Ardennes & Bière de Garde Special ™ (15-18 June 2008)

Ardennes & Bière de Garde Special™
PM-080615


This amazing tour has been put together to mix the Ardennes region of Belgium with the Pays de Meuse region in Lorraine in Northern France, an area most noted for its WW1 Battle of Verdun.
An incredible tour.
Dates
Sunday 15-Wednesday 18 June 2008
Pick-up
1030/10.30am
Frankfurt airport (please contact us for other pick-up points).
Drop-off
0900/9.00am
Meuse TGV station.
This is just 25km south of Verdun and has links to Paris, Lille and of course the Eurostar.

Outline Itinerary
Please note locations are to be confirmed.
Day 1-Sunday
Into the Ardennes, Belgium Beer Night

• Wiltz Beiermusee, (LUX)
• Brasserie d'Achouffe (B)
• Belgium Beer Night
• Beer dinner
• Overnight-La Vieille Forge, Mont (B)
  

Day 2-Monday
Ardennes, Trappistes & Crusaders

• Mardasson Memorial, Bastogne (B)
• Millevertus Brewery, Toernich (B)
  
• Orval Abbey, Villers-devant-Orval
• Bouillon Crusader Castle
• Bouillon town
• La Vieille Ardenne (bier-cafe & restaurant)
• Overnight-Bouillon (B)

Day 3-Tuesday
Castles, Forts, Breweries & Battle Sites!

• Chateau Fort de Sedan, Sedan (F)
• Brasserie de Chateau Fort, Sedan
• Musee de Biere, Stenay
• Brasserie de Chateau Charmois (chateau micro-brewery)
  
• Vauquois Hill (village wiped off the map in WW1)
• Brasserie de Rarecourt
• Ossuaire de Douaumont (& surrounding WW1 sites)
• Verdun town
• L'Estaminet Microbrasserie, Verdun
  
• Le Lapin qui Fume-The rabbit who smokes! (bier-cafe)
  
• Overnight-Verdun (F)

Day 4-Wednesday
Drop-off

• Meuse TGV station

Number Places
Only 8 total.

Map.

Photos from area.

Cheers,
Bier-Mania!

Something new to me is Ambien. It is taken for insomnia and may affect some of you coming over on long-haul flights.
So....
Do you ever get jet lagged on a long trip and then take ambien to help you  sleep? Don't let Ambien addiction happen to you

Bier-Mania! Tour Maps

Just to let you know that we are constantly updating our tours maps for Europe and USA (Colorado), used in conjunction with Ron Pattinson's European Beer Guide these are a 'one-stop-shop' for online information about where to go in search of beer in the Beer Zones we cover.
For UK and especially London, see Stonch's Beer Blog for up to date information on the UK beer scene.

Have a look at the General Europe Map for the Beer Zones we are currently doing tours in.

All individual Tours Maps can be seen as follows, tour codes are in brackets.
Please note that Trade Mark applies.

A word of warning before you get your map, GPS and hire car and set off along Europe's backwaters- DRINK DRIVING-DON'T.
Leave the driving to firms such as Bier-Mania! We know where we are going (usually!), have the tour experience and have built a network of locations throughout the zones.
So, as usual, pour yourself a beer and go wandering online around Europe, soon most locations will have photos as well!

1. »Düsseldorf Classic«TM (NC)
• Niederrehein (Lower Rhine) Region.
• Germany, Netherlands.
• Altbier, Kölsch, Dutch special beer.
• Test tube glasses.
  
2. »Ardennes Special«TM (AS)
• Ardennes region.
• Belgium.
• Belgian special beers, Trappiste beers.
• battle of the Bulge
  
• Gnomes.
3. »Combination Tours & Events«TM (PM)
• Mixed tours, combined or ad-hoc.
• Events, beer festivals, medieval nights (?!).
• German or Belgium Beer Nights.
4. »Franconia & Bamberg Special«TM (SB)
• Danube, UNESCO Regensburg.
• Fränkische Schweiz, Bayreuth, Bamberg.
• Germany.
  
• Germany's and the world recors for breweries per capita.
• World record for consumption per capita!
• Smoked beers, Kellerbiers.....
• Old ladies drinking pints!
  
5. »Oktoberfest/Bayern Special«TM (MB)
• Munich, Salzburg, Regensburg.
• Bavarian Alps, Austrian Alps.
• Germany, Austria.
  
• King Lüdwig's castles.
• Very large beers....Märzenbier.
  
• Oktoberfest, largest Volksfest (peoples' fest) in the world.
• Dirnd'ls. Lovely.
• Singing.
  
6. »Bruges & Flanders Special«TM (BF)
• Bruges, West Flanders, French Flanders.
• Belgium, France.
• Oude Bruin beer, Biere de Garde, Trappiste.
• WW1.
• Hops.
  
7. »Bohemia Czech Special«TM (BC)
• Sumava region, Ceske Krumlov, Budweis, Prague UNESCO, Pilsen.
• Czech Republic.
• Bavararian Forest & Zoigl Country, Germany.
  
• Pilsner beer, amber beers, dark beers, unfiltered beers...Zoigl.
• Stroppy bus drivers!
• Un-intelligable German....
  
8. »Great Belgium Beer Tour«TM (GBBT)
• All 9 Belgian Provinces.
• See all 6 Belgian Trappiste monasteries.
• Drink every type of Belgian beer style....in the very place the beer comes from!
• Gourmet food, beer dinners.
• A damn good time!
9. »Bière de Garde Special«TM BG
• Lorraine, Pay de Meuse region of north France.
• Champagne region, soon...
• Biere de Garde.
• WW1 Verdun battle sites.
10. »Colorado Mountains Wild West Special«TM (WWBT)
• Denver and Rocky Mountains.
• USA.
  
