Best beer cities in the world
Andy MurdockLonely Planet author
Travelers know that one of the best ways to get to know a place is to get to know the locals. This isn’t always an easy task. Where do you find locals, in particular locals that might be interested in chatting with a total stranger? In many cities, one of the best bets is to head for the pub. Beer is popular (the third most popular beverage in the world after water and tea), so wherever you find beer you’ll find people; plus it has a special knack for helping to break the ice with strangers.
Not all cities have good beer scenes; some, however, truly excel in the beer arena. What city is the best beer city in the world? Where can you find the best beers and the best pub culture? We picked six of the most renowned beer cities in the world and put the question to the well-traveled community on the Lonely Planet Facebook page and over 1200 responses quickly poured in. There were staunch defenders of each of the cities in the poll, but in the end Munich emerged victorious with 29% of the votes.
Munich was not a surprise champion: it’s home to perhaps the world’s most famous beer hall, the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, as well as the annual Oktoberfest, which has become almost synonymous with beer. Festival-goers consume over 6 million liters of beer over a 16-day period (which sounds like an obscene amount, but with roughly 6 to 7 million people attending each year, that only amounts to around 1 liter per person).
One of the beer tents from Oktoberfest
Portland, Oregon came in last in the poll, perhaps because fewer people have been to Portland to explore the beer scene, or possibly because the opinion of American beer remains low worldwide. American beer has long been the subject of ridicule — “Put it back in the horse!” the humorist H. Allen Smith once famously exclaimed — but the thriving microbrewery movement in the US has raised the bar in recent years. Portland has become the unofficial beer capital of the US with more breweries than any other city in the country, the Oregon Brewers Festival, one of the USA’s largest and best beer festivals, and one of the top hops-producing regions in the country in the neighboring Willamette Valley. If you’re planning some beer travel, add Portland to your list. In fact, to help you plan your trip, here’s a free PDF itinerary from Lonely Planet’s Pacific Northwest Trips: a whistle-stop brewery tour of some of the best breweries in Oregon – no car (or designated driver) necessary!
What’s on tap for your next beer adventure? What worthy beer cities were overlooked in this poll?
[Photos: Lager & Ale by Anders Adermark and 6000 Beer Drinkers by identity chris is]
Brussels, for sure! Great bars and offcourse the best beer in the world without question. Also check whttp://www.ratebeer.com/places/browse/ they have the best info for a whole lot of cities in the world.
Belgium ist sure the beer country, it offers more than 500 kinds of beer, there some strange with strawberry taste there are some ferment beers and some with strange names like “morte subite” (= sudden death) or “delirium tremens” (= jimjams)
Go, Munich, go!
Anyone who rated Munich higher then ANY city in Belgium has not been to ANY city in Belgium
I suspect more people have heard of the Oktoberfest in Munich than have been to Belgium to taste their many, many marvelous beers. I found beer there that I have never tasted before, not even heard of before – not just different brands but different kinds of beer. Lambic alone, a new discovery to me this year, would qualify Brussels as the best beer city in the world!
Absolutely no contest, Bamberg in Franconia. 9 breweries in the city and many more in the surrounding countryside. Most serve exceptional beer in very traditional surroundings. In summer, outdoor Bierkellers are an idyllic way of sampling the beer.
I have to agree with “jra”. Bamberg – and Nuremberg – are certainly best. So many small breweries and micro-breweries where the beer is brewed in the cellars under the bars. So many different tastes – including “rauchbier” (smoked beer).
Munich is vastly overrated. A few huge breweries who pretty well own Oktoberfest, and a few smaller ones who produce the better beer. Schneiderweisse being one of the better ones.
If you really want a good beer garden in Munich I couldn’t recommend a better one than the Waldwirtschaft to the south of the city. Live jazz from the outdoor bandstand every evening and weekends in the summer.
Seriously London? England & the UK as a whole as great beer but not London.
