We’re all agreed, nothing looks better with a moustache than a foaming pint of beer. From blonde lagers to malty ales, whatever gets your beer buds turned on, you’re guaranteed to find a quality brew to match your taste (and moustache) in any of the following cities:
Prague
The locals of the Czech Republic capital, lovingly nickname beer tekutý chléb, translated as ‘liquid bread’. They live for the stuff! Czech beer is one of the country’s most famous exports but there is one kind of Czech beer that they don’t export: unpasteurised. Prague has plenty of pubs, known as tankovnas, which serve up unpasteurised beer, but just what is it exactly? For countries to export beer, it needs to be heated to 60 degrees for half an hour in order to kill any bacteria and give it a longer shelf life. Unpasturised beer doesn’t go through this process and instead is served up straight from the tank (hence tankovnas).
Our favourite tankovnas to visit in Prague include Lokál on Dlouhá Street – one of the top places for a fresh, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell thanks to the fact visitors can openly see the tanks, great for adding a real beer hall feel. Another top tankovna is U Medvídků at Na Perštýně 7 which sells unpasteurised Budvar. It’ll be popular with tourists, but locals visit here too to grab a pint and some traditional Czech food.
- Czech Beer Festival: Taking place in May each year, the Czech Beer Festival offers over 70 brands of Czech beer alongside food from local bakers, butchers and acclaimed chefs. For 17 days in Prague, waiters and waitresses dress in traditional costume to serve up thousands of pints of golden beer to visitors, set against a background of live music.
Montreal
If you want something a bit tastier than Coors to watch the hockey with, Montreal boasts some exceptional craft beers in its many brewpubs. As hockey serves to be as a cut-throat sport with a lot of hard numbers behind the outcomes, why not also try these NHL sports betting picks here! Montreal’s brewpubs are large and spacious, but not intimidating, and have a strong focus on food too. Whilst in Quebec the most popular beers are dark and strong, Montreal has a much more diverse choice, with everything from dry IPAs to crisp pilsners.
Our recommend brewpubs to visit in Montreal include Le Saint Bock, mostly because of the ridiculous number of different beers available, nearly 850 to be exact, giving it the nickname Bible of Beer! Le Cheval Blanc is one of the oldest microbreweries in Montreal and has a strong selection of craft beers to try, including blondes, stouts and IPAs.
- Mondial de la Bière: Canada’s largest beer festival serves up over 500 craft beers, ciders and meads each June. Good beer and good food go hand-in-hand and Montreal’s Beer Festival boasts snacks including deer, kangaroo, bison and wild boar on a stick! For beer lovers looking to start their own home brewery, there are also workshops from local brewers to take advantage of.
Munich
Drinking in Munich is a very outdoor affair with hundreds of beer gardens serving up locally brewed beers. There are a couple of tours available which will take you around the most popular pubs, including dedicated beer bikes, but it can be just as enjoyable to wander the streets yourself, dropping into the beer gardens that take your fancy as and when you come across them.
Topping our list of Munich’s finest beer establishments are Augustiner Keller on Arnulfstrasse; Paulaner Keller, an unshakeable fixture on Munich’s beer scene, and Airbräu, located in Munich airport, should you require a final pint to see you on your way. For a historical touch, the Hofbräuhaus in Amtsgericht includes a lavish restaurant which was founded in 1589 by Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria. Three years later, the first Hofbräuhaus brown ale was brewed there; and the rest, as they say, is history.
- Oktoberfest: Arguably THE most famous beer festival in the world, Oktoberfest attracts tens of thousands of beer lovers every year around late September and October, with huge beer tents, folk music and tasty German food. If you’re not in Munich when Oktoberfest is on, pay a visit to the Bier- und Oktoberfest Museum, which provides an overview of the history of beer-making in Germany as well as festival photos dating back to the early 1900s.
Sydney
Sydney locals call themselves beer connoisseurs and it’s not surprising considering the ripe selection of craft beer pubs the city is home to. For starters, the Union Hotel in the suburb of Newtown promotes the best of Sydney’s dark ales and stouts with an enviable sunny beer garden. The 4 Pines Brewing Company (conveniently located above Manly Cinemas) serves up five house specialties; kolsch, hefeweizen, extra special bitter, pale ale and stout. A relative new comer to the pub scene in Sydney is The Dove and Olive, which won locals over with an attentive craft beer menu. The Dove and Olive also host a monthly Craft Beer Fight Club where two brewery’s fight for the honour of being the pub’s ‘Brew of the Month’.
- The Australian Beer Festival: Held at the Heritage Hotel in Sydney, this highly regarded beer festival showcases ciders, ales, dark beers and special brews for the enjoyment of both beer connoisseurs and beer beginners. With live entertainment and the hotel’s tasty gourmet pizzas to accompany, the festival is a big hit with both locals and visitors.
Steph Sheehan prefers a crisp blonde (Erdinger ideally) over darker stouts and works with Maximise to help lads find the best beer soaked cities for their stag and bachelor breaks. Find out more at http://www.maximise.co.uk/
About Douglas Smythe
