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Bamberg is a beer drinkers heaven. It is also a UNESCO listed town on the banks of the Main that Bomber Harris failed to visit in WW2. Many German towns were rebuilt after the war, but Bamberg is the real McCoy. Of the nine or so breweries in town, Faessla is the best. Its bar is snug, to say the least, but all the better for it. Don't be afraid to snuggle up to the locals (or tourists) sitting at the benches. They definitely won't bite. The beers are also great and will be brought to your table by efficient bar staff who will mark your beermat every time you have a new drink so you can tot up how many you've had when you pay. The whole place oozes atmosphere and charm. You're not in Bavaria here, but Frankonia, where they are VERY proud of their brewing culture. Get thyself to Bamberg and while there get to Faessla. Should it be busy, the Spezial - opposite - will be a very good substitute!
www.faessla.de
Obere Königsstraße 19-21, 96052 Bamberg
+49 951 26516
Google map: bit.ly/TF2L70
It's one of (if not the only) smallish family-owned breweries in Cologne.
It's also home (thankfully) to probably the best Kolsch beer in this great city.
Kolsch is a curious hybrid beer style that drinks like a good lager but is technically an ale. But don't let that put you off, this delightful beer served by gravity from wooden barrels is delicate, yet has hidden depths of flavour that make it the perfect session-able beer.
And what's more it comes in cute little 21cl straight glasses called 'Stanges' which are delivered conveniently to your table by the local 'Kobes' (barmen) until you put your beer matt on top of your empty glass (or just say no).
Great fun, great traditional food, great old building, but make sure your go to the main brauhaus building not one of the bars that serve in town.
it's a little walk out from the cathedral, but it's worth it.
www.paeffgen-koelsch.de/brauhaus/raeume/
Friesenstraße 64-66 50670 Köln
+49(0) 221 135461
Google map: bit.ly/11LVjcX
Side Pocket, Ridgeway, Jack O'Legs, Colley's Santa's Little Helper and Tringle Bells are just some of the beers brewed at Tring Brewery by Ben and his team. A successful business that goes from strength to strength, helped by enthusiastic drinkers up and down the Chilterns. Visit the shop which is open six days a week to chose your Christmas tipple.
www.tringbrewery.co.uk/
Dunsley Farm, London Road, Tring, Hertfordshire, HP23 6HA
+44(0)1442 890721
Google map: bit.ly/Snm5nL
This is a great little brewery, the only one left in Bruges. Our tour guide was entertaining with a really dry sense of humour as she took us ever upwards demonstrating the malt and hops process as it was (historic machinery) and is now (very modern). From the roof terrace there's a panoramic view over a good section of Bruges, more interesting and detailed than that from the Belfort. The ticket (€5.50 1hr tour) includes a glass of Brugse Zot (Bruges Jester) blond beer and there are two other excellent brews to sample. We had a snack lunch in their cafe too.
Good beer and an excellent tour.
Walplein 26-8000 Bruges
+32(0)50 44 42 22
www.halvemaaan.be
Google map: bit.ly/arP56p
Islay in the Scottish Hebrides has a number of working whisky distilleries that can be visited on a short tour. The island is beautiful and there are some lovely places to stay on the shores of a loch. Plenty of opportunities for tastings, too.
I think Craft is Greece's only microbrewery. Its excellent beers are on sale in various bars in the city and elsewhere in Greece. The bar/restaurant on Alexendras Ave also houses a brewery and serves beer-friendly grub.
The smoked lager is particularly unusual and goes well with the sausage platter. Red Ale, Black Lager and Weiss beer also tasty.
205 Alexandras Avenue
Tel: +30 210 646 2350
www.craft.gr/
Nearest station: Ampelokipoi
Head to midtown Sacramento, to 2004 Capitol Avenue, for fantastic wings and the "Monkey Knife Fight" beer, brewed on site and named after a Simpsons episode. Watch out for the 8% pomegranate cider though, it's delicious but lethal!
Rubicon Brewing Company
2004 Capitol Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95811
Phone: 916. 448. 7032
The Cantillon Brewery is the last of what were once plentiful Gueuze Breweries in Belgium. The family brewery makes Gueuze, a unique beer that depends entirely on windborn yeast to complete the beermaking process, introducing an element of luck that most brewmasters wouldn't dream of accepting. To use the wild yeast the brewery has a number of unique features that cannot be found in any other brewery.
The location is also ideal. Just a fifteen minute walk from Brussels' Grand Place, there is no problem with imbibing as much of this wonderful beer as you would like and then wondering how to get home. The metro public transport system makes this a wonderfully tasty and safe experience.
Gheudestraat 56
1070 Anderlecht, Anderlecht
02 521 49 28
www.cantillon.be
Google map: tinyurl.com/l6jal2
A langorous lesson in the intricacies of beer making first, becoming a faster paced ride through the history of Heineken advertising, with horses, a soaking, football fun and wonderfully enthusiastic staff to banter with. The best bit is the beer, a simple conclusion in the darkened bar to wind down later at journey's end. A rollicking few hours in Amsterdam!
Stadhouderskade 78
Amsterdam
tinyurl.com/lnkjjy
While each of these breweries might well give you a tour, each of them is so small you can see what’s going on while you taste their wares. The end of September is the Great American Beer Festival and the perfect excuse to wind through the autumnal mountains and deserts in search of a hearty brew.
