DiningBuzz! - Zane Lamprey's 25 Best Beer Cities In The World

I am sure that lots of us enjoy beer. Kim and I love visiting breweries to do tastings & tours and have visited quite a few! I've also done a couple of beercentric trips- Germany and Belgium. Both of those trips were with one of my brothers. On our Germany trip we visited Munich and Cologne. We visited lots of breweries and beer halls. In fact, every night for a week we had dinner at a different, massive beer hall.

I recently came across a list of Best Beer Cities in the World by Zane Lamprey. Zane had a couple of food and drink related cable shows that I used to watch years back. Both were really funny and chock full of information and odd facts. The shows I used to watch were "Have Fork Will Travel"- a food and travel related show and the hilarious "Three Sheets". In Three Sheets, Zane would visit a different country each episode and try out the local drinks (and usually get really messed up).

The reason that I am bringing up beer and Zane Lamprey is due to a fun list that I recently came across.
The list is Zane's "Best Beer Cities in the World". The list consists of 25 cities. I've been to a bunch of them including three of his top five.

I am going to list Zane's top 10 and if you follow the link below you will get to the full list which has a good amount of information on each city. Enjoy!

Here is the Top 10:

Munich, Germany
Brussels, Belgiu,
Dublin, Ireland
Portland, Oregon
Prague, Czech Republic
Asheville, North Carolina
San Diego, California
Denver, Colorado
Boston, Massachussettes
London, England

Check out the full list HERE (http://drinkingmadeeasy.com/booze-in-the-news/zane-lampreys-top-25-beer-cities/)

Fatuous nonsense, not a big surprise.

The justification for putting Dublin anywhere in the
top zillion is just plain idiotic, for example.

Fatuous nonsense, not a big surprise.

The justification for putting Dublin anywhere in the
top zillion is just plain idiotic, for example.

Quit beating around the bush. Tell us what you really think about the list. :)

I'll agree with #1. Munchen!

And I'll also agree that Dublin is too high on the list... drop it down 15 slots or so.

I'd agree that Munich is number one as well especially with the large amount of beer gardens they have.

I'd also put Prague over Dublin then again I absolutly can't stand Guinness. Reminds me too much of Cofee but I LOVE Pilzner and Budweiser (I am talking about the Czech version but I do like both versions.)

The justification for putting Dublin anywhere in the
top zillion is just plain idiotic, for example.
I didn't mean to imply that Dublin is a wasteland - I have
hoisted many a pint there - but from what I've seen the
clientele is undemanding and the product, though decent,
nothing to write home about. And available on draft in
a hundred countries near you.

Quit beating around the bush.
A tendency to mince words is one of my worst characteristics.

Essentially, my objection to the article is that the author confuses
cities where the residents are passionate about their drinks with
ones where they are passionate about getting drunk.

While I like Zane Lamprey, enjoy his work, and think he is a pretty cool guy (he did a show at my local bar,) this list is lacking from somebody with the knowledge of beer he has.

First, I wouldn't put Munich as #1 in Germany. Germany is difficult, because so many styles come from many different areas of the country. Altbier in Dusseldorf, Rauchbier in Bamberg, etc. I would personally put Bamberg at the top of Germany's list, and it would possibly be #1 in the world.

Brussels is an easy include. Antwerp deserves mention, as well.

An argument can be made for Stockholm. Not necessarily because of brewers, but because of Akkurat, one of the best beer bars in the world.

Boston, Dublin, and London don't deserve to be anywhere near this list. San Francisco isn't on there, and Boston is? That is silly. Dublin is only added because they need an obligatory Guiness reference.

Somehow, Michigan needs to be included. Between Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Ann Arbor, the state is full. Hard to pick just one city, though.


Prague, San Diego, Denver, Portland, are all deserving. Wrap Pilsen in with Prague, and you've got a contender for top spot.
Montreal, while not necessarily Top 10, deserves consideration as well.

Grand Rapids... it's shockingly good for beer. I took it for granted while I was there.

I would be curious to see a few Top 10s for the US. How many does Boston actually make it on?

While I like Zane Lamprey, enjoy his work, and think he is a pretty cool guy (he did a show at my local bar,) this list is lacking from somebody with the knowledge of beer he has.

First, I wouldn't put Munich as #1 in Germany. Germany is difficult, because so many styles come from many different areas of the country. Altbier in Dusseldorf, Rauchbier in Bamberg, etc. I would personally put Bamberg at the top of Germany's list, and it would possibly be #1 in the world.

Brussels is an easy include. Antwerp deserves mention, as well.

An argument can be made for Stockholm. Not necessarily because of brewers, but because of Akkurat, one of the best beer bars in the world.

