conversación en lengua inglesa (which could be translated roughly as English language assistant to Spanish school teachers). The premise was simple enough: set up tours in English with a knowledgeable guide, who takes people to try some of the best culinary specialties this city has to offer at a bunch of different spots, while giving tour-takers some insight into the history and culture of the city and checking out some of the sights along the way. The execution was flawless. The combination of awesome guides and mouth-watering food they picked made the tour an absolute hit. They have since expanded, starting Devour Spain, which aside from the aforementioned Devour Madrid now offers tours in Barcelona, Málaga and Seville.
I approached Lauren, among other things, to thank her. Christine, my wife, took the Ultimate Spanish Cuisine Tour a couple of years ago when her family came to visit. Her whole family loved it. In fact, some of the stops they liked so much, we wound up going back with them before they left. That allowed me to discover a couple of restaurants which are still among my favorites in the city today.
I decided to contact her again the other day, after someone I know asked me about places for good beer in Madrid. I had heard and seen a year ago or so that Devour Madrid was setting up a craft beer tour but I couldn't find it on their webpage anymore. As you can imagine, I was in utter dismay that they might have dropped the tour, now that Madrid's craft beer scene is just starting to grow exponentially. Thankfully this was not the case. Lauren assured me that they still offer craft beer tours for groups when asked, but that as of yet there isn't enough demand to justify a daily tour. I have therefore taken it upon myself to make this be known. Apparently I take some weird joy in trying to get the bars I go to as packed as possible and competing to order my beers, what can I say.
Devour Madrid offers private craft beer tours for two people starting at a cost of €85 per person. The good thing about that is that you're not really limited by anyone else's drinking speed and you have the guide to yourselves. However, they offer tours for bigger groups as well, which may allow you to negotiate a group price. I bet these could be great for bachelor or bachelorette parties. The minimum amount of people in any case per tour is usually 2, although they have been known to consider special requests. If you're interested, your best bet would be to hit up Devour Madrid directly, either through email at info@devourspain.com, or by phone on (+34) 695 111 832.
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