Around the World Beer Trip...where would you go?

[lister]

... and to me one of the experiences I most look forward to is finally visiting Portland and sitting all afternoon in Hair of the Dog drinking ... and then Decshutes the next day and Cascade the day after that.

Portland is one place my GF and I want to go for beer and food. I'd definitely like to do a nice slow vacation there eating and drinking.

[El Pinguino]

Me personally, I'd never do an around the world trip in a month. Far too much hustle and bustle going here and there. Too much time is spent traveling. It doesn't feel like a vacation.

True that. You don't have to stop in 6 spots - could limit yourself to say...Tokyo, Cape Town and Rio....

[El Pinguino]

Some interesting cities chosen like Tel Aviv, Anchorage, Mexico City....

I agree about Denver not being on par with, say, San Diego. I'll be returning to CO in a couple of months though....last time I visited about 5 years ago the Toronto beer scene was pretty bland...it will be interesting to see if Denver has upped their game more, or if Toronto has nearly caught up to them. (With thais said, I thought last time that Fort Collins was more fun for beer than Denver)

[G.M. Gillman]

London, Brussels (or other largish cities in Belgium), Munich, New York or San Francisco, Toronto, Prague.

What's happening is, a certain internationalization is setting in - styles from elsewhere are available in some of these cities that were not available 10 years ago - APA is probably obtainable even in Munich today, or Berlin certainly. But you will still get national classics in each place that probably can't exactly be found elsewhere. Toronto doesn't have a national style - we'll set aside the Molson Canadian type beer - but the clutch of beer bars here have a fine range of current craft beers and I've said it before but as a regular visitor to NYC's top beer bars and no stranger to Frisco's, I find little to choose between them and what Bar Hop, Volo or C'est What offer, or Bellwoods and Indie Ale House for that matter.

[lister]

I've said it before but as a regular visitor to NYC's top beer bars and no stranger to Frisco's, I find little to choose between them and what Bar Hop, Volo or C'est What offer.

After taking in Rattle & Hum, Gingerman, Spitzer's Corner, (plus others) that's what I've wanted from Bar Hop from the get-go (particularly Spitzer's.) I think with the new chef and the tweaks that have been done that if Bar Hop were magically whisked away to NYC that it would not be out of place there.

C'est What has a bit of a different feel for me compared to the others due to their Canadian only lineup. I'm not knocking that as we go there almost as often as Bar Hop.

[lister]

I normally book hotels before I leave, because I don't want to have to hassle with that while on vacation. Plus it locks in prices, which is nice. But otherwise, I agree. Large cities I allot at least a week to properly visit. Smaller towns about half that, depending on specifics. I did Rome-Florence-Venice in 15 or 16 days and that was about my limit for moving around.

Hotels, B&Bs, AirBnB, etc are always booked ahead of time. We're not staying in some piece of shit place because it turned out it was a holiday or a convention or whatever. I also strategically pick the location of the accommodation preferring to walk or take public transit as much as possible so the city/town can be properly seen and experienced.

I'll seek out good beer, within reason. Like if I'm going to Brussels, I'll definitely take the time to hit up Cantillon. But I'm not going to Brussels just for Cantillon.

I always try to have more than one reason to go to any place. The two times I really couldn't make that work were the day trips out to Windsor Castle and Versailles. Ugh. Too many fucking people and not much else to do there. Though if the day was nicer the grounds at Versailles were quite nice to explore.

[Torontoblue]

... and to me one of the experiences I most look forward to is finally visiting Portland and sitting all afternoon in Hair of the Dog drinking ... and then Decshutes the next day and Cascade the day after that.

But like you said, to each his own.

I've done 2 of those 3; I was laid up in bed when everyone else went to Cascade . There is just far too much to do than spend entire afternoons in one place, unless you're there for 10 days or so. I was there for 5 days and it wasn't enough to scratch the surface!

I really must get back to Portland, but I have to convince the wife after the bad experiences she had there last time!

[A]

Can someone explain what the big deal with Tokyo is? It wouldn't even make my top 25 list.

For me, if you are planning an around the world trip, it should truly be around the world - not just America, UK, and Northern Europe. So in the region for places with a pretty good beer scene and nightlife, it would be Japan, South Korea, or (possibly) New Zealand.

Same thing with Tel Aviv - a very good nightlife scene oasis in a literal desert of getting-thrown-in-jail-for-drinking-a-beer

[boney]

Can someone explain what the big deal with Tokyo is? It wouldn't even make my top 25 list.

For me, if you are planning an around the world trip, it should truly be around the world - not just America, UK, and Northern Europe. So in the region for places with a pretty good beer scene and nightlife, it would be Japan, South Korea, or (possibly) New Zealand.

Same thing with Tel Aviv - a very good nightlife scene oasis in a literal desert of getting-thrown-in-jail-for-drinking-a-beer

Definitely agree on the "world" travel aspect. I'd pick super cool places that I'd want to visit beyond just beer, but had interesting, new but not necessarily world renowned beer scenes.

My six....
-Milan (as a base to explore the northern cities, crazy density of new breweries)
-Brussels (the exception to the above. Can't pass up the lambic holy land)
-Coppenhagen
-Tokyo
-Auckland
-Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro

[El Pinguino]

Curious about the South Korea mention.

I haven't been paying attention, as after working and living there for a while about 10 years ago, I have no desire to return. The food/water there don't agree with my body for some reason...messy stuff

But now I ma curious to know if there are easily accessible, good options beyond the mundane Cass, Hite and OB that dominated back then.

