Best beer of the trip was from a small Munster brewery – Muller’s Altbier from Pinkus/Muller. They have excellent old school restaurants, too.
For basic German Pilsner I think I prefer Jever.
The only bottled mainstream beer I found that i prefer was from Salzburg in Austria – Stiegl Pils. Also coolest glass.
A new (to me) Belgian beer, light and crisp (not trappist), is Vedett. Discovered in Winchester of all places.
Timothy Taylor – my favourite Northern pint. Which necessarily means my favourite English pint.
http://www.timothy-taylor.co.uk/
Last night in Mechelen we were treated by the locals to their very own Golden Carolus (many variations). I preferred the triple.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1534/5423
Not a new discovery, but still a big up for the great Duvel, which my German engineer Alaska had never tried before. He is now a firm Belgophile.
After being seriously underwhelmed by Jupiler, years ago, I foolishly wrote off all ‘basic’ Belgian beers. Consequently it’s taken me years to get around to trying Maes. It was my loss. It’s a fine beer, and can without condescention be called an excelent ‘Duvel – light’ meaning that you can probably drink it all night without worry. Not something you can do with Duvel.