We’ve been trying to visit duo Josh Wheeler and Alberto Coro in their quiet part of Barcelona at their tiny brewery and bar whenever we have an opportunity, as we just can’t get enough of their beers. Falling under the general, wider farmhouse tradition, inspired by Belgian brewing but with none of the weight of older saisons and none of the freakiness of the wild ales, Cyclic’s work focuses on lean, precise, refreshing beers, and best of all: as producers, they’re well-studied at the practices of house cultures, mixed fermentations, and infusions with whole fruits, vegetables, flowers, and others of nature’s beauties.

Cyclic had its start in 2016 after a friendship begun in Barcelona: Alberto, the owner of indie beer bar Ale & Hop, a key figure in introducing craft brewing to Catalunya; and Josh, an American SoCal brewer who’d been working in London for some time, then found his way to Catalonia. The two had great beer and surfing in common, and a conversation began between them about wanting beers one could drink before surfing (or while surfing – or after surfing). This led the duo to a start a project together; some of it also was spurred on by Alberto having access to his mother’s family fruit farm in the Alt Empordà, which gave the team some cool ideas…

Cyclic’s wide-ranging, experimental range of beers is based on a few individual house cultures, developed over the last seven years at the brewery among the grain and other organic farm products with which they work; these cultures are always under the farmhouse and sour categories. Then there’s the real stars of the show, which are the fruit-infused beers. These are nothing like the cloying, industrial versions of fruit beers often we have in the States. Instead, the fruit beers are built onto the frame of the house beers of Grisette and Saison, gently infused with whole fruits and other natural additions: but nothing preserved or processed, no concentrates, and importantly, no additives (other than a quick wash of organic sugar inside the bottles to help ensure secondary fermentation goes smoothly). We’ve never had anything quite like these: when the fruits are added in, the finished products are so much like some of our favorite wines, it’s really hard to tell where beer stops and wine begins.