If you love craft beer, this post is for you! Read on to find the best places to quench your thirst and discover new spots in Barcelona, Dublin, Munich, Amsterdam and Prague.
Wherever you fly to, you’ll eventually have to stop to have a drink. It will be well worth it! Especially if you love beer!
Biercab (Barcelona)
Barcelona is one of the best places to find craft beer. The Barcelona Beer Festival takes place here – pre-COVID, 35,000 people used to flock here over three days – and also the Barcelona Beer Challenge, one of the world’s most prestigious international craft beer competitions.
But these events aren’t the only thing to enjoy in Barcelona: we also recommend stopping by at Biercab (Muntaner, 55), which comes top at www.ratebeer.com, an international specialised beer website. It boasts 30 taps (you’re sure to find one you like!) and there are many kinds: aged beer, cask-matured and spontaneous fermentation, to name a few. They also serve tapas, “montaditos” (small open sandwiches), larger sandwiches and portions that you can wash down with beer. You can even buy something at its shop, which sells over 650 types. A real gem in the Eixample area, just a stone's throw from Plaza de Cataluña, the city’s main hub
Guinness Storehouse (Dublin)
Guinness Storehouse is a must for tourists who visit Dublin, and rightly so! In fact, it’s the city’s main attraction. You can tick two things off your list: enjoy good beer and visit one of the city’s hot spots. In the building where they used to ferment the beer for most of the 20th century, you’ll be able to learn more about this brand that was created in 1759. You can discover how they make their drinks, taste them and even eat at one of the restaurants. To round off your visit, you can go up to the Gravity Bar and gaze at Dublin, beer in hand, from its 360-degree panoramic terrace on the 7th floor (it’s like the city’s skyscraper!).
If you are still thirsty for beer, don’t worry! There are hundreds of pubs in Dublin where you can enjoy a pint. But make sure you don’t leave without visiting St Patrick’s Cathedral, Iveagh Gardens (with caves and waterfalls), Trinity College (one of the best universities in the world), Dublin Castle and Temple Bar Food Market (a Saturday market selling Irish products such as cheese, oysters, meat, and more).
Augustiner Stammhaus (Munich)
Munich is one of the beer capitals of the world, as Oktoberfest is held every year between mid-September and early October. But even if you don’t go there during this “high festival”, you can still go to a popular restaurant & beer hall, like Augustiner Stammhaus, where you must try a glass of Augustiner. The monks in the monastery next to the city’s cathedral started brewing it in 1328. Connoisseurs declare that this beer is the “Champagne of Beers”. It also complies with the so-called beer “Purity Law” of 1516, which stated that you should only use water, malted barley and hops to make beer. This beer bar is easy to find as it’s situated on a pedestrian street in the city centre, in a beautiful 1829 historic building. As well as a very frothy glass of beer, you can enjoy typical local dishes such as pork knuckle, homemade sausages, breaded steak and “apfelstrudel”.
’t Blauwe Theehuis (Amsterdam)
We don’t have to leave Amsterdam to find a place full of lush vegetation. Let’s go to Vondelpark, the city’s largest park and the most famous one in the country. There are lots of things to do in this 47-hectare space (the size of 47 football pitches): walk, cycle, sports, eat and drink beer at one of the outdoor cafés. If drinking beer is what you fancy, here you’ll find one of the city’s best breweries: ’t Blauwe Theehuis. We love this blue, elegant café with an amazing terrace with matching parasols. Don’t miss its own lager, which is fresh and silky-smooth. But there are other drinks on the menu too. As they belong to craft brewery Brouwerij’t IJ, they sell the full range, which you can pair with several snacks, focaccia, toast and “al taglio” pizza, any time of day.
U Fleků (Prague)
The Czech Republic is the country that consumes the most beer in the world: 157 litres per person every year. In the capital, Prague, there is high quality as well as quantity, with more than 30 craft breweries. If you want to enjoy a good “pivo” (that’s what you call it in Czech), we recommend U Fleků, which has been going for over 500 years and can boast of being the oldest brewery in the city. It comes as no surprise that it has a museum, after so many centuries making beer! Its own beer, called Flekovske, has a smooth and roasted flavour and has been there from the start. It’s worth visiting just to take a look at the wooden ceilings, rib vaults, stained-glass windows, a clock that is 250+ years old, paintings... Find a place to sit in one of the rooms on one of its two storeys, and you’ll be able to enjoy the lively atmosphere at shared tables, with live music by a band or just an accordion. As for food, they serve typical Czech dishes like sausages, pork knuckle and meat stew.
So, as you can see, if you fly to any of these five cities, you definitely won’t be thirsty! All that is left to say is have a good trip, and cheers!
