Ohhh... My Head... - On the road - Winter '03-'04

Next trip was Bangkok, Thailand. This will probably sound unlikely to many, but there are at least 4 brewpubs in Bangkok. Of these the giantic german inspired Tawandang was my favourite, and their Weizen was well made and excellently suited for the Thai climate.

Vienna has more brewpubs to visit than what even the hardiest beer hunter can cope with in one weekend. Some of them are truly excellent. Take the Siebenstern for instance. Not only do they brew traditional malt accented Austrian style beers, but also experimental ones such as a superb Rauchbier and a American style India Pale Ale. Another good one was Nussdorfer Brauhaus, brewers of subtle, malty beers in a range of styles. Wieden-Bräu, Medl-Bräu and Salm-Bräu were all more traditional, but also all clearly worth a visit.

I was also much looking forward to a visit to 1516 Brewing Company, who listed a multitude of beers on their homepage, but at the time I visited the beer supply was nearly dry and the service was close to non-existant. I know others have had a good time there, so I take it they just had a bad day...

Lyon has at least two brewpubs. Of these Ninkasi's beers are well made, stylish and experimental, while Chantecler's were problematic at the time I visited. The best beer in town was surprisingly Ninkasi Berliner Weisse. A Berliner weisse in France?

Apart from a quick tour to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which isn't a hotspot for microbreweries, the next destination was Brazil. There are many regional brewers and a wealth of industrial lagers made in this huge country, but brewpubs are hard to find. After spending many hours searching São Paulo I found Castelões, a pizza restaurant/brewery. Their beers weren't outstanding, but clearly above the regular macros. In Rio de Janeiro's outskirt there is a distributer of fine beers including Brazilian microbrews. You can read more about them in Spring Sessions.

Guangzhou in China is home to approximately a gazillion people. It is also home to some not very interesting breweries. However there is at least one artisanal beer made - at the Ramada Pearl Hotel of all places. This beer wasn't exaclty touted all over the place though, so good luck to everyone trying to locate it...

HongKong is only a short trip away from Guangzhou. While most beers available in HongKong is if possible even blander than in mainland China there is one bright oasis in this beer desert: The East End Brewery. This is not really a brewery, but their house beers are being made for them by the local microbrewery. Mind you, these beers are not fantastic, but they do posses some character. The range of this pub does not stop there, as the also serve plenty of microbrewed beers from US, UK and Belgium.