National Beer Day: The Best European Beer

National Beer Day takes place in Great Britain on June 15th and is a celebration of everything that’s great about beer. The date is significant as being when the Magna Carta was signed, which said that everybody should have ‘a single measure for ale’ (ie, give everyone a beer). Now we live in a global society and can enjoy the best of everything from foreign cultures and that, of course, includes beer, so we’ve come up with this ultimate guide to the top beers from around Europe.

Germany

Where else could we start but with Germany? With its giant annual Oktoberfest celebrations, it’s a country well known for its beers and Munich is as close to a ‘home of beer’ any other place you could think of. Over six million litres of it is served up in October alone and while the scene is dominated by the more traditional brands of beer, there’s still a thriving craft beer scene there, with Hacker-Pschorr’s Oktoberfest Marzen and the Summer Beer and IPA from Crew Republic all worth checking out.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a city renowned for many of life’s pleasures, and beer is certainly one of those, so it’s no surprise that you can find some great craft beers there. Brouwerij De Molen is a great place to head to if you want to try out what the locals are producing (particularly in summer when Witbier is especially popular), though of course there’s always plenty of Dutch pale lagers like Grolsch, Heineken and Amstel on offer wherever you go.

Belgium

Along with Germany and Holland, Belgium is another destination for beer lovers in Europe, with Bruges particularly beloved. Some of the best beers you’ll find there include Westmalle Tripel, De Ranke XX Bitter and Duvel Tripel Hop Citra and The Bottle Shop is a great place to check out the best of what’s around, from both the craft and mainstream producers.

Prague

Finally, Prague in the Czech Republic is an excellent place to track down some great local beers, especially if you head to the Prague Beer Museum. It’s not actually a museum, but if you’re into your beers, it’s a bar that might as well be a museum about all the best Czech drinks by producers like Chotebor and Svijany.

So, whether you’re celebrating National Beer Day with fellow beer lovers or planning your next European ventures on one of our ferries to Europe, there’s lots of beers from the continent that you can try out and any of these destinations will give you a wide choice of tasty beverages to sample. National Beer Day is the perfect opportunity to broaden your beer knowledge and sample some of Europe’s finest ales.