Great Belgium Beer Tour (GBBT-091016)

The 'Zuiper' Tour
Our 10-day Great Belgium Beer Tour and 6th tour in 6 weeks (!) has just ended in Düsseldorf on Sunday afternoon.
The tour kicked off with a 'training' evening on day zero in Düsseldorf's Altstadt with a beer (or 2) at Schumacher, Füchschen and Uerige, prost!
Where did we go then? We basically did an anti-clockwise loop of Belgium also taking in Northern France (Flandres and Pays de Meuse) and transitting Germany and the Netherlands, took in every Belgian Province and drank at every Belgian Trappiste Abbey! Whoopee!

1. Düsseldorf (Germany)-Achel Trappiste Abbey-Westmalle Trappiste Abbey-Antwerpen & Pelgrom beer dinner-Overnight Antwerpen
2. Bosteels brewery-Bruges (UNESCO)-Bruges Beertjes & Den Dyver-Overnight Bruges
3. Hill 62 & Ypres-Westveleteren Trappiste Abbey-'T Rohardushof Estaminet-Watou-Thiriez Brewery (F)-Mont Cassel, Trois Moulins, Kasteelhof-Overnight Cassel (France)
4. Brunehaut Brewery-Frites!-Rodenbach Brewery-Bruxelles-Overnight Bruxelles
5. Bruxelles-La Villette beer dinner-Overnight Bruxelles
6. Cantillon Brewery & Museum-Silenrieux Brewery-Chimay Trappiste Abbey-Bouillon & Castle-L'Estaminet cafe-Overnight Bouillon
7. European Brewing Museum-Chateau Chamois Brewery-Vauquois Hill (WW1)-Verdun-L'Estaminet Brewpub-Le Lapin que Fume-Le Clapier restaurant-Overnight Verdun
8. Verdun WW1 sites-Orval Trappiste Abbey-Bastogne-La Vieille Forge beer dinner-Overnight Achouffe-Mont
9. Rochefort Trappiste Abbey-La Ferme au Chene Brewery-Fantome Brewery-Achouffe Brewery-La Vieille Forge Beer Dinner-Overnight Achouffe-Mont
10. End tour in Düsseldorf!
    

To all those wonderful people we met along the way, thanks for your hospitality and kindness!
Cheers!

Bamberg Special Beer Tour (SB-091007)

This tour was for the Thirsty Swagman and their no-holds-barred Euro Hard 'n' Fast tour, a 10-day tour across Europe's bars and clubs.
Thought we'd give 'em a bit of much needed Beer Culture and hooked up with them to show them around Bamberg's breweries and pubs!
Where did we go then?
Can't remember actually! Just joking....we had an evening out and a Bamberg 'walkabout' picking up the main places in Bamberg and yes, we even visited the rose garden (!!??).

• Greifenklau Brauerei. The beer garden was excellent, weather just about okay to sit outside!
• Schlenkerla Tavern. After Greifenklau it was time for some serious smoked beer (German=Rauchbier)!
• St Michaelsberg. Great views from the beer garden and some great beer-Mahrs Ungespundetes (can you say that again?!).
• Klosterbräu Brauerei. Lunch and a few wets at the famous monastery brewery in Bamberg. We made it just as/before the kitchen closed at 2pm! Brewing since around 1333.
• Spezial Brauerei.
  

Cheers guys and good to meet you all!

Franconia Beer Run!

After an awesome time in southern Bavaria and the Austrian Tyrol, it was time to get back up to Franconia and return empty barrels from our August festival in Zwevegem/Belgium.
Barrels had been stored in Herr Scheubel's Sternbräu brewery in Schlüsselfeld and after loading up it was back to the windy country roads of Franconia or Franken in German!

First stop was Buttenheim and St Georgen brewery, then Hebendanz in Forchheim. Then it was onto Hofmann (Höhenschwarz), Kanone (Schnaittach) and Maisels in Bayreuth.

