LOURAN SBARRA

Like many of the best stories, bands, and great ideas; Louran Sbarra's passion for craft beer could only begin in his garage. In this way, we delve into what began as a hobby for La Beer Sommelier in residence and in charge of curating the next editions of our Brewtal Box of this season. A passion that became his profession and lifestyle.

After many trials and errors, processing the grain of malt until reaching the ideal point and reaching the desired flavor, “La Cerveza de Lou” accompanied the weekend get-togethers with friends and the eternal beach days of the Tropics. But the time has come for Louran to bet on more and he moves his residence to Panama City to start hand in hand and from scratch with Casa Bruja ; a Craft Beer factory that was born in 2013 and that reinvented the Panamanian craft concept, achieving export-quality recipes and Barcelona being the first city chosen in Europe to land its most emblematic creations.

“My time at Casa Bruja allowed me to make my way as beer connoisseur in a predominantly masculine world, something that has already begun to change for almost five years". Collaborations, events, new recipes, exports and his experience as a homebrewer are the bases of Louran's professionalism; taking it a step further by pursuing the Cicerone® Certification Program, which has become the industry standard for identifying those with significant knowledge and professional skills related to selling and the beer service.

Currently, Louran Sbarra lives in Barcelona and is part of the team at Garage Beer Co., a leading space in the craft scene in Barcelona and under the concept from “Brewpub” located in the heart of the “Brewxample” (as the neighborhood is now commonly known among craft beer lovers) presents to the community beers made in its own brewery located in Sant Andreu; in addition to an interesting list of events, launches, collaborations full of flavor, art and a lot of design. At the same time, Louran is pursuing the Beer Judge Certification Program, which trains and certifies all beer judges around the world.

It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce Louran Sbarra as our Beer Sommelier of the Season, who will with great taste and style curate the contents of our BrewtalBoxes this season. As a preview, Louran will play with different styles and volumes of alcohol, 'handpicking' among the national jewels that stand out among the Craft Beer culture that evolves every day and is consolidated in the tastes and palates of the beer community in Spain.

Text: Gaby D'Aloia / Photography: italomorales.com