Cátedra Beer, the most successful Murcian craft beer

Brewed by the brewmaster Eduardo Cano, it has been chosen as the most innovative beer in Spain at the Barcelona Beer Challenge and received the European Award for the Environment for Business

By pacohernandez August 1, 2021 in GastroArtesanía, GastroNoticias

The Region of Murcia has, among its GastroArtesanos, excellent craft beers that are well known to all, but without a doubt the flagship of all of them and if not, at least one of the most awarded, is the Cerveza Artesanal Cátedra Beer whose creator is the entrepreneur Eduardo Cano. We have spoken with him from LasGastrocronicas.com for our series of reports on Murcian food artisans, sponsored by the General Directorate of Consumption and Crafts, directed by Sonia Moreno, who belongs to the Ministry of Business, Employment, Universities and Spokesperson.

Cátedra, a Murcian company located in the Fuente Álamo Technology Park, was born in the surroundings of the University of Murcia, as Eduardo Cano's final year project, focused on the beer sector. «It was about my final degree project, he explains, which consisted of the creation of a pilot plant for the production of craft beer. The work was very well received and with great enthusiasm by teachers and students who saw a very interesting and complex world, even more complex than the world of wine».

As Eduardo explains, the project allowed the transfer of knowledge between different university sections, from the Faculty of Economics and Business to the Faculty of Chemistry, due to the different processes that the creation of a company of these characteristics goes through.

It is a craft beer but exquisite, aimed at the general public, which has a large gastronomic component around the world of pairing and on the other hand, it was about creating a sustainable company with the environment.

«From a trip to Germany we discovered the type of beer, with DO Colonia, 'Kölsch', we personalize it and adapt it until we get a very round and balanced craft beer, easy to drink, with floral and fruity notes, which give it a lot of personality. It is a long drink beer with a persistent taste in the mouth”, explains Eduardo Cano.

"As a result of that, we presented our beer to the Barcelona beer contest, the 'Barcelona Beer Challenge', the most important event in southern Europe, which recognizes the best beers and breweries in the world."

Brewmaster Eduardo Cano.

In total, 232 companies and 1,167 products have gathered at Sala Sarau in Badalona to attend this year's awards ceremony where Cervezas Cátedra won the first prize for the most innovative beer in all of Spain and Cátedra Beer became from this way in the first beer in the Region of Murcia to achieve this distinction.

Environmental care

«After obtaining this recognition by an external professional body, Eduardo continues explaining to us, we started with the other pillar of the company, which consists of caring for the environment. For this we reuse the 'bagasse', malt used in the maceration process, for animal feed.

In this way we manage to help solve CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from the alcoholic fermentation processes produced by the yeast. This is how we developed the BioFilter, with Manuel Rubio, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at UMU. It is a circular economy system that eliminates emissions through micro algae. We are the first company in the world that has incorporated this technology in the sector.”

“CO2 emissions are produced at three critical points: fermentation, packaging of bottles and barrels, and finally, dispensing the beer from the barrel, when we ask for a beer drawn from the coil”, concludes Eduardo Cano.

The design and packaging of the Cátedra brand is the work of Nacho Rodríguez, from Casaù Estudio, "to whom I am enormously grateful for his support from the beginning like other great professionals who have dedicated themselves and have been the starting motor of this project". At Cátedra they have a production capacity of around 50,000 liters per year. "Only by applying the BioFilter to that amount we are eliminating 1.2 tons of CO2 per year," Cano highlights.

Cátedra beer can be purchased in specialized food stores, craft beer establishments and, in hotels, in prestigious and traditional restaurants.

Eduardo Cano highlights the special characteristics of Cátedra craft beer in relation to gastronomy due to its ease of pairing, especially with the best Murcian products, both from the garden, from the sea, or with all kinds of meat.

Among their future projects, they work intensively on R&D, on a "very interesting project that cannot be anticipated, on sustainability, whose results we will see next year," explains Eduardo Cano.

