Just
for a minute, close your eyes and imagine yourself soaking up the bright sunlight
and the tropical or near tropical heat while listening to the sound of the surf
washing across a sandy beach, and let’s not forget the palm trees swishing in
the gentle coastal breeze. What style of beer comes to mind with that image? Well,
if you’re like most beer drinkers, then the obvious answer simple: pale lagers—perhaps
a San Miguel, a Tiger, or maybe a Singha. After all, some of these beers offer
up well-carbonated, thin-bodied alternatives that are easily refreshing enough
amid the blazing sun and heat.
Still,
if you’re like me, downing a dozen or so pale lagers over a couple of days in a
row becomes rather tiring, and the search for alternative beers begins. If you
happen to visit Tenerife, the largest island in what constitutes Spain’s mildly-climated
Canary Islands, then you’re in luck. Not only are there a bounty of
thirst-quenching pale lagers—and some good ones to be sure, on the
northern side of the island, there’s also a small craft brewery that offers
five different draft varieties of first-class brews that markedly contrast
against the widely available lagers. In fact, if you’re looking to vacation in
a spot with predictably warm and dry weather, but also want the option to savor
the finer sides of beer, then Tacoa brewery and restaurant makes Tenerife a surely
rewarding vacation spot.
The Brewery
With
a population of about 8,300, El Sauzal is quiet coastal town located in the
heart of Tenerife’s wine country, which lies about 20 kilometers (32 miles) to
the west of Santa Cruz, the island’s capital. El Sauzal is also home to Tacoa’s
brewery and restaurant. Even if you happen to stay in the popular beach resort
towns like Las Americas and Los Cristianos, both of which are located on the
opposite side of Tenerife, Tacoa is still barely more than a one-hour drive away
via the highway or a three hour’s drive via the majestic roads leading over El
Teide, the island’s infamous volcanic mountain that today is reminiscent of a
Martian-like landscape. As you might see from my earlier post, I
absolutely recommend renting a car and taking the ladder route. The scenery is
out of this world!
Tacoa
is easy enough to find when pairing the address below with Google Maps, just as
we did when driving from Las Americas. Parking at Tacoa is even easier, and your
arrival there will be met with a golden-colored façade on the outside of the
brewery, along with the off-white tiled floors and golden-colored walls on the
inside, thus giving the restaurant a very warm Spanish-like feel. Tucked in to
the left of the restaurant area are two sizable black fermentation tanks,
confirming that indeed you are in the right place. The door to in the back,
left-hand side will expose you to a spacious terrace, along with generous
amounts of sun as well as umbrellas for shade. All in all, the atmosphere of
Tacoa’s restaurant and a bar is all aces.
Tacoa
is a perfect lunch destination, offering a variety of dishes that, in their
entirety, resemble an amalgamation of traditional Spanish and German cuisine,
and I personally recommend trying the plethora of flavors that come with the
German sausage sampler. Tacoa also boasts a wide selection of wines and a refrigerator
stocked full of bottled beers, including Chimay Grand Reserve, Franziskaner
Hefe-Weissbier, and Guiness Special Export, that are perfect for stocking up
your own hotel refrigerator.
But
the feature flavors, and indeed the justifications for our journey, are found at
the bar in the centrally-located taps. Although Tacoa boast five house beers on
tap—Clara, Cobre, Negra, Trigo, and Light, the Light was not available
during our visit; so we were only able to sample the first four. But these
four, after all, are by far the most important ones.
The Beer
While each beer is top fermented at 18 degrees Celsius (64 f.), each
beer also boasts its own unique flavor profile. Nevertheless, a word of advice
is in order. Folks in Tenerife, and in many places for that matter, generally
serve beer at rather cold temperatures and with frosty mugs. Yet, the
volitization responsible for releasing the beer’s flavors generally takes place
at higher temperatures. So, be sure to let Tacoa’s beers warm for about 10
minutes before passing judgment on them. Trust me! As the descriptions below
testify to, it’s worth the wait.
Clara
(4.5 percent ABV): When confronted with Clara, my first instinct was to
classify it as a Belgian pale ale of sorts. However, after a few more sips at
warmer temperatures, Clara reveals her bitterness that’s reminiscent of a fine
pilsner and a fruity and funky character that makes it feel like the a distant
and lighter cousin to an Orval. Life in the glass begins with a dark golden
color and a towering, frothy white head. Taking a few sips exposes the side of
glass, unearthing a field of densely packed lacing. Overall, Clara’s
presentation is simply excellent. The aroma is a bit on the timid side at first,
but some potency enters the fray as the beer warms up. Cracker notes—saltiness
or soda crackers for example—pepper the nose through and through.
In what at times feels like an Orval of sorts, a mild fruitiness and a distinct
barnyard note also enter the scene. Fruity notes are also prominent in the
taste, followed by a bready and a slight barnyard feel. Clara finishes with a
rather subtle yet lingering bitterness, but one that seemed to be a bit less
than the way it was described on the menu. In fact, I found Cobre to be a bit
more bitter. Clara comes with a medium body and generous amounts of
carbonation. All in all, with a 4.5 percent ABV, Clara is a rather refreshing
and well-balanced session beer, although it was probably my least favorite out
of Tacoa’s four sudsy treats.
Trigo
(4.5 percent ABV): As Tacoa's take on a Hefeweizen, Trigo is a heaven sent 4.5
percent ABV mug of candy, making it radically different from both Clara and
Cobre. Coming straight out of the tap, the head simply defies the laws of
gravity and imparts a think and dense head that looks so inviting when
juxtaposed on a bright and hazy golden body. The aroma is a blast of banana, or
banana flavored bubblegum to be precise. References to bread are also evident
in both the taste and the flavor. However, the focus taste closely resembles
banana flavored bubblegum, although the bubblegum note supports the more
dominant banana flavor – just as it should in a Hefeweizen. Trigo's mouthfeel
comes with a medium body and a high amount of carbonation. Overall, Trigo is
loaded with aroma and taste and is a super-sweet, candy like treat, and I’m
sure you’ll love it.
Negra
(6.5 percent ABV): Finally, we come to Negra, Tacoa’s 6.5 percent ABV take on
what really appears and feels like a bock, although as a top-fermented beer, it
is clearly a brown ale of sorts. And out of all four varieties we sampled, this
one was probably my favorite, although Trigo comes in with a close second.
Negra starts out with a dark brown color, culminating in a medium-sized,
well-retained off-white head. The lacing is perhaps a bit more timid than the
other three, but is still impressive nonetheless. Aroma? Well, try imagining the
freshness of the sun-filled spring air just after a light rain shower. That
pretty much captures Negra's background aroma, which is then peppered with dark
fruit notes, especially raisins. The aroma and the taste are malty and nearly
identical to one another, although I did miss some of the caramel flavor that
often comes with beers of this character. The finish is ever so slightly
bitter, and the mouthfeel comes with a medium body and average amounts of carbonation.
Overall, this beer alone made the trip worthwhile.
You
might now be asking, so…how can I try all four if I have to then drive a car
back to my hotel, which might be up to an hour or so away? Well, you have a few
options. First, Tacoa beers come in two sizes, and if you drink two
smaller-sized samples of their 4.5 percent varieties, eat a generous amount of
food, and relax on the terrace for about an hour or so after finishing your
beer, you should be okay to drive. You can then pay a bottle deposit and have
the friendly Tacoa staff fill up several flip-top bottles with whatever you
were unable to sample. In fact, you should just do this anyway, since their
draft beers hold remarkably well for several days in a well-sealed bottle.
Second, you can do what I did: talk my wife into being the designated driver,
and then take away a bottle of each just so your generous driver is not excluded
from the fun.
After
sampling four different Tacoa brews fresh from the tap, and in light of
amalgamation of German and Spanish atmospheres and dishes, I can do nothing
else other than recommend taking a visit to Tacoa during your next trip to
Tenerife. In fact, Tacoa really gives you another reason to make your next vacation
a trip to Tenerife, as if you really needed another reason to vacation there.
Please note: I must give special thanks to
Colin Kirby. Without her excellent 2010 article on Tacoa, I might have visited
Tenerife without ever knowing about Tacoa.
Additional information
Address:
Carretera General del Norte 122, 38360 El Sauzal
Telephone:
(0034) 922564173
Website:
http://www.tacoa.com/
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