Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: breweries

Koningsdag 2016 in Amsterdam

On April 27th of this year, Chris and I found ourselves celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam completely by accident! Since my main goal for visiting The Netherlands was to photograph the tulips, I only took tulip season into consideration when booking the dates for our trip. I selected the week right in the middle of blooming season, which happened to overlap with Koningsdag 2016, a huge festival to celebrate King Willem Alexander’s birthday. Lang zal hij leven! (Long may he live!)

Up until three years ago, the Dutch celebrated the birthday of queen mother Beatrix, but she has since abdicated the throne. We didn’t know anything about a day for the queen or king until after I booked the flights and accommodations. And now that I think about it, if I had known about the nationwide all-day party that draws millions of people out into the streets at once, I might have scheduled different dates since I’m not usually a fan of huge crowds.

But with everything set in stone, I decided to go with the flow and I even packed a shirt in the official royal family color orange. We ended up having a really cold and sometimes quite rainy day, so my orange shirt ended up buried under several layers, but it’s in there. And I bought a $7 pair of orange sunglasses before we left even though I wasn’t sure I’d need them. We did get a bit of sun, so I briefly put them to good use.

Locals and tourists alike donned orange outfits and accessories (and then covered them up with coats and scarves). The city gets dressed up, too, with orange accents.

After I found out about King’s Day being in the middle of our trip, I looked into the best ways to spend our time celebrating. Thousands of merrymakers choose to spend most of the day on the canals in the party boats. That option sounded like a ton of fun, but we didn’t want to restrict so much of our first full day in the city to a specific schedule. We decided to simply enjoy wandering the streets to partake in the various food and drink stalls, the vrijmarkt (basically a city-wide flea market/swap), and watching the boats from the bridges. Being on foot also gave us the added bonus of being able to duck inside when it started to rain.

Despite the chilly and occasionally wet weather, we found ourselves in crowds so thick it was nearly impossible to navigate through the streets. We shimmied and danced our way around, combining sightseeing with the festivities.

During one of the gray and rainy moments, we stopped by the Heineken Experience for a self-guided tour of the original Heineken brewery. Most things are closed on King’s Day, but several of the museums and major attractions do have open hours. (We also fit the Anne Frank House into King’s Day evening since that was the only date we were able to get tickets online.)

The Heineken Experience was the perfect way to spend some time staying dry and I got to try Heineken for the first time (gasp). Dare I say I actually enjoyed this tour more than our time at the Guinness Storehouse last year (gasp again!). I liked the layout, the interactive stations, and the multiple beer samples. While the view of Amsterdam perhaps wasn’t quite as spectacular as the Storehouse’s 360 view of Dublin, Heineken’s rooftop bar had plenty of room for seating, standing, and dancing. And plus they gave us hats!

We heard from a few locals that this year’s Koningsdag was pretty tame compared to years in the past. The weather probably contributed a bit, and some new regulations restricted the party to certain areas, but I still felt the crazy energy and loved the people-watching opportunities. What’s more fun than walking around with beers and seeing a city on a day where everyone is in a great mood?

Happy Koningsdag! Proost!

May 10, 2016
Bruges According to the Weather

When I pictured our springtime visit to Bruges, Belgium, I imagined bright blue skies with puffy white clouds, a crisp breeze, and not a drop of rain. I know that was wishful thinking for Europe in the spring, but I was hopeful for perfect weather! I planned my entire suitcase around temperatures in the upper 50s/low 60s: long-sleeve tops with a cute mid-weight field jacket. As our late April trip drew nearer, the more accurate forecast promised very chilly days in the 40s with a considerable amount of rain. We did get my blue-skies-with-puffy-clouds weather in small doses, but mostly we needed winter weather clothes, a waterproof outer layer, and umbrellas. We are no strangers to working around the weather though. Here’s what we did with our three days in Bruges based on rain or shine.

First of all, if you have about thirty minutes of clear weather while in Bruges, I highly recommend the canal tour. Most reviews seem to agree that it’s a little on the cheesy side, but that it’s a good kind of cheese. We loved it! It was a great way for us to get to know the city and to see some areas only accessible by boat.

