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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Beer Traveler: 150 Perfect Places to Have a Beer


All About Beer Magazine is out with a special issue that came in a co-pack to subscribers with the current regular issue. I had the pleasure of writing two of the articles for the "Beer Traveler" magazine. One is a 12-day trip to the beer hot spots of Germany and the other is the cover story, "150 Perfect Places to Have a B

Want to start a healthy debate among your friends? Ask everyone to name their top 10 places to enjoy a beer.

In 2008, All About Beer Magazine published a list of the “125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die.” The story resulted in the single highest number of reader responses in the 30 year history of the magazine. We decided to revive the debate and expand the list to 150 places.

See how many places you can cross off this ultimate “Growler List.” We certainly know how we plan to use some of those frequent flyer miles we have in the bank.

1. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
2. Augustiner Keller, Munich, Germany
3. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval, Orval, Belgium
4. Monk’s Café, Philadelphia, PA
5. Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court, London, England
6. Schlenkerla Heller-Brau Trum, Bamberg, Germany
7. Horse Brass Pub, Portland, OR
8. Kulminator, Antwerp, Belgium
9. The Hopleaf, Chicago, IL
10. Toronado, San Francisco, CA
11. Zum Uerige, Dusseldorf, Germany
12. The Market Porter, Stoney Street, London, England
13. Oregon Brewers Festival, Portland, OR
14. U Fleku, Prague, Czech Republic
15. Andechs Monastery, Andechs, Germany
16. Falling Rock Tap House, Denver, CO
17. Fruh au Dom, Cologne, Germany
18. The Bull & Castle, Dublin, Ireland
19. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
20. Brouwer’s Cafe, Seattle, WA
21. Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn, NY
22. Brick Store Pub, Decatur, GA
23. Cantillon Brewery and Gueuze Museum, Belgium
24. Brauhaus Sion, Cologne, Germany
25. Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, Portland, OR
26. The Gingerman, Austin, TX
27. t’Bruges Biertja, Bruges, Belgium
28. The Brickskeller, Washington, DC
29. Bruxellensis Festival of Characterful Beers, Brussels, Belgium
30. The Flying Saucer, NC, SC, TN, MO, AR and TX
31. d.b.a., New York, NY
32. Kaffe de Hopduvel, Ghent, Belgium
33. The Great Lost Bear, Portland, ME
34. Spatenhaus au der Oper, Munich, Germany
35. Uber Tavern, Seattle, WA
36. The Blue Tusk, Syracuse, NY
37. Brauhaus Spandau, Berlin, Germany
38. The Wynkoop Brewery, Denver, CO
39. World Beer Festival, Durham/Raleigh, NC, Columbia, SC, Richmond, VA
40. Cadieux Café, Detroit, MI
41. Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
42. Porterhouse (Temple Bar), Dublin, Ireland
43. Mondial de la Bière, Montreal, Quebec
44. Krčma, Ceske Krumlov, Czech Republic
45. Le Bier Circus, Brussels, Belgium
46. Library Ale House, Santa Monica, CA
47. Pizza Port & Port Brewing, Solana Beach, CA
48. Akkurat, Stockholm, Sweden
49. Rogue Brewery, Newport, OR
50. Great Canadian Beer Festival, Vancouver, BC
51. Marine Hotel, Stonehaven, Scotland
52. Clark Street Ale House, Chicago, IL
53. Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern, Monroe, WI
54. Czech Beer Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
55. The Beer Engine, Lakewood, OH
56. Au General Lafayette, Paris, France
57. Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH
58. Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany
59. Blue Moon Brewing at the SandLot, Coors Field, Denver, CO
60. Beer Club Popeye, Tokyo, Japan
61. Volo, Toronto, ON
62. Weihenstephan Brewery, Freising, Germany
63. Selin’s Grove Brewing, Selinsgrove, PA
64. Clark’s Ale House, Syracuse, NY
65. Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
66. Wilimantic Brewing Co., Wilimantic, CT
67. Great Taste of the Midwest, Madison, WI
68. Brasserie Federal (Hopbahnhof), Zurich, Switzerland
69. Gritty McDuff’s, Portland, ME
70. Halve Maan Brewery, Bruges, Belgium
71. Sapporo Beer Garden, Higashi-ku, Japan
72. Blind Tiger Ale House, New York, NY
73. Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD
74. Birreria l’Orso Eletricco, Rome, Italy
75. Pivovarsky Klub, Prague, Czech Republic
76. Stumbling Monk, Seattle, WA
77. Belgo Central, London, England
78. Anchor Brewing Tasting Room, San Francisco, CA
79. Eulogy Belgian Tavern, Philadelphia, PA
80. Arend’s Nest, Amsterdam, Holland
81. The Gravity Bar, Guinness St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
82. The Australian Hotel, Sydney, Australia
83. Zly Casy, Prague, Czech Republic
84. Cooter Brown’s, New Orleans, LA
85. Delerium Café, Brussels, Belgium
86. The Olde Mitre Tavern, Ely Court, London, England
87. Delilah’s, Chicago, Illinois
88. Deschutes Brewery & Publick House, Bend, OR
89. Mahar’s, Albany, NY
90. Nederlands Biercafe ‘t Arendsnest, Amsterdam, Holland
91. Dogfish Head Ale House, Rehoboth Beach, DE
92. Sail and Anchor Brewpub, Fremantle, Australia
93. Mecklenburg Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
94. The Map Room, Chicago, IL
95. The Publick House, Brookline, MA
96. Gosenschenke Ohne Bedenken, Leipzig, Germany
97. Holiday Ale Festival, Portland, OR
98. Olympen Mat og Vinhus, Oslo, Norway
99. O’Brien’s Pub, San Diego, CA
100. Antares Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
101. Bierproeflokaal In de Wildeman, Amsterdam, Holland
102. beerbistro, Toronto, Canada
103. Charlie’s Bar, Copenhagen, Denmark
104. McSorley’s Ale House, New York, NY
105. Die Weisse, Salzburg, Austria
106. Irseer Klosterbrauerei, Irsee, Germany
107. Max’s Tap House, Baltimore, MD
108. McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel, Portland, OR
109. Chez Moeder Lambic, Brussels, Belgium
110. Sunset Grille & Tap, Boston, MA
111. McNellie’s Bar, Tulsa, OK
112. PINT Bokbierfestival, Amsterdam, Holland
113. Redbones Restaurant, Somerville, MA
114. Sleeping Lady Brewery/Snow Goose Restaurant, Anchorage, AK
115. Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
116. The Happy Gnome, St. Paul, MN
117. Milltown, Carrboro, NC
118. Zythos Bier Festival, Sint Niklaas, Belgium
119. The Thirsty Monk, Asheville, NC
120. Goose Island Brewing, Chicago, IL
121. Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, CA
122. Moan and Dove, Amherst, MA
123. Neuzeller Kloster Brau, Neuzelle, Germany
124. Kelham Island Tavern, Sheffield, England
125. Taco Mac, GA & TN
126. American Flatbread Burlington Hearth, Burlington, VT
127. The White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, London, England
128. Tinkoff, Moscow, Russia
129. 5 Seasons Brewing, Atlanta, GA
130. The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh, PA
131. The Alibi Room, Vancouver, BC
132. Gösser Bierklinik, Vienna, Austria
133. Stockholm Beer & Whiskey Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
134. The Bell, Aldworth, Berkshire, England
135. Brouwerij ‘t Ij, Amsterdam, Holland
136. TY Harbor Brewery, Tokyo, Japan
137. The Heart & Thistle, Halifax, Nova Scotia
138. Ye Olde Chesire Cheese, London, England
139. The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, WI
140. Mitchell’s Waterfront Brewery & Scottish Ale House, Cape Town, South Africa
141. Kelly’s Caribbean Bar, Grill & Brewery, Key West, FL
142. Cole’s, Buffalo, NY
143. Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam, Holland
144. The Dubliner, Washington, DC
145. Matt Brewery Tasting Room, Utica, NY
146. The Shakespeare, Aukland, New Zealand
147. Boxing Cat Brewery, Shanghai, China
148. Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, DC
149. Bar 35, Honolulu, Hawaii
150. Mr. Sancho’s Beach, Cozumel, Mexico

21 comments:

Jon said...

What, no Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon? That should have been #1 among the Oregon entries! Switch out Henry's in Portland for this one. :)

Anonymous said...

Kennedy School in Portland? Don't they have, like, 5 beers there? Sure it's a cool place and all, but it's definitely not a destination beer haven.

Scotty said...

Cool blog! Do you mind if I re-post this on the Guinness facebook page to let people know?
www.facebook.com/GuinnessUS

Rick Lyke said...

RE: Kennedy School's beer selection. Actually, beer count is not critical to being included on this list. In fact, there several examples on the list (like U Fleku in Prague and Fruh au Dom in Cologne) where just a single beer is usually being served.

Rick Lyke said...

Scotty:
Go ahead, feel free to post this info to Facebook.
Cheers!
Rick

Robert Runyon said...

The Oregon order of bars is pretty much the exact order of recommendations I give to tourists looking for places to go in Portland. Well done list.

Anonymous said...

Very good list. Huge fan of GABF in Denver. Instead of multiple bars in Portland it could just be 'Portland' as its enough said. Henrys' is worth seeing once! But probably the worst "beer" bar in Portland.

Dave said...

Great Canadian Beer Festival is in Victoria, not Vancouver.

tfols1 said...

Admit that I can't figure out Old Ebbits being on that list. Known for it's raw bar and seafood... I mean, I am sure it has a beer list, but odd.

In the DC area you have: Churchkey, Rustico, Pizzaria Paradiso that would all be much much more appropriate.

Sam said...

