10 Best Beer Festivals Around the World (besides Oktoberfest)

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Fine German ladies in lederhosen have been serving up frothy goodness between their bosoms for centuries, but Oktoberfest is no longer the only buzz-worthy international beer festival. OTP’s harvested ten hop-lovin’ festivals guaranteed to keep your veins shimmering with liquid gold.

This annual festival warms up an English January faster than a frat boy can tap a keg. Hosted by the Campaign for Real Ales (CAMRA), a Brit-based non-profit determined to steer people clear of mass-produced shitty beer, the National Winter Ales Festival features more than 200 brews. Find out which is the “Champion Beer of Britain” in an annual competition and channel your inner Charles Dickens at the Saturday night Victorian dress party. Entrance will cost you £2–4 at the door, depending on the day.

Everyone knows Aussies can drink; Canberra proves they get down with the good stuff. Happening every April, this festival features over 80 local craft brews, treats from local gourmet food stores and beer–food pairings that’ll make wine look like fermented grape juice you once used to wash down steak. You’ll have the opportunity to meet the good men and women behind your bubbly, and with plenty of live entertainment and giveaways, it’s a good time even if you’re too sloshed to ask questions. Presale tickets are $25 ($35 at the door) and $50 for a weekend day.

Hop a ferry to the island of Saaremaa for Estonia’s only beer festival, occurring annually in July. Over 100 Baltic state brewers will vie for your liver at the homebrew competition while your stomach catches local delicacies like smoked flounder. With an opening parade, tons of live music, beer parlor games to learn, and some of Estonia’s best DJs at night, there’s no chance of boozy boredom. For €3.50 you can pass out right on festival grounds if you have a tent, and indulge in a €8 breakfast to mop up last night’s party. Festival tickets range from €16 (one-day pass, presale) to €30 (two-day pass, presale), and are more expensive at the door.

Think Japanese beer culture stops with sushi faves Sapporo and Asahi? Think again. The every-traveler’s alternative to the hoity-toity Grand Biere Festival in Tokyo, this three-part brew-bash serves up more than 270 beers for attendees to sample from over 50 local and 30 international breweries. Several of these are rich craft brews that make Sapporo seem like slop. Founded in 1998, the festival now draws 20,000 booze-loving Japanese and foreigners to Japan’s main island of Honshu. Wet your whistle in Tokyo in June for 4,500–4,900¥, or Osaka in July and Yokohama in September for 4,200–4,600¥.

The self-proclaimed “largest gastronomic event in the Czech Republic” offers 70 brands of Czech beer for two weeks each May, all served in authentic glass pitchers. Over 200 of the Czech Republic’s finest thrown on traditional Czech costumes to serve it up and you’ll drink your fill in a large tent that can seat up to 10,000. Don’t expect a Euro coin to get a smile, though—the festival uses its own currency, the Tolar, which can be purchased with your festival reservation. Reservations will run you 12 Tolars (€22), plus a €2 reservation fee.

Hosting 50 Ontario-brewed beers and one sizzlin’ barbie, this festival, happens annually in July. With seven Canadian-loved “Ribbers” prepping everything from pulled pork sandwiches ($7) to full racks ($22), there’s plenty to wash down with any of the 4oz $1 samples from breweries like Flying Monkey’s and Big Rock. Sweat it out while you dance to live local acts. The only thing weighing you down will be your full wallet and good conscience—festival admission is free and any proceeds from booze and food go to The Food Bank of Waterloo Region.

Brewing heavy hitters like Leffe, Chimay and Delirium Tremors, any booze-hound can sniff out Belgium. This country puts on a world-class beer fest every September at the Grand Place in Brussels. Local Belgian brewers don’t mess around—the three-day festival opens with a “solemn inauguration of the beer stands,” and throughout the weekend features a display of historical beer carts and wagons and a brewer’s parade. With hundreds of pils, ambers, white beers, abbey beers, trappists, lambieks, fruit beers, strong pales, strong browns, red-browns and town brews to choose from, it’s easy to spend the minimum five crowncorks (€5) and overload your reusable mug.

A festival billed to honor the “nectar of the gods,” this two-week event is the largest beer festival in Asia. With a grand opening ceremony that makes the Beijing Olympics look like your brother’s tee-ball game, the festival features tastings from all over the world accompanied by plenty of both Chinese and Western munchies. Prove your foreign prowess at one of the many drinking competitions, and when you’re good and toasty make Simon Cowell cringe at a karaoke competition (CDs of your performance available for purchase if you dare). Admission varies from 2,380 RMB–280 RMB for the opening ceremony, and admission to Beer City will run you 10 RMB–20 RMB, depending on the time of day.

Kick it South African style every November with a festival to celebrate “all things beer.” With Table Mountain just behind the tents and the hot asses of rugby players broadcast on several screens inside, you’re guaranteed a good view to throw one back. The festival features over 20 breweries, more than 50 different brews and seven different styles to taste and buy, from the top honchos to the micro-guys and everything in between. Watch a brewing demo and competition, a braaing contest, a Springbok test screening, or enter to win a souvenir at one of the many raffles. Admission ranges from R60 (one-day) to R120 (three-days). If you’re feeling like royalty, get a King Package—complete with an individual draught tap, a keg, a branded mug and personal fraulein service—for R2,500.

If Oktoberfest is the mother of all beer festivals, these are her children. The Germans are notorious beer-lovers, and each city that participates in this festival throws in its own spin. In Leipzig, over 10,000 visitors flock to 90 brewery garden stalls, while in Düsseldorf the festival is held in a pedestrian mall, Benrath, where the oldest stock exchange in Germany had its roots. Boasting tons of obscure and difficult-to-find microbrews, alongside artisan and brewer booths in famous Biergarten style, fit at least one of these 12 into your budget and travel agenda.

Anyone who’s ever enjoyed great head knows there’s more to beer culture than getting smashed. An annual festival really gives you a feel for the celebratory traditions of a country, and when it’s all about booze, there’s enough lubrication for you to slide right in.

 

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