“I can vouch for how good they are having sampled several on a recent trip to Portugal”
Drive east along the Algarve coast in Portugal and eventually you will reach the town of Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border. A few miles to the north lies the village of Castro Marim dominated by its huge medieval castle.
The village is home to the Senescal Brewery and its owner/Master Brewer Gabriel Silveira, who learnt all about Real Ale whilst in England.
The brewery produces an excellent range of bottle conditioned and PolyKeg draught beers. I can vouch for how good they are having sampled several on a recent trip to Portugal.
Gabriel was born in Brazil and grew up in southern France. A musician playing in folk bands, he met his Portuguese wife whilst she was at university in London.
His first pint of Real Ale came in 2009, the day he arrived in England. It was a pint of London Pride drunk in a pub on the strand near the Royal Courts of Justice. Gabriel has a vivid memory of assorted Barristers in their robes downing pint after pint (I wouldn’t have liked to have been represented by any of them!).
Gabriel and his wife settled in England and initially he made his living as a musician, however, by 2011, with a child on the way, he needed a more settled job. He found it working in the Horse and Jockey, Tylers Green, Buckinghamshire.
The landlord at the time, Peter Darby, had a passion for producing the perfect pint from the pub’s six handpumps which should be in first-class condition – accordingly, the lines were cleaned on a regular basis.
The result was that the pub regularly appeared in the good beer guide and achieved Cask Marque status.
Gabriel’s enthusiasm for Real Ale was evident and the owner, Peter Darby, decided to teach him as much as he knew. In a short time, Gabriel became responsible for the preparation of all beers, stock, organization of the cellar and maintenance of brewing equipment.
It is worth mentioning that while he was responsible for the beers and maintenance of the equipment, the pub always received five stars by the independent certification of Cask Marque.
In 2014, Peter paid for Gabriel to train for a licensee qualification.
When Peter retired in 2019, Punch Taverns, the owners, sold the pub to Heineken who, in a story sadly familiar to us all, got rid of the landlord and put in a manager. The predictable result is that the pub has closed four times since then – fortunately, it is an asset of community value and, therefore, remains as a pub albeit with only three handpumps.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and his wife settled in Castro Martin in the Algarve. Gabriel reports he fell in love with the place when he saw the castle.
His wife began teaching in Faro whilst he set up a music studio. Then one day in 2020, his wife mentioned that she had a colleague who brewed his own beer.
Intrigued, Gabriel began researching brewing techniques and applied for a licence. In March 2021, he began brewing, starting with 60 to 90 litres every week.
He follows the principles of the Bavarian Beer Purity Law, i.e. brewing without introducing any chemicals, adjuncts or animal products or by-products. Beers are either bottle conditioned or produced for draught sales in a PolyKeg. All beers are carbonated naturally throughout fermentation.
Outlets for his beers include many of the bars and restaurants on the Algarve coast popular with British tourists who receive a pleasant surprise when they find there is an alternative to the ubiquitous Super Bock.
In 2023, because of demand, capacity was tripled. He is currently looking for bigger premises as demand is increasing all the time.
In 2022, his Mystic Brew (a Dunkel with local figs) won gold in a national brewing competition whilst the following year his Marshall Porter (a London Porter) won 3rd place.
For many of his beers, Gabriel is influenced by his time in England. English yeast and British hops are used to make his quintessentially English beers Royal IPA at 5.2% and Marshall Porter at 6%.
Gabriel loves his job and being able to contribute to the growth of the Portuguese craft beer scene. Sharing his recipes, discoveries and dedication is a mission that he embraces with body, mind and soul.
For those of us fortunate to have a holiday in the Algarve, there is the welcome prospect of being able to sample his excellent beers.
By Len Wainwright, CAMRA
