International Beer Adventures (2023)

Nice story and pics. My trip was in 2017 to Paris, Belgium and Germany. I put together three threads (I think) that are archived here on BA. I'll search for them later and provide links.

 

I was able to find the thread with my trip report and photos. Turns out that it's the planning thread, a daily diary, and lastly, the post-trip report which starts at post #108.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/belgium-germany-april-22-may-10.491498/

 

...I have two old stories, both from the late 80s...I'll keep 'em short:

• went to Oktoberfest in Munich and never had a beer there (something about the crowds)...I regret my obstinance / abstinence to this day...
  
• bachelor party time in Yorkshire, England (I was best man), and 'lemonade' seem to be the big thing, but I kept ordering things like bitters and porters (which, I think, some of the bar staff appreciated from the inebriated Yank)...

...haven't been to foreign lands since my military days...exotic Canada is on my radar...

 

2019-Fairbanks, Alaska (Yes I consider Alaska international since its a very long flight to get to Fairbanks from the mainland). Silver Gulch (most northern brewery in America). Black Spruce Brewery & my favorite Hoo Doo.
2019-Barcelona, Spain. Edge Brewing. You had to sign up online to get invited to their 1 day a month open to the public.
2018-London. Several pubs and brewery. But our main reasoning for going was to see a concert.
2018-Nagano/Tokyo, Japan. Tamamura Hoten (Shiga Kogen)
2018-Seoul Korea, mostly local pubs and bottle shops.
2017-Berlin, Germany/Brussel, Belgium...Too many to name. Cantillion Brewery
2015-Budapest, Hungary (twice in same year) both times for concerts & beer related.
2015- Vienna, Austria (same trip with Budapest), 1516 Brewery
2014-Prague Czech Republic, Pubs & bars.

 

Plenty of photos in the article:

"A beer drinker’s tale of visiting the Czech Republic"

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Czech_Beers

Na Zdravi

 

I'm really kicking myself for not getting into craft when I was doing a lot of US and international travel for work. I had local beers on many of those trips, though not much craft. My international travels took me to South Africa, Niger, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Mexico. I'd love to have that opportunity again, but they've gotten a lot more restricted on travel.

 

I’m a frequent traveler who happens to like craft beer a lot. I used to be more about the ticks, but that got old quick for me. Traveling has not gotten old so I have pivoted to focusing on bars and breweries. Per my reviews on BA I’ve reviewed places in 24 countries - not bad I think

Fav Trip:
Munich - I’ve done this twice now, once for Oktoberfest, once on a random late summer week. Nothing beats a late evening in a Munich Biergarten.

Hidden Gems:
Hard to call these hidden gems in the sense that they are highly ranked here, but La Fine Mousse in Paris and LambicZoon in Milan are fantastic bars in countries better known for wine. Runner up is the Belgian Beer Cafe chain in the Middle East: they are refreshing oasis’s, especially the one in Abu Dhabi with the large outdoor Biergarten.

Wildest Trip:
I had an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam on my way to the Middle East once. I took a Thalys train to Brussels, spent and hour at Cantillon drinking beers, bought beer to go, and made it back to Amsterdam just in time to check my bag. Whirlwind, but so worth it!

Disappointing:
Spain had very little in terms of craft beer when I was last there in 2017, which sucks because it’s one of my favorite countries otherwise.

Favorite Beer Experiences
- Drinking a can of Lowenbrau after hiking up to Gornergrat in Switzerland
- Maß #s 1-4 in the Hacker tent at Oktoberfest. Subsequent beers were not as well enjoyed
- Biking brewery to brewery in Montreal each summer

My favorite Beer Cities:
(No order) Portland, Tokyo, Brussels, Munich, Montreal

Trips Planned this year:
- Montreal
- Osaka / Kyoto
- Singapore
- Cape Town / Namibia

 

Going in November. It looks like there are a few places in Swakopmund, and a couple of bars in Windhoek. I’m spending two weeks there, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy a pint or two.

