I am in the SF Bay Area and headed to Europe. I would like to bring some gifts for shop, cafe, breweries, etc. throughout our travels. Should I stick with a case of Pliny like my intuition says, or does some RR stuff get out there via distro? Is there a specific brand or style that Western Europeans seem to dig? We will be in Munich, Amsterdam, Belgium, London, Dublin.
Pliny is the safe bet IMO. European don't get RR sour stuff, but they aren't big fan anyway due to easy access to Cantillon/3F.... Bring all of IPA/Big Stout and people will love you.
I had success with Pliny last time. I'm going over in a bit over a week (holy shit time flies) and I'm actually a bit sad that my luggage space is almost entirely filled with IP trades, so I won't be able to give much away.
I am leaving Sept 11, and bringing a 12 bottle shipper. You are very safe with IPAs, stouts, and anything Barrel Aged.
On our recent trip they seemed to very much appreciate Pliny, and it sounded like a lot of them like to try the better American stouts. West Coast style IPAs don't seem to be understood yet (like much of the USA), and we got a few "Pliny isn't what I thought it would be". Keep in mind the Pliny bottles still seem to be inconsistent as well. Regardless, they will appreciate you bringing some to share.
Thanks for the good input. Very helpfull!! Probably load up on some smaller production BA Stouts as well as Pliny. Now, weight limits. Ugh.
Yes. This. I have hung out with some Euro beer geeks travelling here in CA and they had similarly confused reactions to the IPAs and DIPAs, but they went nuts for the stouts. Bring both! I hope you are going to visit Peter at Eagle's Nest in A-Dam. He's a hoot.
Yeah, I carried on a backpack and a carry-on-sized roller. Then I checked the roller on the way back (along with my regular bag). Baggage fees suck, but when they are stuffed with Cantillon you gotta remember the big picture heh heh.