Final stop was Grasser brewery/Brauerei in Huppendorf, overnighting in their guesthouse and a few beers and some excellent food! Next morning after an early look around their brewery and it was onto Bamberg and Klosterbräu to return the last of the barrels, check-in and a few wets in Spezial before a much needed break for a day!

Cheers!
Andy@bier-mania.com

Oktoberfest 2009 & Alps Special (MB-091002)

Our 4th and last tour of the 'Oktoberfest Season' was another 4-day tour taking in Andechs Monastery, Neuschwanstein and Höhenschwangau, Ettal Monastery, Oberammergau and Maximillians Brewpub, Munich and Oktoberfest 2009.
Servus!

Oktoberfest 2009 & Alps Special (MB-090925)

Our 3rd tour of the 'Oktoberfest Season' was a 4-day tour taking in Andechs Monastery, Neuschwanstein and Höhenschwangau, Ettal Monastery, Oberammergau and Maximillians Brewpub, Munich and Oktoberfest 2009.
Servus!

Oktoberfest 2009 (MB-090923)

This tour was our 2nd Oktoberfest tour this year and we were again in the glorious Hacker-Pschorr Festzelt!

Great European Beer Tour (PM-090911) Photos

Where did we go?

1. Frankfurt-Schlüsselfeld (Sternbräu Brewery)-Bamberg (UNESCO)-Kulmbach-Neuhaus-Windichechenbach-Overnight Zoigl Land (Germany)
   
2. Pilsen Urquell Brewery-Overnight Prague
3. Prague Castle-Strahov Brewery-PRague (UNESCO)-Overnight Prague (Czech Republic)
   
4. Zvikov Castle and Brewery-Lipan Brewery-Budweis Brewery-Overnight Cesky Budejovice (CZ)
   
5. Cesky Krumlov (UNESCO) and Eggenberg Brewery-Sumava Scenic Drive-Schnapps Museum!-Overnight Eck Brewery Guesthouse (Germany)
   
6. Zwiesel Brewery-Braunau-Salzburg (UNESCO)-Augustiner Brewery-Overnight Salzburg (Austria)
   
7. Kehlstein (Eagles Nest)-Tegernsee-Oberammergau-Overnight Zum Stern, Oberammergau (Germany)
   
8. Ettal Monastery-Plansee (Austria)-Neuschwanstein Castle-Andechs Monastery-Munich-Overnight München (Germany)
9. Munich walkabout and Hofbräuhaus-Overnight München
10. Oktoberfest 2009-Overnight München
11. End tour, München
    

Latest News

Hello Everyone,
You must be wondering whether I came back from all our tours over the last 6 weeks! Well, I did, eventually!
Over the next posts we will be sharing our photos and experiences with you from all our tours, hope you enjoy them! We are now using just Flickr for our online photo albums from all our tours.


Photo is from Budweis Brewery in Czech Republic! Will the real Budweiser please stand up, please stand up...
So where did we go since the beginning of September?

• The 1st tour was an 11-day classic Great European Beer Tour & Oktoberfest 2009. We visited Germany, Czech Republic and Austria and ended the tour in Munich and the first weekend of the Oktoberfest.

• 2nd tour was a 4-day Oktoberfest 2009 & Alps Special tour.

• The 3rd tour was a 2-day Oktoberfest 2009 tour for 17 people from a UK company.

• Our 4th and final tour in Munich was another 4-day Oktoberfest 2009 & Alps Special.

• After a beer barrel run in Franconia when we dropped off 20 empty barrels from our August beer festival in Zwevegem, we reolcated to Bamberg.

• Our final Bavaria tour and our 5th tour was in Bamberg for the Thirsty Swagman's Euro Hard 'n' Fast tour.

• Finally we have just completed our 6th tour in 6 weeks-another 10-day Great Belgium Beer Tour to Belgium and Northern France.

• Next.....a Belgium Beer Night in Germany tomorrow night!

So keep on reading over the next few days!
Cheers for now,
Andy@bier-mania.com