Ilúnica Pale Ale (6.1%) - Cervezas Ilúnica, Castile-La Mancha, Spain

The clocks have sprung forward and the sun has started beating down with quite some vigour on my corner of southeast Spain. We all know there's only one way to adequately refresh yourself on such increasingly warm and sunny days, and what perfect timing it was for my local craft beer shop, Beer Shooter Murcia, to host a beer presentation and meet the brewers session on a splendidly sunlit Friday after work.

Hellín's province of Albacete
within Spain

On offer was a pale ale born in December 2016 that goes by the name of Ilúnica, the very first craft beer to hail from the small central Spanish town of Hellín - another little guy rising up in the face of the all-too-common mass-produced tastelessness that surrounds us all, with the mission of bringing character and flavour to people's beer glasses.

The label features a mystical red-haired female adorned with beer ingredients with the backdrop of a moonlit night sky - a nod to the town's ancient history as the Spanish word for "moon" and the town's name both share the same root. How romantic! 

My 2€ golden amber half-pint poured fresh from the barrel immediately showed signs of promise with fragrant, tropical notes on the nose which had my chops watering before the beer came anywhere near them.

Juan Carlos and Armentario started brewing
at home a few years ago before becoming
fully-fledged master brewers 

Using four different hop varieties it imparts juicy, tropical New World flavours of mango and pineapple along with some pine resin and a hint of citrus, complemented by a clean malty base. While it's packed mainly with New World hops it manages to remain easy-going, something that's well suited to the Spanish climate by being clean and refreshing but at the same time brimming with flavour and depth. 

Tapas prepared by David López Carreño

In fact, Ilúnica's quenching but laid-back character make it very drinkable despite its high ABV, which I only realised a number of glasses in when my legs were slightly wobblier than expected. As the brewers themselves noted endearingly on the night, we Brits like to drink a lot of low-strength beer - and fast - but it was hard not to knock these juicy 6.1% cañas back. 

Luckily on hand to soak up some liquid, in true Spanish style, was a selection of gourmet tapas prepared on site which were a source of intrigue in their own right for me: mince and broccoli pâté tartlets, couscous with cream cheese and crushed cashews, and toasted bread topped with salmon tartare and a drizzle of squid ink and mustard mayonnaise. That's how these guys roll.

Ilúnica pale ale is the first and so far only brew of these two Hellineros that's available, but I'm told they have a number of exciting ideas in the pipeline. Watch this space!

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