Best beer cities in the world

FanadMan

Here are the 10 best beer cities in the world according to USAtoday. No guessing where most of them are lol. Still good reading though.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/02/10-best-beer-cities-in-the-world/1608885/

If I had anything to do with it, don't think would have put any American cities in there cos most of their beers are terrible. Would have put Kerva (in Finland) in the list just because of their Karhu beers...especially their Karhu IV brew...talk about sex in a glass!

hamsterboy

Prague.......... end of thread

HB

DainBramage

salt lake city, rock on

Einhard

Five North American cities? Remind me never to take recommendations on beer from USA Today.

humbert

hamsterboy wrote: »

Prague.......... end of thread

HB

Is that the best beer city or the best getting shitfaced for cheap city?

Brussels is the best I've been to but southern Germany is largely unexplored.

Cookie_Monster

Brussels? They've obviously never heard that everything from Belgium is shiite...

Jmccoy1

Antwerp is my favourite.

tuxy

Dublin made the list, very consistent city with bud,heino,carlsberg,guinness and bulmers available on tap in most pubs!

DainBramage

hamsterboy wrote: »

Prague.......... end of thread

HB

While Prague is savage If we are talking exclusively about beer found the draught beer and even bottled stuff is nearly always warm there, been there a few times on stags etc and in the summer this is not good

DEFTLEFTHAND

Salt Lake City.

FanadMan

Think it's about cities that brew their own beer - if so Dublin still has the king......Guinness.

I suppose Munich is bit of a cliche to some (dunno why if the beer is good) but the single best beer I ever had in my life, and trust me I've had them everywhere, was an Augustiner in Munich. They don't export it and to the best of my knowledge it doesn't even get sold much further than a 100 mile radius of the brewery, so you've actually gotta go there to taste it.

Don't agree with the general opinion of "American beer" though I know where you're coming from. Even the smell of anything from Anheuser-Busch is enough to give me a thumping migraine, and the Coors/Miller/etc are as bad. But if you actually go to the US you'll be surprised how many people agree with that, and micro-breweries that sell exclusively off their own premises are flourishing.

I was in one place in the middle of nowhere in rural Michigan where pub and factory were combined, ie no dividing wall between them, and you could go in, have a couple of pints, and watch the brewers working behind you. They'd give you a free tour if you ask nicely and promise not to get in the way, and people could walk in with their own empty containers and ask them to fill them with beer just like a petrol station. All of which is great but the main point is that the beer itself was top class!

reeb

Hate to break it to you lads but US beer is the best in the world by a country mile and has been for some time.

Guill

Dublin should not even register on the list, the same generic piss served in 95% of the pubs, **** that boring bull****, i prefer real choice instead of a 'you can chose a beer but it has to be one of these'. Same all over Ireland.

Also, Sierra Nevada FTW imo.

Seaneh

Einhard wrote: »

Five North American cities? Remind me never to take recommendations on beer from USA Today.

In fairness, it's the biggest craft beer scene in the world and, funnily enough, probably the country producing the best beers in the world at the moment.

In some places in American like say, Bend Oregon, you have more breweries per capita than anywhere in the world.


That said, besides Portland and denver, I wouldn't list the others as great beer cities.

I'd have San Francisco (well, the entire bay area) before Boston or Milwaukee anyway.

Seaneh

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Brussels? They've obviously never heard that everything from Belgium is shiite...

You obviously don't know a thing about beer.

Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh for the sheer cheapness of it. 4 beers for a dollar on the street and good craic. Get absolutely pissed for the price of a pint in Ireland.

ronnie085

Has to be Brugge in Belgium, beautiful city that love their beers, found beer is nearly a religion over there

buck65

Dublin is a joke in that list. We produce one world renowned decent product that has been watered and chilled to kill the taste.
Fair play to the micro breweries in Ireland though, Porterhouse, Franciscan Brewery Cork, Galway Hooker, O Hara's etc. that is the real beer list. Pity the vintners still feel the need to serve imported rubbish like Heineken, Carlsberg, Bud, Miller and ****ing Coors.

PS Belgian beer is fantastic, strong but excellent. Take Leffe for example.

helimachoptor

Was in Munich for my stag in June. Beer was excellent.

As said we have the porterhouse that's about the only good beer thing about Dublin.

Depending in where you go in NYC you can get some good local beers

Hawk Wing 2

any city in Belgium

summerskin

Leeds. Best selection you'll find of real ales. Seems to be a rather lager-orientated list.

And american beer is pretty poor in general, though some of the smaller breweries aren't too bad.

jester77

If my house was a city then it would be on that list

Shenshen

FanadMan wrote: »

Here are the 10 best beer cities in the world according to USAtoday. No guessing where most of them are lol. Still good reading though.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/02/10-best-beer-cities-in-the-world/1608885/

If I had anything to do with it, don't think would have put any American cities in there cos most of their beers are terrible. Would have put Kerva (in Finland) in the list just because of their Karhu beers...especially their Karhu IV brew...talk about sex in a glass!

I love how the twon with the highest density of breweries in the world doesn't even get mentioned.

