Worlds Best Beer Trip

What , in your opinion, is the best beer/brewery in the UK right now?

 

I would have to think that a Belgium/Germany/Amsterdam trip would be beyond great.

 

As I wrote in another thread, there isn't one.It's all a matter of who brews the beers I like best which isn't of course any more than my opinion.And of course my experience is limited as there are well over 1000 "craft" (silly term) breweries to decide from. I simply wouldn't give houseroom to a keg only brewery as a showcase for British brewing , even one as respected and as good as Meantime.

 

I'm genuinely interested in what you think is the best beer/brewery in the UK right now. i wasn't trying to be coy or smart.

 

Quite truthfully I couldn't even say which is the best brewery in my own area! I have ties with two local breweries and love all of their beers.One is a traditional brewery and the other offers a wider variety , both do this supremely well and I wouldn't even try to say which is the better. In any case as there are several hundred breweries whose products I haven't yet tried I'm not in any position to choose a candidate.

 

Wait, in one paragraph you indicate that the words "best" and "craft" have no functional meaning in relation to beer? What are you trying to do, singlehandedly shut down this website?

 

As nobody has yet managed to pin down "craft" and as nobody could even begin to pick the "best" without having tried them all.................

 

This is great (and rather ordinal). Maine MUST be in there.

 

Hey, I totally agree with you. It's just that the question of "what's the best craft beer" is more or less at the crux of most conversations on here.

 

For Allagash and Maine Beer Co.? I dunno. Plenty of states have a couple of great breweries, but that starts getting to be a slippery slope, and all of a sudden I absolutely have to check out some place in Wyoming.
Everyone's list is going to be a little different.

 

In Scotland it has to be Tempest for me. England is trickier.The Kernel, Thornbridge and Magic Rock are first thoughts but there are quite a few good ones.

 

My wife tried to sign me up for this...I told her no thanks, I get better beer here.

 

And BTW, when talking about the beer scene in the UK all things craft have really taken off in the last couple of years. There's been so much change so quickly that its hard to keep up. Whether we like it or not for the newer younger serious beer drinker cask ale is becoming less of a concern. I would agree with marquis that most of my best UK beer experiences have come through cask ale but like fine Burgundy it isn't always easy to understand for those who come with a radically different set of preconceived notions of what beer should be.

 

The world's best beer trip for me would involve multiple breweries in EVERY country, every state and province, and ultimately, end in my death.

 

With the sheer amount of beer being produced in the UK, picking a "best" is probably just as tough and opinionated as it is over here. Think about the bickering that goes on when people argue about the best breweries in certain hotspot cities. Then think about those "best craft beer state" threads. Now multiply that times 50.
Funny as it may be, the German forum probably has the closest thing to a consensus and even that usually just boils down to a top 3-4 for each major style.

 

Correct. As part of a Eurotrip I hit those countries/city up in 7 or 8 days, not just for beer, but it was infused to our itinerary.
Four or five Munich Biergartens in one day, a tiny Brewery in Amsterdam (they make Willeke), and beer bars, stores, and breweries in Brussels.
Just in 3 days of Brussels we hit Bier Circus, any little mart for trappist bottles, and Delirium bar on day one; Sint Sixtus one day; Cantillon and Chez Moeder Lambic the next; plus the bar in our hostel, Bier Tempel, and more peppered in there!
We even got hops (hoppy BPA) at a little bar by the train station in Poperinge; the beer was brewed by the bar-lady's son.

 

Possibly because their taste in beer doesn't run in that direction and they're comfortable with their own brewing traditions and don't feel any need to copy other countries beer styles.

 

OK. We'll take your word on that.

 

Sounds like a good number of BAs out there would prefer that every country produced the same beer.
I was under the impression that diversity was what craft beer is all about. Oh well.

 

I get a kick out of anything that claims to be a "world's best..." Some are actually pretty good representation, but others are so off base, you just roll your eyes. I wouldn't mind visiting those cities at all though, that'll be fun.