copenhagen | Love Good Beer

I’ve done a lot of travelling in the past few years and I made an effort to seek out fine craft beer establishments wherever I went. I was reminiscing with a friend the other day and I thought I might as well post a list of my favourite European craft beer drinking establishments. Keep in mind that this is not an all encompassing list, but a list of places I visited and liked. That being said, I truly believe these are the cream of the crop and that any beer enthusiast should seek them out.

Mikkeller – Copenhagen, Denmark
The impressive and cosy bar of the Danish craft beer geniuses. What impresses me most about Mikkeller is their creativity and range. They also server American and other European craft beers in their bar.

‘t Arendsnest – Amsterdam, Netherlands
You could argue there are better beer bars in Amsterdam, but this is this only one that serves only Dutch craft beer. The bar itself is a beautiful wood paneled brown cafe located right on a ridiculously pretty canal.

Delirium Cafe – Brussels, Belgium
It’s grungy, smokey, crowded and you’ll never want to leave. The quintessential Brussels beer bar is famous for it’s massive beer list featuring almost every Belgian beer available. The staff are super knowledgeable and also rude. I remember being scared to order, but it’s worth it in the end.

‘t Brugs Beertje – Bruges, Belgium
The classic Bruges brown cafe. I highly recommend watching In Bruges then heading to this place for a gay beer or seven. It might not be the best beer bar in Bruges, but it’s the classic and a must visit.

Akkurat – Stockholm, Sweden
Surely the best beer bar in Sweden, featuring craft beer from around the world and from Sweden’s burgeoning craft beer scene.

Bir & Fud – Rome, Italy
Serving only Italian craft beer, this place is in the hip Trastavere neighbourhood of Rome. I didn’t know Italy had a craft beer scene until I visited this place, turns out craft is taking off in Italy.

Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà – Rome, Italy
Across the street from Bir & Fud, this place takes care of the rest of the world and serves top notch stuff from Northern Europe and America.

Craft – London, UK
Can you believe I lived just over a mile away from this place and I only went there twice? I should be punished. Founded in the summer of 2011, this place immediately became the top beer bar in London. They have the very best from all over the world; tons of Mikkeller, English and American stuff.

Brewdog – London, UK
The punks at Brewdog are on a pub opening tear in the UK. The London joint opened in December and has been packed since. Features tons of Brewdog one-off stuff, as well as quality craft from around the world.

Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Okay, not a pub, but an essential and amazing experience. I found most German beer halls to be very similar, so why not enjoy them at their grandest scale. I went twice and I’d go again at the drop of a hat. Check out my experience.

‘t Arendsnest in Amsterdam, loved it

Us guys at Brewdog, I miss it so bad

If you can’t have fun at Delirium Cafe, just suicide yourself now

I went to a lot of fantastic pubs in Europe, but these are the standouts from a beer perspective. Let me know if you think there’s somewhere else I need to go, I only need an excuse…

Cheers,

Chris

Did you know that Danes highly value cosiness? Me neither, but they do, except they call it hygge because they have their own language. Did you know that Danes are also quite into their beer? I had an inkling there. What choice did I have but to visit a country that values both cosiness and beer, two of my favourite things.

I didn’t love Copenhagen that much. I’d heard that Danes were the happiest people on earth. If that’s the case, it’s not because their capital city is overly nice to look at it. I thought Copenhagen was a bit rough around the edges, especially the part in which we found the Mikkeller beer bar. If you’ve never heard of Mikkeller, let me fill you in. They are legendary craft brewers from Copenhagen who brew a lot of very different, some might say crazy, beers. If you ever come across them upon your travels or in your local speciality beer store, give them a try and you won’t regret it.

I took this picture upon arrival, flashing the whole bar, many people looked at me like I'm a complete idiot. They are not far wrong.

True to the Danish reputation, the Mikkeller beer bar in Copenhagen was definitely cosy. It was also very exciting to me, mostly because of the epic beer menu. I took a picture of it, but we lost our camera at an earlier destination on the trip, so you probably can’t make out all the beers in my fuzzy iPhone picture. There were twenty odd craft beers on tap, half of which were Mikkeller concoctions, the other half was comprised of outstanding examples from the States, Belgium, and England. I ordered a barley wine called Oatgoop, a collaboration brew between Mikkeller and Three Floyds in the US (legendary craft brewers in their own right). Rachel ordered a Mikkeller IPA that was listed as Texas Ranger, which my internet searchings tell me is supposed to be a porter. In any case, both were flavourful and delightful beers to drink. I would have spent a lot of time at this bar had I not already been a bit looped upon arrival. The bar is near the main train station, so definitely worth checking out if in Copenhagen.

The epic beer menu

Rachel with our delicious Mikkeller beers

Cheers,

Chris

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European Craft Beer Pub Guide

Mikkeller in Copenhagen