Bye bye, Netherlands; hello Germany!

Bye bye, Netherlands; hello Germany!

Amsterdam continued to impress us, just a few hours before we left on a night train to Munich. We happened upon a bottle shop that actually carried Westvleteren.

For those who are unaware of this brewery, it’s one of the seven Trappist breweries, and they’re regarded for making some of the best beer in the world. The monks only sell enough beer to support the monastery financially, and they only sell it at the monastery itself. They ask others not to resell their beer for profit.

I was a bit torn on buying the beer. I want to respect their wishes; but at the same time it’s very hard to get it in the states, and I knew that this was one of my only chances. We ended up getting some of their blonde, and the Westvleteren 8. My particular bottle of the 8 was heavy with sediment, not sure if I got a bad bottle or what. I’m glad I was able to try both beers, but at 11 euros a bottle, I won’t be buying it again. Keep in mind that if you get an appointment to buy a case of beer at the monastery itself, it’s something like 40 euros. A CASE!

From there, we left Amsterdam and set out to Munich for the culmination of our trip: Oktoberfest! We spent some time at the biergartens prior to the Oktoberfest itself. It’s a very relaxing thing to sit in a large, beautiful park, drinking liters of beer with people of all ages. It’s one of the first things that stood out to me. Beer is a very normal, regular thing here. You can drink beer at age 16, and I regularly saw kids drinking. In the states, drinking is sometimes seen as an activity that leads to drunkenness. In Germany, it felt more… responsible? I never saw anyone young drink to excess. They weren’t like rowdy frat boys, chugging liters as fast as they can. They’d sip their liter, eat pretzels, talk, laugh, and generally have a good time.

Anyway, I’ll update again later with my actual Oktoberfest activities. I’m got some super jetlag and I need to crash.

Until next time –

- Eric