Fàbrica Moritz Barcelona

The industrial space that’s been home to the Moritz company headquarters since 1856 is located right at the edge of the city’s ancient Roman wall, at 41 Ronda de Sant Antoni.

The descendants of this brewing family entrusted one of today’s most cutting-edge architects, Jean Nouvel, to transform the distinctive characteristics of a dedicated brewery into an architectural masterpiece. The new factory boasts various dining spaces under the direction of Michelin-star chef Jordi Vilà (Alkimia), as well as areas devoted to the latest trends in fashion and design.

Fábrica Moritz spans over 4,000 m², spread throughout three different levels, and is home to a brewery, two restaurants, a wine bar, a shop (M-Store), a micro-brewery with only the freshest beers on tap, and a kitchen classroom and museum, among other spaces. The site also boasts the city’s longest bar, at 25 meters long, and seating capacity for 250.

But the star of the show at the Fábrica Moritz is, of course, the beer. It’s brewed daily and in plain sight of visitors, who can witness the brewing process and even pick up some tricks of the trade by participating in free guided tours.

In compliance with German beer purity regulations, the recipe behind the beer that’s served at Fábrica Moritz is the same as the one that’s mass produced here, made without enzymes nor additives; just hops, natural mineral water from Montseny, malt, and yeast. The whole process is presided over by two giant and antique machines, recently restored to their original glory, which package and label the final product. On the basement level, you’ll find the fermentation, filtering, and storage facilities, equipped with five enormous tanks that complete the rest of the process over the course of three weeks, transforming the wort into Moritz Pilsen and Moritz Epidor (unpasteurized), among other concoctions, some of them brewed in limited editions.

The origins of the brand date back to 1851, when Louis Moritz arrived in Barcelona from Pfaffenhofen, a beer-brewing region of Alsace, where his older brother was a master brewer. Well-acquainted from an early age with beer and everything that goes into it, his first destination was the small brewery that Ernest Ganivet (a Frenchman residing in Barcelona) ran on Calle Cirés, where Moritz served as master brewer. In 1856, Louis Moritz developed his own beer; three years later, he bought the factory of Joan Maurer, located on Calle Portal de Santa Madrona, and turned it into one of Barcelona’s biggest production plants.

Two years after Louis Moritz’s death in 1920, his heirs founded the Moritz Brewery, cementing the company’s excellent reputation and high standards throughout the rest of the decade.

Today, most of the production is carried out in the Ambar brewery in Aragon (formerly La Zaragozana), under the supervision of the brand’s master brewers, while the company headquarters and registered address is at the historic building on Ronda de Sant Antoni.