Fantastic list. I've got a lot of places to visit. I had my wedding in January at the Happy Gnome (upstairs). Probably my favorite bar ever. We had 75 beers on tap for our guests.

Unknown said...

Here's 2 you may have overlooked:

Churchill's Pub & Grille. San Marcos, Ca. 50+ taps, 2 beer engines and an UNREAL bottle list. Plus, the best Fish n Chips in San Diego.

Hamilton's Tavern, San Diego. Seedy looking neighborhood bar with an incredible tap and bottle list.

Anonymous said...

A very good list in general, but I have two complaints:

- Delerium Cafe is just packed with 18 year olds getting plastered on whatever the cheapest beer is in the bar - not a great place for enjoying beer.

- I think that the festivals should probably be pulled out into their own list. They're not places you can go to every day like the majority of the spots on this list. It's like comparing a World Cup game to a friendly.

Unknown said...

Top 12 Places Not Listed:
1. Essenhaus/Come Back In, Madison, WI
2. Great Dane, Madison, WI
3. Student Union, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
4. Stone Brewing, Escondido, CA
5. Belga Cafe, Washington,D.C.
6. Brasserie Beck, Washington D.C.
7. Walking Man, Stevenson, WA
8.Pelican, Pacific City, OR
9. Lagunitas tasting room, Petaluma, CA
10. Elfde Gebod (Eleventh Commandment), Antwerp,BE
11. Toone Cafe, Brussels, BE
12. Brasserie d' Achouffe Tavern, Achouffe, BE

Also, Pizza Port, Carlsbad should be added to the Pizza Port listing...

Unknown said...

A few more for the top places not listed in top 150:

Tyler's Taproom, Durham, NC
Barley's Taproom, Asheville, NC
Hacker House, Munich
Beer garden at Chinese Tower, English Garden, Munich

Robert Runyon should update his tourist advisory list check out the following in Portland, OR:
1. Belmont Station on Stark and 45th
2. Green Dragon on 9th and Belmont
3. Concordia Ale house on Killingsworth and 33rd (when you get bored with the beer selection at Kennedy School down the street).

jenny bento said...

AAOA--Belmont Station? I think you mean Horse Brass which is on the list--BS is just the attached store....

Unknown said...

Ah Jenny Bento, Belmont Station has come an awful long way since its days as the Horsebrass corner package store. In fact, its probably one of the very best beer destinations in PDX. The store moved a few blocks north from Belmont to Stark Street but still on 45th Ave. It has about 15 very well chosen taps in the bar area but what really unique is its enormous bottled beer selection in coolers of the attached package store. Not happy with the tap list (highly unlikely)? Stroll over to the shop and pick out a special bottle to consume at the bar. Not too many places like it except maybe Bottleworks in Seattle (which only has a few taps and a makeshift bar).

Anonymous said...

An extremely peculiar and random selection of tourist pubs and tempory beer festivals in London and England. Have you actually been here?!

James F. DeLorme jr. said...

HOWARDS PUB , ocracoke NC...should be #1......apparently it is the oldest established bar in all of america and was opened by blackbeards quartermaster.....yes the pirate....if you havent been, you just have not been

Krups beertender b95 said...

Oktoberfest in Munich is great to kick off and have some good time! Great list!

Anonymous said...

What about rate beer top10?

1) Ebenezer Kezars (Lovell, Maine) 96.8
RESTAURANT - Taps: 35 | Bottles: 300

2) The Lion’s Pride (Brunswick, Maine) 93.8
RESTAURANT - Taps: 35 | Bottles: lots

3) Picobrouwerij Alvinne Den Bier-en Proefzolder (Heule, Belgium) 93.2
BREWERY - Taps: 2 | Bottles: 225

4) Avenue Pub (New Orleans, Louisiana 93
BAR - Taps: 32 | Bottles: 50

5) Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà (Rome, Italy) 92.7
BAR - Taps: 16 | Bottles: 90

6) De Heeren van Liedekercke (Denderleeuw, Belgium) 92.6
RESTAURANT - Bottles: 300+

7) The Porter Beer Bar (Atlanta, Georgia) 91
BAR - Taps: 30 | Bottles: 100

8) Brasserie 4:20 (Rome, Italy) 90.8
RESTAURANT - Taps: 34 | Bottles: 420

9) Bakushu Club Popeye (Tokyo, Japan) 90.7
BAR - Taps: 70 | Bottles: 20+

10) Kulminator (Antwerpen, Belgium) 90.7
BAR - Taps: 5+ | Bottles: 550+

Unknown said...

wow! Bar list is quite long!Belgium's bar are great place to have chilling beers from wide selection of beers to suite your taste.The Belgian capital may be famous for its beers and "moules frites", but there are a lot more exciting venues to discover than pubs and bistrots. "Denier Bar" in Belgium is a cool designer pub where the interior design is as eye-catching as its tap beer.


Best beer bars in brussels