European Vacation....

[petesbrew]

Devo, any reason you guys are skipping Belgium (aside from time-limitation)?

reVox

Yeah, Brugge is bloody lovely, and its "on the way".

 

[Flippo]

A bit of advice if I may, if you haven't got your accomodation sorted in Munich for Oktoberfest you better get onto it straight away. What you can get now, if any, would be starting to get pretty expensive.

Just a suggestion, if you can't find any reasonably priced accom in Munich. When I used to work as a tour guide round Europe one of our stays was at St Johann, Tirol in Austria. We stayed at a pub run by a top Aussie bloke and he does an Oktoberfest tour/shuttle type of thing during that time of year. It's a great way to get to Oktoberfest but stay in some pristine countryside in Austria and not pay ridiculous prices and get ripped off every second.

If your keen to have a look, this is the website http://www.bunnyspub.com/eventinfo.asp?ID=3

Hope this helps and I could almost guarantee that you would have an amazing time

 

[Fents]

And the result of too many samples;
View attachment 13648

Legendary! :beerbang:

 

[devo]

Aye lads, just under 2 weeks till I head off but wondering if anyone could suggest some quality "Real Ale" pubs in the London area? :blink:


BTW thanks everyone for the info, much appreciated.

 

[reVoxAHB]

Hiya Devo,

I'll reaffirm what the others have said regarding Brugge, Belgium. Highly recommended. It's often referred to as the 'Venice of the North' as the town's streets are lined with canals. Brugge was not bombed in WW2, so is a very well preserved medieval city with world heritage status.

Seems to be the perfect fit for you and the missus too, as it's small, quaint, romantic and steeped in great beer, food and local hospitality. Everything is within walking distance and you'll really enjoy every step- get lost, in fact.

You'll want to show her sites like this this and this.
While, you'll want to reference this

't Brugs Beertje is not to be missed. Bummer yer gonna miss the Brugs Beer Festival by a hair. Take a look at some of the breweries (and beers) in attendance :blink:

I lived in Brugge for over 5 years, in another lifetime .

Have a great trip and all the best,
reVox

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

I lived in Brugge for over 5 years, in another lifetime .

I learn something new about you every day reVox. :beer:

 

[bconnery]

Aye lads, just under 2 weeks till I head off but wondering if anyone could suggest some quality "Real Ale" pubs in the London area? :blink:


BTW thanks everyone for the info, much appreciated.

Anything with a Fullers or Youngs sign is good. A Whetherspoons chain can usually be relied on.

When you say London do you have any idea where in London you will be staying? If you do I can look up the beer guide and PM you a few...

 

[Boozy the clown]

Whats Belguim like in the winter??

I have ten weeks in thu UK over Christmas time, need to get away somewhere.

Friends have tole me all of Scandinavia sucks in the winter, peoplae go weird and hide indoors, Zwickel tell me Germany sucks too in the winter and the only place the sun shines is in the beir halls.


Maybe i'll head to Spain?

 

[skippy]

Ibiza....warm mediteranean climate, wont mention the rest. San Miguel only, if you dont enjoy yourself I'll CASH refund your holiday.

Will not be liable for any damages to mind, person (including STDS), or property...or wallet, or any legal ramifications as a result of my above mentioned statement.

 

[Zwickel]

Maybe i'll head to Spain?

Hey Boozy, many, many of the old age pensioner from Germany, Belgium and England are staying over the wintertime in Spain and its Islands, so that means it gives you a feeling like being in a retirement home; nothing with beautiful nice looking young girls

But a good idea in wintertime would be to go to Austria or Switzerland, even south Germany has many beautiful places in the Alps. What about skiing?
In wintertime people here take theire hollidays for skiing. At some places in the Alps its like carnival, crowded by young people.
But.....hardly beer will be drunk, mostly Schnaps and hard stuff, just to warm you up

So a winter holliday in the Alps is a very nice event, lots of fun.

Cheers mate :beer:

 

[spog]

you lucky,lucky bastard,
half your luck. oh and by the way if the missus gives you too much grief,leave her home.
oh **** pleeeeease dont show her this post.
looking forward to your post,s when you come home...cheers...spog.

 

[devo]

OK, bags almost packed and me and the missus fly out tonight. I'll hopefully be able to post some pic's of my drinking exploits once I figure out how to use the new/change features of this site recent upgrade! The image button doesn't seem to be doing much when I click on it!?!

I just kegged my IPA today and my Schwarz 2 weeks ago and have em on a low PSI setting in the keg fridge. Looking forward to hooking into when I get back.


anywayz, cheers fer now.