And of course, there’s historical Markt Square in the heart of the city where we gazed up at the Belfry tower and the Provincial Court building, a former government meeting hall now used for ceremonial activities. Horse-drawn carriages awaited passengers in the Markt for those who preferred another vantage point while touring the city. We didn’t take a carriage ride and I’m still trying to learn more about the animal ethics on that, but as a side-note, I was happy to hear from a local that the Bruges horses are treated well with mandatory breaks by law and they aren’t permitted to work multiple days in a row.

My other favorite fair weather activity in any area is to wander around with my camera and discover interesting details. I admit I’m not consistently good about toughing out the rain or cold when it comes to photography, especially if I’m not prepared outfit-wise. There were a few times in Bruges where I wished we had packed base layers and ski coats! Thankfully we had plenty of clear and warm-ish moments throughout our visit for photo ops.

But we also had several moments where the skies opened up on us. The combination of rain and blustery wind with temperatures in the 40s had us ducking into the nearest establishment offering the slightest bit of cover and warmth. And what better way to warm up than with Belgian beer?

Popping into random bars/pubs was hit-or-miss for us since several businesses were closed on Sundays and/or Mondays (do your research in advance if a particular restaurant/shop/pub is important to you), but we did score with a few places. First, we hit up The Bottle Shop where Chris purchased several local Belgian brews. If you love beer, you have to check it out – the selection is pretty fantastic. A local recommended a few bottles to us and Chris enjoyed sampling them throughout the week.

Next, we toured the Brouwerij de Halve Maan, and we recommend this tour regardless of the weather. It’s the only remaining working brewery in Bruges, and if you select the XL tour at 2pm (19 euros per person), it includes a premium private tasting with three beer selections. We especially enjoyed the Brugse Zot.

The weather happened to clear up just in time for the rooftop view portion of our tour!

Speaking of views, another rainy day activity idea is a self-guided tour of the Belfry. Chris and I spent a rainy morning climbing the 366 steps of the tower for spectacular views of the city. This is also a great way to work off those beers, chocolates, frites, and waffles. I can only recommend doing the climb before the beers though – the steps are steep and winding! You’ll want to have good footing here.

The skies even started to clear on our way back down the steps. Mother Nature simply couldn’t make up her mind, except that she wanted it to be cold in April. So very cold.

Because we spent so much time eating and drinking, we only ended up having time for one museum while in Bruges. If you find yourself in the same situation, I recommend a visit to the Kantcentrum where you can watch a live demonstration of the art of lace-making. The museum is located a little out of the way, but it’s worth the walk even in the rain. I loved watching the skilled ladies demonstrate this rich tradition with such speed and dexterity. It’s truly mesmerizing.

Lastly, there’s always chocolate, which totally counts as the perfect rainy day activity in my opinion. In addition to sampling several chocolatiers, we treated ourselves to fresh, warm waffles covered in real melted chocolate from Oyya (our favorite). After one bite we didn’t care one bit that it was cold and rainy.

May 6, 2016
Dublin Part II: Drinking Our Way Through Dublin

In pretty much any town or city in Ireland, you’ll see nods to some of the country’s favorite suds and spirits: a Guinness sign here, a whiskey* barrel there. So during our two days in Dublin, we decided to pay homage to two of Dublin’s most traditional industries – distilling and brewing. When in Rome, right?

We started off with a fantastic tour of the Irish Whiskey Museum, which turned out to be the perfect introduction to the process of making whiskey – information that would come in handy a week later when we headed to Scotland. As someone who abashedly craves instant gratification, it was interesting to hear about the labor of love that results in a final product that can take a dozen years to make. The informative and entertaining tour was 15 euros and it lasted about an hour with a tasting at the end. Chris upgraded to the VIP tour at 18 euros and received an extra whiskey to taste plus he received a souvenir glass.

After the tour, Chris and I sampled a few different Irish whiskeys. I should note that my participation in the tasting involved taking tiny bird sips of each taster, and then passing the rest of the whiskey onto Chris. Over the course of our two-week trip to Ireland and Scotland, we visited ten distilleries and I tried to find a whiskey/whisky that I like, I really did, but it’s just not my thing. ‘A’ for effort though? I had fun trying.

