Fuggled Review of the Year - Drinking Dens

Moving on from the beers of the year to the places in which I drank them, and with an utter absence of ceremony, I give you...

Virginia

• Beer Run - Charlottesville
• Port City Brewing - Alexandria
• South Street Brewery - Charlottesville

Honorable Mention:

Kardinal Hall - Charlottesville

Rest of USA

• Barley House - Cleveland, OH
• Olde Mecklenburg Brewing - Charlotte, NC
• Fraunces Tavern - New York City, NY

Honorable Mentions:

Scholz Biergarten - Austin, TX; Gordon Biersch Brewing - Atlanta, GA; Bar America - San Antonio, TX; Hofbräuhaus Cleveland - Cleveland, OH

Rest of World

• U Slovanské lipy - Prague, CZ
• Hostomická nalévárna - Prague, CZ
• Brauerei Spezial - Bamberg, DE

Honorable Mentions:

Schlenkerla - Bamberg, DE; Airbräu - Munich, DE; Brauhaus Ernst August - Hannover, DE; Pivovarský klub - Prague, CZ; Cromarty Arms, Cromarty, Scotland

Given that this was the first time I had visited many of these cities, it is no wonder that there are so many new pubs on this list. I own the fact that I am an abysmal beer tourist, I simply don't plan my trips around breweries, tap rooms, and pubs, I find out where I am going and then arrange the booze around that. One thing that is clear though is that I definitely have a soft spot for places in the US that harken back to central Europe. My final three boozers though for 2019 are:

• Beer Run - Charlottesville
• Olde Mecklenburg Brewing - Charlotte, NC
• Hostomická nalévárna - Prague, CZ

This is actually a much harder decision than choosing the various beers of the year. Beer Run is basically my local and I love a couple of hours just sat at the bar talking with the staff. Since Mrs V and I started stopping at the 8 acre biergarten that is Olde Mecklenburg, our trips to South Carolina have a genuine thing to look forward to with the driving, the thought of a couple of jars of quality Germanic lager in a proper beer garden after 5 hours of driving is a delight. My one afternoon with Evan in Hostomická nalévárna back in October will probably be my favourite individual session for many a year, it was simply perfect. However, I don't feel I can base my decision on a single visit, and so the Fuggled Drinking Den of 2019 is Olde Mecklenburg Brewing, a more perfect place to drink great pilsner, superb altbier, or cracking hefeweizen is hard to imagine.