Hops

Does hops grow in Spain? Yes, but on a small scale. Spain's hop-growing region lies in the northwest, mainly in the province of León along the Órbigo river. Madrid itself has no hop cultivation; the city's breweries source their hops from elsewhere.

Breweries don't reveal exactly which hop varieties go into Mahou. That's common practice among large brands, so here we stick to what can be tasted: the bitterness is low, the aroma stays in the background, and the hops are meant to give the beer a dry finish rather than dominate it.

That suits the climate. A heavily hopped beer quickly tastes heavy and bitter at 35 degrees Celsius. A caña with mild bitterness, by contrast, can be finished in twenty minutes without drying out the mouth.

The number of bitterness units, or IBU, helps put this in perspective. It measures how much bittering substance is in the beer. The BJCP style guidelines list 18 to 25 IBU for international pale lagers, while a German pilsner ranges from 22 to 40. Spanish lager thus sits at the mild end of the scale. That becomes especially noticeable sitting on a terraza in the afternoon sun, ordering a second glass.

There's a difference between bitterness and aroma that's easy to taste in Madrid. Bitterness comes from boiling the hops in the wort. Aroma comes from later additions, and in Spanish lager it's so subtle that it's perceived more as a fresh note at the end of the sip.