My Favorite and Most Surprising Beer Destinations
I would be lying if I said beer does not have any impact on my travels. Before I venture out to a new destination, I always check my Untappd app and do research on potential breweries and taprooms where I’ll be staying. I love finding places in town and trying local brews. When Jill and I travel, we are out all day on our feet walking 40,000 steps give or take. To break things up or at the end of the day we always find ourselves at a brewery and honestly it is usually a highlight of my day. There is something about the atmosphere of breweries/taprooms, the people there, and the excitement of trying new beers. Usually, if we walk by a local brewery we stop, it gives us a breather, chance to use the restroom and further plan the day, win-win for everybody!!!
After visiting 32 countries and sampling beer from around the world, I found that beer styles and tastes are different from country to country, heck it’s different from state to state even town to town. There are some countries I go to mainly for the beer while other countries I might try a few brews just to log them into Untappd. On the other hand, some countries have completely blown me away with their beer scene.
Let’s talk beer! I’ll rant on a bit of the little knowledge I have on beer and then share some of my favorite beer destinations!
Beer has been brewed and enjoyed for thousands of years, there is even written history about it from the Ancient Egyptians (I wonder what their beer tasted like). Even before written records, archaeologists have found sites from Mesopotamia over 10,000 years old where they have found pieces of barley and bowls with fermented yeast and grains. Fast forward a bit and beer made its way all over Europe. As water was filthy during these periods, people resorted to drinking beer instead. Around the Middle Ages, beer became more then just a fermented drink. People began experimenting with this drink to offset the bitterness. They would add natural ingredients and spices to the brewing process to produce a more enjoyable drink. I read that around the 1100’s, monks would start adding hops to their recipes simply because it added a refreshing taste to the beer. Back then monasteries were the place to be if you enjoyed beer. Monks seemed to love brewing beer and almost every monastery had their own brewery. One historical beer event was when Germany established the Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law). In 1516, this law was created by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV. In short, this law was created to ensure that only water, barley, and hops (yeast was unknown at the time), were used to brew beer. With the arrival of Europeans to the New World (The Americas), they to brought beer with them, and it has been loved all around the world to this day!
First things first, there are hundreds of styles of beer and it continues to grow as brewers are becoming more skilled, curious, and experimental. For now, I will stick to the more common styles that are widely found and enjoyed. For the most part, beers are generally lagers or ales and all beers will fall into one of these categories.
Lager – The most popular style of beer with a light crisp taste. A lager is created using bottom fermenting yeasts at cooler temperatures. Some popular Lagers that everyone knows are of course Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, and Heineken.
Ale – Ale’s are basically the opposite of a lager, they are made with top fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures. Popular styles of ale’s are IPA, Pale Ale’s, Stouts, and Belgian Quads.
Pilsner – A type of lager, and named after Pilsen, a town in Czech Republic. Usually clear in beer terms with a thick head and the addition of hops.
Pale Ale – Pale ales were first popular in the UK, when they used pale barley malts making a lighter colored beer. Today, a pale ale is an amber color with a fruity fresh taste.
India Pale Ale (IPA) – One of my favorite styles, the IPA originated in the UK and is loaded with hops. In the late 1700’s ales were being shipped between the UK and India and adding more hops allowed the beer to survive the long voyage at sea. Today, IPA’s come in a variety of styles to include Double/Triple, West-Coast, and New England Style.
Stout – We all know Guinness and it is a prime example of a stout. A stout is usually dark in color because of the roasted barley and dark malts and are known to have a smooth creamy taste.
Belgian Double/Trippel/Quad – Another one of my favorites, these beers have a higher alcohol percentage and have a sweeter taste. These beers are Trappist ales, ales brewed by monks in Belgium for hundreds of years.
Favorite and Most Surprising Beer destinations
United States
It’s a shame that the world still associates the USA with Budweiser and awful beer. This might have been the case 15 years ago, but in the last 10 years or so the craft beer scene has exploded! To be honest, most countries including most in Europe all have lagers that are similar to Budweiser and they love it, so no idea why they judge the beer in the US. This is no longer the case though and you can get an amazing beer in just about any town throughout the US. It’s hard to keep track of local breweries in cities because it seems every weekend a new one opens up. Normally, you can find breweries in industrial areas kind of tucked away which adds to the atmosphere. I feel when it comes to experimenting with flavors and trying new things, America is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. Every year a new style appears whether it be spicy beers, sours, hazy, etc. Some like the hazy style IPA’s I can definitely get behind and hope it sticks around.
The USA is also home to many beer events but none is more popluar then the Great American Beer Festival that takes place in Denver, Colorado every year around the end of September and beginning of October. 3 days, 60,000 people, 4,000 beers, and 2,200 breweries. The concept is simple, walk in, grab a sample cup, and sip on as many beers as possible for 5 hours. It is a fantastic event and one of the best days of the year, something I always look forward to.
The United States is home to many world famous breweries and here are some of my favorites I’ve been to.
