The 12 Best Cities For Beer Lovers To Visit (PHOTOS)

Munich's famed frothy festival, Oktoberfest, may get all of the glory, but the destinations listed in ShermansTravel.com's roundup of cities for beer lovers proves that the world is full of destinations where the natives know - and love - their beer, and that are primed for sampling local brews all year long. So no matter how you say "cheers" - whether prost, na zdraví, kampai, or salúd - their list of the top cities for beer lovers will help you raise a glass around the globe. Text courtesy of ShermanTravel.com, adapted from "Top Cities for Beer Lovers."

 

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Amsterdam

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Cozy, neighborhood watering holes serving beer (or pils as the locals call it), the Dutch way – with exactly two fingers' worth of foam on top – aren’t hard to find in this beer lovers' city. Heineken, Grolsch, and Amstel are three of the best-known native brews, but a sampling of artisanal blends and witte (wheat) beers from neighboring Belgium are also on the menu at Amsterdam’s cozy “brown” bars, so called for their antiquated, nicotine-stained walls. If your interest in hops goes beyond consumption, take a tour of the Heineken Experience, where tastings are encouraged.

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Cozy, neighborhood watering holes serving beer (or pils as the locals call it), the Dutch way – with exactly two fingers' worth of foam on top – aren’t hard to find in this beer lovers' city. Heineken, Grolsch, and Amstel are three of the best-known native brews, but a sampling of artisanal blends and witte (wheat) beers from neighboring Belgium are also on the menu at Amsterdam’s cozy “brown” bars, so called for their antiquated, nicotine-stained walls. If your interest in hops goes beyond consumption, take a tour of the Heineken Experience, where tastings are encouraged.

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Comments

[Porter93]

12:56 PM on 09/06/2010

Chico California Home of Sierra Nevada Brewery Finest beer collection in the world, and a stunning beautiful brewery

[DismayedRepub]

01:34 AM on 09/04/2010

The best place to drink bier is in my back yard.

[Pierogi kid]

08:17 PM on 09/03/2010

you know I have been sitting here trying to think if there has ever been a city or region that I have visted for any length of time and was unable to find at least one good beer locally or regionally produced and to be honest I really can't think of one place that was devoid of some kind of decent beer

[MaxHeadroom]

08:24 PM on 09/02/2010

You can't beat Asheville NC for excellent crafted beers, and the high number of microbrewe­ries. Heck, they tied Portland last year for American Beer City, and completely beat them this year for the coveted title of "American Beer City".

Not bad for a city that only has about 90,000 people living there (must be the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the excellent, clean water).

[RevSpaminator]

08:20 PM on 09/02/2010

My home, when I've got a good batch ready to drink. :) Saves me a lot in airfare too.

[blurredmolly]

06:58 PM on 09/02/2010

Denver

[jl4141]

01:59 PM on 09/02/2010

Pabst Blue Ribbon!

(Kidding, kidding!)

[Chuck Ott]

12:13 AM on 09/03/2010

Frank wasn't kidding when he said it.

[PhongOrbit]

10:05 PM on 09/15/2010

Halong Bay Cruise, the wonder of the world. Halong Bay is a must see for any itinerary in Vietnam. For more details, visit at http://www­.indochina­orbit.com/

[Memphis Blues Again]

12:17 PM on 09/02/2010

I make my own beer, abbey dubbel style. It's a cheap and easy hobby. Or I go to the homebrew store in town and take home some Chemay.

[Memphis Blues Again]

12:19 PM on 09/02/2010

*Chimay

[Pierogi kid]

09:05 PM on 09/01/2010

you can find great beer in all of these cities for sure. Although I though Berlin was an interestin­g choice for Germany over Munich, Cologne, Dusseldorf or even Dortmund. For me the Czech's do make the best lager but for true ale nothing beats the UK in my opinion. Oh and maybe philadelph­ia could of made this list The city that shoves you back can really give portland a run for its money when it comes to micro brewed beer

[NewHavenCountyCT]

04:45 PM on 09/01/2010

On a vacation to England, we went here:

http://www­.harveys.o­rg.uk

The beer was awesome. There are another 20 breweries in the area (Sussex county) as well.

[NewHavenCountyCT]

04:13 PM on 09/01/2010

I'm really surprised England and Scotland weren't on the list. With the huge variety of beer types that have come from those countries, and the hundreds of micro-brew­eries and the CAMRA group.
And Oktoberfes­t is missing?

[Jason Barton]

01:22 PM on 09/01/2010

Yuppers!!!­!!! We rock when it comes to Micro brews!!!! And no Corona is not a beer, its just bottled pee. I recomend Full Sail, Rogue, and Widmer! Bridgeport is pretty good also. Best i think is Deschutes. They have expermenta­l beers on tap as well as yearly Favorites like Black Butte XXII which sadly is only going to be on tap. Way to go Huffington for naming our city one of the best!!!

[ethancorso]

01:13 AM on 09/03/2010

Rogue is spectacula­r.

Their chocolate stout especially­.

[catcancook]

04:50 PM on 09/06/2010

I just had the Rogue chocolate stout recently. Really interestin­g beer. I wouldn't be able to drink it all the time but I did enjoy it. My son grad. from Reed and he is a big Oregon beer fan.

[mc2714]

12:38 PM on 09/01/2010

Mexico City? MILWAUKEE?­? Are you SERIOUS??? Two cities best known for beer that I wouldnt use to kill slugs in my backyard?

San Francisco, home of Anchor Brewing (where the micro-brew revolution really began) has to be on this list. San Diego, probably the epicenter of the West Coast style of pale ales. Seattle (maybe a bit redundant with Portland, which is the best beer city in the US), Boulder, I could go on.

Calling Corona or ANYTHING made in Milwaukee "beer" is like calling a jug of Gallo a fine Pinot

[national crisis]

01:37 AM on 09/02/2010

Don't hate on Wisconsin beers until you've tried the good ones. The writer only mentioned the mega-brewe­ries WI is famous for. I'd be willing to bet you've never tried New Glarus, Sprecher, Gray's, Lakefront, Capitol, etc. Mmm, beer.

[48thGuy]

09:29 AM on 09/02/2010

mc2714....­you obviously are new to all things BEER!!!...­Wisconsin is the Beer Capital of the World....S­precher, supurb!.. Point, excellent.­..Leinenku­gel, the best brew in America...­Perhaps you should leave your West Coast swill and head to New Glarus, Chippewa Falls, or considerin­g the true amateur you are, the Brat Stop in Kenosha...

[mc2714]

02:01 PM on 09/02/2010

Im sorry, 48th, I missed your post. Too busy quaffing a Green Flash IPA (finest beer ever made) and moving a few Bigfoot Ales into the fridge. Oh, and polishing my AHA national homebrewin­g competitio­n award from a....few..­.. years ago (cough. Decades).

Seriously, I'm sure that there are many excellent local brews in Wisconsin (maybe not up to west coast standards, but you go give it your best anyway). But the article was referencin­g Milwaukee as a 'beer city' because of the crappy mega-brews that I doubt you'd give to your dog either.

[Paul]

12:08 PM on 09/01/2010

Bremen, Germany - home of Becks

[AmbleResorts]

10:47 AM on 09/01/2010

One of the Isla Palenque bloggers on a recent trip to Panama tasted a few different beers. Read his thoughts on Panamanian beers here: http://isl­apalenque.­com/blog/2­010/08/pan­amanian-de­light/.

[Memphis Blues Again]

12:14 PM on 09/02/2010

Thanks for this. My husband goes surfing in Panama every year. He brought back some tasty rum, but now i will ask him to bring back some beers.