Even in more recent decades, the city’s beer and brewing scenes have been in great peril. Assisted in part by that adoration of beer geeks from around the globe, and of course their tourist dollars, Brussels is making a comeback. And today Eoghan Walsh walks us through the city’s vibrant and curious brewing history and updates on the status of things today and what is to come in its future. Eoghan runs Brussels Beer City, a great website you should visit, and he’s the author of a book of the same name as well as the more recently published A History of Brussels Beer in 50 Objects. For more on those endeavors, I recommend listening to the podcast that Eoghan and I recorded together back in January on Beer Edge. But today, we’re talking about Brussels and its beer scene and culture. It’s an incredibly informative conversation and it left me excited to return to Brussels and visit some of the spots Eoghan talks about.

We discuss Cantillon, Brasserie De La Senne, Le Source Brewing, and Mort Subite as well as many others during this podcast. Stay tuned at the end of the episode for one of my personal favorite suggestions for Brussels, another great place for a nightcap or to escape the crowds of the Grand Place and the tourist dens. 

In this episode of Beer Travelers, we discover Brussels, from its robust days of brewing to its more humble yet growing modern times, we try to capture all the city has to offer.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you download podcasts.

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The post Beer Travelers: Brussels with Eoghan Walsh first appeared on All About Beer.

So when I found out that Ohio is home to a bona fide Donut Trail (I only use that truncated spelling when it’s in a proper name)—and not in one its metropolises like Cleveland, Columbus, or Toledo, but sandwiched in Butler County between Cincinnati and Dayton—I had to tackle it.

Drinking on Ohio’s Butler County Donut Trail

Conceived of by the Butler County Visitors Bureau as a tourism draw to an area road-trippers might otherwise circumvent via I-75, said bureau sponsored my conquering of the 11-shop Donut Trail from my nightly pillows to pillowy balls of dough.

I allotted two mornings to inhale all those frosted, filled and fried morsels, then two afternoons all aglazed visiting Butler County breweries.

The symbiotic relationship between beer and doughnuts is found throughout Ohio. At Municipal Brew Works (20 High St.) in Hamilton—conveniently located across the street from my accommodations at the Courtyard Hamilton Hotel—The Dapper Doughnut is just one of many food trucks often parked outside. Because the brewery’s home is a 1935 municipal building that previously housed the fire and police stations (replete with a county jail that’d make for a unique tasting bar), vending fresh, hot mini doughnuts is a natural. While True West Coffee Porter is the natural complementary beer, I found that mixing it with the Orange Agave Blonde Ale nicely mimics the flavors of a café Borgia (think mocha with orange zest).

Not all of the breweries correlate to doughnuts. At FigLeaf Brewing Co. (3387 Cincinnati Dayton Road) in Middletown, the four-vessel brewery with a taproom off the interstate between Dayton and Cincy offers light-bodied quaffables such as Basmati Cream Ale with a pleasant floral aroma and dual 7.2% IPAs (ISO-Trope and ISO-Hazy) for those who prefer their IPAs new-school cloudy or old-school clear.

Four miles away, Rivertown Brewery and Barrel House (6550 Hamilton Lebanon Road) is a larger production brewery distributing to seven states—but the on-premise brewpub is a destination for serious drinkers and fun-loving families with arcade games strewn about. The food menu is heavy on smoked meats (even the deviled eggs are brilliantly topped with Russian imperial stout-infused burnt ends) while the beer list ranges from plenty of lighter options (3984 Lager and Divergent Berliner Weisse) to West Coast and New England IPAs to some culinary experiments like a black gose brewed with black sea salt, black malts, and blackberries. Meanwhile, a 15-minute drive south into West Chester, DogBerry Brewing (9964 Crescent Park Drive) brews on a one-barrel system to keep the tap list long and diverse. The English-inspired Hook’ed Leg ESB is not cask conditioned but is served on nitro for a tasty and smooth pint, the Czech Pilsner is exceptionally clean, and there’s a place for smoked malts, hibiscus flowers and more among the 19 taps.

Meanwhile, last year in Cleveland a spot called Brewnuts (6501 Detroit Ave.) opened up. The whole concept here is chowing down on doughnuts—all made in house using local craft beer—and sipping locavore beers. The maple bacon doughnut with North High Brewing’s Tree Tapper maple brown ale from Columbus is a natural. Incidentally, Cleveland’s also home to one of three markets to host a new annual event called DonutFest (and I love that one of the participating Ohio bakeries is called Holey Toledough).

Eating on Ohio’s Butler County Donut Trail

Inevitably, once you’ve successfully had your Donut Trail passport completely stamped, someone asks, “What’s your favorite?” Forced to pick, it’s Holtman’s Donuts (9558 Civic Centre Blvd., West Chester). The shop is now run by founder Charles Holtman’s grandson Dan, and has three other locations in Southwest Ohio. I didn’t get to try the “beer doughnut” they collaborated on with Cincy’s Fifty West Brewing Co. but among their 30 daily varieties (sometimes twice as many on weekends), the maple bacon rounds are better than your prior favorite of this sort. Yet the Buckeye, three inches tall and chocolate glazed with a decadent peanut butter mousse center, is the way to go.

Stan the Donut Man (7967 Cincinnati Dayton Road) is the West Chester strip-mall based bakery offering a long display case of glazed treats. Some are colorful, some are chocolaty—but all are priced around a buck each. I opted for the cinnamon bowtie with a thin ribbon of sugary spice inside the fluffy yeast doughnut. At The Donut House (8268 Princeton Glendale Road), a new shop tauntingly located across the road from a Dunkin Donuts, the stars here are the ones you “fill” yourself: choose classic glazed or chocolate- or maple-glazed long johns and select from several fruit or cream fillings. I went crazy and got blueberry and vanilla cream for the win. At the 40-year-old Donut Spot (5148 Pleasant Ave. in Fairfield), where doughnut-themed art hangs on the walls, the Homer Simpson-style pink, sprinkled doughnuts are a customer fave. My final stop on the first day was Jupiter Coffee & Donuts (5353 Dixie Hwy # 5, Fairfield) which nails the arty coffee house vibe. The “Red Storm” is a strawberry glaze swirled cinnamon roll, itself a big leap from the strawberry shortcake doughnut with a pompadour of strawberry fluff.

Early the next morning, I walked into Mimi’s Donuts & Bakery (2267 Millville Ave., Hamilton) and sunk my teeth into the Reese’s, which, mercifully, is available as a mini since the peanut butter custard filling goes a long way. At Kelly’s Bakery (1335 Main St., Hamilton), the Kellybread—it and the bakery named after the founder’s daughter—is designed like a pull-apart in bar form. The cinnamon drizzle seals the deal. There’s no Ross at Ross Bakery (4421 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton), so named because it was originally located in the town of Ross 10 miles south as the cronut flies. The old world klunker could be an antecedent to a buttermilk bar in its more amorphous embodiment. Nor is there a Martin at Martin’s Donuts (4 W. State St.), but the new owner kept the name and most of the offerings. There’s a banana-cream-filled doughnut with crushed vanilla wafers, but you have to get there earlier than I did because it was sold out. The cream-filled and crushed-Oreo-topped one floated my boat, er, sprinkled my doughnut. Central Pastry (1518 Central Ave., Middletown) is a full-service bakery. I fortuitously arrived at the end of pączki season (which is to say Lent). These Polish pockets (pronounced like poonch-key) are more or less jelly doughnuts. Before leaving Middletown, I closed out the trail at Milton’s Donuts, an institution that has used the same recipe and equipment since opening in 1960.

With my final passport punch, I felt a joyous sense of completion and camaraderie with my fellow doughnut travelers. I did not do this for the T-shirt that finishers can collect with a fully-stamped passport. I did it for the glory.

Additional Beer and Doughnut Destinations

Chicago
The Second City is also the second market to host DonutFest, proving it’s serious about doughnuts. With more than 70 breweries in city limits, it’s also a serious beer town. Thanks to its Polish heritage, when Timeout Chicago listed hot spots to find the best pączki (basically Polish jelly doughnuts) on Fat Tuesday, they came up with a full baker’s dozen. Among them is the South Side institution Bridgeport Bakery (2907 S. Archer Ave.) whose stuffed delicacies total 19 flavors. But it’s the chocolate pudding one that inspired the Pączki Stout from Marz Community Brewing Co. (3630 S. Iron St.), thereby one-upping quotidian pastry stouts. The double milk stout is brewed with Peruvian cocoa nibs, and at 7% a pint and a pączki is probably enough to get anyone through Lent.

San Diego
This SoCal bastion of beer culture supports 70 breweries (the 150-plus count that gets used is for the entire county). Nomad Donuts (3102 University Ave.) has collaborated with about 25 of those breweries, including several in its North Park neighborhood such as Fall Brewing Co. (4542 30th St.), Eppig Brewing (3052 El Cajon Blvd Suite C), and North Park Beer Co. (3038 University Ave.). So popular are these Nomad collabs that Kristianna Zabala, the shop’s executive pastry chef, undertakes at least one monthly (and daily during San Diego Beer Week). One brewery that partners with Zabala beyond sugary doughnuts is Council Brewing (7705 Convoy Ct.), with its Magic Factory sour sideshow. One dinner course featured a Scotch quail egg savory doughnut glazed with chamomile and paired with Council’s Separate Haze IPA.

