Jeff Evans: The World's Best Beer Bars

In the latest of our World's 50 Best Bars spin-off guides, beer expert Jeff Evans takes us through the best beer bars in the world.


BEER TOURISM HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS. Whereas holidaymakers or business folk once might just have made the effort to seek out the best bar near their hotels, today thirsty hordes are turning the travel premise on its head, constructing whole vacations around beer temples that have sprung up in the past couple of decades in many of the world’s great cities. 

The best of these bars don’t just serve beer: they live and breathe beer. Beer is their raison d’être and they go more than the proverbial extra mile to prove this by not only promoting excellent ales and lagers produced locally but also by seeking out world classics that knowledgeable customers happily pay considerable prices to enjoy. 

Decor varies from the grand to the grungy but the best bars have it all: well-chosen selections, beers in perfect condition, staff who know their hops from their elbows, and a buzz – a shared, friendly connoisseurship – that welcomes in anyone who is serious about beer, or who would like to be. Here are 10 of the best to aim for on your travels.


’T Brugs Beertje, Kemelstraat 5, B-8000 Bruges

brugsbeertje.be

“You cannot call yourself a well-travelled beer lover until you have been here.” So declared the Campaign for Real Ale’s Good Beer Guide to Belgium a few editions ago. 

The advice remains sound today for anyone thinking of visiting ’t Brugs Beertje (above). Daisy Claeys has become a figure of legend during the 30 years she’s been running this small bar, which remains the first port of call for many a tourist in Bruges, however compelling the majestic architecture of the city. 

The ‘Little Bear’, a former grocer’s shop, amounts to no more than a couple of small rooms decorated with old brewery advertisements, plus an overspill bar through the back, all behind an unprepossessing red-brick facade and modest green door. But, per square metre, this must be one of the most influential beer venues in the world. With 300 greats (mostly Belgian) in bottle, served in the correct branded glassware (but of course), there’s more than enough to please even the most pernickety of drinkers.


Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà, Via de Benedetta 25, 00153 Rome

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Don’t worry about the rather demanding name (“What have you come here for?”). This bar is most commonly known as the Football Pub. 

Don’t worry about the connotations of that either. The essence of this small Trastevere pub is beer and Italian craft beer, quite rightly, holds pride of place. 

Whether crowded around the bar, relaxing in the small room at the back or spilling onto the streets, the customers who frequent this down-to-earth drinking den don’t care so much for their restricted surroundings as for the contents of the glass in their hands. 

Visit in the afternoon for the best chance of getting a seat. Almost opposite is another beer shrine, but with a dining dimension, as its name, Bir & Fud, suggests. The wood-fired pizzas are renowned and the beer selection equally lauded, although understandably more restricted than its near neighbour.


The White Horse, 1–3 Parson’s Green, London SW6 4UL

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London has gone beer crazy. Breweries seem to be opening every week and there are now so many excellent pubs and bars specialising in quality beer that you’re never far from a classy pint. 

Despite all the justifiable attention showered on these vibrant parvenues, there is one pub that has been showcasing outstanding beer for more than two decades and continues to meet the challenge of rivals head on. 

The ‘Sloaney Pony’ has been a destination beer pub since the early days of cask master Mark Dorber’s involvement in the 1990s. Dorber has now moved on but The White Horse remains a remarkable place to indulge in fine beer. 

Cask ale continues to be prominent, with a bank of handpumps dispensing beers from top British breweries. But keg beers from the US, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic and other beer outposts now also vie for attention – as does the seriously impressive bottled beer selection, which pulls together many global classics. 


Weisses Bräuhaus, Tal 7, 80331 Munich

weisses-brauhaus.de

Germans are so conservative when it comes to beer that international influences are only now beginning to take hold in their country. Most pubs, bars and taverns still focus on the output of one, usually very local, brewery, with perhaps just a hell (pale lager), a pils and weizen (wheat beer) on tap. 

But there are some establishments that are somewhat more adventurous. The Weisses Bräuhaus in Munich is one. 

Reconstructed from the bombed-out remains of the Schneider brewery, this bustling pub-restaurant is solidly traditional, right up to its army of no-nonsense waitresses who take your order at the table and charge you at the end of the experience. 

If you can find room around your substantial food selections – each Bavarian to the core, including more ways to cook pork than seems possible – then there are some terrific beer choices to take on board. The Schneider brewery survived the WWII bombing by relocating fully to its other brewhouse in Kelheim but today the old site is a showcase for its impressive selection of wheat beers, including the perennially classy Schneider Weisse and the astonishingly complex Aventinus. 


In De Wildeman, Kolksteeg 3, 1012 PT Amsterdam

In De Wildeman

indewildeman.nl

Despite the gracefulness of its canals and bridges, the glory of its museums and its compelling – often tragic – history, Amsterdam, at times, can be hugely claustrophobic. 

It feels you’re struggling through a hedonistic nightmare of thronging crowds and drunken stag parties, confronted by a sex trade so in your face you feel you need a damn good wash. 

Defying this insanity for many a year has been In De Wildeman, a knocked-about but true oasis of beer quality in the midst of the teeming city centre. 