As a stand alone city, Dusseldorf has some wonderful beer, some really good places to drink it, and a nice clean friendly atmosphere too. Hard to beat in my book
Finally an acknowledgement that there is good beer in the USA.
Althought not mentioned, there are fabulous beers produced in Newport Oregon by the Rogue River Brewery.
Dead Man Ale and Rogue River Red are my favs.
If you are ever in that area, give the Oregon coast a try. There are many good breweries on the coast and well worth the diversion. And you get great ocean scenery. I travel from Vancouver Canada at least once a year to take in Oregon Beer and Wine.
There are many better places to drink beer than these listed above. I imediately think of Belgium for example, but have any of you heard of Blumenau, in Brazil?. Brazilians love Beer and they own the second largest brewery corporation in the world: AMBEV.
P.S. I agree that american beer should remain in the bottle.
A very justified line up of countries which would feature top six cities. However, the order does perplex me. Given that the a large number of LP readers tend to use the books for their OE ‘must dos’ which include ‘running of the bulls’, ‘Oktoberfest’ and the like, I do not think this truly reflects the great places. I am a New Zealander who has had the fortune to have spent time in all the six cities mentioned. I am a fond beer lover; and I have not been to a country which has the most varied beer styles (both old and new), and which integrates it into everyday life as – Belgium. For me, Antwerp and Ghent stand out from the rest; and by a good mile. Where else would you see someone sipping a Westmalle Tripel with an air of sophistication on a late Sunday morning!
Bruges is not really a beer city but a tourist trap – rather, it should have been Gent, Antwerp or Brussels for the Belgian entry!
Colorado has far surpassed Oregon as the micro brew capitol of the US. Why go to Portland when you can go to any city in Colorado and sample some of the finest beers in the country, possibly the world.
Hmmm….. a somewhat skewed list. Should have been called “Most Popular Beer Cities in the World”.
I give Germany and Belgium the utmost credit for their history in beer. However, I don’t understand why the United States have such a bad rep for beer. Prior to Prohibition, the country was booming with breweries. Prohibition put an end to countless breweries, like Brooklyn for instance. Essentially every brewery in the city closed down before Brooklyn opened in the 80′s. America not only has a respect and admiration for the history of other country’s beers but also a never ending passion to experiment with new beers and brewing techniques. While other countries with a longer history continue to make consistently delicious and quality beers, I find it respectable that America takes chances to push the envelope. In fact, it has caused other countries to do the same. While they keep their ancient traditions, they are also jumping on and experimenting as well. The craft beer movement is still relatively new in America and even unheard of to most, for obvious reasons. Hopefully it is something that catches on as scholars and teachers continue to educate our people on the benefits and advantages of good beer. It does exist! Also, beer in the Southeast continues to become more appreciated more and more. Asheville, for example, is a thriving city for the craft beer movement. New breweries and brewpubs continue to open, nearly all restaurants carry craft beer, and this is just one example, though probably the best, in the Southeast. /rant
Sorry, but I have to disagree with Portland and you need to check your facts. San Diego, CA has more breweries (33) than Portland (29). San Diego was also voted the #1 beer town in the US last year.
http://www.mensjournal.com/top-five-beer-towns
Has to be London. Not only does London brew the best beer in the World – Fullers ESB – but it offers a diverse range of beers from around the world in its pubs and bars, something the other cities do not
I dont believe this cos no body cam eo to Africa to taste the beers here. so the hearding should be “Best beer cities in Europe”
i think we cant decide so easily if munich is the best or not and moreover we should consider other cities not only to pick from Europe and USA
Definitely the best beer town are in Northern-Eastern Europe but why not consider also some Italian, less known, town and village where the craft beer movement is in full blast? A good opportunity to follow a different path in visiting Italy, anyone? For example http://italianfood.about.com/library/rec/blbalad.htm.
