These days, beer festivals and collaboration brews go hand-in-hand. So, when I heard that a range of star-studded Mash-oriented collaborations were set to land at Ghost Whale towers this week, it brought back vivid memories of just how special my first Mash experience was this past October. After missing out on the ever wonderful, Copenhagen-based Mikkeller Beer Celebration earlier this year, I promised myself that I’d make it to another of Europe’s many incredible festivals instead, with Mash being the first alternative to come to mind. Hosted annually by Garage Beer Co, this cerveza fiesta has been drawing some of the world’s finest producers since 2017, and I quickly learned that it deserves a spot on every beer geek’s bucket list.
THE HIGHS
The Lineup:
As previously mentioned, the good people at Garage Beer Co have been curating remarkable lineups for Mash for over half a decade. With their stunning home city of Barcelona as the backdrop, it’s no wonder brewers jump at the chance to showcase their beers in such an idyllic setting.
The first name announced for this year’s celebration was New York’s heavily-sought after Fidens, which really set the tone for how special the bill would be, and it only grew more impressive from there. Announcements for fellow American powerhouses Trillium, Finback, Other Half, Tripping Animals, North Park, 3 Sons, and The Veil followed, to name just a few of the many household names that made the journey from the States.
Closer to home, UK heavyweights Beak, Verdant, Left Handed Giant, and Track proved that Britain is firmly set in the global craft beer conversation. Although there is still a gap between the two brewing empires, the hop-forward UK brews on display really stood up to the massively hyped American IPAs available. It’s really special to see how far the scene has progressed here in the UK, and I found myself experiencing a sense of pride that I have the privilege of being part of such a fantastic, still budding craft beer scene.
From across Europe, legendary brewers like Omnipollo, Tommie Sjef, Whiplash, Fuerst Wiacek, and Coolhead represented other large brewing countries with world class beers, showcasing what’s trending across the continent. Lastly, Garage recruited their Spanish compatriots SOMA, Laugar, Oddity, DOS KIWIS, and Cervesa Máger to put Spain’s scene on the map, and round off an all-star roster.
The Venue:
Mash is hosted year-on-year at Nau Bostik, an abandoned industrial warehouse in the northeast end of Barcelona. The cold, brutalist architecture is made bright, welcoming, and eye-catching by an onslaught of street art, transforming it into an immersive, walkthrough museum of graffiti.
The warehouse is segmented into three rooms, two of which are dedicated to as many producers and Lindr draught machines as the space can accommodate. The third is a far more spacious area, which is slightly removed from the beer chaos, rather housing multiple food vendors and picnic-style tables and benches, offering attendees a chance to relax and refuel. Although constantly occupied by eager craft beer fanatics bustling around, the rooms still felt open and easy to maneuver, with very few queues ever needing to be formed for refills.
The Ambiance:
Amidst the buzz of conversation, DJs kept a hop in our step, playing upbeat electronic music that provided an energetic backdrop to the occasion. Every so often, airhorns would abruptly interject, signaling that a brewery was about to begin a bottle pour, consequently sending immediate frenzy into the crowd as people toppled over one another to race towards the sound of the airhorns, with arms and glassware extended as far as one could reach. 3 Sons, for instance, opened a magnum sized bottle of their ‘Double Barrel Select (Red Wax)’, which induced a mob-mentality-like madness across the room. A horde of overly keen beer geeks rapidly formed into one mass group hug, everyone leaning over one another in reach of the liquid gold on brief offer. I was lucky, or rather patient enough to receive a splash, which I shared with my mates who weren’t involved in the commotion. We found total agreement that it was a syrupy, decadent masterpiece. Thoroughly worth the mayhem.
As with any festival, the longer we were there, the looser everyone got. Mash operating as a whopping eight hour session allowed plenty of time to comfortably make our rounds, ticking off the breweries we felt were a must try, naturally growing more and more inebriated along the way thanks to the seemingly bottomless beauties available. In line with what I’ve experienced at Mikkeller’s beer festival, the dying moments of the session can often be the liveliest. Focuses turn from racing around to slam beers, to taking in the last bits of the atmosphere. People flock towards the DJ, glasses full of whatever they deem to be the perfect send off brew and, after a day’s worth of booze, let loose in the form of a celebratory boogie.
THE LOWS
The Price:
Unlike other grand festivals I’ve attended, Mash operates on a token-based system. For those unfamiliar, this means that each pour is purchased with tokens, which Mash price at a 1-to-1 conversion with Euros. Most Lagers, IPAs, and some Sours cost about 3 Euros per pour, while Double or Triple IPAs and hefty Stouts ran closer to as much as 5 Euros for about 200ml. This is in addition to the €25 entry fee.
Being an 8 hour session, needing to eat quickly becomes a factor. We found ourselves having to cozy up in the food hall twice over the course of the day to rejuvenate and line our stomachs, which added another 20ish pounds each to our tab.
