El Guiri Brewery: the craft beer bringing a taste of Antequera to every bottle

Antequera is known for its molletes, olive oil, produce from the Vega and a food culture deeply connected to the surrounding landscape. But in recent years, another local product has started to carve out its own place: craft beer.

Inside a small brewery in the town’s industrial estate, El Guiri Brewery produces beer on a limited scale, with a strong focus on flavour, craftsmanship and local identity.

Founded in 2024 by John Monk, with the support of his wife María, the project grew out of more than two decades of life in Antequera and a decision to turn a long-standing interest in brewing into a local business.

One of the most distinctive elements of the beer is something that rarely receives much attention from the drinker: the local water associated with the area around El Torcal.

Local water can change the character of a beer

For brewers, water is far more than simply the liquid used to combine the other ingredients.

Its mineral composition can influence bitterness, mouthfeel, body and even the way aromas are perceived.

Many craft breweries use reverse-osmosis systems to create an almost neutral water profile. From there, minerals can be added back in specific quantities depending on the type of beer being produced.

El Guiri Brewery has chosen a different approach.

The brewery works with local Antequera water, making only the adjustments required for each particular recipe.

This means the water is not simply an invisible ingredient. It becomes one of the features connecting the final beer with the place where it is produced.

Natural variations in the local water can also introduce subtle differences throughout the year, something that would normally be eliminated in highly standardised industrial production.

A small brewery where almost everything is done by hand

The word “craft” is not simply a marketing label here.

John and María are involved in virtually every stage of production, from preparing the ingredients and brewing the wort to fermentation, quality control and bottling.

Working on a small scale allows them to produce limited batches, a very different model from industrial breweries designed to create millions of litres with exactly the same flavour throughout the year.

That size also gives them more freedom to experiment with hops, malts, yeasts and new recipes.

The objective is not to create a beer for the widest possible market, but rather to give each variety a recognisable personality.

From Pale Ale to dark beer with coffee and chocolate notes

El Guiri Brewery currently produces several styles aimed at very different tastes.

Its range includes a Pale Ale, inspired by English IPA traditions but made with a more restrained bitterness so that the ingredients can play a greater role.

There is also a NEIPA, a hazy, hop-forward beer with citrus aromas that develop into more tropical fruit notes.

For those who prefer darker beers, the brewery produces a Stout with flavours associated with coffee, cocoa and roasted malt.

Other beers include varieties such as El Inglés, El Francés and El Alemán, with names reflecting different influences from European brewing traditions.

Rather than limiting itself permanently to the same recipes, the brewery also aims to continue developing new styles.

Coriander and local orange for a new beer

Among the projects currently being developed is a witbier, the traditional Belgian-style wheat beer.

The recipe incorporates coriander and orange peel sourced from the local area, reinforcing the brewery’s intention to bring Málaga ingredients into internationally recognised beer styles.

New recipes go through different testing and tasting stages before they are considered ready for release.

The approach brings together two very different worlds: brewing traditions from across Europe and ingredients directly connected with the province of Málaga.

A craft brewery born from a change of direction

There is also a personal story behind the project.

John has lived in Antequera for more than twenty years, spending part of that period combining life in the town with work and travel abroad.

Beer making originally began as a hobby.

Over time, the home-brewing experiments became increasingly sophisticated until they eventually formed the basis of a business idea.

In 2024, El Guiri Brewery officially began operating.

The name itself plays with the founder’s own story: a British man who arrived in Spain as a foreigner and, after decades in Antequera, made the town both his home and the centre of his business.

The challenge of making craft beer in a market dominated by major brands

Growing a microbrewery in Spain is not easy.

The market remains heavily dominated by large brewing groups capable of producing huge volumes, distributing nationwide and maintaining prices that are difficult for small producers to match.

El Guiri Brewery is not trying to compete on those terms.

Its model is based on producing less, keeping direct control over its recipes and concentrating initially on Antequera and the wider regional market.

The beers can be purchased directly from the brewery and have also begun appearing in local shops and establishments.

The longer-term goal is to expand gradually without losing the philosophy behind the original project.

From El Torcal to the bottle: another way to tell the story of Antequera

Small producers like this also add another dimension to local gastronomy.

Craft beer can become more than simply a drink. It can incorporate nearby ingredients, be paired with local food, feature in tastings and even become something visitors take home as a reminder of the destination.

Antequera already has plenty of elements around which to build that identity: El Torcal, Peña de los Enamorados, the Vega, local agricultural products and its strong gastronomic traditions.

El Guiri Brewery is trying to bring a small part of that landscape into each bottle.

Not through mass production, but through small batches in which local water, individual recipes and manual work become part of the story behind the beer.

In a town where food is already one of the main reasons to sit down at the table, this small brewery shows that there can also be room for something different: a beer that is not only brewed in Antequera, but aims to taste of Antequera too.

The beers currently available, the story behind the brewery and its approach to production can be found on the official El Guiri Brewery website.