Beertourism is a -big- thing!

We are all aware of Oktoberfest, the great German beer festival that takes place every October in Munich of Bavaria (of Germany apparently). This huge 16-day celebration of beer and sausages attracts visitors from all over the world and is the best example of beer-tourism.

Now, with the so-called "craft beer revolution" more and more beer festivals pop up on the global map. Britain, USA, Belgium, New Zealand and China are only a few of the countries that have their own annual beer festival.

What is more, festivals are not the only reasons to go beer touring, beer hunting or just beer drinking. More and more breweries set up their own small restaurant, pub or drinking/tasting room under the same roof with their facilities. This not only helps them spread the word of their brews but also makes them worth visiting for a pint on the way to the next brewery. There are places like California -there are 316 breweries there- or Belgium -with its trappist brewing monasteries- that make a beer enthusiast wonder if he will have any time left to go sightseeing or he should just relax and have another pint.

For the ones who want to dive even deeper in the beertourism business, one more thing must be said. Pub hunting is also a thing. The search for one's passion never ends, we all know that. Myself, I recently travelled more than a thousand kilometers back and forth to just visit a pub. And before you judge me, wait! I want to add something else. Before my very own eyes I've seen a man enter a pub and declare to the barman that he'd come all the way to Greece from England to visit the pub.

Good beer does that to you. Creates the need to travel more and more to just visit a pub, a brewery or a festival. It's a tasty excuse actually. You say things like "I should go to London, many breweries there!" or "Prague must be really cool, they have a huge beer history" and then end up learning the whole history of a place in accordance to how the people there brew beer or serve it or like to drink it. Two birds with one stone.Or one pint. Cheers!

This article was also featured @ The Best Travelled!!!