Denver
Do you sense a pattern emerging? Beer meccas are becoming doughnut paradises. Denver’s River North neighborhood supports a baker’s dozen breweries. One such brewer, Ratio Beerworks (2920 Larimer St.), organizes the Cool Beans event featuring its own beers infused with coffee, including Domestica blonde ale and an Irish-coffee-flavored version of Nobody’s Darlin’ strong ale. Logically, Denver doughnut legends Glazed and Confuzed (2501 Dallas St., Aurora) were on hand doling out doughnut holes. Over in the Highland neighborhood, Habit Doughnut Dispensary (1553 Platte St.) takes the Mile High’s affinity for hip doughnuteries and prescribes the cure—like the “Blazed” (brûléed) glazed. A block away at Denver Beer Co. (1695 Platte St.), you can enjoy Princess Yum Yum Raspberry Kolsch with the tart strawberry lemonade doughnut. Some of Habit’s creations are even served with a shot tucked inside, giving the boilermaker its much-needed 21st century makeover.

North Carolina
Asheville’s downtown boasts a cluster of breweries, several of which—including Twin Leaf Brewery (144 Coxe Ave.), Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium (147 Coxe Ave.), Green Man Brewery (27 Buxton Ave.) or Burial Beer Co. (40 Collier Ave.)—are walkable from Vortex Doughnuts (32 Banks Ave.). Vortex capitalizes on the city’s many beer tourists, and caters to both vegans and bacon-lovers alike. For Burial’s part, its winter seasonal Skillet Donut Stout (an oatmeal stout made with molasses and coffee, no doughnuts) offers everything doughnut lovers love except the chew. In Boone, the Appalachian Mountain Brewery (163 Boone Creek Drive) also makes a doughnut beer, made with the spudnuts (potato doughnuts) from its neighbors at Local Lion (791 Blowing Rock Road), a gourmet coffee and from-scratch doughnut shop. Wu-Tang fans will appreciate the brewery’s C.R.E.A.M. (Cappuccino Rules Everything Around Me).

Brian Yaeger is the author of Red, White and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey and Oregon Breweries.

The post Exploring Ohio’s Beer and Doughnut Trail first appeared on All About Beer.

I thought about focusing on breweries near famous underground caves! But the truth is, there aren’t a lot of breweries located at the mouths of National Parks like Mammoth Caves in Kentucky or Carlsbad Caverns (although, Guadalupe Mountain Brewing in Carlsbad, New Mexico—which just opened this January—is less than a 20 mile drive from some of the most breathtaking caves in America). So who does offer spots that are equal parts cavern and tavern? Read on and watch your head.

Oregon

In Portland, Oregon, where beer is decidedly mainstream, a few breweries are underground. Both Hopworks Urban Brewery (2944 S.E. Powell Blvd.) and Columbia River Brewing (1728 N.E. 40th Ave.) have their systems below their respective restaurants. But in order for Upright Brewing (240 N. Broadway) owner/brewer Alex Ganum to take his affinity for jazz to a higher level by improvising dozens of rare beers, he has to brew them in the basement of the Leftbank Building centrally located in Portland’s Rose Quarter. It’s also underground in the sense there’s nary a sign outside the building, but visitors who walk in and see a coffee shop can simply take the elevator down a floor.

The below-level tasting room is in the same space as the brewery with open fermentation tanks. Although Belgian farmhouse styles launched Upright in 2009, they brew a range of English, German, and international styles now. Stacked barrels aren’t mere decoration, but always have something intriguing maturing inside such as the pair of kriek-style beers. Inspired by Charles Mingus’s “Hearts’ Beat And Shades In Physical Embraces,” Hearts’ Beat is made with Brooks cherries (similar to dark bing pie cherries), while Shades features yellow Rainiers. You may hear some Mingus playing, but the bartenders/DJs are prone to spinning a range of jazz or blues vinyl that’s fittingly underground.

Twenty minutes east toward the Columbia River Gorge lies McMenamins Edgefield Brewery and, as part of its 74-acre grounds, Lucky Staehly’s Pool Hall (2126 S.W. Halsey St., Troutdale, Oregon). McMenamins’ flagship location, Edgefield was the Multnomah County Poor Farm that in 1991 turned into a 25-barrel brewhouse, distillery, winery, hotel, vaunted concert venue, herb garden, golf course and home to a whopping 10 different bars. During the 1970s, when Edgefield functioned as an old folks’ home, one wheelchair-bound resident named Lucky Staehly won at the 1977 Oregon Wheel Chair Games. He also hustled the other seniors in the home’s rec room. Today, the basement bar named in his honor includes five pool tables, a snooker table, darts, and a working juke box. There’s also a pair of pinball machines (including an X-Men one, because a pool hall and bar named for a heroic senior in a wheelchair should feature Professor X). This being the McMenamins with all the spirit and wine barrels, visitors can always find something rich and oaky, like a whiskey-aged porter or spiced rum-aged barleywine, to sink into.

Basements and Oil Pits

While Asheville, North Carolina, certainly has come up in the beer world, one brewery has gone down. Enter One World Brewing (10 Patton Ave. #002) through what looks like a storm drain (or perhaps a Lewis Carroll-inspired rabbit hole). A ceiling of wooden slats almost makes it feel like the floor is upside down. Tucked below Farm Burger since 2014—in the old newspaper Leader Building that dates back to 1880—One World is a windowless wonder (TV-less, too). Crowds descend to enjoy all manner of IPAs—even some old school bright ones—with the most popular being Citra Bomb coming off of the one-and-a-half-barrel system. To brew down there, the staff forms a “grain train” to bring in the heavy malt bags and afterward does the same in reverse to bring barrels full of spent grain out into the light for a local farmer.

Farther south in Spring Hill, Florida, in 2015 owners Maurice and Tina Ryman dropped their baby Marker 48 Brewing (12147 Cortez Blvd.) into an old auto repair shop’s oil pit (where the mechanic catwalks have morphed into barrel racks). While the seven-barrel brewery is not fully underground, the stairs behind the bar lead down to the cellar with its own stately tasting room. In fact, they claim it’s Florida’s only underground barrel-aging cellar, which stands to reason since in most spots, digging a basement equals digging a swimming pool given the terrain’s water table. The room, visible through the windows in the floor, is available for rentals for you and about a dozen of your best buddies or coworkers.

This being Florida, sweet stouts are all the rage and the Mermaid’s Milk Stout is a top vote-getter (along with its whiskey-aged sibling, Kissed By A Mermaid). Meanwhile, Pine Island IPA, which leans more Northwest than Northeast in appearance, flavor, and temperament, is a tasting room mainstay.

One new sweet spot for subterranean sipping is in Prescott, Arizona, where even beer lovers flock to the speakeasy vibe of Superstition Meadery (120 W. Gurley St.). Mead being mead, Superstition naturally caters to many uninitiated in the ways of honey wine, which is for the best since many of its meads are far from traditional. Sample meads made with coffee and dates (Date Night), dry-hopped offerings (War Honey) or a PB&J in a glass (Peanut Butter Jelly Crime).

And finally, this list wouldn’t be complete without Underground Brewing in San Luis Obispo (1040 Broad St.) on California’s Central Coast. Although there’s a nice balcony overlooking a creek, this brewery—originally known as Creekside Brewing under different ownership—has its 13-barrel system in the basement. It feels like a grotto and area artists are invited to contribute to the mural and hold exhibits. Current manager Rai Reynolds says it’s for “local artists who […] were not part of the art scene here in SLO.” So underground. The brewhouse is downstairs, where there’s also a bar.

Overseas and Underground

As a parting thought, looking at the relative newness of such breweries and tasting rooms in the United States, it’s important to put America’s oldest breweries in perspective. German immigrants used lagering caves at Yuengling, Wisconsin’s Leinenkugel, and Minnesota’s August Schell back to the 19th century. That tradition still lives across Germany.

RELATED: Underground Barrel-Aging Programs

In the Bavarian city of Augsburg, the Riegele Brewery (Fröhlichtstrasse 26), founded in 1386, brews one of the single best pilsners—detectably hoppier and spicier that most German brewed pilsners—I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy: Augsburger Herren Pils. It’s brewed and lagered below ground in horizontal tanks (where braumeister Frank Muller promotes happy fermentation by playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy, to facilitate their own symphonic and harmonic flavors) down in the keller (cellar). While anyone can walk in and sample through Riegele’s divine lagers (ask for a “bierprobe,” or tasting flight), the tour includes visiting the keller. Riegele also produces the fine German IPA Simco 3. The ultimate treat, however, is getting to sip Magnus 15, the phenomenal, affogato-laden, bourbon-aged stout via their new barrel aging program, down in the dungeonesque tasting room.

Some 160 miles (or 260 kilometers) to the west, in the Black Forest city of Freiburg, steps from the Gothic cathedral, directly adjacent to Martin’s Gate, and below a food hall, you’ll find a brewpub that greets you with a whopping visual and aromatic wall of classic German fare. Martinsbraü (Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 237) is perceived of mainly as a brewpub where families queue up for the food, but the copper kettles in the back are not merely decorative. The house pils is lemon peel in color with a grainy pilsner malt base, dry yet honeyed flavor, and wait for that kick of lemon-pepper in the finish. It’s OK to have that extra glass without fear of falling down the stairs afterward (because they lead up).

Finally, up in Kölsch’s birthplace of Cologne, the progenitor of the style, Sünner (Kalker Hauptstrasse 260-262), is a beer lover’s paradise with a welcoming biergarten for endless rounds of stange-fuls of kölsch. But descend into the Sünner Keller and not only can you enjoy the crystal-clear and tad-sweet refresher but, from the land that was doing hazy long before New England, you can enjoy their unfiltered Kellerbier (all kellerbiers are unfiltered) with ample bread and honey notes directly from the aging tanks.

Brian Yaeger is the author of Red, White and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey and Oregon Breweries.

The post Caverns and Taverns: Exploring Subterranean Tasting Rooms first appeared on All About Beer.

Oh sure, a few names have risen to beer nerd celebrity status. Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione had his own reality TV show, and I bet hop heads have named their sons Vinnie after Russian River co-founder Cilurzo. But you won’t find a Grossman Field in Chico, California, and Boston will never rename Fenway Park after Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch.

Perhaps it’s for the best that today’s brewery owners spend their money procuring the best hops, not naming rights or sports sponsorships. If we look to the past, however, we’ll find beer barons still loom large in Milwaukee, St. Louis and Cincinnati. Visit these three cities to explore beer scenes past and present.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Frederick Miller, Joseph Schlitz, Valentin Blatz, and “Captain” Frederick Pabst were the German immigrants who put the Cream City (so named for its cream-colored bricks) on the beer map, but it was Jacob Best Sr. who opened the Empire Brewery here in 1844. Within 15 years there would be more than 30 in town, including a few with Best family connections. Jacob Jr. and his brother Phillip renamed Empire as Jacob Best Brewing. Later, when Phillip’s daughter married Frederick Pabst, that brewery would again change names in 1889. Similarly, Jacob Sr.’s other two sons—Charles and Lorenz—operated a nearby brewery called Plank Road, better known today as Miller (or, well, MillerCoors, but mergers and acquisitions are nothing new to this industry) you can visit all of them at the Forest Home Cemetery (2405 W. Forest Home Ave.). Among the beautifully laid out 200 acres with city founders and sausage kings galore, there’s a section coined the Beer Barons’ Corner. From the Blatz mausoleum to the outcropping of Pabst tombstones, whole brewing families rest eternally.

Visit in June and you can attend Brunch with the Beer Barons. The event, co-produced by the Milwaukee County Historical Society, features real-life descendants of the Blatz, Pabst and Gettelman families, plus reenactors. What’s for brunch? Brats, naturally! The Milwaukee Brat House (1013 N. Old World Third St.) features a long menu of creatively topped ones or the classic. At the Wisconsin Cheese Mart (1048 N. Old World Third St.) you’ll find fresh curds so squeaky it sounds like a game of racquetball in your mouth. The gift shop housed in an add-on to the Pabst Mansion (2000 W. Wisconsin Ave.) is actually the hall where Pabst won its gold medal (no, not a blue ribbon) at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

Back in 1996, after Pabst powered down its brewing operation, the 20-acre, 10 million barrel capacity brewing campus became a veritable ghost town. Today, it’s becoming a bustling micro-hood thanks to Jim Haertel who saved the campus and now runs the Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery (901 W. Juneau Ave.). The name, of course, is a reference to Jacob Best and visits, replete with a PBR or pint of Pabst Andeker, include an entertaining tour and vintage Pabst TV spots. That Andeker, incidentally, is a helles lager that debuted in 1939 remembered mostly by Milwaukee old-timers. It’s now brewed next door at the new Pabst MKE Brewery (1037 W. Juneau Ave.), a stylish looking, ultra-modern brewpub that acts as a research-and-development pilot for Pabst.

Speaking of MKE (Milwaukee’s airport code and de facto abbreviation), Milwaukee Brewing Co. is constructing a new destination brewery. The company, founded in 1997 by new school beer baron Jim McCabe, began as the Milwaukee Ale House (233 N. Water St.), a 15-barrel brewpub along Milwaukee’s riverwalk. A decade later, the 50-barrel brewhouse at 613 S. 2nd St. was operating. With another decade under its “Milwaukee goiter,” the new MKE Brewery (1150 N. 9th St.) will occupy the 50,000-square-foot Pabst Building 42. The idea of playing cornhole, bocce or volleyball on the epic rooftop biergarten with a pint of O-Gii (the brewery’s tasty witbier with chamomile) or Louie’s Demise (its flagship amber ale) is too good to pass up.

Without leaving the Pabst compound, check into the Brewhouse Inn and Suites (1215 N. 10th St.) right around the corner. It’s where Visit Milwaukee accommodated me, and where beer travelers will find a centerpiece—centerpieces, really—of six shiny, copper kettles used ‘til the brewery shuttered.

The free tour at Miller Milwaukee Brewery (4251 W. State St.) details Frederick Miller’s journey to launching the brewery in 1855. From the cream brick buildings and lagering caves of old to the 7.5 million barrel behemoth it’s become, it’s a far cry from the quaint 10-barrel breweries most beer travelers experience. Then again, there is the pilot Miller Valley Brewery responsible for innovation. There’s always something new coming down the marketing pipes, such as the forthcoming Two Hats line of light, sessionable and fruit flavored beers.

Milwaukee’s nearly back to having 30 breweries, so there’s plenty more to explore beyond where lager-brewing German immigrants tread and brewed. The current crop of beer barons begins with Russ Klisch, a daily fixture at his Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St.), established 1987. Riverwest Stein Amber Lager—characterized by burnt sugar and leather—washes down Lakefront’s to-die-for fried cheese curds. (To get even more Milwaukee, they host a Friday night fish fry with live polka.) Additionally, taste your way through an impressive glut of old-European styles (and neo-American sodas) at Sprecher (701 W. Glendale Ave.). In this town that light lagers built, the city’s original post-Pro craft brewery makes Black Bavarian, one of the finest schwarzbiers produced in America.

St. Louis, Missouri

It’s not only Budweiser that made St. Louis beer-famous. Jacque Marcellin Ceran deHault St. Vrain began brewing table beers and porters in 1810 at a brewery later known as the St. Louis Brewery (some 40 would call the city home in 1860). It boasted an underground beer garden and a bowling alley. (St. Louis used to be home to the Bowling Hall of Fame, itself part of the German influence.) Nowadays, the city’s most notorious baron(s) are Eberhard Anheuser and his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch. The brewery’s origins date to 1852 but received its hyphenated name in 1879. There are myriad tour options at the 142-acre Budweiser Brewery (12th and Lynch St.) and yes, most include seeing the Clydesdales. Choose from more than 50 family brands for your gratis beer in the hospitality bar afterwards.

Less than a mile south is the old Lemp Brewery Complex (3500 Lemp Ave.) It still looks like the huge brewing facility founded in 1864, but there’s no more Lemp. If you’re feeling dry, the nearest brewery is Earthbound Beer (2724 Cherokee St.). If you think St. Louis-style American lagers are old school, wait until you try Earthbound’s ancient-inspired Gruit out of Hell.

Though Fallstaff has fallen by the wayside, St. Louis is once again teeming with modern beer barons. Tom Schlafly co-founded the current iteration of the St. Louis Brewery (2100 Locust St.), producers of the Schlafly brands, in 1991 with a brewery—now the Tap Room—housed in a beautiful, old printing building. Perennial Artisan Ales (8125 Michigan Ave.)—one of the first and few breweries in St. Louis not named Anheuser-Busch to medal (repeatedly) at GABF—was founded in 2011 by Phil Wymore. Its Belgian-inspired ales are sought out worldwide but best enjoyed at their Tasting Room. And the city’s latest baron—who left Perennial to turn his side project into a full-time gig—is Side Project’s (7458 Manchester Rd.) Cory King. King’s wild ales are available at the brewery’s tasting room (open weekends only) or the Side Project Cellar (7373 Marietta Ave.) a block away. Visit in June to attend the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival and sample through more than 50 St. Louis-area breweries beneath the iconic Gateway Arch.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati may not boast the heritage brands of cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis, but it was absolutely one of America’s primary landing spots for German immigrants—and their breweries. So massive was the population that one canal was nicknamed the Rhine for the river running through Western Germany’s Rhineland. The neighborhood, still known as Over-the-Rhine (OTR), supported Cincy Metro’s three dozen breweries named for 19th century beer barons John Kauffman, John Hauck, Ludwig Hudepohl and Christian Moerlein. Today, the Kauffman lagering caves beneath the defunct brewery’s malt house are part of the Brewing Heritage Trail. Source Cincinnati brought me out to explore the city’s historic and present beer cultures, which is how I got to enjoy some dark, bready Moerlein Emancipator Doppelbock during the annual Bockfest at what is now the Moerlein Brewery resuscitated by Cincy’s contemporary baron, Greg Hardman. The production brewery (1621 Moore St.), where Hardman is responsible for salvaging other local brands like Schoenling-Hudepohl Little King Cream Ale (in diminutive nip bottles) is in OTR. There’s also the swanky Moerlein Lager House (115 Joe Nuxhall Way), a brewpub on the banks of the Ohio River overlooking northern Kentucky.

While not part of the Brewing Heritage Trail, among the city’s 20-plus breweries is the original Schoenling Brewery, now the Samuel Adams Cincinnati Brewery (1625 Central Pkwy.) Boston Beer’s larger-than-life baron Jim Koch is actually a Cincy native. Tours are only offered during Zinzinnati, America’s largest Oktoberfest celebration.

Incidentally, the original Moerlein brewery has been repurposed as Rhinegeist (1910 Elm St.), which helped return the town to brewing prominence. Beyond the massive, rollicking event space and chill rooftop biergarten, beers like Truth IPA and taproom-only Uncle, a 3.8% British mild, make it a requisite visit. Other only-in-Cincy hotspots include OTR’s Taft’s Ale House (1429 Race St.) which, despite setting up inside the deconsecrated St. Paul’s Evangelical Church from 1850, the brewers flaunt anti-Reinheitsgebot beers like Nellie’s Key Lime Caribbean Ale and Liquid Advent, a chocolaty porter featuring cinnamon and chilies. Another St. Paul’s (Catholic) Church-turned-brewery is Urban Artifact (1660 Blue Rock St.) in the Northside neighborhood. The Thoroughbred Series boasts bourbon-barrel-aged beers inspired by cocktails like Mint Juleps and Moscow Mules, and the space doubles as a venue for special events. Even without family names on large halls, modern beermakers certainly continue to support the art.

Brian Yaeger is the author of Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey and Oregon Breweries.

The post Beer Baron Burgs first appeared on All About Beer.

