Beers, Pubs, Breweries And Brewpubs In Europe?

[King Brown]

So I'm planning a trip in July/August to Europe, in which Time I will probably take in Hamburg, Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris, Munich and Berlin. I know the choices of beers to drink, pubs to drink them at and breweries to visit will be practically endless, so I was hoping to hear from a few people who have been over there and find out what the best places and brews are, and which ones should be given a miss!

 

[gundaroo]

i spent some time in europe back in the mid 90's.
to be honest i never had a bad beer,and we mostly toured around the smaller villages with there little hidden treasures and outstanding hospitality,and there is no shortage of them.i did not do any breweries back then
there is a thread somewhere in here about some of the members haunting breweries in europe.
all i can say is give them all a go, and have fun.
cheers
gundaroo

 

[Zwickel]

King Brown, as you wrote: "I know the choices of beers to drink, pubs to drink them at and breweries to visit will be practically endless...."

thats the problem. Everyone has its own imagination about interesting places. Id suggest you to plan your trip first, good beers, breweries and nice locations youll find everywhere.

If you are looking for something in particular, just ask Whistlingjack, hes also a member of this forum here. He has travelled around Europe and he lived in Germany for a certain time, he knows many more interesting places, beer related, than some of the locals around here, included myself.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[petesbrew]

The ones I went to and enjoyed. Although I still find brewery/winery/distillery tours a tad boring.
I know you didn't list UK, but I've included them for the hell of it.

Cantillon brewery, Brussels, Belgium
Augustiner Bierhall, Salzburg, Austria
Hopfbrauhaus, Munich... have a stein & a pretzel and listen to some oompah music.
Guinness Factory, Dublin, Ireland.
Strathisla Whiskey Distillery, Scotland
The Whiskey Experience or Trail... Edinburgh, Scotland... it was a bit of a tourist trap, but still good.

Google is your friend.
Leave no beer untried & take all the coasters... great free souvineers.
Go to Brugges, of course. And stay for a few days, if not a week.

 

[Polar Beer]

Well if you're in the Dam you could go to the Heineken brewery.
I was still a mega brew drinker back then, but I thought it was great. Some great examples of Euro trash interactive exibits to see. They also go into the whole Heinekan story & past marketing, which is interesting in a non brweing way. It's a good look into one of the masssive commercial brewers.
You're also well looked after with FOUR pots, staggered throughout the tour. It then finishes in the bar. Best Heinekan I ever had too.

:icon_offtopic: Also 5 mins walk from Anne Frank's house/annexe. Highly recomend.

 

[bconnery]

Cantillon in Brussels. Fantastic old brewery and amazing beer...

T'IJ in Amsterdam. Off the tourist track but a cool brewery in a windmill. Get the cheese snack with your beer...

So many more but that's two big highlights for me...

 

[Spartan 117]

If you head to Ireland then there are a chain of brewhouses (similar i guess to James Squires here) called The Porter house, if your in Dublin then there's one on Parliment st in temple bar, haven't been in over a year but last time i went the beer was pretty damn good. Also Temple Bar has about 40 or so other pubs in it, it's a great place.

Aaron

 

[Whistlingjack]

Get Google Earth and have a look at this...

View attachment beerme.zip

Also, no trip to Europe is complete without a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. The fresh beer there is delicious (as well as the food at the museum cafe)

When in Berlin, go to Eschenbrau in Wedding, or Brewbaker under the Bellevue S-bahn stop.

The Hofbrauhaus in Munich is worth a visit and Andechs west of the city has the cheapest beer (min serve 1 litre)

I could go on and on... :icon_cheers:

WJ

PS There's also a nice brewing set up in Homburg...

 

[eamonnfoley]

So I'm planning a trip in July/August to Europe, in which Time I will probably take in Hamburg, Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris, Munich and Berlin. I know the choices of beers to drink, pubs to drink them at and breweries to visit will be practically endless, so I was hoping to hear from a few people who have been over there and find out what the best places and brews are, and which ones should be given a miss!

Try this website, i always looked at it before visiting European cities.
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/

In Belgium, I would recommend Antwerp (fresh dekoninck in every pub!), 't Oud Arsenaal & Cafe Den Engal are standouts for old world charm. Kulminator if you want variety (arguably best in Belgium).
You cannot miss Bamberg in Germany (Nothern Bavaria-Franconia).
Make sure you go to Augustiner & Ayinger in Munich.
Berlin is a great place but a bit light on for good beer. I would recommend the Cafe am Neuen See in the tiergarten. Great beer garden during summer.

Gee I would love to go back to Europe.

 

[eamonnfoley]

Leave no beer untried & take all the coasters... great free souvineers.

I love coasters! After living in England for 3 years, i collected a load of them from around Europe. My wife even framed some for me as a wedding present. Looks great on the wall. Will have to get a photo of them.

 

[sinkas]

Use google, ratebeer, and beer advocate,
buy the books at www.booksaboutbeer.com,
GO ona AMsterdam pub guide with ROn PAttinson, one of the most knowledgable people in the world regarding beer.his blog and a place where you can buy his books http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/
the whole lot, it may seem like alot of cash at the time, but $250 spent now and well read will easily pay for itself in tiem not wasted, anxiety/frustration etc when you are there, much like lonely plate type books, even if you are nto a back packer,they are worth thier weight in gold for the little things that save tyou time and money.

when you ahve shortlisted your itinary let us know and we can all give feedback on those choices.

 

[unterberg]

If you are passing through Regensburg its definitly worth a visit.
It became world heritage last year and has a lot of hidden treasures.
The probably oldest and most rustic pub is the Kneitinger.
Their Edelpils (Edel = noble) is really nice and their Maibock is fantastic.
You wont find to many tourists there compared to the Hofbraeuhaus for example but many locals.

The best Hefeweizen IMHO is from these guys Gutmann.
They are located in Titting about 140km north of Munich but close to the Autobahn Munich - Nuernberg.
could probably get lucky in a bottleshop in bavaria and find one.

There are plenty more nice breweries around Berching/Regensburg that I know very well. In case you get there somewhere let me know if you need help to arrange a brewery tour somewhere or other things.

I am over there in August/September myself and will try to visit some good places myself.

 

[np1962]

If you head to Ireland then there are a chain of brewhouses (similar i guess to James Squires here) called The Porter house, if your in Dublin then there's one on Parliment st in temple bar, haven't been in over a year but last time i went the beer was pretty damn good. Also Temple Bar has about 40 or so other pubs in it, it's a great place.

Aaron

Temple Bar is great, across into the city centre too, excellent pubs everywhere.
The old Guinness Brewery, what a fantastic view at the top enjoying a fresh pint at the end of the tour.
And Jamesons Old Distillery, go on the tour and at the end when they ask for volunteers, make sure you are one of them. Good little tasting session of different whiskey styles. Come to think of it the tour of Bushmills was good, ohh and the one at the Cork Distillery.... mmmmmmmm memories!

Nige

 

[hewy]

Cantillon in Brussels. Fantastic old brewery and amazing beer...

T'IJ in Amsterdam. Off the tourist track but a cool brewery in a windmill. Get the cheese snack with your beer...

So many more but that's two big highlights for me...

I can vouch for the brewery in the windmill. A short walk from the centre of Amsterdam with some great beers. You will want to check opening hours before you go as they were a bit weird when I visited. I think it was only open from 6pm-8pm or something weird like that.

Cheers
Hewy

 

[King Brown]

Thanks for all your replies. I'll try whatever beer I can, drink lots of it, and Ill check out some of your reccomendations. Can't wait to be drinking all those beers! :beer: