Just Visiting: Munich & Amsterdam

I'm going on the trip of a lifetime in July, spending a week in Italy for my father's birthday before heading off to Munich for a few days and then to Amsterdam. I'll bring some plastic zip-lock bags just in case, but I doubt I'm going to go through the trouble of trying to mule something back home.

While my prospects of finding anything other than amazing wine while we're in Italy don't seem to be too high, I was hoping to get some better direction and strategy on Munich and Amsterdam.

In addition, I wanted to see if there was any consensus on "strategy" for how we should view beer on this trip. The last few years of our craft beer enjoyment has been focused on the evolution of the American scene, with its IPAs, sours, saisons, and pales. I know Europe is a totally different scene, especially Germany with Reinheitsgebot. Should we be seeking out things and valuing what we can find for its purity and the longevity of its purveyor? What stands out over there?

Munich

So far, I've coordinated the basics by lining up a tour of Weihenstephan, planned a hike to Andechs, and flagged Tegernseer Bräustuben for the day we hike from Lake Schliersee over to Lake Tegernsee. We're staying at an AirBnB right next to Viktualienmarkt, so we'll be very close to Der Pschorr, Schneider Bräuhaus, and Hackerhaus.

In no particular order, I've also made note of:

Hirschgarten, Englischer Garden, Tap House by Ostbahnhof, Forschungsbrauerei, Augustiner Bräustuben/Zum Augustiner, Wirtshaus am Bavariapark, Löwenbräukeller, Sankt Emmerams Mühle, and Chinesischer Turm.

Is there anything that I am missing? Are there any places I should prioritize over others? Any places I should avoid altogether?

Amsterdam

Not really as thought out as Munich for our trip, but I know there are some nice and scenic places to grab a beer. We're staying in the Frederik Hendrikbuurt here, so fairly centrally located.

Again, in no particular order:

Arendsnest Proeflokaal, Brouwerij 't IJ, Cafe Gollem, Bierproeflokaal in de Wildeman, Brouwerij de Prael, Beer Temple, Café Belgique, Café ‘t Smalle,

Anything I should seek out while I'm in either place? Any food recommendations? Any things you'd recommend doing between visiting any and all of the establishments I've listed above?

Thank you for any insight and advice. I'm more excited than you can imagine to make this trip happen.

 

I've got a lot of unfiltered ideas and research. Hopefully between here, Reddit, and TripAdvisor, I'll get a more defined approach to what we should seek out versus just running around. I'm a planner.

I also came across this book. I didn't get it, but I took a brief look through the preview from its listing on Amazon, and I used the notes to bolster my info on my spreadsheet/MyMap I'm building. I Googled everything I couldn't get a preview of on Amazon, so I feel like I read it. I guess I'm just missing the coupons, but I'm not not sure how much I'm missing out of that.

Good to hear this was a good decision. Weihenstephan was the first beer that let me know there was more out there than Bud Lite/Coors. I have a full tour with tasting scheduled for 10am on July 10. And then I plan on having us go back to Munich and just enjoy the city. But I am very excited for Weihenstephan, so it's good to hear some reinforcing encouragement.

 

Very cool. Adding that to my list. With how tightly I've scheduled Munich (Day 1: Dachau to Andechs; Day 2: Hiking Schliersee to Tegnersee: Day 3: Weihenstephan and actually see Munich), all I'd dreamed up was going from bar to museum to bar to museum as we desired, so other ideas are very welcomed. Thank you!

We're going to be in Conca dei Marini, in a little villa outside of the major towns. We'll hit the surrounding cities, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Salerno, etc. over the course of the week, but from that thread that I linked to, I don't have high hopes of coming across any brewery in these locations. I don't have a problem with that, I'm sure I'm about to have my share of limoncello and wine. But I would still love to have some insight into Italian beer, if there is any to look out for.

Haha, that's actually one of the notes I have for Hofbrauhaus, so that's good to know. That doesn't turn me off, and I totally expect to hit the majority of those places. But coming from Manhattan, if it was anything like the Hofbrauhaus in midtown, I think we'd probably allocate just enough time for a single drink before we go do something we really wanted to do. I'll make sure to give that more of a consideration when we're there.

And thanks for the museum tip. I definitely need more than alcohol on my list of options.

Thanks for that tip on Hofbräukeller! That flew under my radar. Our AirBnB is not far from that at all, just about 1km, so that could be an easy walk one night.

 

I definitely will be on the looking for gravity barrels, thanks man!
Anything in particualr you found unique about Augustiner Klosterwirt?
I liked the idea of Munich as a launching pad for some good day trips. Never having done Europe, I wanted to try and do a lot in this short span, but in the future, I'm going to be a little more calculating as to where I go. I'm hopign we get a nice day for the hike from Schliersee to Tegnersee because having lunch and a beer at Obere Firstalm is essentially the experience I've been seeking since I found out I like hefeweizen. If I was fortunate enough to go back to Europe, I might try some eastern countries first to experience a different culture.

 

I was hoping to spend some time in Rome, especially since we'll be just waking up from an 8 hour flight when we arrive, but unfortunately, I think my parents and their friends wanted to hop a transfer car ASAP to being the four hour drive to Amalfi. I'll be lucky if I see any of Rome from inside the van.

 

I mean, they do have ruins, right?

Yeah, I'm fine with it. I'm surprised you say that though. A lot of people I talk to say you see the
Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon and you get it. I know that excludes the Vatican, but I'm just playing Rome on this round...

I would love to go back though. After doing all of this research, what I've seen on my flight deal sites, I could definitely swing ~$400 roundtrip to Italy again some day. Next summer, my priority is going to be Ireland/UK. My friend works on GoT in Belfast and I want to see him, the set, and some beautiful Irish countrysides.

 

Nice. I did have them on my list, but for food (I only listed the places I flagged for beer). I'm more than happy to grab a pint there, but why do you score them so high? As far as food goes, I've got some amazing looking schnitzel places on my list (Andy's Krablergarten & Steinheil 16).