Pacific City, Oregon

All of Oregon will experience at least a 90 percent eclipse, so why Pacific City? Well, the path of totality only includes a band of some 60 miles and that means one of the winningest breweries at the Great American Beer Festival, Pelican Brewing Co. (33180 Cape Kiwanda Dr.) with 39 medals, will be the first brewery in America to have its doors darkened. Oh yes, the band also includes Newport meaning Rogue Ales (2320 SE Marine Science Dr.) makes a fine vantage point, too (not to mention the 29 GABF medals to this brewery’s name).

Pelican is amazing for many reasons, not the least of which is that you can sit on the back patio with your toes in the sand as you gaze out upon Haystack Rock (when the sun’s out) and sip a pint of Kiwanda Cream Ale, named for the craggy, tree-lined Cape Kiwanda that bookends the northern vista. At 5.4 percent it’s golden, light bodied, and refreshing, though the brewery’s Blackbird Schwarzbier may proffer the right kiss of darkness the dark day requires.

Salem, Oregon

Yes, more Oregon, because one of the first bigger city affected by the eclipse is this state capitol that’s home to six breweries. But the real draw this day will be the four-day EclipseFest from August 18 to 21, which is actually put on by the Class A baseball team the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and their three-day stand against the Hillsboro Hops (because of course a Portland-area minor league team is named after hops). The main event is the eclipse and Monday’s game will start at 9:35 a.m. so that, instead of the tired ol’ seventh-inning stretch, the game will feature an eclipse break when max totality occurs at 10:18 a.m. But hold onto your helmets because the games on each prior day conclude with a brewfest. Some of the area breweries you’ll be able to sample at the ballpark include Albany’s Calapooia Brewing (140 NE. Hill St.) which is as famous for its Chili Beer and chili burgers as it is for its skilled darts regulars, as well as Seven Brides Brewing (990 N. 1st St. in Silverton), where beers are named for the seven daughters of the owners, cumulatively. Lil’s Pils, Becky’s Black Cat Porter and Emily’s Ember (amber ale) each make for fine pints enjoyed on the brewpub’s patio by their custom made fire pit.

Lincoln, Nebraska

Here, max totality occurs at 1:03 p.m. A Cornhusker buddy shared the can’t-miss breweries in this capitol city of over a quarter million people (with a citizen to brewery ratio of 1:30,000). Ploughshare Brewing Co. (1630 P St.) offers ploughman’s platters and a taste of Britain, but the beer is global. There’s an Irish red, a Munich helles, a Belgian wit, and of course an American IPA.

The Zipline Brewing Co. taproom (2100 Magnum Cir.) also excels at a wide range of styles, from American hop bombs to elegant German beers (Altbier, Kölsch), and any number of cask experiments. Finally, there’s Lincoln’s oldest brewery dating back to 1990, Empyrean Brewing Co. (729 Q St.), whose very name means “belonging to or deriving from heaven.” As such, many of the brewery’s beers befit a solar eclipse such as the earthy Third Stone Brown, Super Nova Summer Fest or Dark Side vanilla bean porter, which is certainly more than a once-in-a-lifetime treat.

St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri’s most populous cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, are on the outer limits of the path, but hey, they’ve got the most beer. And while Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Co. hasn’t announced any Totality-specific events or special brews, The Saint Louis Brewery (2100 Locust St.), makers of Schlafly, will commemorate the occasion with a Path of Totality package replete with its helles lager and a pair of solar glasses required to safely spectate the sun (or absence of it). What’s more, they’ve planned Schlafly’s Eclipse Field Trip. Fans can hop aboard a party bus from the taproom to the town of Bloomsdale, where the totality will last a whopping two minutes and forty seconds. And for everyone who joins that excursion, sorry Kansas City, but there’ll be killer BBQ there, too.

Paducah, Kentucky

Halfway between St. Louis and Nashville lies Paducah. It’s a fun name to say. Almost as fun as the county it helps fill, McCracken. But whereas Paducah is more often a destination for the tightknit community of quilters drawn to the National Quilt Museum here, this micropolitan city lies directly on the path and happens to boast not one but two breweries.

The original, Dry Ground Brewing Co. (3121 Broadway St.), established 2014, may trick passersby with the Coca Cola Bottling sign above the large, brick warehouse–but this spot’s about beer, not root beer or cola. You’ll find a range of IPAs including the American IPA 37 Flood (piney and citrusy) and a Belgian-esque rye IPA called Innocence (earthy and tangy), plus an imperial and even a “double English IPA” that’s 7.1 percent alcohol and zero percent similar to the mild English IPAs of yore. They even make Tazonia, a rum-barrel-aged saison brewed with paw paw fruit. Then, 2.5 miles toward the Ohio River (and the Quilt Museum), Paducah Beer Werks (301 N. 4th St.) offers up wings and a pale ale that took home a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015.

Nashville, Tennessee

Music City is the largest city affected by the eclipse, which is something to sing about, as are the city’s 20 breweries. Conveniently, there are four worthy destinations south of Broadway in The Gulch and Pie Town (so named for its dessert-derived shape). All are nearly within echo distance of the Country Music Hall of Fame starting with the largest in town, Yazoo Brewing Co. (910 Division St.). Both for its big smoke character and the name, check out a beer named Sue. Four blocks away is Jackalope Brewing Co. (701 8th Ave S.). Crowd-favorite Bearwalker Maple Brown is just that, a brown ale brewed with chocolate malts and more than a subtle kiss of real maple syrup. Two additional blocks and you arrive at Tennessee Brew Works (809 Ewing Ave). This spot’s Johnny Cash themed beer is I Walk the Lime, a wheat beer with lime zest. Just don’t miss out on the locavore-fueled menu with such hits as Nashville hot chicken. And forget waffles, you can get it with French toast (with rosemary miso syrup). They even serve Nashville hot frogs legs which, pardon my saying, goes great with their hoppy 1927 IPA (named for the great flood). Rounding out the three-quarter-mile crawl is Czann’s (505 Lea Ave). One of Nashville’s youngest and smallest breweries can only be enjoyed in town, ideally at the tap room where the Czann’s IPA is the fan fave. At 6.2 ABV and 53 IBUs, the medium-bodied beer built on Crystal malts puts the citrusy hop bill front and center.

Greenville, South Carolina

Greenville’s oldest brewery is Thomas Creek Brewery (2054 Piedmont Hwy), where co-owner/brewer Tom Davis makes over 50 beers inspired by his homebrewing roots. For something befitting the brilliant orange sun going dark, check out their Castaway Chocolate Orange IPA, brewed with Citra hops as well as orange zest, chocolate malts, and cocoa nibs. Spend the day or night, or a day that looks like night on the back patio at Brewery 85 (6 Whitlee Ct.) off I-85. They use Carolina ingredients whenever possible, including locally harvested yeasts from SouthYeast Labs. At Quest Brewing Co. (55 Airview Dr.), you can find a mix of barrel-aged offerings as well as year-round beers like Smoking Mirror, a porter brewed with cherrywood-smoked malt.

One of Greenville’s newest breweries, Birds Fly South Ale Project (1320 Hampton Ave Ext), boasts 12 taps of foeder and cask-aged wild ales plus the funky farmhouse Brand New Eyes. Stare directly into the totality and that’s what you’ll need. 

The post Total Eclipse of the Hops first appeared on All About Beer.

Bagby Beer Co. in Oceanside

After striking a gold mine of Great American Beer Festival medals for Pizza Port, brewmaster Jeff Bagby struck out on his own to launch this eponymous brewery (601 S. Coast Highway) in San Diego’s North County (just south of Orange County) in Oceanside. The rooftop patio offers a view of the beach that’s a five-minute walk away. As if to prove it caters to beer geeks, its most popular offerings are Dork Squad IPA and Nerd Herd IIPA with Doofus, Dinkus and Dum Dum hop bombs not far behind. The always-evolving tap list features an array of European styles from German roggenbiers to Belgian blonds to Czech pilsners, and they’re arranged, considerately, from lowest ABV (several are sub-5%) to highest (including some above 10%).

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Seal Beach

Launched in 2006, this barbecue-focused brewpub has become the South Bay’s darling, built on the strength of Beachwood’s (131 Main St.) incredible range of styles. IPAs? The juiciest (see Thrillseeker and Melrose). Stouts? The roastiest (see Udder Love and Kilgore Stout, not to mention beers with added roasted coffee such as Mocha Machine). Wild ales? The, uh, sourest (see lambic-style Chaos Is a Friend of Mine). And they have combined for 11 GABF medals over the last five years. There’s a second restaurant in more industrial Long Beach (210 E 3rd St.) and neighboring The Blendery (247 N. Long Beach Blvd.), focusing on barrel-aged sour beers, but those aren’t situated two blocks from a pier. A slab of baby back ribs and a bottle of fruit lambic-style ales (Careful With That Peach, Eugene or Careful With That Guava, Eugene) makes the gridlock traffic getting there totally worth it.

El Segundo Brewing in El Segundo

Pushing the boundaries of that 1-mile-away-from-shore limit, El Segundo (140 Main St.) fits the bill (with 0.2 miles to spare) and it’s one of the precious few breweries in the Los Angeles area near the water. The small tasting room gets awfully snug when locals stop working or surfing. Of the 16 taps, always expect more than half of them to land on the American pale ale to double IPA scale, which lends itself to incessant exploration of hop utilization and gratification. Mayberry IPA is neither placid nor hokey like its namesake, but instead is a brash, wild beer teeming with tropical notes from all those Mosaic hops.

Topa Topa Brewing Co. in Ventura

In the southern shadows of the Topatopa Mountains is the Topa Mountain Winery in Ojai. Farther south is the beer-making side of the business: Topa Topa Brewing Co. (104 E. Thompson Blvd.). A third of a mile from the Ventura Promenade is where head brewer Casey Harris, who cut his teeth researching hops and writing recipes at Stone, creates over a dozen fresh beers on tap. The small tasting room does offer a sunny patio in which to enjoy the various hop delivery vehicles as well as a few coffee-infused beers. Can’t make up your mind which to go for? There’s Howler Coffee IIPA.