 

[braufrau]

Me and the missus may possibly(hoping) to be heading over to Europe for about 4 weeks and will most likely be visiting the UK, Germany, France and the Czech republic.

To help save me some of the leg work I was hoping some of you here could suggest some breweries, pubs etc of quality beer interest that I should be making a "B" line to!?!
cheers
devo

ahhh. the beer and sausage tour of europe.

HWMBO and I used to joke about doing the grand tour of brews and snags. I guess we're doing one leg at the moment.

You need a book like one of Michael Jackson's and the AA guide to britain and europe and plot a route through breweries near museums and castles and other things of girly interest.

 

[blackbock]

I just kegged my IPA today and my Schwarz 2 weeks ago and have em on a low PSI setting in the keg fridge. Looking forward to hooking into when I get back.
anywayz, cheers fer now.

Devo, was that Schwarzbier made from the leftovers you listed in a previous AHB thread? What recipe did you settle for? Did you use crystal or not?

 

[Simon W]

Have fun Devo!

Boozy
Both my trips to Europe have deliberately been in winter!
There are many advantages, its cheaper in almost every way(Food, Beer, Accom. etc) because it's not the tourist season.
Every hotel has rooms and will fight over you for your custom(well... not really, but almost).
And there's almost ZERO tourists. Big bonus there.

Been to Brugge in winter and it's a little quiet, but everything is business as usual.
Munich in winter rocks! Your walking around in snow and then you walk into a brewery, strip off a few layers and get warm and cozy with a cheap meal and cheap beer(price not quality!) surrounded by locals. Heaven.
Munich in winter also has the best festival, Karneval, which is better than oktoberfest in that 95% of the people are locals, not tourists and noisy idiot aussies/poms/yanks, there are lots of beer vans in the Marienplatz(drink in the street) and there's free beer the day after(seriously!).

 

[Boozy the clown]

Have fun Devo!

Boozy
Both my trips to Europe have deliberately been in winter!
There are many advantages, its cheaper in almost every way(Food, Beer, Accom. etc) because it's not the tourist season.
Every hotel has rooms and will fight over you for your custom(well... not really, but almost).
And there's almost ZERO tourists. Big bonus there.

Been to Brugge in winter and it's a little quiet, but everything is business as usual.
Munich in winter rocks! Your walking around in snow and then you walk into a brewery, strip off a few layers and get warm and cozy with a cheap meal and cheap beer(price not quality!) surrounded by locals. Heaven.
Munich in winter also has the best festival, Karneval, which is better than oktoberfest in that 95% of the people are locals, not tourists and noisy idiot aussies/poms/yanks, there are lots of beer vans in the Marienplatz(drink in the street) and there's free beer the day after(seriously!).

Well the Karneval' sounds very inviting...

Is it a country wide thing or a Munich thing? I tried to do a quick search on the interweb and I got a few links to Cologne.

Zwickle, you'd know??

 

[devo]

Well we made it to London in one piece, safe n sound but the 22hr flight was a killer. It;s 5:20am at the moment and can't sleep. Hoping the body clock settles soon.

Tomorrow I will venture out for a few drinks, already found a pub around the corner from where I'm staying that has cask ale advertised. Will report back on my findings.

Weather is great here at the moment, 19 c and a little warmer than I expected.(apparently hasn't been the case for most of the summer as I'm told by the lass at the desk where I'm staying)

 

[Zwickel]

Well the Karneval' sounds very inviting...

Is it a country wide thing or a Munich thing? I tried to do a quick search on the interweb and I got a few links to Cologne.

Zwickle, you'd know??

Hello Boozy,

yeah carnival is country wide, held coming year from 31. of Jan. until 05. of Feb. , but Kln is stronghold.

The core time starts at Thursday 31.01.2008 , called weiberfastnacht (womens carnival) or fat Thursday and the highlight is Mondays, called Rosenmontag.

Not my thing, people turn crazy, dont go to work, drink a lot and speak silly and stupid things

Id prefer to be in Munich that time, there is also carnival, but not as batty as in Kln.

Cheers

 

[devo]

Devo, was that Schwarzbier made from the leftovers you listed in a previous AHB thread? What recipe did you settle for? Did you use crystal or not?

Yes it was black bock. Can't recall my recipe cause I'm not able to access my home PC to check what I did end up doing. Fermenter samples have been tasting good and 6 weeks of cold lagering should hopefully produce the results I'm after.


I will hopefully get to try the real thing when I hit Germany in a couple of weeks and compare when I return home.

 

[Lukes]

make sure you check out this ride the "Vomitorium" Ride At Munich's Oktoberfest. :lol:
I like the comment about the water washing the vomit of your face......
mass spit....