You Need a Beercation

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2016 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Jared Long and Bob Hall

By Jared Long and Bon Hall

One of the best ways to improve your brewing is to taste a lot of beer. But just going to the local liquor store and buying samples from across the country and around the world may result in your tasting beer that isn’t even close to what the brewer intended. Oxidation and age can transform even the most sublime beer into a dull, papery mess. So, whenever possible, follow Michael Jackson’s example and travel to the beer instead of making it travel to you. A beercation is a fun, rewarding experience that, with the right approach, can dramatically improve the beer you brew when you come home.

Beer travel might be a life-list trip to Europe, a long weekend in another part of the country, or, even just a short drive from Wyoming to Denver. The global beer landscape is vast, and beer-centric travel offers an interesting lens through which to see the world. Beer cultures are as different as the cities, regions, and countries that nurture them, and experiencing culture from a tourist’s perspective while enjoying the local beer offers the best of both worlds: food, museums, and architecture paired with delicious beer. We recently traveled to Germany and Belgium to do just that.

TASTE WITH INTENT

One of our primary beer travel goals is gaining knowledge and inspiration for judging and recipe development. Proper note-taking is a must: you won’t remember what you sampled or how it tasted without good notes…