I know it’s the second Thursday of the month. It’s also my Anniversary. Thus, there will be no tasting. We’ll resume in August. -Mark

Strange beer in a strange land   
By Mark Tichenor and Bruce Lish.

It’s about one o’clock in the afternoon and the clouds have parted, allowing precious minutes of sunshine and blue to wash over the square. Not that cloudiness deters anyone from lounging the day away at the scores of tables that dot the cobblestones. We sip Verboeden Vrucht beer from goblets as a highly competent brass band bleats out “Honey Honey” by Abba in the shadow of the cathedral behind us.

In other words, it’s a typical day in Antwerp, Belgium.

Our server implies that we’re not the first Americans to journey to her bar, Paters Vaetje, to search out Belgian beer at its source. Each year, thousands of American beer lovers make the decision to visit Belgium based on its rich and diversified beer heritage, and encounter towns and people average tourists would never meet along the way.

“The closest I could get to the Westvleteren Abbey was Brugge,” recounts beer traveler Jeff Beck of his recent trip to the enigmatic, secluded Trappist abbey considered by many to make the finest beer in the world. “I made it to Poperinge by 2pm and rented a bike. It took an hour and a half ride to make it out to the brewery, but it was absolutely great from the first train change to the ride.”

Nowadays, a tourist’s beer pilgrimage need not be so pedal-happy. Belgian beer is booming business, and several companies specialize in putting together all-inclusive guided tours of the region’s breweries and beer havens.

Kira Sheber, Press and Trade Coordinator for the Belgian Tourist Office, points out that her bureau has put together a comprehensive web page on Belgian beer tourism at www.visitbelgium.com/beer.htm Sheber, who fancies Belgian blonde ales and Jupiler, is justifiably proud of her nation’s diverse brewing industry, which keeps itself scattered around the countryside instead of clustered in the main manufacturing centers.

And that might be the best thing about beer tourism: the journey. “You really have to look for these breweries,” explains Chris Engel, a former call center manager and avid homebrewer. You get way lout from the tourist traps and find yourself in places you’ve never expected.”

Engel’s travels have taken him from Orlando, Florida, to Boulder, Colorado to the Amish Country of Pennsylvania, where he discovered the Tröegs Brewery without having to rent a horse and buggy. He fondly recalls the beers discovered along the way.

“It was in Boulder, Colorado that I had my first extremely hoppy, citrusy beer. It was almost like grapefruit juice. I liked it so much that I incorporated that flavor style into my homebrewing and use it to this day.” He says.

Engel’s journeys, which he anticipates will culminate in a beer pilgrimage to the four coastal corners of the country, demonstrate that you don’t need to fly all the way to freakin’ Belgium to get your beer on. All you need is a map, a means of conveyance, and a quick visit to beeradvocate.com to discover that sometimes, even the smallest half-horse towns may hold beer treasures for the drinking.

Some of those little breweries make fantastic Belgian styles as well. And, more often than not, they’re bicycle-friendly.

Big update coming soon, but for now you’ll have to settle for a reading suggestion. Wired Magazine’s piece on beer marketing skewers 3 of the things that piss me off about mainstream beer advertising. I wish they’d included ‘cold filtering’ and ‘frost brewing’ as well, but you can’t have everything.

I’ll write about the latest European beer odyssey as soon as the hangover clears up.

-Mark