SPAIN'S most 'distinguished' beer is Mahou – it's official, according to the company's latest award count: In 2022 alone, the brand earned 98 medals, of which 38 were gold, in some of the most prestigious international competitions.
Mahou beer in its original brown glass bottle, before paper labels were introduced, when it was described as ‘Pilsen-type’ to the uninitiated Spanish public (photo: Pam Pam Pam/Wikimedia Commons) and in its modern-day format, now international, and shown here in a tapas bar in Brussels, Belgium (photo: Abi Skipp/Wikimedia Commons)
The annual Brand Footprint report, by the consultancy firm Kantar, says Mahou is Spain's 'most appreciated' make, having earned special mentions at 16 global beer events and netted over 320 prizes in the past five years.
In fact, it has been named top brand in Spain continuously since 2018 inclusive, something Mahou-San Miguel marketing director Emmanuel Pouey says is 'a source of great pride' for the company.
“This is especially true when you consider that the beer industry is in constant evolution,” Pouey admits.
“Ending the year by achieving our ongoing aim of being the best is what spurs us on to continue producing the highest-quality products ahead of 2023.”
Among the awards Mahou has collected are 32 medals from nine different countries for its Cinco Estrellas label, and its alcohol-free version – the Mahou 0,0 Tostada – is once again one of its most-distinguished products, netting eight prizes.
Mahou's 'premium' varieties, the Maestra and Barrica, have each earned around a dozen awards.
A foreign concept that took off in Spain
Now 132 years old, the company was founded in Madrid as Hijos de Casimiro Mahou – 'Sons of Casimiro Mahou' – and was somewhat ground-breaking when it launched, given that Spain had long been a country of grape-growing and wine-producing tradition, where beer and ale were not mainstream until well into the 20th century.
Mahou bought out the global brand San Miguel in the year 2000, incorporating the label into its name and becoming the largest beer manufacturer in Spain in the 21st century.
The old Mahou factory on the C/ Amaniel in Madrid. This production centre was built in 1961 and demolished 50 years later (photo: Luis García/Wikimedia Commons)
The founder, or inspiration, himself, Casimiro Mahou Bierhans, did not live long enough to see the company in his name launched – he was only 47 when he died in 1875, and the factory set up by his children did not appear for another 15 years.
He was originally from Metz in the French department of Lorraine, but married a Madrid woman, Brígida Solana Fernández, with whom he had three sons and two daughters; one of whom, María Luisa, died aged 18.
A Mahou advert in ceramic tiles at number 107 of the Puerto Habana in Madrid (photo: Luis García/Wikimedia Commons)
The sons, Alfredo, Enrique and Luis, and the surviving daughter, Carolina, diversified their father's original company activities – manufacturing and retailing dyes, varnishes and ice – after meeting master brewer Konrad Stauffer Ruckert, from Germany.
They continued selling their ice in bars across Spain, but imported their beer-making equipment from Germany – and also the hops, which were very scarce in their home country.
Although the malt was nationally-sourced, from Aranjuez (Ciudad Real province, Castilla-La Mancha), the Lagerbierhöpfen hops came from Nüremberg, where climate and soil conditions were more favourable to the crop and where beer had long been a popular drink.
Beer only started to be noticed in Spain after Mahou began collecting international awards and mentioning these on the bottle labels – but once it caught on, sales were so buoyant that the family decided to stop producing its dyes and varnishes and focus entirely on ales and ice.
Mahou ceased its production of ice cubes in the 1970s, by which time the firm had become a national trailblazer, paving the way for numerous other brands of beer to set up successfully in Spain.
