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!