On a very cold Friday in February, with only one table to serve customers, the DosKiwis Brewing brewery and its taproom – the space where you can drink directly from the barrel – opened its doors in a restored warehouse in Rupià. It was 2019 and the menu consisted of three beers, a kombucha and a cider. The opening came after two years of work to transform an antique shop into a brewery. With the help of friends and family, Judit Piñol and Michael Jones introduced the Empordà (and the world) to a project that responded to a personal need: making the beers they wanted to drink but couldn’t find.
Both of whom shared a passion for modeling, Piñol and Jones – she from Llofriu, he from New Zealand – met in London. In a city where pub culture is more than present, their social circle revolved around projects driven by young people: craft breweries, specialty coffee shops or sourdough bread bakeries. This is where “the love for well-made products, which prioritize quality and create community” was born, explains Judit Piñol. In the case of beer, however, she admits that she was unaware of “the ingredients and the process behind it,” which led her to question herself: “We are a country where we order a cane without asking what beer it is or where it was made. In other places they ask you what type you want. We already have this culture with wine; why not with beer?”
With this idea in mind, they got down to work – literally – in an abandoned antique shop in Rupia. In just over a year, DosKiwis Brewing was born. “We did most of the work ourselves,” they point out. They lifted the entire wooden floor, plank by plank, “partly because in New Zealand there is a lot of culture of doing everything yourself,” she explains. This allowed them to save money, but above all, to reuse materials that were already there, aligning with sustainability, one of the pillars of the brand.
Three initial beers
When they opened the taproom, they only had three beers of “the ones we wanted to drink and couldn’t find.” A pilsner, the style most recognizable to the general public; a more toasty one made with local hops; and a modern IPA with New Zealand hops, a “nod” to Michael’s origins. “We wanted to introduce styles that were more fruity and less bitter than what people associated with a beer with hops,” they explain. This was one of the key points of their proposal: breaking the prejudice that craft beer is too strong or too bitter. “Fifteen years ago, a very hoppy beer was synonymous with bitterness,” they say. “Now, with modern varieties, hops can give aromas of pineapple, mango or flowers.”
This path has led them to the recognition of the Girona Excel·lent seal on several occasions, a distinction that they value for their blind tasting system. “Nobody knows whose beer they are tasting,” they explain. “This validates us, because it confirms that what we are doing is liked, beyond the name or the brand.”
But the project is not understood only from the perspective of beer production: “The taproom is the place where you connect with the origin of what you are drinking,” they explain. A space to taste beer, but also to chat, ask questions, understand the process and discover new tastes. “There are people who come in saying they don’t like beer and leave here saying they have found two or three that they do.”
“Meeting up with friends and going for a beer is a very special ritual for us,” according to Judit Piñol: “We wanted to create a place where things could happen, where memories and human connections could be generated.” And they do it all year round, despite the difficulties of being in a small town and far from the winter tourist circuits. “Many people think we are a summer place, but here we are making beer every week.”