Sporting a total population of less the 1/100th of what was listed as the rough attendance to the Oktoberfest Munch event I wanted to plug Asheville, North Carolina for just winning the coveted “BeerCity USA 2010″ award. After tying for the honor in 2009 AVL edged out Portland for this year’s title. Raise one to the people of the mountains.
How utterly wrong – just because Munich has a famous beerfest does not mean the beer’s especially good there. Paulaner? Obviously just tourists with no idea about beer took part.
I like the vote for Bamberg in Germany (62 breweries, according to my recent visit) or Canterbury in the UK (highest density of pubs in the country). Amsterdam and Brussels also rate (though I consider Belgian beer overrated, except by the Belgians!). Dublin and London both have beer flow as part of the infrastructure/plumbing.
Try Boulder county USA. They have some great micro brews and a few that will nock your socks off.
Its got to be Brussels and I am Irish…. over 600 different beers all brewed in belgium….custom brewed beers by monks….must be the home of beer..
One of the reasons I live in Portland OR, the beer scene is the best in the US, nothing like a nice hoppy North West IPA! I have about 20 breweries a very short distance away.
Munich “wins” because of name recognition. Beer there is okay, but often unexceptional. Four of the city’s breweries aren’t even locally owned any more – two are owned by AB-InBev, and two by Heineken! Other parts of Germany are more distinctive, as is Belgium. Bamberg is much less well-known to the typical foreigner, a shame as it is a fine destination in its own right. Bamberg is the “beer capital” of a region with the highest density of breweries per square km (or mile) in the world. Note, too, that Cologne and Düsseldorf weren’t mentioned at all in this poll, and they are also great destinations for those who like good beer.
More people should check out Portland (Oregon) too. It’s gone from good to very good, and it will eventually get to the point where it’s a flat-out great world-class beer city.
It is no surprise that Brussels is not in the list as it is not on the average Lonely Planet or back packers list of cities to visit – but I can confirm. It is definitelt the BEST beer city in the world. The bar Delirium Tremens has more beers available to its customers than any bar in the world, and you can get the best quality premium trappist beers for less than a bottle of water. I didn’t drink beet till I moved to Belgium, but do now and the whole country is a beer lovers paradise!
Being a Belgian I am not objective at all, i just want remark about the difference between, let us say the British, Irish and German beer culture and the Belgian one. If you are looking to get drunk as soon as possible, and enjoy a drunk bunch of people Belgium is not the place to be. But if you like to taste different beer styles, enjoy to take time to smell, look, and find different layers of taste in a beer. There is no better place then any “grand place” in a Belgian city!! Beer can be as divers in taste as wine and that’s something they still have to find out in Dublin, Prague ore Munich!!
Asheville just beat Portland for the title of Beer City (for the US, not the world)!
What about Sapporo, Japan? Just a thought.
If “best” is interpreted to mean diversity of styles offered, then Portland or Bruges (or Brussels) should win. The other cities are focused on one or a few styles of beer that they admittedly do very very well. But that only makes them the best beer city in the world to the person who is in love with that one style of beer.
Munich is the best! :D
Yes most certainly Munich must be the best Beer City in the World. I am from Munich but now living in NZ and that is one thing I miss a lot. The variety and quality of beer – my absolute favourite must be Augustiner Beer.
If it’s for variety of good beers London would be behind only Bruges.
If it’s for a good scene to drink beer in, well…
Munich rocks
Antwerpen. Some bars have over 1,000 different beers on sale at any one time. Not saying there aren’t cities with bars that have more, but I haven’t seen them anywhere and would like to know of any.
The Kulminator (Antwerpen), when I was last there, had over 1,500 different beers on sale.
I’ve always thought people’s love for German beer was a bit of a cliché. My personal favourite is Gallo from Guatemala.
The only thing wrong with Portland is that it rains every day.
Does Thailand have any good beer to be noted?
Prag is the best or I would say the whole Czech republic.
There is no bad beer in that country even if you drink beer from the non main stream breweries. The q is not how many beers you have in bottles or on tap but how good the beer is and the unfaked ambiance. There is nothing better than an ordinary Czech beer hall.
