In a village house in Cala Rajada, far from the tourist hustle and bustle that prevails in the area, you will find the micro-factory of Sa CerViseria, a craft beer laboratory in which tanks and tanks reign supreme, and the magic of projects guided by soul and passion is produced. A passion, in this case, for carefully brewed beer and natural wine.
Rafel and Neus, the couple at the helm of this initiative, finished their studies in chemical engineering and decided to pursue a master's degree in fermented beverages. Through Rafel's final project, they explored the opportunity to launch a winebrewpub in Cala Rajada, they carried out a market study and glimpsed the possibility of a future in one of the things they are most passionate about. "The idea was to bring together wine and beer in the same business, and what better way than by selling our beer, which we produce in the same place where we serve, sell and distribute it," explains Neus.
Its purpose was "to raise awareness of wine culture because the two worlds don't have to be separate, they can be united as in the same group of friends where there are people who like beer more and people who prefer wine". Convinced and excited, in March 2018 they went for it and the reception was really good from the first day. "We didn't invest a lot in marketing, but we had a housewarming party and people responded very well."
"Craft beer is still alive".
Since then, encouraged by the response of a local clientele that coexists with foreign customers in search of that wine or that unique beer, they create their own beer, with which they play and experiment – with hops and fruit – to offer a genuine flavor in their own premises, as they dispense with distribution chains (beyond some bars specializing in craft beer such as Lorien, Tutatis, Adalt or Brusca) because what interests them, says Rafel, is "that people come here because we check that the beer is in perfect condition and we adapt the conditions. A craft beer always has to be in the fridge, and in supermarkets this cold chain is lost."
The difference between an industrial beer and a craft beer is pasteurization. "Craft beer is still alive," says Neus, and any small detail can upset it. That is why it is not packaged, it is served from the barrel and since confinement, if the customer wants to take it home, they have reusable glass bottles. Like everyone else, in March 2020 they had to adapt to the changes imposed by the health crisis. "During the pandemic, production could continue, but the bar couldn't, so people would order the beer by mail and we would distribute it in glass."
The concept of their proposal has also evolved and adapted to demand and circumstances. They have never wanted to be a late-night pub or disturb the neighbours, so they open at 6pm and close at midnight. An English pub schedule focused on afterwork but, of course, with a Mediterranean accent.
Without losing sight of sustainability – almost all the beer is produced in their micro-factory and served here, and the malt waste is donated to farmers to feed their chickens and sheep, and to make compost – they do not stop collaborating with projects related to their philosophy. They host exhibitions by local artists, have launched a collaboration with Mandrágora Hidromiel and, when the last remaining bookshop in Cala Ratjada closed, they agreed to sell the books of the Documenta Balear publishing house. "They asked us if we could sell their books, and we sell more than we thought!"
"It hurt us to have industrial soft drinks that don't contribute anything while having products from here that also offer returnable packaging".
"Little by little we have been stabilizing. We wanted to be the bar where you go to have a beer and snack before dinner, and we are achieving it," explains Neus, who is immersed in her specialty: the world of viticulture that they are working on in the long term. They started by planting native vines in 2016, near Son Serra de Marina, and they dream of the moment to start producing their own wine. In the meantime, they offer an interesting menu in which you can find the local cellers Jaume de Puntiró, Son Pere Jaia, Mesquida Mora, Can Majoral and Miquel Gelabert.
The future of Sa CerVIseria lies in the discovery of its own wines and beers, but not only here. "Recently," Rafel explains, "we expanded the brewery to produce more and wanted to install direct service tanks from fermenter to pond and pond to tap for the beers that come out the most." In addition, they confess, they want to explore spontaneously generated beer, the one in which fermentation is controlled, but without adding yeast. "You let it ferment with the yeast in the air and you get even more acidic beers."
Typical of Belgium, where they were on the verge of disappearing until "the Americans arrived and started buying. Now prices have skyrocketed," says Rafel. "They are beers with an expiration date of thirty years and they never taste the same. We want to do little tests," Neus adds. A proposal to which they want to add another, as she points out that they have in mind, in the not too distant future, to use the genre of local producers for the production of their beer.
The wine and beer offer is complemented by other local products such as Puig's soft drinks. In the end, Rafel explains, "it hurt us to have industrial soft drinks that don't contribute anything while having products from here that also offer returnable packaging," they say. Kombucha Isla, pa amb olis and cheeses do the rest.
Before saying goodbye, we tasted the beers of Neus and Rafel. Sa Bona, Sa Bresca -in collaboration with Mandrágora-, Sa de sempre. They are genuine beers that transmit in each sip the awareness with which they are made and a lot of identity. An identity of those who have seen the transformation of the landscape, the disappearance of traditional commerce and excessive construction change the environment they inhabit and who, with their project, contribute their bit to show us that the faces of Mallorca are infinite.