• Breweries, brewpubs.
• Buffalo Bill.

Enjoy!
Also, a word of warning to people who wish to copy our tours in a 'professional capacity', please DON'T!
Cheers,
Bier-Mania!

Bruges and Flanders Special (18-19 May 2008) Tour Itinerary

Bruges & Flanders Special
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The Final Itinerary for the Bruges & Flanders Special tour from Monday 18-Tuesday 19 May 2008 will be out within the next day.
Cheers,
Bier-Mania!

Great Belgium Beer Tour™ (23 May-01 June 2008) Update

Great Belgium Beer Tour™
GBBT-080523
The following breweries have now confirmed tours-

• Bosteels brewery (Triple Karmeliet, Kwak, Deus)

• Dupont brewery

• Rodenbach

Final Itinerary will be out within the next day.
Looking forward to an excellent 10-day tour.

Cheers,
Andy

Oktoberfest 2008 (Update)

Latest update, tours are filling up fast.
Book now to avoid disappointment and/or a very expensive plane ticket!

Cheers,
Andy

London's German Bier Fest (Update)

Only 6 'sleeps' to go till London will have some of Germany's finest beer!

The Beers (update)
We have added another 50 litres (scared we'd run out) so we now have 310 litres of draught beer from 13 different breweries and 17 different beers.
We have added Bolten Hefe Weizen and Bolten LBB Pils (saw all the beer yesterday at the brewery and couldn't resist it....!).

Beer List page 1
Beer List page 2

By the way, if you want to know more about the beers then you'll have to come along and drink them!
Prost!
See you all next week.
Andy

Oktoberfest 2008

This year's Oktoberfest itinerary is now out!
Pour yourself a cool beer, stick on Country Roads at maximum volume whilst also playing some oompah music.

Then print off the Oktoberfest 2008 Itinerary and have a read. I you like what you see, let us know!
The itinerary is the same for all 5 tours.
Please remember, the itinerary is © 2008 Bier-Mania!.

Prost!
Andy
Bier-Mania!

GBBT-080905 Map

Great Belgium Beer Tour
Belgium Grand Prix
Please see the GBBT-080905 Tour Map.
Cheers,
Andy

GBBT-080523

For the Proposed Itinerary for Day 2, Day 3, day 4 of the Great Belgium Beer Tour TM, please see the following-
GBBT-080523 Proposed Itinerary

• Pick-up Bruges
• Den Dyver beer meal, Bruges
• West Vlaanderen
• French Flandre
• Flandre Beer food, Kerelshof, Mont Cassel
• Du Pont, Saison Country
• Rodenbach
• And much more.....
• Drop-off Bruxelles
  

Cheers,
Andy

London's German Bier Fest-Map of Beers

To get an idea of where all the beers are actually from, have a look at the Beer Map.

Cheers,
Andy

Bruxellensis 2008

This year's Bruxellensis Festival is on Saturday 13 September and Sunday 14 September.

For more information see Bruxellensis Festival.

We should be there, more information nearer the time.

A great festival, well organised by Yvan and Bernard, some great beers and of course a damn good time!

Cheers,
Andy

London's German Bier Fest 15-17 May 2008

London's German Bier Fest
This prestigious event has been organised by Bier-Mania! Cultural Beer Tours and Zeitgeist (@ Jolly Gardeners) German pub in Lambeth in association with Stonch from Stonch's Beer Blog.
The Beers
We have around 250 litres of draught beer from 13 different breweries and 15 different beers. These are all beers which have a shelf life of around 3 to 4 weeks and as such never make it to the shores of the UK.
Beer List page 1
Beer List page 2

Most beer is in 10l barrels (Stichfass), although in order to give a larger beer selection we will also have some beer via Zapfanlage (CO2) such as the Rauchbier and Bolten Ur Alt and Landbier.
We will have 'around' 6 different beers on at one time, turn-around of beer will depend on how fast beer gets consumed!
The beers are from 2 of Germany's premier Beer Zones, namely Franconia Beer Zone (Bavaria) and the Düsseldorf/Niederrhein Beer Zone (Nord-Rhein Westfalen) although 2 of the beers are from the Oberpfalz (Bavaria) region on the border with the Czech Republic.
When

• Thursday 15 May
• 1500-1230/closing time (3pm-12.30am)
• Friday 16 May
• 1200-0130/closing time (midday-01.30am)
• Saturday 17 May
• 1200-0130/closing time (midday-01.30am)

Where
The Jolly Gardeners, 49-51 Black Prince Road, Lambeth, SE11 6AB
See map.
Cost

• £3.50 per 0.5 litre beer.
  

• Tokens to be purchased at the main bar.

Food
If the weather is good then a BBQ should be on.

See you all there.

Cheers,
Andy

Bruge & Flanders Special (26 April 2008) Tour Photos

Bruges & Flanders Special
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Burgundy Babble Belt and Bier-Mania!
Thanks everyone for a great day out in the West Vlaanderen and French Flandre countryside. Thanks also for the great weather we had on Saturday.

For photos see BF-080426 Tour Photos.


Special thanks to Jeremy from the Burgundy Babble Belt for having his birthday and making this tour happen!

See you all soon!
Cheers,
Andy

Bohemia & Franconia Special (11-20 April 2008) Tour Photos

Bohemia & Franconia Special
PM-080411
Well what a tour!
For tour photos please see PM-080411 Tour Photos

Thanks to you guys for making it such a great time! For a great account of the tour have a look at Ron Pattinson's (Big Ron) blog. Comanche Jim eat your heart out!

Cheers,
Andy