Posts in the category "Alcohol":

(Photo courtesy Munich Tourist Office)

Oktoberfest, the two week long festival that runs this year through October 4th, is in full swing in Munich, Germany right now.  The celebration is one part mega-county fair and the rest – well, as I learned during an evening in the Hippodrome tent with local journalists and our hosts from Lufthansa airlines and Munich Airport – it’s as advertised: all about drinking, eating, and singing with a few thousand brand new best friends.

(Photo courtesy Munich Airport)

For my much tamer introduction to German beer and beer culture, I first visited the Airbräu, the micro-brewery set in the large public area between the two terminals at Munich Airport.  Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, this was Europe’s first airport microbrewery and seems to be as popular with locals as it is with travelers.

Outdoors, there’s a large, festive beer garden that’s open from May through October. Indoors, the restaurant shares space with giant kettles and other machinery needed to produce about 115,000 gallons of beer each year.

There are other entertaining amenities at Munich Airport, which I’ll report on here shortly, but all in all, the Airbräu is a fun way to spend a few hours if you find yourself stuck at Munich Airport.

Categories: Alcohol, Bars, Entertainment
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If you find yourself stuck in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) anytime soon, you can now entertain yourself with a pub crawl.

Post-security watering holes now include the Guinness Irish Pub, the Heineken Lounge, Sam Adams bar and restaurant,  and a branch of the Vino Volo wine bar.

Categories: Alcohol, Bars
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A toast to Claire Walter at Travel Babel for pointing us to the in-depth Beer Lover’s Airport Guide by Jerome Greer Chandler over at CheapFlights.com.

By all means print it out and tuck this guide into your carry-on.  That way, if you’re stuck at the airport in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver or any of the 20 airports listed in the guide, you’ll know who’s pouring micro-brews where.

Categories: Alcohol, Bars
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The complimentary drink choices  offered to business and first class cabin passengers usually include a variety of top notch wines.

Not so in coach.  If you want wine, you pay for it. And the choices are never  that exciting: red or white.

But where there’s a will there’s a way. And a wine… as Harris Meyer describes in a recent Crosscut blog post: How to drink your favorite wine on a plane.

The not technically-legal key:  “take-out” from airport wine bars such as DFW’s La Bodega and Vino Volo (at close to a dozen airports),  a TSA-approved corkscrew, and a couple of clean Starbucks cups.

You didn’t hear it from me.

(Courtesy Vino Volo)

Categories: Alcohol, Bars
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Hungry, environmentally-conscious travelers at Oregon’s Portland International Airport(PDX) now have another place to drink organic beer and dine on organic meals, including the “Tree Hugger Scramble.”

Already wildly popular in Portland, the Laurelwood Public House and Brewery has just opened a second airport branch. This one is on Concourse E. The menu includes Oregon-brewed organic beers and dishes prepared with beef, chicken, pork and produce from local farmers.

It’s a good fit for PDX, which is already known as one of the most environmentally-friendly airports. In addition to an aggressive recycling program, the airport turns used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel and converts table scraps and coffee grounds into compost.

Categories: Alcohol, Food, Recycling
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