Altbier All Day in Düsseldorf

Altbier All Day in Düsseldorf

  Introducing Düsseldorf   Düsseldorf is only about forty-five minutes from Cologne by train — so close, yet in beer miles so far away. Düsseldorf and Cologne are unique: ale strongholds amid a sea of German lager. Yet these two “keepers of the ale faith” 

Ambling for Beer in Oberammergau and Kloster Ettal

Ambling for Beer in Oberammergau and Kloster Ettal

  An Upper Bavarian Idyll   Rays of sunshine pierced the clouds above the marshlands of Murnau as the train trundled along the Loisach valley. As we dipped into the basin that cradles Oberammergau, the sun emerged in full splendour, illuminating the tusk-shaped Kofel that 

Beers I Like, and Why

Beers I Like, and Why

  Accounting for My Tastes in Beer It’s axiomatic that we drink what we like. But what shapes our tastes? And how do we account for our tastes in beer? In the first part of these reflections, I considered taste on a general level before 

Accounting for My Tastes in Beer

Accounting for My Tastes in Beer

  In between evenings of losing myself in my annual “big book” (Don Quixote this year), I’ve been reading Terry Theise’s What Makes Wine Worth Drinking: In Praise of the Sublime. Theise makes a compelling case that people who write about wine or who sell 

Among Giants: Beer Hiking in Saxon Switzerland

Among Giants: Beer Hiking in Saxon Switzerland

  Prelude I was up at daybreak and on the trail early for this, one of the most fascinating and challenging beer hikes I’ve ever done. I’d arrived in Bad Schandau from Dresden the previous afternoon, spending the rest of that short but sunny November 

The Augustiner Bräustuben: From Barn to Beerhall

The Augustiner Bräustuben: From Barn to Beerhall

  The scent of hops wafting through the air. The cookie dough fragrance of mashing grain. These are the first telltale signs as you make your way from Munich’s main train station a short walk away that you’re getting close to the Augustiner Bräustuben on 

Belgian Beer Café Vignettes: Pelikaan, Antwerp

Belgian Beer Café Vignettes: Pelikaan, Antwerp

Antwerp offers some of the best beer cafes in the country for beer travelers willing to venture beyond the well-worn path between Brussels and Bruges. Cosmopolitan yet compact, Antwerp is the kind of place where you don’t have to walk far to find an excuse