Portugal is of course best known for its excellent wines and all kinds of (often home-distilled) spirits. But the last years the craft beer movement is slowly developing here. A clear exponent of this is Duque Brewpub.
Duque Brewpub opened its doors in the Chiado in February 2016. The story is similar to that of many other small craft beer breweries: a group of friends decide to make great beers, find a perfect mix at some point and decide to sell it in small scale.
This friends club is not only invested in Duque. There are links with another brewery called Aroeira, where you can also get some interesting beers.
The building
The brewery (on the ground floor) is located in the back of the pub itself. In a small room of perhaps 20 square meters are three tanks of 250 liters each, in which at any moment a batch is maturing. As soon as it’s ready the beer is moved to the taps in the pub. So every few weeks there’s a complete overhaul of their own beers on tap.
fate struck
Fate struck at the beginning of 2017. In February of that year, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Duque Brewpub building. Fortunately the fire was quickly contained, but the smoke and water damage was also visible on the ground floor near Duque. Not since November of that year they had everything back on track, ready to do what they like best: brewing beer.
By the way, they make long hours at Duque: on some days they start brewing and everything that comes with it at seven in the morning. From four o’clock in the afternoon the bar opens and you can enjoy a unique Portuguese beer until at least midnight.
All for their own use
Duque therefore applies the principle of small batches. And practically everything is sold in the pub itself, nothing is shipped to other bars, or to restaurants and / or specialty shops. Catarina Freitas, who was in charge of the place on the day we visited them, told me that they have no plans to expand. They want to keep it small and cosy. And who can blame them!
Duque Beer & more
At Duque you’ll find at least 50 different bottled beers, all of them local. They also have 9 taps, 2 of them with their own Duque beer. As I said earlier, the offer changes quite quickly because of the small production: whatever is ready at that moment is on tap. The moment we visited Duque Brewpub they had an IPA, the Pale-Ónia, and a Blonde they call Pica Pau Amarelo. I went for the Pale-Ónia and that was an excellent choice! A wonderfully fresh IPA with fine tropical hints.
Fancy a tasting? No problem, you can also get a flight of beers at Duque Brewpub with 6 small beers to taste. And if you’re ready to nibble on something, they serve a changing menu of tapas.
For the non-beer drinkers: Duque serves a pretty tasty homemade iced tea too!
It should be obvious: if you want to try a real local Portuguese beer in a very charming and cosy setting, then Duque Brewpub is your next stop!
Where to find Duque Brewpub
The pub is located in a very picturesque spot, along a long staircase in the Chiado, roughly halfway between Rossio station and the São Roque church. There is a small terrace in front of the place with five tables. Inside there is room for about thirty people, I guess.
Adress: Calçada do Duque 49-51, Chiado
Opening hours : Sunday to Wednesday: 4p.m.-00:00 | Thursday 4p.m.-1 a.m. | Friday and Saturday from 4p.m. – 2 a.m.
Web: duquebrewpub.com
