A Look at the Young but Ambitious Craft Beer Scene in Vienna

Amidst stunning architecture and a scenic landscape filled with rolling hills, snowy mountain caps, and rushing rivers, lies a long-standing brewing tradition primed for new growth. Austria is home to over 300 brewers now who made 9.8 million hectoliters (there are roughly 0.85 bbls/hectoliter) of beer last year; its people drink more than 110 liters of beer per year – only behind the Czech Republic and Germany for most Europe. Vienna, Austria’s capital, is a fitting image of the current state of the country’s beer scene. Many bars only have taps from storied breweries like Ottakringer or Trumer available. Zwickel, Helles and Pils reign supreme. IPAs are little more than a passing rumor with beers over 6% routinely raising eyebrows. It’s a city fixed between consistency and curiosity. All of these market factors were on display when I visited the Wiener Bierfest recently, just steps from the historic St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

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Event Preview | Arrogant Sour Festival 2019

Emilia-Romagna, Italy, named by Lonely Planet in 2018 as the best place to visit in Europe, is known for many of the finer things in life. The birthplace and home of Ferrari and Lamborghini, a foodie paradise with city names you will recognize from your favorite cheeses and cured meats, and home of the world’s oldest university, there are a lot of reasons to book a holiday here. But there is a specific reason you may want to earmark the first weekend of June as your time to visit, and this is because of the fantastic Arrogant Sour Festival held in Reggio Emilia each year.

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Be Easy Brewing | Dosayusa IPA

On the northern tip of the Japanese Honshu Island, there is a region where a notoriously distinct Tsugaru dialect is spoken. Be Easy Brewing is located in the Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture, and the brewery is as captivating as the beauty of Aomori.

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2 Days 2 Nights | Bucharest, Romania

When life gives you a handful of Boeing Max 8-shaped lemons, you make lemonade. Or when your flight for a quick weekend getaway is canceled, you jump on Skyscanner, put “everywhere” into the destination, and see what comes up for cheap. For me, this destination ended up being the Romanian capital of Bucharest, a city with a population of roughly three million that had its heyday in the ’20s and ’30s when it was hailed as the “Little Paris of the East.”

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Ultimate 6er | Six Beers to Celebrate International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the achievements of women politically, socially, economically, and culturally. The first IWD was held in 1911 and it is celebrated every year on March 8. In addition to commemorating the achievements of women, IWD also serves as a call to action to increase gender parity around the world. In honor of International Women’s Day, we’ve compiled a list of six beers backed by six brilliant women to enjoy on March 8 and beyond. Read More

10 of the Best International Beer Festivals You Can’t Miss in 2019

We’ve all woken up a little groggy on the first of the new year with grand plans for how we’re going to make our lives better during this next lap … Read More

Beer Showcase | Omnipollo Hypnopompa

It’s a marshmallow world in the winter and what better way to commemorate this season than a stout brewed with… marshmallows? As an avid maker/consumer of Rice Krispie treats, if you tell me something has marshmallow in it, I’m immediately excited, like “when it was your birthday in school and you got to bring in treats for the class”-excited. Luckily the Swedish, who know a thing or two about endless freezing nights, have crafted a liquidized Stay Puft in the form of Hypnopompa to warm our innards on a chilly winter’s eve.

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Beer Lover’s Guide to Paris: French Friends & Belgian Beer

It’s hard to believe it’s already been over two months since our summer 2018 Europe trip. It still feels like just a couple weeks ago we were walking the black sand beaches of Iceland, gazing out over the Cliffs of Moher and admiring in revered silence the beauty of Westminster Abbey. We talk about our trip all the time and are already dreaming up our next one. But I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s one more country and ale adventure story to tell…

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2 Days, 2 Nights | Hong Kong Beer Scene

I’ve had a life-long obsession with skyscrapers. I don’t really know where it came from, maybe growing up just outside New York City played a roll, or maybe too many Tower of Babel lessons in church as a youngster had the opposite effect of what was intended. Now, I tend to judge cities on two major categories: Their skyline and their craft beer scene, two lovers who often quarrel rather than get along. Where the towers rise, the beer quality tends to fall – world class postcard skylines like Dubai and Shanghai have not inspired great beer to follow suit, and while both cities have recently been doing better in this regard, in New York and LA you have to get outside the high-rises to find the best stuff. However, the Hong Kong Beer Scene proved to be different.

Whether you have a long layover, or you’re able to take a few days to explore, here’s a few of my favorite places I went to while enjoying the shade of some of the most marvelous structures made by man.

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From Reykjavik to Vik | Our Journey Through Iceland’s Breweries & Brewhouses 🇮🇸

For the past nine months, Katie and I have been adventuring our way through Minnesota’s craft beer community. With more than 150 breweries and brewpubs to visit — last we heard that number was actually upwards of 180 now — we’ve been busy and content with what’s right here in our own backyard. But sometimes a new adventure calls, and when an opportunity to visit breweries in Iceland, Ireland, London and Paris came calling — we answered.