Montreal?? I've been there, nice town, but not notable for the beer, sorry.
And Dublin? Sure, if you like the same 5 brews on tab in every single last pub, with no variety, that's the town for you.

reeb

Shenshen wrote: »

Montreal?? I've been there, nice town, but not notable for the beer, sorry.

Montreal has 20+ world class breweries cranking out some of the highest rated beers in the world - new world twists on classic Belgian styles, as well as one of the top 5 biggest craft beer festivals in North America which is unparalleled for beer and gourmet food matching.

Leftist

DainBramage wrote: »

While Prague is savage If we are talking exclusively about beer found the draught beer and even bottled stuff is nearly always warm there, been there a few times on stags etc and in the summer this is not good

Wrong. Bottled beer sold in preference of draught beer is about as popular in prague as it is in Dublin.

Plus the standard of their drink is exceptional.
Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus, Staropramon etc are of a far superior quality to draught beers or lagers found in ireland.

People who go there to get ****faced probably end up in overpriced tourist traps spending 4x the price of locals for warm bottles but if you're a little wiser than that, the city is one, if not the best in the world for beer.

Would like to try Belgium.

eth0

Cork cause a lot of places have Beamish on tap

gobnaitolunacy

The Guinness Storehouse, one of the few brewery tours in the world where you DON'T see the actual factory floor. What an overpriced cop-out.

Zebra3

What to See: The Guinness Storehouse, Ireland's top tourist attraction, takes you inside the world's largest pint glass

Eh?

reeb

Leftist wrote: »

Plus the standard of their drink is exceptional.
Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus, Staropramon etc are of a far superior quality to draught beers or lagers found in ireland.

Ive never had Gambrinus, but while Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen 11 are nice pilsner/lagers and lovely fresh from the cask, they are middle of the road mass produced beers which in no way compare to Irish craft beer.People have mad ideas about beer.

bnt

Of the American cities, the one I've been to is Denver, and I agree the beer situation is pretty good there. They have lots of smaller breweries there, and mid-size ones making good beer e.g. New Belgium and their Fat Tire among others. I went to an ice hockey game, and had a Coors in a plastic cup because I was thirsty - and even that was above-average.

Davidth88

For me has to be Munich.

The Hofbrauhaus ...... great stuff , and huge historic links.

Although , being from London.

You can't beat a decent pint of Pride ( Fullers London Pride )

Belgium is interesting also

The US would be pretty low down on my list TBH

Slattsy

I've been to Belgium twice and I didn't really enjoy the beer there. Tried an awful lot of random beers but none were exceptional.

Munich and Prague for me. Krakov gets an honourable mention too.

reeb

http://beeradvocate.com/lists/popular
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/top-50/

Beeradvocate and ratebeers top beer lists. The only non US or Belgian beers that I can see are from Montreal and Denmark.

Leftist

reeb wrote: »

Ive never had Gambrinus, but while Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen 11 are nice pilsner/lagers and lovely fresh from the cask, they are middle of the road mass produced beers which in no way compare to Irish craft beer.People have mad ideas about beer.

wasn't really commenting on local brewery beers but there are locally produced beers in prague which are just fantasitc, better than the regulars.

In terms of mainstream or local breweries it has excellent choices.

Shenshen

reeb wrote: »

http://beeradvocate.com/lists/popular
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/top-50/

Beeradvocate and ratebeers top beer lists. The only non US or Belgian beers that I can see are from Montreal and Denmark.

I would recommend this place :

http://www.beerguide.de/bamberg/bamberg.htm

Zebra3

Davidth88 wrote: »

The US would be pretty low down on my list TBH

There's more to US beers than Bud.

http://refreshingbeer.blogspot.ie/2012/06/is-this-programme-that-will-be-wake-up.html

Seaneh

Shenshen wrote: »

FanadMan wrote: »

Here are the 10 best beer cities in the world according to USAtoday. No guessing where most of them are lol. Still good reading though.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/02/10-best-beer-cities-in-the-world/1608885/

If I had anything to do with it, don't think would have put any American cities in there cos most of their beers are terrible. Would have put Kerva (in Finland) in the list just because of their Karhu beers...especially their Karhu IV brew...talk about sex in a glass!

I love how the twon with the highest density of breweries in the world doesn't even get mentioned.

Montreal?? I've been there, nice town, but not notable for the beer, sorry.
And Dublin? Sure, if you like the same 5 brews on tab in every single last pub, with no variety, that's the town for you.

American beers are terrible? Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Dogfish Head, Odell, Great Lakes, Deschutes, Russian River, Alaskan, Stone, etc etc etc. American micro/craft breweries are the world wide benchmark for quality, inovation and creativity and American crat beer is, generally, the best in the world.

no country besides maybe belgium even comes close.

munchkin_utd

the question though is very open as to what a "beer city" is.

some cities may be a barren wasteland of 100s of pubs selling coors and bud or other watery stuff, with a dozen places selling great craft beer.
Is that a "good" beer city, where you have to actively seek out something that is drinkable? Regardless of the reward when you find the odd microbrewery.

