A time machine would be able to take us back to 3000 B.C., a remote era that makes us travel through the millennia until we land in Mesopotamia. If we were to walk through those lands that represent the dawn of humanity, everything would seem anachronistic and strange: people dressed in robes with embroidered stripes, buildings made of mud bricks, a language that today could be considered a relic. But there was a drink that the Sumerians already consumed back in the day, and which would be somewhat familiar to us. They called it sikaru, today we know it as beer. In ancient times it was the women who were responsible for brewing this highly coveted beverage, a liquid associated with the deity Ninkasi and which has little to do with beer known to us today. Many centuries had to pass before men became the brewers. Men like the three friends who decided to set up Adalt Brewing, a microbrewery of craft beer with a taste of Palma. A local project of island origin in which they declare themselves lovers of hops.
Sebastià Barceló welcomes us in the courtyard of this taproom that climbs its gate near Plaza Fleming. It is midday. A heather roof protects us from the sun. When we ask Sebastià about the beginnings of Adalt, he shields himself in a lack of originality that we do not perceive in his answer. "We started with three colleagues who really like beer. At first we made it at home and over time we became more and more encouraged. In 2018, we made the decision and founded the company." Put like that, his explanation strikes us as anything but ordinary. It is not usual for a trio of friends to go from consumer to homebrewer, and even less common for them to open their own place a few years later. Theirs was not a simple hobby, but rather a devotion in which they detected a way to make a living. "We wanted this hobby to become our job, but I didn't want to jump into the pool without any prior training."
Two years before setting up his project, Sebastià flew to Germany to attend a brewing school. An apprenticeship that lasted through the summer of 2016, the time needed to optimize his knowledge. But the time machine still has to go back to 2012 to come up with the embryo of Adalt. "Our beginnings were at the home of Guillermo, one of the partners. At that time we didn't have any expertise and our beers turned out horrible. It was more of an excuse to meet up and drink in the morning". Sebastià laughs as he recalls that stage marked by trial and error, the experimentation one needs to perfect any technique. Brewing craft beer at a friend's home implies certain limitations; one will always be subject to the owner's schedule. That's why they looked for another place that would give them flexibility.
"At that moment we thought we had a product that could be marketed".
"We found a place in La Soledad. That way, we all had keys and could come and go as we pleased. I brewed as often as I liked. I could keep an eye on the densities and keep track of them properly." Sebastià is the most operational part of Adalt, who returned from Germany with a few tricks in the bag to increase the quality of the artisanal product they fermented in Mallorca. Having that place in La Soledad allowed them to stick to the elaboration process every weekend. They made a name for themselves. A practice that led them to organize private events for their friends and family to taste their beers. "We called them beermuts. That venue was located in one of the modules of the old Ca'n Ribes factory, an open space with a large window on the second floor of the complex. These events were held on a Saturday every two or three months, when they had already achieved the necessary production to convene their friends. "Apart from the shindigs that were organized, which were very good, those beermuts gave us a lot of self-confidence. Our colleagues didn't just drink the beer, they enjoyed it. At that moment we thought we had a product that could be marketed".
That commercialization takes place in the space that since 2019 serves as a tap room, on Arxiduc Lluís Salvador street. They moved here because if they wanted to build a place where customers could have a few beers, it could not be on the second floor. In addition, the 2010 urban development plan endangered the existence of this place where Adalt's first creations were born. They did not want to risk it. That's why they moved into this microfactory of modern aesthetics and extremely careful design. An attention to detail that does not exceed the attention to detail that they devote to their beers, brewed in limited runs of five hundred liters. The diversity of their catalog makes them touch all areas, although their specialty, as far as we noticed at Sebastià, is IPAs. "We usually make two types: a classic, which is usually drier and more bitter, and a haze, which is now in fashion. Cloudy, with a hoppy aroma and little bitterness. From each of these two styles we make four different IPAs. But there is much more than IPAs at Adalt Brewing, they also love the darkness of stouts and the acidity of a berliner weisse, brewed with apricots and raspberries.
"What we have here is a control system for yachts adapted to beers that many factories bigger than ours would like to have".
Sebastià offers us a couple of Dopplers, which is the best-selling product in its multifaceted catalog. Apart from its great taste in which a very slight bitterness is mixed with citrus aromas, we take a look at its packaging. Adalt opted for cans with their packaging as to balance quality and ecology. "Hops are photosensitive, and if we expose them to UVA or UVB rays, they develop acids that give off very strong odors. A can is totally opaque, and doesn't allow that to happen." Sebastià also points to the light weight of canning compared to glass, a lightness that reduces transport costs and emissions. And not only that, because the surface of the cans provides a great canvas for many local artists to print their work on Adalt's beers, which stand out for more than just their quality, it is for their innovative design, matching the premises.
The founders of this microbrewery are fully committed to local projects around the island. Brewing beer is fun for them, their capacity for inventiveness seems infinite. They have even customized their beers for bars such as Atomic Garden or Sa Bona Birra, in Ciutadella. Their place brings together an audience that lives in the neighborhood, but in summer foreigners come to their call thanks to social networks specialized in beer. These beers can be combined with the snacks served at Adalt, including focaccias with sourdough prepared in a local oven and Rosamunda pizzas, which are also on the menu. Isla, the Mallorcan Kombucha of the owners of Brut, is another of the protagonists of their proposal. We don't know what Adalt's secret is, but it could reside in their microfactory. "The three of us are industrial engineers, each in our own specialty. That means that we have done a lot of things ourselves. The factory control, for example, was done by Alberto, who works in the nautical sector. What we have here is a control system for yachts adapted to beers that many factories bigger than ours would like to have.
Well, tell that to the breweries of Mesopotamia.