The tables are scuffed and the comforts are sparse but, with some 200 beers in bottle and a further 18 on draught, you can easily forgive this lack of softness. The roll call of celebrated Low Countries and international breweries on the beer menus provides welcome respite from the commerciality of most Amsterdam outlets. 

The food is defiantly simple – cheeses and dried sausages – but, in combination with an inevitably wise selection from the taps or fridges, takes on the persona of a culinary feast. 

So very often, the best things in life are, if not free, at least free of frills. If you’ve come into the ‘Wild Man’ to escape the madness on the streets, you’ll find it hard to leave and step into that gaudy maelstrom again.

Falling Rock Tap House, 1919 Blake Street, Denver 80202

fallingrocktaphouse.com

‘No crap on tap’. It’s a motto that’s been borrowed by other bars in recent times but it’s been the binding principle of the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver for some 16 years. 

Denver, of course, has built its reputation as a top beer destination by hosting the Great American Beer Festival since 1984, but a devotion to great beer in the city is not confined to those heady few days in the autumn each year. 

If you do visit Falling Rock at that time you may struggle to get in through the door, such is its reputation as the number one venue among aficionados, but slip in during a quieter period and you’ll fully appreciate what sterling service this functional, red-brick venue on two levels does for the beer lover. 

A wall of beer taps (getting on for 80) makes selecting a brew more difficult than picking a horse for the Grand National or perhaps Kentucky Derby, except that, on this occasion, you’re sure to back a winner.

Birrificio Lambrate, Via Adelchi 5, 20131 Milan

Birrificio Lambrate

birrificiolambrate.com

Of all the European countries experiencing a revival in beer fortunes, perhaps Italy’s is the most dramatic. 

Just 20 years ago there were no microbreweries even in existence, now there are heading towards 600. Bars servicing this flourishing sector have also mushroomed, although they remain sparse in the general scheme of things. 

Milan is the country’s craft brewing heartland and it is here that Italy’s beer’s soul seems to lie. This is in no way better infered than through a visit to Lambrate, in the east of the city. 

The Lambrate brewery is tucked away in the courtyard at the back but, front of house is a cheerful though nothing fancy boozer built into one wood-panelled room, dispensing glasses of the impressive house beers, plus various intruders. 

The Happy Hour is a particularly sensible initiative here. It’s not a time for cut-price quaffing. Instead, customers are treated to a buffet of antipasti and salads, thus keeping clients fresh from work in situ longer and offering a lining on which to layer another glass or two of the excellent brews. 

Its popularity means that Lambrate has now opened a second venue, a bit further south.


The Sheffield Tap, Sheffield Station, Sheaf Street, Sheffield S1 2BP, UK

Sheffield Tap

sheffieldtap.com

The station bar has seen rejuvenation in recent years, and not before time. One of the principal players has been The Sheffield Tap, located on platform 1 of the city’s railway hub. 

The former refreshment rooms have been brought back to their former glory -– all mosaic floor, vaulted ceiling and tiled walls – and taken to new heights by the introduction of a beer range that is far, far more expansive than the average commuter requires. 

Czech beer importer Pivovar and Derbyshire brewery Thornbridge are the driving forces here, as they are in sister establishments The York Tap and The Euston Tap, but expect beers from near and far, all linked by the one overriding quality of excellence. 

If the handpulls and keg fonts for some reason do not hit the spot, then check out the bulging beer fridges behind the bar. And just think: you can treat yourself to a seriously good beer education just by choosing a different beer every time you wait for a train.


Olympen, Grønlandsleiret 15, 0190 Oslo

Olympen

olympen.no

The tourist dollar doesn’t go far in Scandinavian countries so, when you’re shelling out the best part of $10 for a beer, you really want to be sure you’re getting value for money. 

In Oslo, the answer lies in Olympen. Affectionately-known as Lompa (‘Potato Cake’) to its regulars, this cavernous, 19th-century venue just to the east of the main railway station, in the socially-rising suburb known as Grønland, was once a bar of little brain. 

Recent times have seen it reborn as a pub-restaurant (plus a nightclub upstairs), elaborately fitted with dark panelling, sparkling chandeliers and murals depicting its home city, with quality beer at the heart of the new conception. 

Beers from well-known Norwegian micros Nøgne Ø and Haand Bryggeriet are found on draught and in bottle, but also in bottle are numerous international beers of note, with the likes of BrewDog, Mikkeler, Stone and Belgian Trappists prominent on the list. 

Sit behind the picture windows and watch Norwegian life roll by.


Poechenellekelder, Rue de Chêne 5, 1000 Brussels

Poechenellekelder

poechenellekelder.be

You don’t have to go far in Brussels to find great beer but there are a handful of sublime bars and cafés where the Belgian beer experience really stands out. 

Poechenellekelder is one and its position, right next to the famous Mannekin Pis statue, makes it handy if you also want to take the obligatory tourist snaps. 

The bar shares a strong connection with the little boy in full relief. It keeps the many costumes donated to preserve his modesty and some are on display among the bric-a-brac (which also includes string puppets for which the city is famous) that strews the two drinking areas (one up and one down). 

The beer choice is not the boldest in Brussels but it’s shrewdly put together and, quite honestly, offers more choice than any one beer geek could want from a visit, all served in a bustling but warm atmosphere of unpretentious hospitality.