Craft beer and craft breweries have become ubiquitous to the urban and even not so urban setting. Every week I feel like I hear about a new taproom opening that I have to try. To be honest, I thought this fad may have tapered off by now, but my recent Google maps search for breweries has proven me very wrong. Which I suppose means this whole craft beer business can’t really be called a fad as the number of breweries in the U.S. and around the world keeps growing at an impressive rate.

Up until the 80’s, the beer brewing scene was dominated by big breweries (think Budwiser, Coors, etc) and the U.S. saw the lowest number of breweries since prohibition in the 1930’s. Once home brewing was legalized by Jimmy Carter in 1978, the number of breweries in the U.S. started a strong resurgence. That year there were but 89 active breweries remaining across the 50 states.

Fast forward ten years to 1988, and there were already 199 active breweries. In 1994, the count passed 500. In 2011, it passed 2,000. And halfway through 2016, there were over 5,000 active breweries in the U.S. The trend in the U.S. is leading to brewery booms all around the world.

The U.K. actually ranks second in number of breweries in the world. Back in 2010, it had 828 breweries. By the end of 2016 that number hit 2,090.

Mexico has the highest preference towards beer in the Americas at 78%, versus wine and spirits (source: Brewers Association). It had only 14 breweries in 2010. At the end of 2016, the number was 400.

Finally, the island and peninsula of Hong Kong is seeing a beer boom. In 2010 there were just 4 active breweries. In 2012 they had their first ever craft beer festival, called Beertopia HK, which is now a massive extravaganza drawing 14,000 attendees and breweries from around the world. At the end of 2016, the number of local active breweries in Hong Kong reached 21.

In short, craft beer is on the rise and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Prost!

For those of you in the Minneapolis area, here are a few I’d recommend.

Wicked Wort Brewing Company

Utepils Brewing

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

Steel Toe Brewing

Here's a quick video I just shot today, showing how to use Beer Stones to make your can or bottle of beer taste more like a draft.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

This is Part 2 of our series on beer in Europe.  For part one, read Adventures in Norway!

When I think of Germany, I think of beer. I don’t really know when this started.  Was it before I met Bryce?  After?  No idea, but that’s the way it is.  Which means when I was planning our time in Munich, I knew there would be lots of beer related activities on our itinerary.

Now, I’m going to be honest here.  Sometimes, I get tired of going to breweries.  There, I said it.  They all seem the same, the décor is sparse, and there isn’t always food (I really like food).  But in Germany I very much enjoyed going to pubs and breweries and I think the reason is because everyone is incredibly proud of their beer.  Like, really proud.  And I love it when people are passionate about what they enjoy.

We went on a Bavarian Beer tour, visited several beer gardens, and spent time in countless pubs trying every beer we could get our hands on.  They even had a German version of a summer shandy, better known as a radler.  

German beer history is vast and very specific.  You can find more information here about German beer styles such as Oktoberfest (also known as Marzen).  I won’t bore you with the details.  Instead, I’ll share some of our pictures with you.

Prost!

Hello!

We’ve been back from our European adventures for a few weeks now and I’m finally getting around to editing pictures and getting my thoughts organized.

Our first stop on our vacation was Norway. We began in Oslo and then took a train across the country to visit family in Bergen. Along the way we stopped overnight in a town called Flam, which had countless waterfalls, gorgeous views, excellent shopping, and…a brewery. Go figure.

Nestled among the fjords is Ægir Brew Pub. When you step foot inside you are instantly transported to a warm, welcoming pub that feels like Vikings could come through the door at any moment. The brewery had an impressive selection of beer.  I like the lighter beers, so I tried a Boyla Blonde and Sorachi Kolsch.  Bryce likes the darker ones, so he had a Rallar Amber Ale and Sommar Red Lager. 

Full disclosure though--I did leave Bryce and the pub in order to do some souvenir shopping. He basked in the glory of not being on a train with a heavy backpack and 14 other family members, while I went nuts in the sweater section of the Mall of Norway (not to be confused with the Mall of America).

Once I finished shopping with a victory lap through the Christmas tree ornament display, I met up with Bryce and a few family members to continue sampling the finest beer Flam had to offer. I think one was infused with wild flowers. If not, it sure smelled like it was and, yes, it was delicious.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our vacation across Europe, where we post about the beer in Germany!