Boulevard Brewing Company – Kansas City, Missouri
Stone Brewery – San Diego, California
Ballast Point – San Diego, California
New Belgium – Ft. Collins, Colorado
Odell Brewing Company – Ft. Collins, Colorado
Wicked Weed – Asheville, North Carolina
Green Man Brewery – Asheville, North Carolina
Tailgate Brewery – Nashville, Tennessee
Germany
I’ve been drinking German beer longer then any other place. Germany does not offer the variety that the US does, but what they have is done to perfection, they definitely focus of the quality of the beer. My favorite German beers are definitely a Heffeweizen, which is a wheat beer and a German Radler. A Radler meaning cyclist in German is a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade and is incredibly refreshing. Another love of mine about German beer is the glassware. Each type of beer gets a specific type of glass and drinking beer out of a plastic cup is unheard of. The bier steins and Mass Krug are what Germany is most known for glass wise. The beer atmosphere in Germany cannot be beat. Most towns have small guest houses or restaurants with beautiful beer gardens sometimes overlooking giant cathedrals or castles.
When I visit Germany, I spend most my time in Bavaria, here are some of my favorite Breweries.
Kreuzberg Monastery – Bischofsheim an der Rhoen, Bavaria
Schlenkerla – Bamber, Bavaria. Famous for their smoked beers.
Hofbräuhaus – Munich, Bavaria
Bayerische Lowenbrauerei – Passau, Bavaria
Czech Republic
I have been to the Czech Republic three times now. I don’t really know as much about their beer scene or culture like I do the US or Germany, but the times I’ve been here I ordered beers at restaurants and bars and liked what I drank. Their beers are similar to German Styles a lot of lagers and pilsners. I found the beer here to be very cheap, a few bucks for a pint if that. When going out to a restaurant in Prague and ordering a hardy dish, a good dark ale pairs very nicely with it. I found their beers pair nicely with food here more so then any other place. Cities like Prague are very medieval, so add that on to the whole experience. Drinking an ale or lager in the Old Town Square or overlooking Charles Bridge and Castle. One of my favorite meals here are the pop up food trucks in the Old Town Square. They have huge hunks of ham roasting over a fire, they cut a chunk off with some sauerkraut, order a beer and enjoy!
There are some popular beers that have came from the Czech Republic. I would say Pilsner Urquell being the most famous. Pilsner Urquell is a brewery in the town of Pilsen that opened in 1842. According to sites, they were the first brewery in business to come up with a pale lager or pilsner. There is Budweiser Budvar, which I am still confused about since it is not related to the Budweiser we all know in the States. There have been legal battles over naming but when it comes down to it, they are two completely different breweries, brewing different beers with different backgrounds. Other beers from the Czech Republic that I enjoyed are Kozel Cerny/Dark, Primator Weizen, and the Master Altbier from Plzensky Prazdroj.
Peru
Peru, my most surprising beer destination. When I think of Central and South America, I think of light beers. You know, hot tropical locations, I need a refreshing light drink and not a dark stout or bitter. I stayed in Peru for about 2.5 weeks and spent about half that time in Lima, I had no idea they had a big craft beer scene. My first taste of craft beer here was in the historical center, I went to ChocoMuseo, a chocolate museum and they had beer in the freezer, a a Premium Triple from Cerverceria Nuevo Mundo, a Belgian Tripel, it was phenomenal. Right away, I knew I had to find the source (Nuevo Mundo). I did find a tap room from them near the Miraflores area and I ranked all their beers pretty high on my app. Wandering around Lima and Cusco as well, I found taprooms serving craft beer from all over Peru. I could go to a restaurant and order an IPA or Belgian, it was amazing. One of my favorite taprooms in all of Lima is called Mi Tercer Lugar Bar de Cervezas Artesanales. It seemed more like a cafe, serving cakes and pastries, but they also had a long list of craft beers to try and a cozy atmosphere. I came here twice just to relax after a long day and sample brews. Peru’s most popular beers are definitely, Cusquena from Union de Cervecerias Peru Backus y Johnston. Heck, you can even find Cusquena in the States. Cusquena is decent for a large Macro Brewery. I can’t wait to go back to Peru and explore their beer scene.
3 Comments
Aya
Thank you for this super informative post! (I also didn’t know about Untapped app!) I don’t think I’ve ever had Peruvian beer and would really love to try it one day. How do you like beer in Japan and how does it compare with European/American beer in your opinion?
zimminaround
Thanks for the comment! Untapped is a great app to keep track of beer and get fun badges, it’s worth a try.
I haven’t really seen Peruvian beer outside Peru. But they had great craft beer. I am talking Imperial Stouts, Barleywine, etc.. Beer in Japan has been a let down. You can find decent breweries and beers but it’s not very common. Most restaurants will serve your typical lager like Asahi. But I see craft beer becoming more popular here and people enjoying it, so I am crossing my fingers!
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