 

From my article linked in post #7 (with emphasis in bold):

“It is common for some folks to think that the Germans drink the most beer but that is not the case. The Czechs drink the most beer per capita of any nation. From The Telegraph newspaper: “The world's biggest beer drinkers · Czech Republic - 143.3 litres per capita · Namibia - 108 · Austria - 106 · Germany - 104.2 · Poland - 100.8”.

Well, I did not expect Namibia to be in the top five. Cheers to the Namibians!”

Well, the Namibians sure have quantity going for them. Please let us know what you think about quality.

Cheers!

@Beersnake1

 

Back in 1985, my oldest friend (we met in the 50s, when we were 4 & 5) and I took a beer drinking trip to the UK. Don, now deceased, was the photographer (and could be annoying about it at times) so I don't have much evidence left (his widow in MA owns his many boxes of slides) and what I recall I can no longer verify with a conversation with him.

Pretty sure our first stop after renting a car at Gatwick was Salisbury. Nighttime - thirsty and hungry we found a pub (first place I'd ever seen with a small wooden keg on a bar, beer gravity-poured IIRC) near our B&B, had a pint of ale (probably Gibbs Mew's Wiltshire Bitter) and walked across the street to a small restaurant where we inquired about beer with our meal. The restaurant had no license but they informed us we could simply buy pints at the pub and carry them across the street and back to our table.
"Hmmm... this country's OK by me..." An interesting variation of the BYOB.

Next day, we quickly found a book store, bought the current CAMRA Good Beer Guide, walked around town, heard clumping coming down the street and a horse-drawn GM wagon making deliveries passed by. I don't really remember how we came upon the brewery itself - if it was accidental or a destination? - and I'm thinking the photo was more of the unusual (for us) beer tanker truck.

Below - A collection of print material from the trip. Left is a large 2' X 3' road map I picked up in Manhattan at a UK tourist office. The Young's and McEwans & Youngers (S&N) pamphlets were picked up on the trip and, right, the somewhat dogeared GBG. Unfortunately, while we "ticked" the beers we had, we did not note the pubs we drank in (and there were a lot of 'em).

I used to have a nice little flyer from a London free-house pub who gave us a tour of their cellar but it's not in my files currently. Other than the many pubs, we also toured Samuel Smith's - stuck our heads down into a Yorkshire square and everything.

 

Photoshop-tweaked pic of the beer menu from above:

 

Your journey to Namibia was beautifully documented here not too long ago. What an amazing place!

 

The Baltic States for interesting beers, reasonable prices, unique culture, and friendly people.

 

Back in 2018 I went to Japan to visit my sister and her family. Was really struck by the beer culture there, much more convivial than it is here. A lot of unspoken rules about how and when to drink that make sure you're interacting with other folks. Japanese lagers taste way better there due to freshness; a lot of bars serve from 5L kegs to make sure that the beer is turning over quickly, and draft beer is referred to as Nama Bieru, "Fresh Beer".

While wondering around found an English-style pub , The Bulldog, in the Korean part of Osaka that had excellent cask ales, a certificate from Guinness stating that they upheld the standard to which Guinness Draft should be poured (never seen one of those in the states), and a big old lazy English bulldog that occupied an armchair. Felt more like what I imagine an English pub to be than anything I've been to in the US.

Also went to a Beer Belly bar. Beer Belly is one of the bigger craft breweries in Osaka. All of the beers were like a time machine to the early 2000s. Was really intrigued by their Sansho IPA. Sansho is also known as Japanese pepper, and is related to Szechuan pepper. It was like an East Coast IPA, back when that meant a malt-heavy, bitter beer. Was ok, gave me the idea to use sansho in homebrewed saisons, Belgian wits and white IPAs, and I think it's a much better fit for the spice (peppery, herbal, citrus)

 

Not to detail the thread, but I’m heading to Barcelona later this year. Not exactly known as a global beer destination, but if any BAs have recommendations, I’d love to hear them.

 

Maybe @butterygold has some familiarity with the Barcelona beer scene?

Salud!