Island Brewing Co. in Carpinteria

Carp, as locals call it, remains off the radar for tourists since it’s a much smaller town than Santa Barbara to the north, but that just means it’s that much more chill. Island Brewing Co. (5049 6th St.) was established in 2001 in a town self-styled as the Avocado Capital of the World. Hence, they’ve been brewing the guac-friendly Avocado Honey Ale almost since day one. It’s not sweet but toasty and earthy, and not green, just amber like the honey from their own hives. Hop heads will always find an array of IPAs, including one I had during my visit, brewed with experimental high-alpha American hop number 7270 that threw herbal and dank notes. I’m not sure which is better: the fact that the IPAs won’t get light-struck once the sun begins to set below the ocean’s horizon, or that you can enjoy that sunset from the patio.

Telegraph Brewing in Santa Barbara

There are three great breweries within a mile walk of one another, starting with Telegraph Brewing Co. (418 N Salsipuedes St.), a whole five blocks from the beach. While Telegraph’s California Ale (an earthy, yeasty Belgian pale ale) is the flagship, the Obscura series of wild ales makes this a destination. The sour beers, often aged in area wine barrels, sometimes get a boost from local citrus or stone fruits. Two blocks away at Third Window Brewing Co. (thirdwindowbrewing.com; 406 E. Haley St. #3), patrons can have their thirsts slaked by Germanic lagers or Belgian abbey ales, farmhouse ales, wine-barrel-aged beers and beers featuring in-season fruit (like subtle loquats) are the gems.

For a wider array of hoppy ales and some quotidian styles, try the Santa Barbara outpost of the Buellton-based Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. (137 Anacapa St. F). Figueroa Mountain now operates four breweries, but this one in downtown’s Funk Zone is the closest to the coast.

Libertine Pub in Morro Bay

Although Libertine Brewing Co. (801 Embarcadero) has opened a larger facility 15 miles away in San Luis Obispo, the ambitious brewers, who often employ the steinbier method—superheating rocks plucked from the bay—first launched as a tiny brewpub in charming Morro Bay. This waterside restaurant and music venue isn’t just slinging fish and chips to tourists. The terroir-minded brewery makes goses using Pacific Ocean water for the requisite salinity. Although the company keeps growing and opening additional locations around the Central Coast, this cozy, entrancing jewel offers 48 taps with around a quarter of them devoted to in-demand, wild, barrel-aged creations.

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola

The drive from Morro Bay to Capitola (or more broadly from San Luis Opisbo to Santa Cruz) is about 160 miles, but your driving options are to take the zigzagging Pacific Coast Highway (parts of which were closed due to recent storms, as of press time) that hugs the gorgeous coastline yet takes four hours, or dart up Highway 101 through the “salad bowl” lined with fields of broccoli and artichokes, which takes just two hours. Once you arrive, you’re treated to a small brewery that’s a big destination for beer lovers. While Sante Adairius (103 Kennedy Drive) is not at the beach, it’s just a 15-minute walk away. Most formidable for tickers is West Ashley, a Pinot Noir-aged saison with apricots. Each visit is a game of chance since you never know what they’ll have available, but if you come across Westly, which they could’ve called Westlier since it’s apricotier and oakier than West Ashley, do not miss your chance.

Half Moon Brewing Co. in Half Moon Bay

The portrait of California chill is this brewpub’s front patio on a warm day with everyone’s dogs lying at their feet as they sip pints of Mavericks Amber Ale. Like most of Half Moon Bay’s (390 Capistrano Road) beers, this one’s approachable and sessionable, yet named for the recently bankrupt Titans of Mavericks, a surf competition where competitors are given 48 hours’ notice to make it to Half Moon Bay to ride waves up to 60 feet.

Of course, you don’t have to see the inside of those titanic, plunging waves to enjoy a pint of Tunnel Vision IPA. A mile away is Hop Dogma (30 Avenida Portola, Suite 1B, El Granada) specializing in an array of IPAs including Alpha Dankapotamus (featuring Citra and aforementioned 7270) as well as those beachy sippers like Porch Livin’ Kolsch.

North Coast Brewing Co. in Fort Bragg

North Coast Brewing Co. (444 N. Main St.) is a legacy brewpub with a production brewery across the street that’s right near a spot called Glass Beach. It’s so named for the millions of smooth sea glass pebbles that resulted from years of being an oceanic dumping ground decades ago. (Hurry before all the sea glass has been nabbed by jewelry makers and kids.) While the pub serves noteworthy pub grub, it also serves raw oysters from Hog Island Oyster Co. and clams steamed in Blue Star Wheat beer. Perhaps the most famous beer is Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout along with its bourbon-barrel-aged riff, celebrating an annual release for the last 18 years. The taproom also hosts live jazz. It’s just one of the ways North Coast supports jazz, including with Brother Thelonious Belgian-style Dark Ale (one of the brewery’s many Belgian-inspired beers) benefiting the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for jazz education.

In this country, we’re fond of exploring and celebrating our various cultures—including beer culture—from “sea to shining sea,” but a road trip up or down the California coast is an ideal way to dive deeper into just the shining sea part. And best of all, it’s there for you during summer vacation, spring break and all the seasons, since the sun’s virtually always shining in California.

The post California Cruising first appeared on All About Beer.

World’s Largest Muskie: Hayward, Wisconsin

There are fish tales and there are fish tails. According to the authority on the latter, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the largest muskie caught (on rec­ord) weighed 67.5 pounds. It was caught in Hayward in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. Fittingly, Hayward’s also the home of the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame (10360 Hall of Fame Dr.) where you’ll find a 143-foot-long muskie made of fiberglass (also, incidentally, the world’s largest fiberglass sculpture).

After climbing into the tail and out through the mouth’s observatory overlooking the hall of fame’s grounds, make the sub-mile jaunt to Angry Minnow Brewing Co. (10440 Florida Ave.). It’s housed in a 19th-century brick building with a relaxed vibe, which you’d expect. Plan your visit for the Friday night fish fry. Enjoy fresh Lake Superior whitefish and wash it down with the dry-hopped River Pig American Pale Ale, although the brewer loves experimenting with IPAs.

World’s Largest Tiger Muskie: Nevis, Minnesota

I guess when you have 10,000 lakes, you get avid anglers fond of memorializing various kinds of fish. Located just over 200 miles to the northwest as the muskellunge spawns, this attraction pays homage to a specific type of muskie. This tiger muskie, so named for its stripes (guess what the spotted muskie looks like) also differs from its Hayward cousin in that it’s only 30.5 feet long but made of cedar, redwood and cement scales.

Roughly halfway between the two largest muskie monuments is Duluth. There are a few breweries, but check out Fitger’s Brew-house (600 E. Superior St. in Duluth). What makes winning three Great American Beer Festival medals more intriguing is that they were earned for a German doppelbock, a Belgian saison and an American framboise/sour ale. El Niño IPA is a perfect storm of sticky, citrusy hops and bass-heavy malts that makes it ideal for Fitger’s outrageously topped burgers (why stop at cheese when you can use cheese curd melting over poutine as a “condiment” or replace ripe red tomatoes with fried green ones?).

World’s Tallest Thermometer: Baker, California

As with most roadside attractions, the object isn’t getting to it; it’s gawking at the thing as an excuse to stretch your legs on the way to where you’re going. Not far from Death Valley stands a 134-foot-tall thermometer—signifying one foot for every degree Fahrenheit that set the still-standing record for hottest temperature on Earth in 1913. Baker is the quasi midway point between the SoCal coast and Las Vegas. It’s got an assortment of fast-food outposts, but no brewery.

For that, you have to wait till you’ve reached your destination: Vegas, baby. Sin City is all about escapism—which is evident in one’s ability to hop from Paris to Venice to Egypt to New York all on the same street. Ergo, Chicago’s the best place to find honest-to-goodness real beer. Chicago Brewing Co. (2201 S. Fort Apache Road), some 10 miles off the Strip, has earned 13 GABF medals across a range of German, British and Belgian styles. Plus, the beer puns are strong. See: Wild West Tripel as an homage to Westmalle’s tripel, and Quad Damn It. Nothing slakes Vegas’ desert heat like a 10-plus percent quadrupel ale brimming with deep, dark fruit notes that pairs with the pub’s all-day specials like $6 breakfast burritos or sandwiches. Yup, this brewpub’s open 24 hours a day.

World’s Largest Caveman: Grants Pass, Oregon

The world’s tallest statue, at 502 feet, resides in China, but in India, they’re working on one that will stand 597 feet tall. The Statue of Liberty, by contrast, stands only 151 feet tall. There’s the 75-foot-tall “Golden Driller” in Tulsa that, for our purposes, briefly sported a kilt recognized by the Guinness Book of World Rec­ords. Having said all this, the world’s largest caveman seems worthy of recognition here. Since 1971, the 17-foot-tall statue commemorates Grants Pass’ status as the gateway to Oregon Caves National Monument, and even the local high school’s mascot is the caveman. The statue’s expression is as dim as you’d expect a Neanderthal to be.

The town of Grants Pass in Southern Oregon is far from the beer-soaked metros of Portland, Eugene and more bucolic Bend. But it is coming up on the Beaver State beer map. Perhaps the spot most likely to make a big splash if it were in a more densely populated locale is The Haul (121 SW H St.), the exclusive taproom of Conner Fields Brewing. Part tasting room, part gastropub, part produce stand for the fertile Rogue Valley’s abundance of farmers and vintners. Conner Fields brews out of a barn on a vineyard and excels, naturally, at farmhouse ales. Zin Saison, made with Zinfandel grapes hand-plucked right outside the brewery, isn’t for cavemen or troglodytes, just progressive beer lovers. Robot Small, made with rice and Sorachi Ace hops, is a light, refreshing sipper for grown-ups, and there’s an abundance of house-made sodas to offer the same to kids and nondrinkers.

