Beer in France

Beer Travel
1

Hey Everyone,
I’m going to France (Paris then the south Toulon/Nice area) and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for places/styles of beer to try or good tours, anything BEER…etc…Yes I know France is “for wine”. Also, I am planning on going to Au General La Fayette while in Paris (as listed in All About Beer’s 150 places to drink a beer). I’d appreciate any tips,
        thanks,
      Adam

2

Dunno if you can still get it or not, but The Beers of France by Rigley and Woods is what you need.
http://www.artisanpress.u-net.com/France/frbook.html

Play around on their website, I found this by clicking a few links:
http://www.artisanpress.u-net.com/France/frbrewer.html

3

I lived in Nice for seven months after I finished my undergrad, and will tell you the south is no beer heaven. You will find plenty of places that serve duvel, but that is about it. However, I highly recommend you drink as much armagnac as you can - that stuff is delicious!

However, there are plenty of Belgian beer bars in Paris if you look hard enough. France’s beer capital is certainly French Flanders, the area around Lille, near Belgium - pretty much the opposite of the Cote d’Azur. No worries, though, every region in France makes and consumes excellent wine.

4

thanks for the tips! I’ll let you know how it goes
    Adam

5

Try this link.  Apparently a lot of breweries have closed, but if you weed through you’ll find the ones still open.
http://beerme.com/region.php?176

6

academie de la biere is a nice stop in central paris.  large selection of belgians and french beers.  if the barkeep feels you have a knowledge and appreciation for beer, she’ll talk to you.

7

Adam,

Have you made your trip already? I live in Paris and would suggest you try one of the Frog pubs for the closest thing to a brewpub in Paris - http://www.frogpubs.com/ Otherwise, don’t forget that IT IS LEGAL TO DRINK IN THE STREET as long as you’re not being a jerk about it, so do not hesitate to visit a shop and buy beer to be consumed along the banks of the Seine. I’d recommend http://www.bierescultes.fr/fr/index.php - the guy is really nice.

8

Thanks for the tips everyone. Sorry for the late reply…I pretty much struck out on the beer front. In Paris there is a place that AllAboutBeer Magazine rated in the top 50 (or 100?) places to drink a beer, I think it was called La General Au Lafayette. I made it to the area but couldn’t find the freaking place! As for the south, forget about it. Most places didn’t even ask you “what kind” of beer when you ordered one because they only had 1 to offer (usually 1664). However, there was a fair amount of Leffe (from Belgium) that was pretty good.
              Thanks again and Cheers!,
                      Adam