An employee-made beer to celebrate 50 years of a brewery “rooted in Valencia”

Beer with a hint of cazalla, with an orange aroma... these are some of the ideas that the approximately 250 employees of Heineken in Valencia put together to create a special beverage, made by the workers themselves, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Quart de Poblet brewery. Because every anniversary is a time of honor, "we wanted to highlight the teamwork aspect, our beer culture, and it seemed like a fantastic idea to have them brew their own beer," explains Manuel García, director of the Valencian plant, located in Quart de Poblet. A few days ago, the company held a major event to commemorate the anniversary of the brewery, which produces the equivalent of 1.35 billion beers a year from Valencia, of brands such as Heineken, Amstel, Cruzcampo, El Águila, and Desperados.

And to celebrate, there was also an internal competition, a process in which everyone, from the operator to the biologist to the engineer, participated in team dynamics aimed at designing a special beverage, as well as its label. The winner recreated the image of a vintage beer truck next to a shack, alluding to the Valencian roots the brewery maintains and which its director boasts about.

Third generations of families who started in El Águila and continue in Quart de Poblet work in the factory.

Heineken's history in Valencia goes back a long way. It's linked to El Águila beers, with a Valencian presence since the 1950s in the seaside neighborhood of Cabanyal. Later, the Dutch company acquired it. "We still have up to three generations of employees, and many are from there; it's still their neighborhood, although the profile is changing now because there have been early retirements, new staff have come in... but it's true that Cabanyal is deeply rooted. Let's not forget that the plant was there."

El Águila, founded in Madrid at the beginning of the 20th century, built its brewery in Valencia in the 1950s, at a time when there were diverse beer producers in the region, with examples such as La Huertana, which it eventually acquired. Six years ago, Heineken, which acquired the company sometime later, decided to reintroduce the brand to its catalog, he said, “listening to the trends of the 21st century and fusing the spirit of both eras.”

The Valencian plant is the brewery's second largest in Spain.

In 1975, the brewery moved to Quart de Poblet in search of more space to grow, and this anniversary is now being celebrated. It is currently the brewery's second-largest plant in Spain and the tenth largest in Europe, with production volume growth of 18% over the last two years and an investment of nearly €40 million through 2026. Figures provided by the president of Heineken Spain, Etienne Strijp, indicate an economic impact on the Valencian Community of €677 million and 12,000 jobs, due to its indirect impact.

García, head of the Valencian plant, explains that 60% of production is served in bars and restaurants in the Valencian Community, while the rest is distributed to other regions, from Catalonia to Murcia. He asserts that the Valencian headquarters is, along with the one in Andalusia, the most important for the company in Spain. In 2024, a significant internal restructuring took place that strengthened the plant, which has produced more than 50 innovations in the last 15 years. The "employee beer" is not included in that catalog, but you never know if you'll eventually see it on your table one day.