World’s Largest Peach: Gaffney, South Carolina

As far as the largest peach itself goes, that Guinness record belongs to an Autumnstar peach grown at Roseridge Orchards in British Columbia. How dare Canada steal America’s thunder for doing all things bigly? Hence, the title of largest peach shall be bestowed upon The Peachoid, the 135-foot-tall water tower that holds a million gallons of water in Gaffney. The city is the real-world home of the fictitious “House of Cards” president, Frank Underwood, and it makes a cameo in the series’ first season.

Gaffney is so far north it’s nearly southern North Carolina. But it’s decidedly Upstate South Carolina, so drop down a tad farther along I-85 and check out the spacious tap room at RJ Rockers Brewing Co. (226-A W. Main St. in Spartanburg). Here, expectedly, you’ll find the peach-infused Son of a Peach, a 5.6% sipper brewed with local fruit. For those looking for a punchier peach beer, there’s Peachy King, imperial Son of a Peach packing a whopping 9%. And available seasonally, look for the fresh peach Berliner Weiss. Of course it’s not all peaches. The brewery’s 17 taps also offer a cream ale, specifically Son of a Coconut Cream, that most assuredly would make for a tasty, interesting blend. The Palisade Pils gets a bit of help from the Northwest with Yakima Valley hops, and these Palmetto brewers take an even bigger cue from that region with the Cascadian Dark Ale, also available aged in red wine barrels, thus solidifying South Cackalacky’s place on the national beer map.

World’s Largest Ball of Twine: Cawker City, Kansas

You knew we couldn’t wrap up a feature like this with no strings attached. Perhaps the most fabled item on any list of World’s Largest: the ball of twine. Truth be told, there are a few profoundly large twine balls. There are competing near-spheres in Minnesota, in Missouri and one in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, near that muskie in Hayward. But the one in Cawker City looms largest. It started over 60 years ago and initially grew to only 11 feet in diameter when the creator, Frank Stoeber, became disentangled from this mortal coil in 1974. Since then, Cawkerites, or Cawkerers, hold an annual Twine-a-thon, and today the sucker is more than 40 feet wide, weighs 20,000 pounds and consists of 1,530 miles of twine.

The best part about a pilgrimage to Cawker City is that it lies 90 miles northeast of the town of Hays on I-70. Hays is quite far from Lawrence, Topeka and Wichita, but it’s home to Kansas’s most decorated brewery at GABF: Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co. (117 E 11th St.). This brewpub has earned nine medals for its wheat beers and stouts. The clean and balanced beers coming out of this brewery make it its own destination. Although Kansas still bears much of its German heritage—the food menu is full of incredible dishes including Smothered Bierock (think beef stuffed cabbage then stuffed into a bready shell)—but many of the beers are decidedly American, including the floral Hefeweizen absent any Bavarian yeast characteristics.

Truly, as the third-largest country by mass, the United States and its menagerie of byway curios know few limits. Same, it can be said, for our breweries. Authors Doug Kirby, Ken Smith and Mike Wilkins first published Roadside America: The Modern Traveler’s Guide to the Wild and Wonderful World of America’s Tourist Attractions in 1992. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that it coincides with the first stage of post-Prohibition breweries and brewpubs between I-5 along the Pacific and I-95 tracing the Atlantic. Nowadays RoadsideAmerica.com maintains the biggest collection of monuments. It pairs great with BeerMapping.com, a full tank of gas and some empty growlers.

The post Uniquely American first appeared on All About Beer.

This is not a compendium of the only or even the most generous breweries, just a handful that not only serve their community by proffering fresh beer, but by pouring out their souls as well, through generous donations and volunteerism. During this season when we focus on giving thanks, thank goodness these breweries have their hearts, check books, and mash tuns in the right places.

14th Star, Saint Albans, Vermont

I found myself at this brewery in a part of Vermont so far north, my smart phone mistakenly charged me for roaming in Canada. Having said that, the brewery’s roots are in Afghanistan. That’s where Steve Gagner was deployed when, in 2010, he helped draw up a business plan for 14th Star Brewing Co. (133 N Main St #7). Today, business is booming and it recently expanded into an old bowling alley. In part, that’s thanks to popular brands such as Valor, a hoppy amber ale. A portion of all Valor’s sales goes to Purple Hearts Reunited, a foundation that reunites missing medals of valor with their rightful soldiers or families. But it’s not just some proceeds from Valor earmarked for charity. Last year alone 14th Star donated some $130,000. The brewery gives to three other veterans organizations—the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation, Veterans Count (to care for veterans and their families) and the Josh Pallotta Fund, named for a local soldier who, after suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, took his life.

When I met co-owner and CEO Andrea Gagner, Steve’s wife, she said, “Beer is what we make. Community is what we create.” She rattled off many other local organizations for which they’ve raised money and held fundraisers, including homeless and battered women’s and animal shelters. Truly, the Tribute DIPA, while extremely bitter, has a sweet spot for all the local veterans and civilians. And since it’s Vermont, naturally there’s a new double IPA, B-72, bursting with juicy grapefruit character in the telltale Vermont-style, that’ll have you thanking the brew crew.

Center of the Universe, Ashland, Virginia

“I was playing for the Mariners at the time,” begins Chris Ray, co-founder of Center of the Universe Brewing (11293 Air Park Rd.) and he’s not telling tales. Ray pitched six years in the majors. He began homebrewing while still with the Orioles and, scheming to launch a professional brewery, he “had to tie it into baseball. Our military heroes, baseball, and beer: it doesn’t get much more American than that.” That’s how Homefront IPA came about. While it features orange zest, the real star is the wood aging: it’s aged on real (non-finished) Louisville Sluggers. While the technique is admittedly a novelty, 100 percent of both the beer and the auctioned, beer-stained bats raise money for Operation Homefront, which assists military troops and their families. And that beer is now brewed by 10 breweries including the likes of Stone Brewing, Cigar City Brewing, and Fremont Brewing, so there’s 10 times the fundraising.

COTU also holds other huge fundraisers such as one for the Byrd Theater Foundation to preserve a historic theater in Richmond just south of Ashland. It’s called The Big LeBYRDski and if you hurry to COTU’s atomic-age-themed tasting room that happens to feature a whole wall of pinball machines, you can still try El Duderino, the seasonal White Russian Milk Stout brewed for the occasion.

Marker 48, Spring Hill, Florida

In the last few years, Florida has developed an impressive beer culture, especially in Tampa. One year ago and one hour north, Marker 48 Brewing (12147 Cortez Blvd.) established a beer community. Founded by Maurice and Tina Ryman, Tina says, “If you want your community to support you, you have to support your community.” The primary means by which they show their support is their monthly Tap for a Cause. Each month, and all month long, a local nonprofit receives 100 percent of the proceeds from the selected beer brewed on Marker 48’s two-barrel pilot system. A malty and balanced festbier called Arctoberfest was brewed to support The Arc Nature Coast helping adults with developmental disabilities. Visit soon to check out seasonal releases like Bayou Drive Barleywine and the brewery’s storied winter warmer, Leg Lamp. When you arrive, before you head straight to the beer garden, be sure to take note of the sign above the door that reads “Brew Good, Do Good.”

Stone’s Throw, Little Rock, Arkansas

Community-oriented since the day it opened in 2013, Stone’s Throw (402 E. 9th St.) is fittingly in Little Rock’s historic MacArthur Park district—an old German neighborhood needs a brewery. Brewed along the Arkansas River, beers such Bremerhaven Alt are named after biergartens operated here before Prohibition, although some are decidedly un-Reinheitsgebot takes, including Off the Wal-nut Milk Stout and adjunct-boosted Kornfed Cream Ale. All are best enjoyed at one of Stone’s Throw’s al fresco picnic tables.

Stone’s Throw selects a local charity each month as the beneficiary of its #HOPSandHOPE program, wherein on Tuesdays, the organization receives a dollar from every pint. Co-owner Ian Beard says recipients have included a foundation for Epilepsy patients, a community garden, an LGBTQ youth support group, and historic preservation societies.

Additionally, Stone’s Throw hosts “Block on the Rock,” an anniversary block party that raises funds for Preserve Arkansas acting on a statewide level.

Owing to MacArthur Park’s cultural roots, Amadeus Vienna Lager is the most popular pint on draft. This winter, warm up your innards with Black Hops CDA or, for malt heads, Dos Cabras Dopplebock.

Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco

Virtually ever beer lover is intimately familiar with Anchor Steam. It’s no exaggeration to say that Anchor Brewing Co. (1705 Mariposa St.) bears much of the credit for inspiring and supporting the independent American beer culture since now-retired Fritz Maytag relaunched it in 1965. But Anchor’s role as industry patron continues well into Anchor’s third phase. The company extended its partnership with California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) and a portion of proceeds from Anchor California Lager goes toward CSPF’s conservation efforts. From the redwood forests Woody Guthrie sang about to the wetlands around the San Francisco Giants’ old home at Candlestick Point, each sip of this tasty, toasty lager helps protect the Golden State’s immense natural beauty. And while the Giants’ season came to a close in October, Anchor’s new pop-up-style beer garden at The Yard at Mission Rock (100 Terry A Francois Blvd.) is open year-round and is paces from the team’s current home at AT&T Park. It’s an ideal place to enjoy an iconic Anchor Steam or the fantastic new Dry Hopped Anchor Steam.

