El Pedal

The waiters are friendly and explain their selection of draft beers with passion and knowledge which never crosses over into beer snobbery (thank God). El Pedal has become my go-to place for a cold pint out on the terrace and I'd recommend everyone who like good beer and good vibes to check it out.

Three craft taps are on regular rotation and the bottle selection runs at just over 100, with around 30-odd Spanish crafts. In fact, there are four taps but one serves Alhambra, an industrial brew from Andalusia. Javi – the owner – installed it to meet the local demand for cañas (the traditional Madrid beer glass size and synonymous – more or less – with a serving of whatever industrial brew is on tap). But apparently customers are becoming more discerning: less and less locals are ordering cañas and more customers are coming out with questions like, “What beer have you got from Scotland.” Javi is considering dropping the Alhambra tap and becoming a craft-only.

The staff know their stuff, always match the right beer to the right glass and consistently give sound advice (when I first visited and asked for the beer menu, my pointy-bearded waiter replied, “I’m the menu” and came up with an excellent recommendation). Organised tastings are still a little periodic, but Javi hopes to start offering them twice a month on a regular basis (check the Facebook page for details). More recently, the bar ran a tasting of US crafts, which included sushi and snacks, as well as a stimulating spiel by Javi on the roots and renaissance of American craft brewing

Food-wise, there’s a toothsome selection of Italian sandwiches, with combinations like salmon, rocket and brie or mushrooms, walnuts and mozzarella.

And as it is with so many of Madrid’s small batch of passionate craft beer business owners, chatting with Javi (he speaks English) is a pleasurable and edifying experience. When I first met him he tickled my history bone with curious beer fact. In the early 1930s there were around 250 breweries in Spain. But then along came Franco, ripping the country apart in a bloody civil war and running Spain like his personal fascist fiefdom until his death in 1975. When the country finally re-emerged as a democracy, those 250 breweries had shrunk to some 40 or 50. What happened? Franco had set up hop monopolies, effectively concentrating beer production into a few wealthy (and not very adventurous) hands. The quality of Spanish beer suffered significantly. Nowadays, with 70-odd breweries, the country is slowly crawling its way back. But it struck me that even when it comes to beer, Franco’s damaging legacy runs long and deep.

Speaking of El Caudillo, Picasso’s Guernica – that renowned work of outrage sparked by the fascist firebombing of a Basque town in 1937 – hangs just around the corner, in the Reina Sofía art museum. So, if several bottles of modern beer whet your appetite for modern art, then simply roll down the hill.

Oh, by the way – the name El Pedal refers to Javi’s soft-spot for cycling, as well as being local argot for a blistering hangover. You’ve been warned.