Beer Tourism
This is a neat article (HT: Say Anything) combining two great activities of life, traveling and drinking beer. While the rankings are clearly subjective, one has to call into question the authors' judgment given some of the daft selections made. Burlington, VT is #4 and London, England is nowhere on the list. Simply daft. Unbelievably snortworthy. As much as I appreciate the nod to the Irish in selecting Dublin, a very good beer town, London is far and away a superior beer town, a giant among beer meccas offering astounding variety and quality. And Mexico City? Simply an awful choice. Yes, some Mexican beer is quite good and a coldie on hot Mexican afternoon is deeply satisfying, but Mexico City doesn't come close in quality and variety to be on this list. Here's my list:
1. London
2. Bruges (Brugge)
3. Munich
4. Amsterdam
5. Prague
6. Montreal
7. San Francisco
8. Sydney
9. Portland, Maine (Yes, I said Portland Friggin' Maine)
10. Copenhagen
1. London
2. Bruges (Brugge)
3. Munich
4. Amsterdam
5. Prague
6. Montreal
7. San Francisco
8. Sydney
9. Portland, Maine (Yes, I said Portland Friggin' Maine)
10. Copenhagen
posted by Donny Baseball at 12:14 PM
5 Comments:
Don't crap on Burlington! It bests Portland, ME any day of the week... perhaps there are scale issues, but I would gamble that downtown Burlington, VT has one of the highest per capitas of locally brewed varieties of beer. Period. San Francisco!?! I agree... Mexico City and Sapporo are foolish choices. But don't knock Burlington til you've tried it.
I have tried Burlington and I agree it is great, but (and I've given this some thought) there is only room on this list for 1 large US and 1 small US city. I think San Francisco qualifies because it is the hometown of a signature brew (Anchor Steam) and has a great variety of local brews from the vast and varied western US. Then I proceeded to pick what I think is the best small city in America for locally brewed beers of high quality and sufficient variety. I choose Portland which is debatable but clearly a solid pick. I was not dumping on Burlington except to say that it is not in the same league as London.
I think the inclusion of San Francisco calls your judgment into question. One staple beer makes not a beer destination. As pointed out in the original article, Burlington is a veritable hub, producing many of its own beers and serving tons from the surrounding countryside; Quebec, Upstate NY, NH, Maine, Mass, and the outliers. Frankly, it doesn't count as a city so perhaps we should just submit the State of Vermont in its stead. Vermont's micro-brew varieties to people ratio has to be among the highest on the continent, if not the world.
What about Boulder?
I stand by my choices. No less than Michael Jackson himself says these are the best beer cities in America:
"Q. What are the top five beer cities in the US, and what makes for a great brew town?
A. Can I please have seven?
They would be, from West to East: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Denver, Austin, Philadelphia, Boston. The qualifications are a selection of good brewpubs, plus multi taps featuring local beers. Of my Magnificent Seven, Austin leans more toward brewpubs and Philly seems to specialise in Belgian bars, but all of these cities are outstanding places in which to drink beer. A great beer city needs to be big enough to create a market but sufficiently small to have a genuine local pride in its beers. Another contender would be Baltimore. Among bigger cities, New York and Chicago might qualify, but Los Angeles would not.
Q. What makes Denver one of them?
A. It qualifies on all counts - plus it has the extraordinary bonus of the world's best beer festival.
Q. Do you think the Denver/Boulder area has a certain style of beer one could associate with the state? What are your favorite breweries in the area?
A. The local beers and breweries are very diverse in their offerings, so I don't see a single local style. Colorado has been to the forefront with Belgian styles. Thus far, my beer of the year is New Belgium's La Folie. I enjoyed their Brussels Black, too. At the opposite end of the scale in size, you have Coors with their Blue Moon White Beer. Let's emphasise, though, that -- while the styles are Belgian-accented -- the beers are American. There are also some great Porters and Stouts. I am thinking of Breckenridge Oatmeal, Chop House Bourbon Stout, Great Divide Porter, Oasis Zoser, Phanton Canyon Zebulon. Favorite breweries would have to include Wynkoop, Odell's and Left Hand/Tabernash. Let's mention a couple of bars, too: Falling Rock and Pints."
There you have it. I guess he would not agree with my Portland, ME selection, but San Fran makes his list too. Maybe I am a little too biased toward Portland. Go Seadogs!
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