The claim for Colorado’s first Microbrewery lies just north of Denver in the university town of Boulder. The Boulder Beer Company has its own huge range of beers with seasonal additions and everything from lemony wheat beers to deep dark porters. On the way up, you’ll pass Fort Collins where the large New Belgium Brewery lies and you’ll find these beers all over the country. You can tour this site to see just what care and attention goes into the production of these relatively small batches. Pick up an Onion to read on your travels and get into the vibe of this beer hunt.
Just west from Denver, in Golden, Miller has their Coors factory and a purpose built town to run the thing. The tour is free and gives you three half pints of beer to try at the end of your journey round one of the biggest breweries in the world. You’re here to see what NOT to do.
Heading down highway 70, you’ll hit Idaho Springs where the Tommyknockers brew their range of interesting beers. The food is just what you want from this backwoods hangout and the beer comes to take away in Growlers. While you’re here you can sample the waters in an amazing 60s throwback ‘spa’, and stroll the cowboy main street.
These being the Rockies, there’s a lot of thermal water about and Glenwood Springs, just the other side of a gorgeous canyon, about two hours from Idaho Springs, makes a great stop, the baths here are open air and lie right next to the Glenwood Canyon Brew Pub. As well as beer, you’ll also often find mead on the menu, just to give your hopped out palette a rest.
From here you can hop on a train to Utah, and another home of small time brewery, Salt Lake City. You can learn all about the LDS or explore the ring of ski resorts that tower over the flat of the city. If you want to return east, you could get on the train, or in the land of the freeway, you’d be advised to head south and into Mesa Verde, and Durango before snaking your way through Colorado Springs and back to Denver.
Established in 1868 this wonderful brewery on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island produces a wide variety of tasty beers, from "summer" to "black". The local population boycotted its main rival's beer a few years ago when the brewery was threatened with closure, saving it!
The best part of the tour is at the end when, after already tasting all the beers, the guide leaves you in the bar and says "do what you like for 10 minutes....." It's amazing how much can be drunk in such a short time!!
corner Turamaha & Herbert Streets, Greymouth, www.monteiths.com/nz (03)7684149
Simply the best beer in the world, and in Greymouth you get to visit the home of Monteiths.
This is a laid-back west coast brewery on the South Island in sleepy Greymouth. Have a tour, taste the superb collection of beers, hope to get 10 minutes of "back-turning" from the guide, a visit to the beer keg urinals, before heading off to find the nearest bar to continue supping and meet the locals.
Top tip is to try the Radler - a lager with a tasty zing of lemon/lime. Or the summer ale, or the...
Belgium Beer Tour is a tour operator specializing in tours of Belgium breweries. It offers a great way for beer lovers to visit their favorite breweries and discover new ones. The tours cover a wide range of beers and appeals to connoisseurs and amateurs alike.
You might remember the TV advert that claimed ‘the Danes hate to see it leave’ but they certainly don’t mind offering visitors the chance to drink it in their city. The tour offers some of the cheapest pints in the city as, after a brief look round, you can drink for an hour for free. The catch – it’s open until 4pm, so getting your money’s worth may feel a little indecent!
Gamle Carlsberg Vej 11, DK 2500
An excellent microbrewery, bar and eatery in a log cabin in the beautiful Los Glacieres National Park, nestling below Cerro Torre and Fitzroy in this fast growing frontier tourist town.
After a days hiking or climbing, the dark or pilsener style beers, the honest home cooked food, and relaxed atmosphere are perfect. And in summer it's still light up to nearly midnight so you don't feel guilty having an extra glass.
Main street in El Chalten, towards the campsite
www.elchalten.com/cerveceria/index.php
Don't know how these guys do it, but they brew their beer to absolute perfection!
I saw a bunch of these pubs spread all over town when I was down in Brazil, and they all seemed to have a pretty faithful clientele.
We ended up hitting the Ipanema spot most the time, and two of those times we closed the place down! That good!
Rua Prudente de Moraes 416, Ipanema
www.devassa.com.br
There are many levels of accommodation in Bamberg - the Bamberger Weissbierhaus, a brewery with guest rooms, is recommended.
Obere Königstrasse 38,
96052 Bamberg.
Tel: 0951 25503
A watering hole on the edge of England's last wilderness, serving great meals of local produce and the best range of ales from their microbrewery. Miss it and have regrets for the rest of your life.
Microbrewery and bar in a huge converted boat shed on the Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle – you can sit and drink their Pale Ale while you watch it being made. Also has a restaurant and a harbourside terrace.
40 Mews Road, Fremantle;
tel: (618) 9430 5555;
open: 10am–midnight every day;
www.littlecreatures.com.au
Google map: tinyurl.com/knsn6j
This is a nice and lively brewery pub. The beer is served in tiny glasses, but not to worry: empty ones are contantly replaced, until you cover your glass with your beermat to signal you've had enough.
They also serve nice local food.
During daytime they do guided tours of the brewery itself, but you'd need to arrange that beforehand (and you need at least 15 people).
Calwer Straße 31, just across from the shopping mall 'Calwer Passage,' in a pedestrian area in the city centre;
tel: 0711-2224944-12;
www.calwereck.de;
S-Bahn: Stadtmitte, then take the Rotebühlplatz/Calwer Straße exit
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