Boston, Dublin, and London don't deserve to be anywhere near this list. San Francisco isn't on there, and Boston is? That is silly. Dublin is only added because they need an obligatory Guiness reference.

Somehow, Michigan needs to be included. Between Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Ann Arbor, the state is full. Hard to pick just one city, though.


Prague, San Diego, Denver, Portland, are all deserving. Wrap Pilsen in with Prague, and you've got a contender for top spot.
Montreal, while not necessarily Top 10, deserves consideration as well.

Interesting points on Germany. I really loved the Kolsch in Cologne (Koln).
As for a favorite bar- I'd definitely place 't Brugs Beertje in Brugges, Belgium as one of my favorites.

I like being surprised by how good beer can be found where you wouldn't always expect it, like Seoul for example. Interesting list.

I know it's an American list, but seriously - one city in Germany and eight in the US? Er, no.

Dublin, as many have said, has no business being in there and while England makes a lot of excellent beer very little of it actually comes from London.

And he's included Heineken as a reason to put Edinburgh on his list. Heineken! Seriously?

Not familiar with any breweries in Asheville? San Diego should be at the top of the American cities.

Dublin, as many have said, has no business being in there and while England makes a lot of excellent beer very little of it actually comes from London.

Where you say England, in this context you must mean the United Kingdom, given that there are some great breweries in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And while only a small percentage of good UK beer is brewed in London, London remains the best city in which to drink it in terms of variety available - so on that score my view is very much that London belongs on the list.

I know it's an American list, but seriously - one city in Germany and eight in the US? Er, no.

Dublin, as many have said, has no business being in there and while England makes a lot of excellent beer very little of it actually comes from London.

And he's included Heineken as a reason to put Edinburgh on his list. Heineken! Seriously?

Well, quite.

Though I would point out London is a great place to access a lot of good English beer otherwise only available in the odd little places it is made.

Well, quite.

Though I would point out London is a great place to access a lot of good English beer otherwise only available in the odd little places it is made.

Agree about London. The sheer variety of beers available at such a variety of places beats out most of the rest of Europe (other than Germany and Belgium). Same for many cities in the U.S., with so many innovative beer pubs and local concoctions.

Also, I really enjoyed Cologne, not because the local beer is anything special but because of the unique way that they serve and drink it. I am glad that Seoul and Tokyo made the list, too. In the case of the latter, I don't love Japanese beer, but, like Cologne, the beer-drinking and pub culture make it a great drinking destination.

I find Prague overrated in this respect (and all respects, actually).

Where you say England, in this context you must mean the United Kingdom, given that there are some great breweries in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And while only a small percentage of good UK beer is brewed in London, London remains the best city in which to drink it in terms of variety available - so on that score my view is very much that London belongs on the list.

No, I mean England. I'm a Scot and while it pains me to admit it they make on average better beer than we do. And I love Brains but they don't make Cardiff a great beer city all by themselves.

No, I mean England. I'm a Scot and while it pains me to admit it they make on average better beer than we do. And I love Brains but they don't make Cardiff a great beer city all by themselves.

In that case I think you're not entirely up to date on the current UK beer scene. The great micro-breweries of the UK are spread fairly evenly between England, Wales and Scotland. Only Northern Ireland still lags behind, presumably due to the stranglehold the bland stout industry to the south held over the Emerald Isle.

Not familiar with any breweries in Asheville? San Diego should be at the top of the American cities.

Well, the thing with Asheville is that it doesn't have any major breweries, but having been there about 15 times over the past couple of years, I can attest to its ranking. It truly is Beer City USA, a title it 'stole' from Portland a couple of years ago.

While I like Zane Lamprey, enjoy his work, and think he is a pretty cool guy (he did a show at my local bar,) this list is lacking from somebody with the knowledge of beer he has.

First, I wouldn't put Munich as #1 in Germany. Germany is difficult, because so many styles come from many different areas of the country. Altbier in Dusseldorf, Rauchbier in Bamberg, etc. I would personally put Bamberg at the top of Germany's list, and it would possibly be #1 in the world.
.

Couldn't agree more about Bamberg being #1. ^

An argument can be made for Stockholm. Not necessarily because of brewers, but because of Akkurat, one of the best beer bars in the world.



Great to see my favorite bar in my hometown mentioned! And their list of single malts are better then just about anything I've seen elsewhere.

To add something to the discussion, I like several beer bars in New York, on the rare occasions I get to visit. I know that Heartland Brewery has turned into a chain outfit, but I still love taking a seat at the original bar at Union Square, and going through the different kinds of draft. Love almost everything they serve.

I'd have to put Bamberg also at number 1. Eight breweries in a small city is massive!

For me, Germany should dominate this list:
Bamberg, Bremen, Munich, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Freising, and Liepzig, then
London, Brussels, Boston.