Estrella Damm

Estrella Damm is Barcelona's beer — a pale lager brewed in the city since 1876 and branded, with some justification, as the original "Mediterranean lager." It was created by August Kuentzmann Damm, an Alsatian who fled the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and, with his cousin Joseph, founded the brewery that still bears the family name.

The Damms' insight was climatic: central European lagers were too heavy for Barcelona summers, so they brewed something lighter, using barley malt, rice, and hops — a recipe the company still traces to 1876, with rice sourced from the Ebro Delta. The beer wore several names on its way to the modern brand, sold first as Strasburger Bier, renamed Estrella Dorada in 1921, and finally Estrella Damm in 1991.

The five-pointed star (estrella) has marked the brand since its early years, and the beer remains the default caña in much of Catalonia. Still brewed by S.A. Damm, Estrella has ridden Barcelona's global profile — and a long association with the city's food culture — into bars far beyond Spain.

Soft bready malt smoothed by rice, a gentle herbal hop aroma, and a light Mediterranean body with a clean, dry finish.