It’s undeniable that the quality of the beer and food justifies the cost – this ridiculously impressive concentration of some of the world’s best breweries and deliciously high quality food vendors doesn’t come around often, and of course has to come at a price – but it’s worth mentioning that one should budget in advance. I absolutely recommend attending Mash in the years to come, but would recommend getting a head start by setting some coins aside in your piggy bank early. My group of three paid approximately £80 per person on top of the ticket price.
The Bathroom:
One classic shortcoming of beer festivals that Mash couldn’t quite escape is the toilet situation – a challenge that seems to plague events like this time and time again. Despite all of the positives of the beautiful Nau Bostik site, the bathroom setup was, unsurprisingly, quite difficult to manage. Queues were consistently over a dozen people long, with wait times commonly stretching to 15 minutes or more. That being said, if you start to even feel an inkling of needing to go, it’s best to jump in line. While it didn’t ruin the experience, it’s definitely something to be mindful of for future attendees.
THE STANDOUTS
3 Sons – Lumberjack Mexican Hot Chocolate Break:
My undisputed beer of the festival was an offering from one of Ghost Whale’s favourite Stout producers – who we just recently dubbed as the best in the world for barrel aged Imperial Stouts and Barleywines: it’s Florida’s mighty 3 Sons. Eager to get this in before it would inevitably sell out, this was an early afternoon 14.8%er, that I immediately expressed would be ‘hard to beat’ for the rest of the day. That it was!
This Imperial Stout spent 20 months in whisky barrels before receiving the Mexican hot chocolate-ification, in the form of conditioning on cacao nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon, ancho chilli peppers, dark maple syrup, coffee, and marshmallows. The ancho chilis and whisky barrel character provided a delicate spice up front, quickly balanced by the marshmallow and vanilla sweetness. An oil thick consistency gave this a real classy level of indulgence that 3 Sons seem to have completely mastered. One of the best Stouts I’ve had all year, let alone just at Mash.
SOMA – Dizzy:
After months of hearing rave reviews about Girona’s SOMA, noticing their presence at Mash brought me a real sense of excitement. Pouring alongside Other Half, Fidens, North Park, and multiple other IPA powerhouses could be daunting to some, but SOMA’s contributions to the party were on par with everything I had from the American giants.
‘Dizzy’ is a Double IPA hopped with underrated American hops Audacia and Strata. I wasn’t all too familiar with Audacia, but will be actively seeking it out after this wonderful bit of haze. It has a lovely black currant and berry character, which paired absolutely brilliantly with Strata’s passionfruit, melon, and strawberry notes. A proper fruit basket of a brew.
Cervesa Máger – Boombastic IV: Arándanos y Dragon Fruit:
Seeing countless people strut around with glasses painted deep purple by the liquid inside, with a bright pink cap of foam, had my Silly beer senses tingling. I assumed it would be coming from a certain Church-based Swedish outfit who always seem to provide European festivals with wacky coloured brews like this, but after enquiring with some fellow beer geeks and hearing their high praise, I followed their tracks to the stall of Catalunya’s Sour specialists Cervesa Máger.
‘Boombastic IV: Arándanos y Dragon Fruit’ is the latest iteration of their heavily fruited Sour series, this time crammed with cranberries and dragon fruit, a combination I’ve never seen tackled in a beer. Brewers should be taking notes, though, because this worked an absolute treat. Cranberry puckering tartness matched dragon fruit’s sweet, complexity perfectly, making this my favourite Sour of the day.
Other Half – Knockout Juice:
The booth closest to our point of entry at the start of the day just so happened to be a little brewery by the name of Other Half, and why wouldn’t you kick the session off with a Double IPA by the name of ‘Knockout Juice’?
Packed with 3 different varieties of Citra, Galaxy, and experimental hops Anchovy and HBC1019, this had so, so much going on. Citra’s pithy, grapefruity citrus met peach and melon Galaxy goodness, and HBC1019’s coconut and banana foam character, all dazzling the palate over Other Half’s typical full, pillowy mouthfeel. The first of the day ended up being my mate’s favourite beer of the festival, which says a lot about just how special this brew is.
Finback x Uchu – Cosmic Drip BA:
My last beer all day had to be something grand and memorable, and this behemoth, intercontinental collaboration was perfectly up to the task. Finback hosted Japan’s superstar brewery Uchu in a New York-based meeting of the minds, resulting in this mega decadent coconut, vanilla bean, cacao nib, and banana barrel aged Imperial Stout.
This beer oozed dessert-esque chocolate indulgence, while still allowing the coconut and banana to play a vital role in adding fun, unique complexity. Sticky in body, this is one I’d be careful holding if you’re wearing white, especially if it’s your 20th+ beer of the day and a DJ is present. The ideal accompaniment to seeing off a wonderful event.
Getting to experience such a renowned festival with my two best mates, whom I’ve known since Kindergarten and flew out from California for the occasion, was an immensely fulfilling moment for me personally. From backyard Coors Lights as teenagers, to sharing an international experience with the same, albeit much more refined, liquid in our glasses embodies one of the many aspects of what makes beer so special to me: it brings people together.