http://www.onelifetours.ca/Ultimate%20Beer%20Tour%20Itinerary.htm
I’m gonna have to discuss this with SWBO.
That looks great, but it’ll have to wait until 2015 for me.
Wow, I might have to speak with the financial committee about reappropriating the Oktoberfund. That looks pretty awesome for a newbie Euro traveler and beer enthusiast.
If you want a guided tour, I like what Stu Stuart of Belgian/Bamburg Beer Me offers. Many (but not all) tours revolve around season beer festivals/events.
I like to fumble around and explore a new destination on my own. My wife and I recently went to Brussels (for our 1 year anniversary). Here’s what I suggest:
“Ultimate Beer Tour” instructions:
- Fly to Brussels
- Stay near “Grand Place”.
- Go to Cantillion. Take tour. Spend afternoon in cafe (sour beer IS session beer, after all). Eat brewery-made gueuze sausage. Make friends with the other tourists.
- Spend the next three days exploring cafes in the city.
- Spend evenings at Moeder Lambic. Drink Gueze on cask. Repeat.
- Go to the Delirium Cafe during the day to avoid the college bar scene. Drink super fresh Saison Dupont on tap. Have another.
DON’T waste a day trying to visit Westvleteren. Many cafes and bottle shops have Westy 12 (as well as the 8 and 10). They gouge you for it, but definitely worth the precious time abroad. Honestly - I don’t get the hype (although that’s better discussed in another post).
I wrote up the highlights after we got back: Exploring Brussels | The South House Pilot Brewery
Kyle - thanks for the tips on Brussels! Cantillon looks awesome. I’ll be about an hour away and hope to make a few trips there to explore.
I’ll be in Munich for a few weeks too. I hope to hit some of the dumb touristy stuff, but there are also a lot of obscure, acclaimed breweries off the beaten path I want to see.
If you don’t have time to make it to all of them, I’m told this bottle shop in Munich has the best selection of local beers: http://www.getraenkecenter-schwabing.de/sortiment-alle.html
Kyle’s tips are good ones. For Saison Dupont on tap, I’d go to Nuetnigenough. Great little Art Nouveau place with a range of Dupont’s beers on tap, including Rador Pils.
Nateo (or anyone else), if you’re ever in the 'hood (Brussels), drop me a PM if you you feel like meeting up.
Thanks! That’d be rad. Cantillon is doing an open house brew on March 22nd, I was thinking about doing a day or overnight trip for that. I’ll drop a line when I know for sure.
Cool! I’m pretty sure I’ll be around. The open brew day is pretty cool. I recommend you go early - it can get busy.
FYI - It’s being reported that Obama will visit Brussels on the 26th of March. Airspace will be closed and all public transportation within the city will be stopped.
Just information. I’ll refrain from expressing any opinions. 
Times have certainly changed. When we were in Belgium in 2006 you could not find Westvleteren anywhere but at the cafe. It was a dry spell.
That Iten is pretty neat for the tour. We did Belgium without a tour and our rule was everything had to be in close proximity to a train station. We also timed it to hit a now defunct beer festival, open house at Rodenbach, open house at Palm, and open house at the Royal Palace. We did Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Gent, Brussels. The other thing we skipped other than open houses was breweries. I do wish we had visited Cantillon as part of the trip.
If/When we go back I’d like to visit De Dolle, Fantome, De Proef, and Caracole.
I’m taking my touring bike, and hope to take a few long weekends riding around visiting breweries. It’s amazing how small everything is in Europe. I can’t wait.
Fantastic! Wow, how long are you going to be on The Continent?
West Flanders is great for biking, and you gotta hit De Dolle Brouwers. It’s one of my favorite tours as long as long as the brewer’s 95+ year-old mother is still guiding them. She’s a hoot.
Closer to me (I’m in Tervuren) is the new-ish De Kroon brewery (http://www.brouwerijdekroon.be/en). It’s on the rural bike routes and is probably best visited by bike. You won’t be the only one. The beer is decent, but it’s the brewing kit that’s really drool-worthy.
I’ll be in Aachen from the end of February to the end of July. After that, I’ve got a couple job leads in Munich. So, at least 6 months, maybe indefinitely.
Thanks for the recommendations. I’m sure I’ll hit you up for more advice once I get over there and settled.