In truth, no one came calling for us; we just happened to be heading to Europe on a sort of one-year anniversary/bucket list trip. Still, we took advantage of our time abroad to visit some new taprooms, make some new friends and drink some new beers.

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Amundsen Bryggeri | Apocalyptic Thunder Juice

I’m nominating Apocalyptic Thunder Juice, the latest delight from Norway’s Amundsen Bryggeri, as the Official Juice of the ThunderCats. If this beer was available 30 years ago, that band of ninja felines would surely have partaken in a few after battling Mumm-Ra. And just look at the can artwork. It is safe to say that the ancients responsible for such totems could have been inspired by bipedal cats from outer space.

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Pilgrim | Triple Blanche

The first image that pops into my head at the word Pilgrim involves folks wearing tall hats and large-buckled shoes while sharing turkey and Stove Top stuffing with the Indians at Plymouth Rock. You know, historically accurate stuff. Nonetheless, the general premise of the American story involves a pilgrimage — a significant, spiritual journey to a new, location of importance. And although the Swiss do not celebrate ye olde pilgrimage to the New World in search of canned cranberry sauce and green bean casserole, I found a brewery here that celebrates pilgrims in another way.

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Polish Hot Beer | Grzane Piwo

After a cold day of exploring the streets of Krakow in January, my friends and I stopped for lunch at a traditional Polish restaurant and the list of hot beverages caught my eye. “Hot beer?!” I exclaimed breathlessly, and immediately ordered myself a large mug. The menu warned that hot beer would take ten minutes to be prepared and heated, so I sat back and began to research this intriguing beverage. Read More

Avery Brewing Sells Minority Stake to Mahou San Miguel

This morning Avery Brewing announced that it has sold a minority stake to Mahou San Miguel. The 24 year old Boulder-based company now joins Founders Brewing out of Grand Rapids, MI as the second American-based craft brewery that has seen minority investment from the privately held, family owned Spanish company.

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Brewmeister | Snake Venom

While there are an incredible abundance of existing and soon-to-come craft releases in the U.S., Brewmeister‘s Snake Venom is a rare sight in these parts. I recently had the honor of getting to try this beer that tops many beer drinkers lists. These aren’t charts for flavor and overall ingenuity, but simply because of the fact that it will knock you off your feet. At a staggering 67.5% ABV this fortified monster has made its rounds on the web as a viral hit, enticing the alcoholics of America with a great name and the promise that you won’t remember tomorrow. However, the real challenge isn’t staying alive after consumption, but rather just getting a hold of this beer in the U.S. in the first place.
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Põhjala Brewery | Öö Imperial Baltic Porter

If someone asked me about the Estonian craft beer scene a month ago, I probably would’ve shrugged my shoulders and guessed there wasn’t one. I would have been wrong. I’ve now had three beers from Põhjala Brewery (pronounced Poh-ya-la) out of Tallinn, Estonia and this Öö Imperial Baltic Porter is so far, my favorite. Read More

Amundsen Bryggeri | Beerfoot

There once was a man from Nor-way
Wore a tube and bathed nude in the bay
Thought he was a Viking
Wore a shield to go biking
Drinks beer with grapefruit every day

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Church Street Brewing Expanding to the Caribbean #LocalGoesGlobal

Sand between the toes, hammocks, sunshine, rustling palm trees and now Church Street Brewing — that could describe your next Caribbean vacation. The suburban-Chicago brewery is taking its beer to the tropics!

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Løkken Bryghus | Narvorn Coffee Whiskey Stout

Ever since a 6^th grade math teacher corrected the spelling of my name, I’ve had an itch to visit Denmark. Even though we all know the rhyme “I before E, except after C”, the majority of folks named Niel in the States spell it backwards – Neil. But not me, regardless of what Mrs. Something-or-other seemed to think. I later learned that my family has roots reaching back to at least the early 1800s in the Danish countryside, the origin of this funny spelling. Which made me wonder, “Is there a land full of Niel’s that spell their name the right way?” Fast forward 20ish years and I now live within an hour’s flight of the homeland. And though I didn’t find anyone sharing my first name, I did find lots of good beer.

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Thomas Hardy’s Ale | Vintage 2016

I remember being forced to read Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities in high school. To explain the tome’s epic verbosity, I subscribe to the myth that Charlie was paid by the word and have been permanently scarred by the experience. I mention Dickens because he would likely have been an inspiration to the British poet for whom this beer is named – Thomas Hardy. Hardy was a writer of world-renown but unfortunately, thanks to his compatriot’s writing style, there’s zero chance of me putting down Stephen King to pick up Jude the Obscure anytime soon. His namesake brew however, Thomas Hardy’s Ale, that’s a different story.
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