Down here in Ecuador - there were 5 breweries / brewpubs when I first visited 7 years ago. In 2012 there were about 10-12 places making beer, this year I've found 25+ craft brewers. Problem is they're all single-town production places or .... crap craft beer.

Brazil definitely has an evolving beer scene, could be good. I'd probably choose Santiago, Chile if I were going to add a South American destination to the beer world hit list.

[Belgian]

Hotels, B&Bs, AirBnB, etc are always booked ahead of time. We're not staying in some piece of shit place because it turned out it was a holiday or a convention or whatever. I also strategically pick the location of the accommodation preferring to walk or take public transit as much as possible so the city/town can be properly seen and experienced.

All great ideas. There's a trade off between rigid 'safe' bookings, and building in some flexibility - eg. to bounce earlier than planned from sweaty summertime Rome, or to linger a few more days in Prague as the city beguiles you to better know her charms. Far as 'piece of shit' places, don't know of many... I rely on Rick Steves guides for pretty reliable 'family hotel' type places, and they seem to honor Rick's value-minded prices printed in each year's edition. His Europe guides seem to pay for their cost rather quickly, not to mention save time spinning your wheels when you should be having fun.

Of course if you want ice-bucket room service and such, I can't speak to that. I'm there to see Europe's cities, not hang indoors that much and I also don't enjoy the abstract hobby of 'shopping' - very much unlike my immediate family!

By the way we got a nice comfortable double apartment in Berlin for a week, cost only 500eur, a block from a convenient U-Bahn line. Found on the internet; I think Berlin is a very livable city that's becoming as exciting as NYC but much easier to stay in.

[Kekumba]

Like if I'm going to Brussels, I'll definitely take the time to hit up Cantillon. But I'm not going to Brussels just for Cantillon.

Funny, I went to Brussels last month with the intention of hitting some places I skipped over during my last visit. Then I went to Cantillon the first day...and well I had to go back of course...and then I met some people there, and then the suddenly the five days were over. I pretty much went to Brussels just for Cantillon. No regrets.

That said...

San Diego
Portland
Brussels
Tokyo
Auckland
Reykjavík

Okay, yes, the last 2-3 are completely unrelated to beer for the most part. They're both high on the list of places I'd like to visit, however, so I'm adding them. On a strictly beer trip list, there's too many to narrow down, so we'll go with an overall around the world trip,

San Diego is just the best shit ever.

Portland's a unique city and all, but there was this rainy gloominess to it that really killed the good vibes (I actually sort of feel the way same way about Brussels and Belgium as a whole). That said, the beer is awesome, and I'd no doubt go back. I've never been to a more friendlier bar than Beer Mongers. We actually got kicked out of Apex across the street for not having passports with us (like legit kicked out, and I was with my dad who is almost 60). All the breweries we went to were so relaxed, good times.

[atomeyes]

I was in Israel years back. At the time the beer options were terrible. Even the wine sucked as we constantly had kosher (boiled) wine thrust upon us.

One day I was in a restaurant in Jerusalem and noticed a beer on tap I had never seen. The Palestinian owner explained that it was made by his family on the West Bank and had been for generations. He was quick to point out he had no issue with alcohol and he believed prohibition was not God's work but cultural.

The beer was excellent. When I asked him about where they sell it, he said they had to smuggle it into Israel and distribute it to bars themselves to survive since their local market was too small to sustain business. It was one of many results of the economic exclusion I witnessed there. Sad.

I wish I could remember the brewery's name. That's sad too.

I think you're referring to Taybeh.

The Israeli wine/beer scene is much better right now. It's improved immensely in the past decade. I was just there in December/January and in Tel Aviv found two stores that used to be affiliated selling every single craft beer in Israel - about 90-100 beers. Picking a random six pack was easy and there were some tasty finds!

i was there 6 years ago. beer scene was still bad, but there was a micro in the Golan and a micro in Rosh HaNiqra.

not to get political, but i think what you were told about Taybeh being smuggled in is inaccurate, as is its exclusion. israelis love palestinian food and cooking. i'd assume beer is no different.

your comment about wine is hilarious. israel is known as being a very underrated wine country. in Tel Aviv, i walked into a wine store and was amazed at the local selection. the Galil and golan are known as having amazing climates for wine growth.

[atomeyes]

... and to me one of the experiences I most look forward to is finally visiting Portland and sitting all afternoon in Hair of the Dog drinking ... and then Decshutes the next day and Cascade the day after that.

Portland is one place my GF and I want to go for beer and food. I'd definitely like to do a nice slow vacation there eating and drinking.

cool that you're taking your grandfather with you to Portland

my parents lived there for 15 years, before i was really into beer. in fact, they lived a 5 min drive from Cascade.

i'm going to portland this July.

[Belgian]

I was in Israel years back. At the time the beer options were terrible. Even the wine sucked as we constantly had kosher (boiled) wine thrust upon us.

I think mevushal (= 'boiled') wine has an additional step of pasteurization making the wine remain kosher regardless of who uncorks or serves it (important distinction - regular kosher wine is not boiled, it's just natural wine.)

Boiling wine drastically alters the flavor and shelf life, and thankfully many good Israeili wines are not pasteurized. I'd just avoid mevushal wines entirely if possible - you can sometimes tell them by the short expiry date.