DOUGALLS

What does a Brit miss when they move to Spain? His beloved ale! Andrew Dougall experienced this firsthand and made a virtue out of necessity.

A hophead in beer exile

It all started with Andrew Dougall. In his native Richmond, the Brit enjoyed the first pints of his life and fell head over heels in love with the magical drink made from hops and malt. Most of the beers in the pubs came from local breweries, which had been producing their beer according to old traditions and, in some cases, for centuries. Andrew first came into contact with American hops in the 90s: the brewing pieces from Samuel Adams, the Breckenridge Brewery and the Redhook Brewery introduced him to the fine art of brewing with aromatic hop varieties. Andrew developed a small preference for hoppy beers. When he moved to Liérganes in Spain with his family, he was initially delighted by the wonderful weather, the friendly people and the good cuisine of his new home. The only drawback was the Spanish beer. Instead of being strong and hoppy, the local creations were light-footed and a little too watery for Andrew's taste. In order not to get thirsty, Andrew started brewing his own barley juice. However, it would still be a few years before he had his own brewery.

Beery recycling

After almost a decade of brewing just for himself and his friends' needs, Andrew decided to get down to business. He bought a fourth-hand brewing system in England, shipped it to Spain and opened his business in 2006. He went to market with a core range of three different brewing items. Two years later he met Kike and Anna, who had just moved here from Barcelona. The three of them got along well straight away and decided to work together in the future. From then on, things went steadily uphill: in 2011 the team rented a larger hall, in 2014 an automatic filling system was added, in 2018 they opened a laboratory and in 2019 they were able to expand again with the help of a financial injection through crowdfunding. DouGall's beer is a mix of English classics and modern craft beers. In order to make the future of their brewery and that of the world a little better, the company has developed a sophisticated environmental concept. The spent grain, a waste product of the brewing process, is used to feed local cattle. Fertilizer for salad is made from the residue left over from the hops and the remaining yeast is sent to a cheese factory. Returning waste products to the cycle reduces waste enormously and ensures that recyclables are not simply thrown away.