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Porto, Portugal

I arrived by bus from Vigo, Galicia in the early afternoon. In my pocket I had a short list of pensions but I had to ask at three before I found a small room overlooking the patios on the street below. Around the corner was a city park where I … Continue Reading →

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Pivovar Velkorybnický Hastrman, Velký Rybník

Roughly 8 km east of Karlovy Vary sits the lakeside village of Velký Rybník, home to Pivovar Velkorybnický Hastrman. Trains arrive from Karlovy Vary three times daily (09:00, 15:30, 19:44, last return at 20:20), a 15 minute walk through town to Hastrman. If you choose the early bus arrival you … Continue Reading →

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Mazer Cup International 2013

The Mazer Cup International 2013 took place in Boulder Colorado over three days in March. Nearly 500 homemade and 350 commercial meads were assessed by AHA/BJCP sanctioned judging panels, with medals awarded in 17 categories based on sweetness, fruit or spice additions and/or barrel treatment. This was my first sanctioned … Continue Reading →

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Oberpfalz Zoigl Exploration

150 km northwest of Nuremberg, in Oberpfalz (Upper Palpatine), you can enjoy the magic of Zoiglbier at selected stubes and gasthofs on certain weekend days. Zoiglbier, a rustic, unfiltered, country lager native to Oberpfalz, primarily uses spalt and hallertauer hops, as usual in Germany, providing a complimentary spice and fruit … Continue Reading →

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Franconia By Bike: Bad Staffelstein to Bamberg

31 miles. a 20-mile train ride to the north leaves us and our bikes in Bad Staffelstein to ride west and south back to town during the day. Brauerei-Gasthof Reblitz, closed, very sad because the door menu shows fried carp and draught bockbier with another 4-5 bottles. somewhat relieved later … Continue Reading →

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Gräfenberg via Nuremberg to explore Lindenbräu

A direct Denver to Frankfurt flight has us gate-to-gate in under 10 hours. A train ride southeast puts us in Nuremberg two hours later, set to explore the Bavarian beer scene once again. Nuremberg is home to the famous Restaurant Hutt’n, but the situation has changed much since my last … Continue Reading →

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Beer Travel History viewed through Ratebeer.com Charts

One of my favorite Ratebeer features is the chart created from a user’s history of beer ratings. Your account statistics page shows the most-rated styles as well as a rating distribution and total accumulation through the years (or months) of entering beer ratings. Added today is the ability to view … Continue Reading →

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is Avery Sour Fest getting worse every year?

Sadly I believe the answer is yes. The 3rd Annual Boulder SourFest at Avery Brewing was a study in lackadaisical technique, uncontrolled bacteria fermentation, unbalanced esters and acids, and all around poor brewing. 27 breweries offering 60 beers and not more than 6 of them were worth drinking more than … Continue Reading →

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Exploring Copenhagen

Sour & Bitter, a festival of lettuce, spare ribs, cotton candy, tiny Scandanavian furniture and bean bag chairs. There happened to be lambic present as well. Sour & Bitter is not the first of it’s kind, not exactly. The name is taken letter-by-letter (in tribute, I’m sure), from a 2005 … Continue Reading →

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Copenhagen Beer Celebration in 7 Photos

The first Copenhagen Beer Celebration on May 11 and 12, 2012, saw 25 brewers from 9 countries pouring 120 different beers for a crowd of 1000 gathered in a gymnasium in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen.