Raise a glass of your favorite brew because it’s International Beer Day! In honor of this special occasion, explore how beer is made by checking out some of the coolest, most unique breweries around the world.
Belgium: Westvleteren Brewery
Trappist beer is only produced in monasteries. There are six such breweries in Belgium and only five others around the world. The Westvleteren/St. Sixtus monks have been brewing award-winning beers since 1839 and show no signs of slowing down. The bottled beer has no labels, only color-coded caps to differentiate the three types of brews.
Norway: Svalbard Bryggeri
The Svalbard Brewery takes “cool” to a whole new level: It’s just south of the North Pole! Located on an island with more polar bears than inhabitants, it’s the northernmost brewery in the world. They use water from the 2,000-year old Bogerbreen glacier to make their beer, which you can taste on a brewery tour.
Vietnam: Pasteur Street Brewing Company
Pasteur Street is one of the brewery’s leading the way in Vietnam’s craft beer revolution. They use American-style craft brewing techniques along with fresh, local Vietnamese ingredients for a unique combination. You can try their 200+ beers at five taprooms in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Austria: Starkenberger
Do you love beer so much that you wish you could swim in it? Well, you can, at Starkenberger in Austria. The brewery’s old fermentation cellar houses the world’s first beer pools. They hold 12,000 liters of water and 300 liters of beer and are said to ensure supple skin and help circulation. Make a reservation and try to resist drinking the bathwater.
United States: MobCraft
Think you have a great idea for a tasty beer, but no brewing equipment? Check out MobCraft in Wisconsin. They crowdsource all of the beers they brew. That means members of the public suggest their recipes and then vote for winners, which then get brewed. It’s about as close as you can get to the brewing process without being a brewmaster.
Australia: Granite Belt Brewery
With breweries becoming their own tourist destinations, some are branching out to providing accommodations, activities, and restaurants. Granite Belt in Queensland has 19 private cedar cabins spread about 30 acres of land that guests can rent. Besides a taproom, there’s a gourmet restaurant and plenty of outdoor activities so you don’t even have to leave the brewery’s grounds.
Where’s your favorite place to get a beer? Tell us in the comments below.