Ex Novo, Portland, Oregon

As a Portland resident, I believe all, or certainly nearly every brewery raises money through one program or another for countless local charities and institutions. Oregon’s largest brewing companies, including Widmer Brothers Brewing, Deschutes Brewery and Ninkasi Brewing Co., have each raised millions of dollars. But since opening in 2014, Ex Novo’s mission is to contribute all—yes, all—of its profits (that don’t get redirected to infrastructure improvements, which is not code for lining any pockets) to its four primary nonprofit partners.

The brewery’s slogan is, “Better beer for the greater good.” The initial goal is to divvy up one hundred grand to Mercy Corps (the globally focused humanitarian aid project headquartered in Portland), Friends of the Children (providing commitment assistance to at-risk youth), International Justice Mission (protecting the poor from violence), and Impact NW (promoting independence for kids and adults by providing skills training and resources for 40 years).

On top of this, Ex Novo organizes a monthly meet-up, Communitas, where perhaps some 30 volunteers go around being do-goodniks. Afterward, they can head back to the pub for a pint as a token of the brewpub’s appreciation.

Often times that pint will be the flagship, Eliot IPA (named for the Eliot neighborhood) but Thanksgiving is the season to shake out the moths in those ugly sweaters and drink Liquid Sweater, a 7% winter warmer akin to a blend of a Scotch ale and a porter.

As Andrea Gagner from 14th Star said, “People really do want to help, but most don’t know where to start. By hosting these fundraisers and creating a central location for those to direct their efforts, not only are we able to do wonders for our community, but it gives some people purpose. It gives them somewhere to go where they know they can help, they can make a difference.” Here’s to all your heroic efforts traveling and supporting communal breweries during the holidays.  

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Interestingly, there were plans to erect a bona fide Craft Beer Hall of Fame in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The inaugural class of inductees would’ve included some of the most vaunted members of the industry: scribe Michael Jackson, pioneering microbrewer Jack McAuliffe, homebrew champion Charlie Papazian and Belgian blending wizard Frank Boon. While plans have stalled and may never come to fruition, we beer lovers have various other interests and find ourselves visiting halls of fame for pastimes such as baseball, hockey, rock ’n’ roll, and even ones you likely didn’t know existed, like bowling.

Baseball

The National Baseball Hall of Fame (25 Main St.) in Cooperstown, New York, is so famous for its location, people simply call it Cooperstown. Although the founder claimed this was the birthplace of baseball (it wasn’t), the hall was actually built in 1936 to drive the local economy after Prohibition had decimated the area’s hops industry. Some 60 years later, since 1997, this city near New York’s geographic center has also been a draw for beer tourists with the Belgian-style Brewery Ommegang (656 County Highway 33). Visitors can tour the brewery where all that tropical, yeasty Hennepin Farmhouse Saison is made. Or they can head straight for the café to enjoy Belgian delicacies like moules frites. There’s also aged gouda washed in Ommegang’s own Three Philosophers. Said beer makes an obvious pairing, since the rich, fatty cheese holds its own against the quadrupel-style ale exuding roasted malts and blended with kriek lambic. The tart cherry kick provides perfect top notes to this bottom-heavy beer.

Ommegang is six miles south of the hall, and Cooperstown Brewing (110 River St., Milford) is three miles farther south but fits the famous museum’s allure like a mitt. Founded in 1995 as a Peter Austin brew house, it’s been under new ownership since 2014 but still uses Ringwood yeast (that was Austin’s signature) to create British-style ales such as Old Slugger English Pale, Nine Man English Pub Ale and Bench Warmer Porter.

And three miles north of Ommegang is the area’s third and newest brewery, Council Rock (4861 State Highway 28) since 2012. The beers here don’t throw curveballs; they’re true to style courtesy of homebrewer-turned-publican Roger Davidson. The one and only connection, however faint, to the area’s biggest draw is that the IPA is named All American IPA. Brewed with Columbus, Chinook and Citra hops, it’s got grapefruit character straight down the pipe over home plate. Other styles found here include a red ale, a golden and a stout. And if the brewery’s myriad patrons get a say, the burger seems to be equally popular. It’s got bacon, sharp cheddar and more, all piled onto a pretzel bun. It’s a burger and beer combo found in the field of dreams.

Hockey

Now’s a great time to escape the mania of the U.S. election cycle and visit the Hockey Hall of Fame (30 Yonge St.) in Toronto. Founded in 1943, the HHOF is older than the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts (1959), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio (1963). After ogling the actual Stanley Cup and more Wayne Gretzky paraphernalia than you can shake a high stick at, skate down to the Amsterdam BrewHouse (245 Queens Quay West) just 1.5 kilometers away. The brewing company was Toronto’s first in 1986, though this spot on Pier 4 opened in 2013. Fracture Imperial IPA body-checks you at 9%.

A block away from Lake Ontario is Steam Whistle Brewing (Roundhouse Park, 255 Bremner Blvd.). Hockey is about mastering the fundamentals, and that’s what Steam Whistle does. Book the tour to blend in with the tourists. Another kilometer farther north is Bar Hop Brew Co. (137 Peter St.), offering a massive beer list spanning from Belgium to French Canada. The 36 taps are dominated by Torontonian drafts. Local beer writer Stephen Beaumont’s pro tip: enjoy top-notch fare on the rooftop patio.

Finally, a couple of kilometers west in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighborhood, Bellwoods Brewery (124 Ossington Ave.) is a don’t-miss brewery for serious beer geeks. Any and all styles emanate from the brew house, ranging from a smoked Berliner-style weisse to what Beaumont calls a “big-boned” double IPA. Whether on tap or in the bottle shop, look for limited-release barrel-aged offerings such as Grandma’s Boy, a funky wild ale with locally grown Shiro plums, or Bring Out Your Dead, a corpulent 13% imperial stout aged in cognac barrels that’s not afraid to go the full Monty.

Rock

Not all halls of fame are sports-related, of course. And perhaps the most famous of these is devoted to rock ’n’ roll. Even though cities along the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Memphis to St. Louis stake great claims as the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, Cleveland is where disc jockey Alan Freed coined the term “rock and roll” in 1951. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1100 E. 9th St.) was built in 1995, and it’s where the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, still lives, and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, always demands respect. Fittingly, there’s now a Palace of Fermentation (1849 W. 24th St.) a couple of miles away. It’s an offshoot of Market Garden Brewery (1947 W. 25th St.). Its Citramax IPA is the chart topper in heavy rotation. It’s packed with Citra hops, naturally, and is bold and tropical. The beer-soaked compound also includes Nano Brew (1859 W. 25th St.), a brewpub featuring 24 taps with a few reserved as outlets for the single-barrel brewery. An early hit is Nano Namber with a balanced attack of toasty malts and piney hops. The weekly firkin tapping is also a tiny hit.

Directly around the corner is Great Lakes Brewing Co. (2516 Market Ave.) It predates the Rock Hall by seven years, and if beer sales were albums, Great Lakes’ greatest hits would all be certified multi-platinum: Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry IPA and of course Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. To enjoy their deep cuts, visit the Beer Cellar.

Closer to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is Butcher and the Brewer (2043 E. 4th St.) where, since rock is all about spectacle, the 10-barrel brew system takes center stage. Guests even get front-row seats to the glassed-in meat locker, placing the butchers and the brewers in the limelight. Beers such as Farmhouse Rouge, a softly malty and herbal biere de garde and Albino Stout, an oaty golden ale with coffee and chocolate, complement the meaty treats from a house-smoked corndog to more luxurious fare like chicken liver mousse with truffles. If you want to see what’s huge in a Cleveland reimagining of Germany, try the HasselHefe Bavarian-style weizen with braunschweiger, a smoked and spreadable wurst.

Bowling

Bowling is part sport, part nonaerobic activity. Though there are fewer and fewer alleys, folks still love to roll heavy balls down narrow lanes in between sipping on cans of beer. To honor these, uh, athletes, the wacky International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame (621 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, Texas) was built in St. Louis in 1993 but was kicked to the gutter in 2008. However, its demise was spared when it was relocated to Arlington, Texas, in 2010. Admission includes a few frames so you can see if you’re future hall of fame material. (You’re not.) Arlington has one brewery, the local branch of the Texan chain of Humperdinks (700 Six Flags Drive), once part of the national Big Horn Brewing/Ram chain. This location opened in 1995, and the brewing company’s been garnering Great American Beer Festival awards since 1998. Uber Brau, an amber lager with a pretzel malt bill, has racked up five such medals. And Arlington-only beers like the Oak Aged Black IPA hold up nicely against the house smoked brisket or other Texan specialties.

The bigger beer scene begins 20 miles east in Dallas, where a wellspring of breweries have cropped up. Community Beer Co. (1530 Inspiration Drive) near the Design District is a current favorite. The taproom has nine communal beers on tap, and beer lovers will find classics like an easy-drinking witbier or a North Texas take on a West Coast IPA in Mosaic IPA. But don’t miss experimental batches like when Community made a golden ale called Funnel Cake designed to conjure images of the Texas State Fair, or bodacious boozers such as Barrel Aged Legion, the already dessertlike imperial stout that may find itself dry-hopped with peanut butter cups or anything else these homebrewers-at-heart dream up.  

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Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg

There are castle ruins nestled into a hillside that looms over this Baroque town situated on the Neckar River, which often ushers in a narrow band of fog. Heidelberg is a university town (and has been since 1386) and has long been a bastion of culture, including brewing. Though it once boasted some 40 breweries, there are only three today, starting with the oldest, Kulturbrauerei Heidelberg (Leyergasse 6) in the Altstadt, or Old Town. Although it is 50 years old, it’s a decidedly modern 15-hectoliter brew­haus run by braumeister Thomas Lamerz. He produces 15 beers annually, though, not surprisingly, the two most popular ones are the pils and the weizen. He is also fond of experimenting with contemporary hops from outside Germany’s vaunted Hallertau region, including Mosaic, Sorachi Ace and Southern Hemisphere varietals such as Nelson. So while he maintains many traditions in his brew house such as krausening (and recapturing the CO₂, since the Reinheitsgebot frowns on force carbonating) beers like the Chocolate Porter (and it’s actually a bottom-fermented Baltic porter) smack of the 21st century.

