Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
It was my last day in Bamberg, and the sun had finally dispersed all the clouds, gloriously illuminating the fall foliage. I had just spent the late morning hours at Greifenklau and still had a few hours before my train. The gravitational pull of Aecht …
You have to admire a city where the rhythms of life revolve around excuses to tap a keg and raise a mug of good cheer. Munich is one such city where the seasons are marked by festivities that involve a healthy amount of imbibing. Most …
Not a cloud in the sky and the streets are starting to radiate the heat of the late afternoon. So much to see in Vienna. But I could use a cool drink right about now. Perfect time to head to a beer garden. “A …
On the Old Antique and Second-Hand Market The Trödelstuben’s very name hints at what’s in store inside while also gesturing to the city’s past. It’s a warren of discrete nooks and crannies with wrought iron, coloured glass depicting motifs of Old Nürnberg, wood reliefs …
Prague is among my favourite cities in Europe. I visited for the first time in 1992, never once thinking it’d take nearly twenty-five years to return. And after visiting Prague for a few extended visits in the 2010s, I never thought it would take …
Guiding Lights A few years back I wrote a series that began with a post called Accounting for My Tastes in Beer and ended with a list of twenty-five beers that had caught my attention over the previous year. Last year I did something …
Every year of beer travel is special in its own way, and 2025 was no different. The past year is a mosaic of beloved places I hadn’t visited for decades, like Japan. Old friends like Munich for Oktoberfest or Bamberg for Bock. Cities I …
Bruges is of a piece with those other mid-sized European cities I hold dear, places like Bamberg and Salzburg. There’s something about these mid-sized towns. Grand as their architecture is, and as illustrious their histories, their winding streets and quiet plazas are still human-scale. …
How cool is this? A few weeks back, the good folks at Big Friendly, one of my absolute favourite Oklahoma breweries, emailed me with a pleasant surprise. They’d be releasing a Märzen in early November, the first one they’ve ever brewed. And not just …
~Wine Culture for Beer Garden Lovers~ Exploring Europe’s beer regions is a fine way to experience a place up close. The beer, the food, the taverns, the particularities of one beer region compared to the next: all of this provides a window onto …
An Unassuming Street Beyond the bustle of the Grand Place and past the tourists trying to catch a glimpse of Manneken Pis doing his thing, the unassuming Rue des Alexiens slopes gently upward toward the heights of the Sablon district. It was on this …
~If you’re in the vicinity of Bamberg this weekend, mark Thursday, 21 August to Monday, 25 August on your calendars!~ Where the Altstadt Becomes a Bierstadt For five days in late August, Bambergers gather to commemorate the consecration of the tiny Chapel of …
~Munich Beyond Oktoberfest~ The very sound of the word Munich is enough to conjure up fond memories for fans of German beer, memories of languid afternoons in beer gardens, of joyous and occasionally raucous beer festivals, of winter evenings in beerhalls drinking warming …