In the short term, they intend to continue growing to manufacture more volume of beer and innovate in the technology and process sector in relation to the environment.

European Business Award for the Environment

Cátedra Beer has become the first craft beer in Spain to receive, in October 2020, the recognition of the 'European Business Awards for the Environment', in an act presided over by King Felipe VI and the fourth vice president of the Government and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, held at the 'Rastro Madrid' space in the Spanish capital.

Eduardo Cano, with King Felipe VI and Minister Teresa Ribera.

Felipe VI highlighted that "the award-winning companies, as was the case of Cátedra Beer, are an example of their ability to refocus business models towards more sustainable production models and processes, demonstrating an active commitment to the environment." The King of Spain encouraged the winners to continue with the leadership recognized by these awards and to continue being effective ambassadors of society's environment, transmitting the affection and gratitude of the Crown.

“More and more firms in our country are showing leadership and the ability to go beyond traditional models and incorporate sustainable development, social responsibility and good governance objectives into their vision and strategy. Citizens are day by day more aware of these values, especially the youngest," commented the monarch.

For her part, Minister Teresa Ribera highlighted the importance that "the integration of environmental objectives in companies is key to a green recovery" with the award-winning companies being "the spearhead". He also recalled that the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge "has expanded the space for investment by facilitating the scalability of companies that are small today but want to grow."

In 2020, Cátedra was also awarded at the Sustainability Awards of the newspaper La Verdad, in the category 'Best young initiative for the conservation of nature'.

The most innovative beer in Spain

In 2019 he obtained a Silver Medal in the IV Edition of the Barcelona Beer Challenge, an international contest that recognizes the best beers and breweries in the world.

The craft and sustainable beer Cátedra Beer, brewed in Murcia, has also been recognized in 2021 as the most innovative beer in Spain by the Barcelona Beer Challenge. Last May, the Murcian craft company received the Innovation-Molina for Brewers award at the sixth edition of the Barcelona beer competition.

Cátedra Beer thus becomes the first beer in the Region of Murcia to achieve this distinction. In addition, the company has also won the bronze medal in the specialty fruit lager category for its new barley drink that incorporates carob from Campo de Cartagena, a product native to the area. The new beer is the result of collaboration with the chef María Gómez and her husband, the sommelier and head waiter, Adrián de Marcos, owners of the Magoga Restaurant, which holds a Michelin Star and where this beer will be included for the first time in its menu. of drinks.

Pioneer beer in the sector

“With the BioFilter Chair we have created an ecosystem within the factory and it is nature itself that helps us avoid a negative impact on it through a pioneering system in the brewing industry without precedent in Europe and the world. In this way, we carry out a circular economy process, converting a polluting waste such as CO2 into oxygen and microalgae with a high value as biomass.” The brewmaster and head of the company, Eduardo Cano, stood out.

"The granting of these awards stimulates the commitment and effort we make to successfully combine the economic viability of our business with the protection of the environment, always in the most innovative way possible and beyond legal requirements", explains Eduardo Cano .

The beer style 'Kölsch'

'Kölsch' is a style of German beer with an old recipe that has been perfected over the years with current production techniques: Golden-colored beer with honey reflections, creamy and dense white foam. Carbon is well integrated. On the nose there are notes of cereals and bread crust. It is fruity with hints of white flowers and herbaceous hops. On the palate it is soft and refreshing with an intense flavor. The natural hop flowers give it a balanced bitterness that invites you to take a second sip. It pairs well with salads, oysters, fried squid, pasta al frutti di mare and sunny days.

Awards: Silver Medal: Barcelona Beer Challenge 2019 Process for Sustainable Development – European Business Awards for the Environment 2020. Best Young Initiative for Nature Conservation – II Sustainability Awards 2020. Molina for Brewers Innovation Award – Barcelona Beer Challenge 2021.

Technical information: ABV (Alcohol content) normal: 4.8%.

Beer Chair

Location: Fuente Álamo Technology Park

Web: www.catedrabeer.com.

Telephone: 622 36 52 22