EU / UK Beer

[DanielG]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, as it doesn't pertain to homebrew, but I'm going to be abroad in the UK / EU for the month and was looking if anybody could give me suggestions on good brews to find while I'm across the pond.

I'll be in England, France, Spain, Hungary and Germany.

Thanks in advance!!

Also, I'll move this to the correct area if need be...

 

[zoomzilla]

They don't drink very much beer in Europe. Good luck finding a pub.
Honestly though, I think I once saw on a TV show that each railway stop in England- or maybe just a particular rail line- has a small pub that each serves its own specialty brew. I think it would be neat to drink by rail with no particular place to go. If I lived in Europe I would be an alcoholic because you never have to drive anywhere.

 

[schokie]

Can you give specific cities? All the common European beers that you find in the States are also popular all over Europe. But if you give specific cities or regions of the country(ies) we can give you some solid recommendations. Most of the great ones you've never heard of tend to be a little more regional.

 

[DanielG]

Can you give specific cities? All the common European beers that you find in the States are also popular all over Europe. But if you give specific cities or regions of the country(ies) we can give you some solid recommendations. Most of the great ones you've never heard of tend to be a little more regional.

Absolutely. I'll be in London, England; Oxford, England; Paris, France; Nice, France; Cannes, France; Barcelona, Spain; Budapest, Hungary and Berlin, Germany.

 

[schokie]

In London you'll find a lot of malt forward bitters, like Fullers ESB or London Pride. Londoners seem like to their beers a little sweeter and maltier then the rest of the country. Anything by Greene King will be ok, but they've gotten a little more mass produced over the years. If you can, try some of their Morland Brewery stuff like Old Speckled Hen. Adams brewery won't disappoint. Southwold for the win. Most bar tenders in the proper pubs will knowledgable about beer, so tell them what styles you like and they can recommend something for you. If you PM me with the part(s) of London you'll be in I can recommend specific locations.

Spain and France have some good beers such as saisons in France, but I always drank wine when I went to those countries. Even their cheap swill is good.

In Germany you can safely order any beer at all at random and you won't be disappointed. Germans take their beer even more seriously than the Brits do.

 

[DanielG]

In London you'll find a lot of malt forward bitters, like Fullers ESB or London Pride. Londoners seem like to their beers a little sweeter and maltier then the rest of the country. Anything by Greene King will be ok, but they've gotten a little more mass produced over the years. If you can, try some of their Morland Brewery stuff like Old Speckled Hen. Adams brewery won't disappoint. Southwold for the win. Most bar tenders in the proper pubs will knowledgable about beer, so tell them what styles you like and they can recommend something for you. If you PM me with the part(s) of London you'll be in I can recommend specific locations.

Spain and France have some good beers such as saisons in France, but I always drank wine when I went to those countries. Even their cheap swill is good.

In Germany you can safely order any beer at all at random and you won't be disappointed. Germans take their beer even more seriously than the Brits do.

Thanks! I'll be all over the place in London. Aiming to get my hands on really any sort of beer / wine / cider which isn't available over here in the states. I've heard a lot of good things about the local wineries in France, too. I'll have to try some of their saisons as well. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Eucrid]

Brewdog have 4 or 5 pubs in London now. They'll be well worth checking out for more modern beers. Most pubs will have a few good English ales on tap or even cask. Whetherspoons pubs are generally derided for being a big chain thats not very personal but they will always have a few good cask ales that are worth checking out.

I've always found Spain terrible for beer but brilliant for wine. I like to drink a lot of Cava when I'm there because its just so cheap. SWMBO drinks Rioja by the gallon when we're there too.

France again is mainly good for wine. If you're out of the cities you'll find amazing little vineyards on the side of the roads selling amazing wine for a couple of euros. Just don't try to take it with you, that stuff is usually only good fresh and needs to be drank quickly.

Germany is Germany, great beer everywhere.

 

[Hujo]

Camden and Siren are two brittish breweries that I'd recommend you to try if you get a chance!


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