Thats where cities like say Bruges or Ghent or Munich are hard to argue against. Regardless of where you go theres very palatable beer. Even in the culture of the cities themselves the local beer is a central part.
i.e. in Munich the beergarden laws which date back to pre refrigeration times that require beergardens (which were once the only source of a cool beer on a hot day) to allow you to bring your own food so that even the normal folk could afford an afternoon in the beergarden.
Or the beer riots when the citizens were outraged at an over the top increase in the price of a pint!

I wouldnt have anecdotes from Belgium, except maybe that beer is so much part of their culture that there was an initiative to have very low strength beer served to the kids in school. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jun/21/schools.education
Not sure how that ended up, but the fact it even was mooted in the first place shows the place of beer in the life of their cities.

uch

reeb wrote: »

Hate to break it to you lads but US beer is the best in the world by a country mile and has been for some time.

US beer is poxy pissy shíte, and has always been

Cienciano

Some strange opinions on american beer here, it's probably the best country in the world for beers.

Surprised to see Dublin there. While there is a few good pubs with good selections of beer, the vast majority terrible. In fact, Dublin is one of the worst beer cities in the world! (Great drinking city though).
Never been to Brussels, but from what I hear it should be there.
I

Zebra3

uch wrote: »

US beer is poxy pissy shíte, and has always been

Mainstream stuff is crap, but go on, list us all the American beers you've tried which you don't like....

reilig

Leuven in Belgium - Just outside brussles.

Home to the Stella Artois Brewery - the tour of the factory floor is worthwhile where you can drink Stella from the tap at the bottom of ove of the big brewing vats.

However, the city of lueven doesn't focus on Stella. Cheap and tasty beer from across Belgium can be bought from any one of the 100 pubs in the main square 24 hours per day. Its a drinker's paradise!! And its cheap.

Seaneh

Zebra3 wrote: »

uch wrote: »

US beer is poxy pissy shíte, and has always been

Mainstream stuff is crap, but go on, list us all the American beers you've tried which you don't like....

i doubt the list will include the likes of Pliney The Elder or The Abyss...

Schism

I'm glad people have defended American brewing. That's the first thing I was going to do after reading the OP but you've got there for me!

El Horseboxo

I've been all over the US for work in the past few months and have got to try some amazing beers. Bells 2 hearted ale, Founders Kentucky stout, Stone arrogant bastard, Dogfish head, Sierra Nevada, Pliney the elder, Goose island stout, Oscar blues dale ale, Troegs. There's just too many.

Anybody that says the US doesn't do good beer hasn't a clue what they are talking about and have probably only tasted Bud and Coors.

Cienciano

reilig wrote: »

Leuven in Belgium - Just outside brussles.

Home to the Stella Artois Brewery - the tour of the factory floor is worthwhile where you can drink Stella from the tap at the bottom of ove of the big brewing vats.

However, the city of lueven doesn't focus on Stella. Cheap and tasty beer from across Belgium can be bought from any one of the 100 pubs in the main square 24 hours per day. Its a drinker's paradise!! And its cheap.

Just googled that place. Have to think of an excuse to go there now!

Spread

Most of the very popular stuff is pure piss. Coors, Bud Lite et al. should have their licences revoked. Micro brewery stuff can be good/great but hype rules out here and the heaviest advertising is winning at the moment.
However, I've no problem getting Smithwicks or Guinness in the supermarkets at a decent price.
Regarding American pubs ........ you can't compare like with like. There is one pub in my local town that sells pints for $1 at 5PM ........ $1.50 at 6PM ...... and $2 - $2.50 after that. A bit rowdy as this is a University town but at least it displays signs of life .
It's hard to beat a good Irish or English pub for the craic but for the best beer I'd go further East.

Leftist

american beers

buck65

buck65 wrote: »

Dublin is a joke in that list. We produce one world renowned decent product that has been watered and chilled to kill the taste.
Fair play to the micro breweries in Ireland though, Porterhouse, Franciscan Brewery Cork, Galway Hooker, O Hara's etc. that is the real beer list. Pity the vintners still feel the need to serve imported rubbish like Heineken, Carlsberg, Bud, Miller and ****ing Coors.

Because the stuff from the microbrewerys is rank imo and a lot of people would agree with me. I would rather stay at home than drink the beer from the Franciscan well. Bad enough you cant get Guinness or Smithwicks but you cant even get a bottle of Corona or bud or something to tide you over in the place if you have to go there for some reason.

Seaneh

Kallie Many Lip wrote: »

buck65 wrote: »

Dublin is a joke in that list. We produce one world renowned decent product that has been watered and chilled to kill the taste.
Fair play to the micro breweries in Ireland though, Porterhouse, Franciscan Brewery Cork, Galway Hooker, O Hara's etc. that is the real beer list. Pity the vintners still feel the need to serve imported rubbish like Heineken, Carlsberg, Bud, Miller and ****ing Coors.

Because the stuff from the microbrewerys is rank imo and a lot of people would agree with me. I would rather stay at home than drink the beer from the Franciscan well. Bad enough you cant get Guinness or Smithwicks but you cant even get a bottle of Corona or bud or something to tide you over in the place if you have to go there for some reason.

have you no tastebuds at all?