BeerCascais

The shoppers had run dry…in that everyone’s low-alcohol light flashed on.

We’d done our best to wander through every cork-selling, port-pushing, tile-vending loja in Cascais–which was once a fishing village west of Lisbon on the Atlantic coast, but now mainly hosts tourists on a week’s holiday (or Brits escaping the rain). I’d reached my €15 self-imposed spend limit hours ago, on a cork case for my iPhone, and I felt the need…for cerveja artesanal.

Surprisingly, craft beer has only recently come to Cascais outside of a couple of restaurants and the annual beer festival in the mercado. But a kiosk in said city market, BeerCascais, makes the best effort in town to correct this. “More shopping!” I teased to the ladies…and we headed for the market’s sunny courtyard.

BeerCascais offers several Belgian and international craft beers on tap, plus a couple of Portuguese selections as well. The cases are full of more Portuguese and European selections, some chilled for immediate enjoyment, others for you to take home.

In the afternoon sun, I put down my beer while the others sipped rosé from another kiosk (HiWine!) and we toasted our good fortune and now-happy selves.