Click on any of the book covers below to get ordering information.

	Stephen Beaumont's Brewpub Cookbook
	A Taste For Beer
	Great Canadian Beer Guide
	A World of Beer

For July and August (and a bit of September), SBWoB is on the road in Europe. This first instalment will take you with me and Christine and my notebook computer, affectionately known as "The Beast," to the Paris airport, down to Provence on the TGV (the high-speed train of France), across to Hendaye in Basque country, through to Lisbon and further south into the Portuguese Algarve. I know, it's a rough job, but somebody has to do it!

• On the Road: Paris to Hendaye
• On the Road: Lisbon to Salema
• Kitchen Table Tasting
  -- Portuguese Edition
• In a Lisbon Beer Hall
  

• Taste of the Month
  
• Coming Next Month
  
• World of Beer Update

  (I'm off-line due to technical difficulties in Portugal, so Selected Events and Feedback will not appear this month. Sorry, but blame the Portuguese phone lines!)

• Previous Issues
  

We rectified that oversight on the train, however, and our two shared cans of what is arguably France's best commercial (ie: big brewery) beer tasted mighty fine. Of course, we were absolutely parched at the time, and I was later reminded (in more reasoned circumstances) of the fact that 1664 is actually only a small measure above Heineken in terms of hoppiness, crispness and character.

The only real surprise that was in store for us in southern France was the appearance of Jenlain in 500ml cans. Despite my misgivings about the whole thing, I bought a couple to see how they fared in comparison to my taste-memory of the 750ml bottle, and found that they were not at all what I expected. The complexity that comes from the bottle-conditioning was gone, and the canned Jenlain lacked the vibrancy and vitality of the larger-format product. But, in retrospect, I suppose that was to be expected.

(Another surprise, which I almost forgot, was the discovery of the Québec beer, Maudite, in the tiny town of Apt, about a half-hour's drive from Avignon. I bought one, but mainly to offer a taste to my uncle with whom we were staying, and who thinks of beer as all being more or less the same. For the record, he was impressed.)

From Provence, we took the train to Hendaye, a French west coast beach resort on the border with Spain. There, too, few beer surprises awaited -- so few, in fact, that I was left with the distinct impression that the Basques drink much less beer than even the French. The wine was good, however, and the unique Basque cuisine was a pleasant diversion from both the French and Spanish traditions.

As enjoyable as it was, our stay in Hendaye was a short one. After one night and a day, we were off on the overnight train to Lisbon...

To link to more articles from this month's World of Beer go back to the top of the page.

Coming in August

World of Beer Update

So don't get left behind. Register here to receive the Stephen Beaumont's World of Beer Update each and every month. It's free!

Sign up for Stephen Beaumont's World of Beer Update.

Stephen Beaumont reserves all rights that pertain to the text of his articles, in any form that it appears.