Forgive me beer gods for I have sinned. It has been seven
months since my last beerfession. No, I didn’t quit drinking, nor have I
stopped brewing beer. Neither back injuries (1) nor broken bones (At least 3)
could prevent me from consuming the greatest beverage on earth. One look at my
ever expanding waistline confirms my never ending quest for malt, water, and
hops. In the following paragraphs please find my feeble attempt to summarize
the past seven months of my ongoing beer adventure:
Hope Springs Eternal
Last spring was one for the record books, not because of
temperature, but because of the countless number of beer festivals in Europe. Over
a span of 14 days in April the navigator and I attended THREE festivals. We
kicked off spring at Stuttgart’s annual fruhlingsfest. Think October fest but
in the spring. What was initially supposed to be a short 2 hour visit with
colleagues morphed into a several hour affair involving not less than three
liters of beer and shots of schnapps. Needless to say I should have stuck with
just the beer.
Four days later, having just recovered from fruhlingsfest, I found myself at Stuttgart’s 2nd annual craft beer festival. The Stuttgarter Craft Beer festival is sponsored and organized by my favorite local craft beer bar, Kraftpaule and contains hundreds of beers from breweries across Europe. From IPA’s to Belgians there is more than enough beer for even the most discerning beer snob. Over an afternoon I had the privilege of meeting several brewery representatives, including one in particular from Belgium after I knocked his popup display over, TWICE. As I fumbled to fix the display, while heaping praise upon their beer, the brewery rep told me they would be serving their beer the following weekend at a festival in Leuven, Belgium. Not surprisingly I already had reservations.
Four days later, having just recovered from fruhlingsfest, I found myself at Stuttgart’s 2nd annual craft beer festival. The Stuttgarter Craft Beer festival is sponsored and organized by my favorite local craft beer bar, Kraftpaule and contains hundreds of beers from breweries across Europe. From IPA’s to Belgians there is more than enough beer for even the most discerning beer snob. Over an afternoon I had the privilege of meeting several brewery representatives, including one in particular from Belgium after I knocked his popup display over, TWICE. As I fumbled to fix the display, while heaping praise upon their beer, the brewery rep told me they would be serving their beer the following weekend at a festival in Leuven, Belgium. Not surprisingly I already had reservations.
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| The Beer Capital |
The weekend following Stuttgarter Craft Beer Festival the
navigator and I struck off for the Zythos Beer Festival in Leuven Belgium.
Having attended last year’s festival (http://www.wanderinghomebrewer.com/2017/04/belgium-im-leuven-it_29.html) Zythos festival has become my annual kickoff for spring. Arriving in Leuven
on Friday evening we quickly checked into our room and struck off to rendezvous
with our friend the “Philospher”. After
a quick meal the Philosopher suggested we visit the Beer Capital, a local beer
joint with 20 beers on tap and more than 500 bottled beers. After several hours
of pre-festing we parted company, took a short nap, reconvening the next
morning for the 11 am opening of Zythos. Much like last year’s festival the
2018 Zythos contained 80 breweries with more than 500 beers. Suffice to say a
good time was had by all.
In desperate need of some rest the Navigator and I took a
three week hiatus from beer festivaling before striking off for Prague to
attend the Czech version of spring fest over Meorial Day weekend. Over the past few years the Prague beer
festival has transitioned from a traditional “Big Czech Brewery” affair to a
more regionally focused “Craft-Like” feel. Located in the Letna area of Prague
it is within walking distance of downtown. Or at least that’s what we were led
to believe. Striking off from the hotel Saturday morning we walked, and walked,
and walked. Five miles later we arrived at Letna Park, well, the base of it
anyway. The park sits atop what must be the tallest point in Prague. A 30 minute
climb and one sunburned head later we arrived at the fest. The Prague beer fest
is somewhat small with various breweries and food vendors arrayed beneath a
series of tents with a central table area. Much to my dismay many of the
breweries did not send representatives but instead fest employees, who knew
little or nothing about the brewery, served beer from a wall of taps only
accepting beer requests by the beers number vice the name. Nevertheless I
quenched my thirst with some amazing Czech beer although I couldn’t tell you
which one was best. (Number 17 was delicious).
So there you have it three countries and four fests in six
weeks. Only five more months to catch up on!
Until next time,
Prost!
