The beer served in Spain is continental Pilsner: cool, crisp, and refreshing. Most it comes from the nation's big breweries; the brands you're likely to see include Cruzcampo, Mahou, Aguila, San Miguel, and Damm.

In Spain, beer is served in a small (approximately 10-ounce) stemmed glass called a caña. The beer, poured slowly from the tap, has a thick head which the bartender smooths with a flat plastic object that looks like a tongue depressor. Most of the time, your beer will come with a small plate of olives or peanuts--a little reminder that food and drink are meant to enhance one another.

Sitting outside, beer in hand and watching the world go by, is one of travel's great pleasures. But if you want to be more than an observer of Spanish life, you need to take part in the tapeo, the nightly celebration of food, drink, and friendship. Perhaps you've been to a tapa bar at home. Now imagine spending an evening with your friends and neighbors, drifting through half a dozen of them.

Tapas reflect a distinctively Spanish style of eating, and a way of life as well. Home entertaining isn't common, so bars and restaurants are the neighborhood meeting places. And in a land where dinner is served at 10 pm, tapas serve a practical function: staving off hunger until mealtime. It's even possible to eat an inexpensive, well-balanced meal consisting entirely of tapas.

According to legend, the tapa tradition began when Castile's King Alfonso the Wise recovered from an illness by drinking wine and nibbling small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered taverns to serve their guests food along with wine.

Nice story, but the origin of tapas is probably more mundane. According to Penelope Casas, an expert on Spanish cuisine, tapas were first served in the southern region of Andalucia in the early 19th century. The regional drink was sherry, an aperitif that goes well with appetizers. Andalucian bartenders began putting a slice of chorizo sausage or serraño ham on top of their customers' wineglasses to keep insects out (the Spanish word tapar means "to cover"). The snacks were a smart marketing ploy; they were on the house, but spicy enough to stimulate thirst.

Today, thousands of restaurants, bars, and cafés throughout Spain serve tapas. And beer has joined wine as an accompaniment to the food. In fact, many Spanish bars are called cervecerías, where beer is the beverage of choice.

You don't need a guidebook to find tapas. Just wander the streets around your hotel and do a little window shopping. Many establishments display their tapas in the window. While you're looking, take a peek inside--if there's a crowd, chances are the food is good. Once your beer arrives, take another look at what's on offer. If something appeals to you, ask for a ración, a first-course-sized portion. Otherwise, finish your beer and move on; the charm of the tapeo is that there's no schedule, no clock.

Our first tapeo was on a crisp Madrid evening. Having just arrived in town, we started at the popular Museo del Jamon (yes, "ham museum"). Ham and sausage predominated, but we also saw cheeses, smoked salmon, and shrimp in garlic sauce. After a ración and a couple cañas, we drifted through the side streets off the Plaza Mayor, dropping in on promising-looking places. We discovered there's no such thing as a "typical tapa"; pork loin, lobster, and even spring rolls turn up on tapa menus.

>On another trip to Madrid, some years later, we roamed the neighborhood around our hotel--a residential area far from the tourist zone. The bars were more modest, and so were the tapas: croquettes, toasted bread topped with ham, egg whites filled with salmon paté. But one busy cervecería served what has become a summertime backyard favorite: potatoes with mayonnaise, herbs, and enough garlic to bring tears to Emeril Lagasse's eyes. This dish is great with hamburgers or grilled chicken...and, of course, a tall, cold glass of lager.

The tapeo brought home an important point of Beer Travelling. Sometimes, beer alone makes an occasion special. But far more often, good times come from what you enjoy with the beer...and those with whom you enjoy it.

This article originally appeared on Suite101.com in December 2001.