Tag: Europe

Alsace is France’s brewing powerhouse: Around 60 percent of the beer drunk in the country is brewed here, and the vast majority of its hops are grown here, too. Now the region is enjoying a revival.

Founded in 1893, The Pilsener Club is one of the finest examples of Amsterdam’s brown cafés, cozy pubs named for the characteristic patina built up on their walls.

Just as the quintessential English pub experience began to feel threatened by corporate monopolies, a new model arrived to shake up the neighborhood watering hole.

In a region of Belgium best known for orchards and vineyards, 32-year-old Raf Souvereyns is reviving Lambic production with his small blending operation Bokkereyder. Connoisseurs worldwide are taking notice.

Glasgow is currently coming into its own, with a growing reputation as one of the friendliest cities in Great Britain—as well as one of the most entertaining places to drink and eat.

Luppolo Station’s venue in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood helped shape the bar’s original—and unusual—theme.

With a focus on experimentation and, especially, hops, a new generation of Belgian brewers takes its inspiration not from its Trappist or Lambic-producing forefathers, but from brewers in the US and the UK.

Hidden in Eastern Europe and forgotten for centuries, the fruity, slightly sweet, and full-bodied õlu, or beer, made by the Seto people is reminiscent of British Mild Ale, Kvass, a beverage made from fermented bread, and even root beer.

The remote Estonian islands, an hours-long journey from the capital of Tallinn, have preserved many of the country’s cultural traditions, including brewing the rustic farmhouse ale Koduõlu.

While some German brewers make beer that flouts the Reinheitsgebot, many more are committed to brewing within its strictures while employing creative tactics, like adding hop varieties that mimic flavors of prohibited ingredients.

Every winter in a quiet waterfront town in Norway, more than 500 members of the community brew a strong, smoked beer according to tradition. For centuries, this endangered style has remained virtually unknown to outsiders.

A look at the coronation beers of 1953, the first Strong Ales brewed in Britain after supply shortages at the end of WWII forced brewers to ration ingredients.

The history of British hop strains Goldings and Fuggles has long been shrouded in mystery. Will new evidence reveal the identities of the people who lent their names to this pair of influential varieties?

Although most corner bistros and supermarket aisles remain in the golden grip of Heineken and AB InBev, a new crop of small breweries is eking out an existence in a city where wine is still the go-to libation.

There’s nothing new about collaboration beers; international brewers have been working together for centuries. Pilsner, for instance, was born when British and Bavarian brewing technology intersected with Bohemian raw materials.

Victory and Southern Tier unite under Artisanal Brewing Ventures; Massachusetts distributor faces pay-to-play penalty; southern states push to update beer laws; and Slovenian town building public beer fountain.

In Cold War-era East Germany, Porter brewing included a surprising step: the addition of Brettanomyces during secondary fermentation.

Proud of their origins, Italian brewers represent themselves with passion. While some entrepreneurs are hoping to recreate a piece of their native homeland, others are choosing to mixing it up.

There’s an unbroken history of Porter brewing in Germany going back around 200 years. Porter was the first style to be a huge international hit and was brewed all over the world.

A casual visitor to Tallinn’s spectacular medieval Old Town might think there are only two breweries in Estonia, Saku and A. Le Coq. Luckily, you don’t have to go far to discover a brewpub or a local producer from the burgeoning beer scene.

Of Newark-upon-Trent’s 35 pubs, only four served cask. All owned by Nottingham brewer Home Ales. Modern geeks wouldn’t have loved them. But they had a few things drinkers loved. They were cheap. And their cask beers were always in good condition.

While trepidation for the undermining of long treasured beer heritages remains understandable, in countries with little in the way of a native or historic beer culture, the change of pace and perspective brought by an interest in American-style craft brewing is a welcome breath of fresh air.

As the Brewers Association’s new American craft beer ambassador in Europe, Sylvia Kopp, a beer sommelier from Germany, will travel the continent demystifying US craft beer for emerging markets abroad.

Ryan Witter-Merithew is a man of many faces. There’s the inventive, open-minded brewer whose talent earned him a job at Hill Farmstead; the loyal friend for whom others come first; and then there’s the eternally mischievous malcontent who likes nothing better than to wind people up on Twitter.