Across the Neckar and up the steep slope verdurous with vineyards, if you stroll down the Philosopher’s Walk (Goethe and Mark Twain have strolled here), you’ll arrive at the Neuburg Abbey, founded in 1130 and known locally as the Stift. It’s home to Brauerei zum Klosterhof (Stiftweg 4). Although a monastery nine centuries old seems like a place for conventional cloistral beers, it is simply the place where brewer Hans-Dieter Jesse and his partner set up shop in 2009. In addition to expected styles such as a blond, pils, wheat and dunkel, Jesse takes a progressive approach to brewing. Although he is required by the Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Federal Ministry of Health) to adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, he’s always seeking ways to test the law’s perimeters or make beer that isn’t “beer” when necessary. See, the Purity Law only mandates what constitutes “beer.” Ale is something different to Bavarians. If his Hopfenfuchs (Hoppy Fox) beer, the first in Germany to use organic Cascades, isn’t bitter enough, he makes HeidALEberg India Pale Ale. Yes, it features Hallertau Perle and Tettnang, but take note of the candied orange peel accent the Mandarina Bavaria hops throw. And then there’s the barrel-aged strong ales Jesse already makes such as Ardbeg Whisky-aged imperial stout.

For my last beer stop in town, I had to pop into Vetter’s Alt Heidelberger Brauhaus (Steingasse 9) across the way. Yes there are doppelbocks where mostly light, easy-drinking beers rule the day, but in 1994, the aforementioned Vetters 33 achieved its original gravity of 33 degrees Plato after a 10-hour boil. No red flags in the context of the Reinheitsgebot. The result tastes like molasses-rich kvass. According to Michael Vetter, whose father opened the brewpub in 1987, the house favorite helles goes well with the grilled pork knuckles. The 33, only served 0.2 liters at a time, pairs perfectly with apple strudel for dessert.

Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg

Here, travelers should watch their step; every road has sunken torrents of water called bächle (little stream) along one side, and they’re no mere gutters. They lend great charm to the city streets splayed below the Black Forest, but the more weizen you drink, the more you’re apt to fall in. Bachelors and bachelorettes, keep in mind that as the story goes, if you step or fall into a bächle, you’ll marry a Freiburger.

The little creeks are a holdover from the 13th century, built for fire fighting and cleansing, but no doubt the irrigation aided this Upper Rhine city’s vineyards. There used to be five gates in this walled medieval city, but only two remain. Adjacent to Martin’s Gate you’ll find a Markthalle (food hall); the liquid center is a subterranean brewpub, Martin´s Bräu (Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 237). The first thing that catches your eye at this family-friendly restaurant is the food prep area, which is definitely for the wurst. Don’t get excited about the bowl of greens next to the various meats; it’s just parsley for garnish. The copper kettles in the back, however, are not merely decorative. The house pils is lemon peel in color with a grainy pilsner malt base, dry yet honeyed flavor and a kick of lemon-pepper in the finish.

It’s Hausbrauerei Feierling (Gerberau 46) that is the main draw here, and I had the pleasure of meeting Martina Feierling-Rombach, the fourth-generation brewmaster. The brewery has been in her family since Julius Feierling founded it in 1877. Her daughter is already in training to become the fifth-generation brewer, and the Feierlings are essentially a legacy at Weihenstephan brewing program in Munich. Though they brew just over 400,000 liters of all-organic beer a year—choose among Inselhopf kellerbier subtly hopped with Tettnangers, Hefe-Weisse and a seasonal (I really enjoyed the faintly chocolaty autumnal bock brewed with Munich and Carafa malts)—they’ll only slake your thirst on premise, as they do not distribute. As Freiburgers have discovered, it’s a fantastic place for lunch or dinner as well, with locally sourced meats and even noodles made in house. The gleaming brew system sits at the center of the restaurant, but in actuality, their adjacent biergarten is the social center of Freiburg all summer long.

The packaging brewery, Brauerei Ganter (Schwarzwaldstrasse 43) requires a tram ride to reach, and it’s here where around a dozen beers are made. These include the best-selling pilsner triumvirate: Pils, Freiburger (less bitter, meaning 29 IBUs instead of 36 since as Herr Bayer explained, “young people don’t like bitter,” hence why they don’t attempt a DIPA), and my favorite, the unfiltered zwickelbier Urtrunk. But the most fascinating is Magisch Dunkel, a 5.8% dark lager with pumpernickel notes brewed each and every full moon. More than just predetermined brew dates, each occasion is accompanied by a festive procession with torches then a party replete with witches in the brew house culminating in a meal—and beers—in the dazzling steam­punk-looking brew house from 1929 that’s no longer used.

Regensburg, Bavaria

If there was a theme to my trip beyond drinking the Bavarian Purity Law in action, it was visiting some of Southern Germany’s most beautiful riverside cities. Regensburg, the first fort in Bavaria—making it a UNESCO World Heritage city—is awash in charm thanks to the Regen and Danube rivers. Just over the Danube Bridge, in the shadow of the medieval cathedral, St. Catherine’s Hospital has morphed into a retirement home but the Spital Brauerei (St Katharinenplatz 1), which was part of the hospital (because beer has healthy, restorative properties!) since 1226, remains. And yes, the inhabitants still get free beer. The seniors, I’m told, only drink the traditional beers like the helles and the dunkel (that goes through a double decoction mash). But in 2013 the hospital added a much smaller brewery that produces small amounts of IPA (featuring Hallertau-grown Cascade, Mandarina Bavaria and Hercules hops, and also dry hopped with Simcoe) and a chocolate stout. It brews 7,500 hectoliters of the helles per year—half its total production—but only 90 hectoliters of the stout, and you can enjoy them all at the riverside Spitalgarten.

Walk back across the bridge and you’re greeted by Wurstkuchl, aka the Historical Sausage Kitchen (Thundorferstrasse 3). Yes, this is Germany and hence you’ll be up to your elbows in various wursts, but lunch here is a must. Keep in mind that the meal of six small-ish, charcoal-grilled bratwursts mit sauerkraut is the smallest plate you can get. And the place serves beer.

For a more upscale beer meal, visit Brauhaus am Schloss (Waffnergasse 6). Formerly the Princely Brewery belonging to Thurn und Taxis, Regensburg’s royal family who made their money in the postal service (and beer), it’s now a large restaurant that retains its gemütlichkeit (coziness). As is customary, the two copper kettles of the brewing system are the centerpieces of the restaurant behind the bar. The usual house beers—helles, dunkels, weizen—and a seasonal offering, which was the (doppel) bock that had a slight note of licorice and brown bread. It went great with my schweinsbrüstl (pork rind roast, meaning it’s got a flavorful, crispy layer). I’ll also interject, since there’s been mention of Thurn und Taxis, that their sprawling castle hosts the Romantic Christmas Market, one of four such holiday markets, which is a great reason to visit in December.

For additional local beers, Brauerei Kneitinger (Arnuifplatz 3) has been around since 1861 and, like the above mentioned breweries in Regensburg, donates its profits to charity: in this case a home for seniors and a youth center. It’s famous for its bock beer, and it makes a hearty wiener schnitzel. And Bischofshof (Heitzerstrasse 2), still owned by the bishop whose name it bears, was established in 1649. It excels at dunkels and doppelbocks, which have earned Bischofshof numerous awards, including gold medals at the World Beer Cup.

Augsburg, Bavaria

The Schwaben (southwestern Bavaria) city of Augsburg, prized as the largest on the Romantic Road, made for a great end cap to my trip in part because I witnessed a gathering of Königstreuer—Bavarians who remain loyal to the (abolished) monarchy and do so in part by donning traditional garb—at Thorbräu (Wertachbrucker-Tor-Strasse 9). A good reminder that beer travel is as much social as it is about trying new (or in the case of Bavaria, old) beer. Since the brewery dates back to 1582, it’s as good a meeting place as any, especially since Augsburg passed its own beer purity law in 1156, predating the Reinheitsgebot by 360 years (and Munich itself by two years). When I spied patrons at Thorbräu’s pub quaffing their beers from a mass—a full liter—and asked what they thought about the quarter-liter stange glasses used for serving Kölsch in Cologne, they laughed. A mass is perfect for enjoying the light but flavorful kellerbier, the ripe-banana-accented weisse, the dunkel with notes of toffee or the sweetgrass-tinged pils.

The Brauhaus Riegele (Fröhlichtstrasse 26) may have been founded way back in 1386, but here I discovered Augsburger Herren Pils, the hoppiest, spiciest German-brewed pilsner I’ve ever encountered. The best-seller is the Festbier, which is also deliciously progressive. As the brewer Enzo Frauenschuh, a native Augsburger, reminded me, Riegele is the brewery that collaborated with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. on the show-stopping Oktoberfest last year. You can try these and more when ordering a bierprobe (a tasting flight). Alas, what you won’t find on it are Riegele’s fantastic beers. The brewery produces 250,000 hectoliters a year in 220 hl batches, but it also runs an 80 hl craft brewery. It makes one of the finest German IPAs, called Simco 3, and since Frauenschuh loves the session IPAs he discovered in America, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s next on the brew schedule (perhaps “Simco 1½”?). For fuller flavor, try Noctus 100, the velvety rich imperial stout, or pick up a bottle of Magnus 15, the phenomenal, affogato-laden, bourbon-aged stout—a bit of symbiosis since Sierra Nevada helped with its new barrel-aging program. Another sign that even in this land celebrating 500 years of pure beer, there’s something for every beer palate.

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