The buzz

Bee Beer in central Madrid feels more like a shop than a pub: glass-fronted, brightly lit, with self-service fridges. It is a pub, though, specialising in beer with cheese and having its own range of "gypsy-brewed" house beers. I dropped in on my last day in the Spanish capital in October.

First to cross the table was Bee Beer's Rey Mirras, presumably named after the English survival expert. It's a dubbel, though at closer to tripel-strength at 8% ABV and has myrrh as an added ingredient. The requisite dark brown colour, it had an interesting Guinnessy sour note in the aroma, but with lots of spices too. The myrrh takes almost complete control of the flavour leaving no room for the dark fruit and fruitcake I expect from dubbel. Behind the novelty is a very plain dark beer. I liked it; spicy beers are my thing; but they should have just called it a spiced porter.

In the middle is Coronel Mostanza and no prizes for guessing the outré ingredient here: Cluedo pieces mustard. To begin, it's another 8%-er, this time a double IPA, dark orange in colour. In the aroma the mustard comes through in a green and leafy mustard plant way, very similar to cress. That becomes a lovely and light peppery spice in the flavour. There's no hops and no heat, so points off again for lack of stylistic fidelity, but I didn't miss either. This is dry, clean, and above all: fun.

Next on this beer/spice Mad Lib is a wasabi lager called KiraKira. They haven't designated a lager sub-style for it, and I think at 7% ABV it deserves one. Bock, maybe? It don't usually like bock, and I didn't like this, but not for the same reasons. It's very sweet and sticky, like unfermented wort. It might have got away with that except for the wasabi spice being entirely absent. Given the previous two, I was expecting much better. Still, on we go.

Agente 99 honey beer was the smart choice next. There's a bit of a mead theme to the recipe, including orange peel and basil as well. 7.5% is the ABV. It's a hazy amber colour and the orange comes through strongly in the aroma, along with something I identified as pepper but is presumably the basil. The flavour mixes fruit and spice wonderfully: incense, peppercorns, orange zest and orange rind all feature, enhanced by a heavy texture. It's sort of like trying to recreate the flavours of a tripel without Belgian yeast, resulting in a cartoon version. Silly, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Looking similar but bringing the ABV up to 9% is Don Perañón, described as a demi-sec imperial IPA with (spin the wheel)... pear. Oh wow: hops. I'd forgotten about them. They spice up the aroma and bring a strong funky dankness to the flavour. Rather than American citrus or tropical fruit, the hop flavour is a sterner, grass-and-veg Germanic vibe. I liked it, though. It's a dry beer for the most part, finishing quickly and without heat. I doubt the pear flavours stood much of a chance against the hopping, and I certainly couldn't detect them.

Is that Peter Sellers on the bottle of Dr Insólito? Yes! Dr Strangelove wasn't called Dr Insólito in Spain, but it is the title used in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Beer is an education. Anyway, the good Doctor is an IPA with added lactose, honey and pineapple juice. Does it work? No, not really. That shouldn't have been a surprise. After the initial joyful burst of juicy pineapple there's a jarring shock of hop bitterness and then sickly lactose for the rest of the trip. I felt there was a decent IPA at the base of this but ruined with the silliness.

Craft Dogs Ale is not a dog beer, but for humans, and describes itself as a "hot and smoked brown ale". OK then. It's a little murky, and deep red rather than properly brown. The ABV is 6.5%. Plasticky paprika powder starts it off, leading to a longer burn of more authentic-tasting chillis. and that's it. Maybe the brown ale part is only supposed to contribute texture, but I was hoping for some caramel or coffee and didn't get any. This lacks the finesse of the other spiced Bee Beer beers, and is much less complex. You get full value on the spice side of it though, no question.

Bee stocks a wide range of packaged guest beers and the one that immediately caught my eye was Spencer's Monk's Reserve. I have something of a fascination with the Trappist brewery of Massachusetts. This is a quadruple; a massive 10.2% ABV. It smells dry and roasty, more like a stout. A sprinkling of Belgian-style esters drifts into the flavour, bringing a substantial but clean alcohol heat with them. After a moment there emerge gentle notes of cherry and red grape. With the airport bus on my mind I didn't give this the consideration it really deserved. If you have the time, however, I recommend it.

Quickly, then: Moon Phases Enigma is one of a series of single-hopped New England-style IPAs from Castelló Beer Factory. The allium tendency of NEIPAs usually bothers me if it's not sufficiently tempered or offset by something else. This tasted solely of spring onion to me, yet I rather enjoyed it. It's cool and fresh, like you'd find in a summer salad. Maybe it just caught me in a good mood.

That leaves something called La Pócima: a "power stout" by Maltman. The brewery is aptly named as this goes big on that nutritious-tasting but sticky Ovaltine or DME flavour. There's enough darker caramel to add a touch of nougat too. Though 8% ABV it could pass as more: the finishing gravity must have been on the high side. This would make a great wintertime fireside sipper, and again I don't think I did it justice in this rushed session context.

As far as I can see, Bee's own beers don't travel outside the bar much. As such, I would put this place on your must-drink list for Madrid.