The Western United States currently has the best beer in the world – Sorry, it’s true. The micro/craft beer scene is growing every year and any more it hard to not end up in a bar that has wonderful IPA’s, Pale Ales, lagers, belgium whites, everything basically. Try Portland as mentioned, but also Denver, San Diego, the Bay Area.
My ranking Bruges, Prag, Munich. Belgium has the best beer places. but the best beer still comes from asia it’s “beer lao”.
What a bunch of Euro-centrics. No mention of the Bia Hoi (“frash beer” shops in Hanoi, where a full pint of clear fresh beer can be had for about 30 cents, and one can sit on a cthe literal sidewalk and watch the chaos of busy life pass by.
And Beer Lao, available in every village on a road in Laos (and several not on roads at all) truly is one of the finest lagers I’ve ever had (and this from someone who lives just down the road from Poortland!). Cheers to myway!!
i agree completely with stillwithus’s comment of june 16, 2010 about beer lao in laos, but want to add the city where to drink it.
luang prabang is beautiful, well preserved and has the most exotic places to drink your beer and enjoy (foreign) company.
I would suggest that it depends on what type of Beer…. For Lager then for me it would have to be Brussels or Bruge….. For Ale then it could only be a British city – London being the most obvious.
I don’t know if I need 1000 different beers in a bar.
For me it’d be Dusseldorf.
London is the best city I have ever visited for choice of beer. Many bars will stock between 10 and 20 draught beers, including continental European lagers, real British ales, guest beers and one-offs, and the odd interloper from further afield such as Sierrra Nevada. As an Irishman who lived in Dublin for ten years, I can definitively state that it is one of the worst cities in Europe for good beer – nearly everything is mass-produced swilling fuel and there are often only a choice of four or five beers. Ireland is the only country that I know of in Europe where US Budweiser is served on draught in nearly every bar! There are honourable exceptions such as the Porterhouse and of course the atmosphere of pubs in Dublin is amazing. So you’ll have a fantastic night out – just don’t expect to drink anything more exciting than Carlsberg.
This list looks like it was written by some 18 year old Eurorailer. Munich, gets a first just because everyone’s heard of it, but where are Cologne, Dusseldorf or Berlin? Brussels astoundingly doesn’t make the list even though it should probably be number 1. Prague and Dublin shouldn’t be on the list at all. Both are just famous for pumping out lots of a single mediocre kind of beer.
Seeing as there is no such thing as bad beer just better beer, a place a little left of cntre for a number of reasons is Lviv in Ukraine.It has the oldest brewery in Europe and at 70c a pint, its a ripper. Not touristy but beautiful city thats cheap and safe makes a great stumble home afterwards. To all you football enthuiasts its also holding part of Euro 2012
Antwerpen. Nowhere else comes close.
Munich for the fun and all the lager, Bruges for the beer and scenery, Antwerp for the thousands of different beers that all the other places just havent got. I notice in the beer glasses picture – theyre all lagers. In Antwerpen you could have every one of them a different colour.
The original centre of brewing in the UK – Edinburgh! Once home of Younger’s and McEwan’s later to merge to become Scottish and Newcastle – now home of the superb Caledonian brewery. Take a trip along the pedestrianized Rose Street for one of world’s most famous ‘pub crawls’, featuring superb pubs such as The Abbotsford, The Auld Hundred, Scott’s and The Kenilworth.
I would not drink beer in USA….
London – Not a chance, most of the beers are brewed locally (i.e. in the UK): kiss of death for anything except ale.
Prague, Munich & Dublin – Totally agree with the comment about these cities only serving one particular type of beer well. “They serve Budweiser on draught in every pub!” – nuff said..
Some US cities are getting there: Portland, San Francisco, Denver/Boulder
But the winner has to be Belgium..So what if people don’t know the names of the cities, it’s Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels, Liege, hands down..