I will be staying in the old town. Goal is to try as many beers as I can. Aside from the breweries listed here in Beer Advocate are there any "must see" places or food dishes I need to seek out?
Kürzer is a new brewery in the Alstadt that's not listed. It's worth visiting. Going up in the Rheinturm was worth it for the view. A walk along the Rheinufer before or after if the weather is nice. Sit in one of the cafes and watch the people go by. Check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/travel/36-hours-in-dusseldorf-germany.html?_r=0
Foodwise, I really like the Goulash in Uerige. Maybe try the mettwurst if you haven't tried it before!
I spent a few hours there recently. Started out at Füchschen, walked alone the river down to the Gehry Buildings: ...and back up to Uerige. We had a good time there. I'm a big fan of Düsseldorf, have fun!
I like Flönz*/blood sausage at Schumacher and eat it every time I'm in town. (* how does one insert a link here? http://saudades.proboards.com/thread/865/germany-beck-2012-12-dus)
Look for the little chain link icon in the response window -- it's in the third section from the left: one full, one with an X to "unlink." Highlight the sentence or word you wish to make a link, click the chain icon, a window pops up in which to paste your URL, voilá. You'll see the line of writing turn blue and it's now a link. Or just paste it in as you did.
If you have time you can head to Schalander at Kölner Landstraße 247 -- a couple of U-bahn stops past the Hbf. They usually have 3 or 4 alts (kegged, not gravity), Früh Kölsch, Budějovický Budvar and the odd Andechs (Spezial Hell last I was there a couple years ago). Decent food (but not spectacular).