So, speaking of distilleries, the Old Jameson Distillery was our first of the ten. Located on Bow Street in Dublin, the Old Jameson Distillery is no longer a production facility, but the re-creation is no less fascinating. We arrived just as it started to rain and this was the perfect option to escape the dreary weather (15 euros each for a one-hour tour with a tasting). It was also here that I found a way I can enjoy whiskey – Irish coffee! Chris and I ate lunch upstairs in the 3rd Still Restaurant while waiting for our tour to begin and we ordered a real Irish coffee. I didn’t expect to like it since I don’t drink whiskey OR coffee, but apparently when you put the two together plus a good amount of sugar and fresh cream it magically becomes something delicious.

Between you and me, I didn’t expect to thoroughly enjoy the tour either since the distillery isn’t operational and I assumed a fake distillery would be a little dull, but the tour is done quite well and our guide did a fantastic job of engaging the participants. Plus the whiskey at the end is entirely real, and booze is always fun, right? Our guide led us through a comparative tasting where we sampled a Scottish whisky, an American blend, and of course good ol’ Jameson. I was surprised to discover that Jameson was the easiest for me to drink (or rather to bird-sip).

Next up is our trek to the Guinness Storehouse since it is often said that no trip to Dublin is complete without a St. James Gate Brewery visit.

Well, I hate to be a party pooper and my opinion might be an unpopular one, but I wouldn’t put the Guinness Storehouse in the number one spot on my Things To Do In Dublin list. At 20 euros each for admission, this isn’t a cheap tour, and because the museum is on so many must-do lists, I think my expectations were perhaps a bit too high.

On the plus side, the expansive museum can handle the volume of guests for the most part. We visited on a Saturday evening along with hundreds and hundreds of other people, but I never felt like anyone was crowding me. That is, at least until we got to the Gravity Bar – more on this below.

There are some beautiful displays and I appreciated the graphic design elements of the museum, but a lot of the information and history is delivered via videos and we had a hard time hearing the audio in a room full of excited tourists.

The best part of the tour is without a doubt the lesson on how to pour the perfect pint. We waited in line for about twenty minutes before our group took a turn at the tap. A Storehouse guide gave us a fun lesson and we learned the exact science that goes into pouring a pint of Guinness. We also took a group photo behind the bar where it looks like I’m chewing on the tap handle. Composition (and lighting) issues aside, it was nice that they offer to send the complimentary image file to your email address – all you have to do is fill out your information at a kiosk.

I was looking forward to drinking that perfect pint upstairs in the Gravity Bar where you can take in a 360-degree view of Dublin, but when we arrived we found standing room only (barely) and nary a wee bit of space to sit or set our glasses. At that point my feet were tired from touring and from standing in line and I just wanted to sit down, so I was pretty frustrated.

We still enjoyed perusing the enormous gift shop downstairs and purchasing a Guinness caramel chocolate bar helped to soothe my woes. I recommend the Storehouse visit to anyone with a love for beer, but I would recommend going during non-peak hours and buy advance tickets online to save a few euros.

Chris and I finished our alcohol-fueled tour of Dublin in the famous Temple Bar district. We didn’t spend much time here though – we were still battling the jet lag and couldn’t hang! Our intention was to grab a drink at Temple Bar as one of the tourist checklist items, and then to check out the scene where the locals drink, but the time difference and a very comfy hotel room got the best of us. Next time!

*Please note the correct use of the spelling of whiskey here vs. whisky when referring to the version from Scotland.

September 21, 2015
Photo Friday – Bluemont

Chris and I have spent several weekends over the last few months working our way through the brewdoun.com list of Loudoun County, Virginia breweries. This past weekend we stopped at Dirt Farm Brewing for the first time where we were treated with this beautiful view of Bluemont’s farms and vineyards. I absolutely love Virginia countryside and I enjoy every opportunity I get to explore it. Stay tuned for more detailed posts about the breweries we visited!

August 21, 2015
Ashburn Brews

Since we were recently on a bit of a local brewery kick, Chris and I decided to try the two closest to our home in Ashburn. Oddly enough, we hadn’t been to either brewery yet so it was high time we remedied that and the Memorial Day long weekend was the perfect opportunity.

Lost Rhino Brewing Co.

We set out around lunchtime on a Sunday afternoon and decided to start with Lost Rhino Brewing Co. because they serve food alongside their craft brews. The location is a little tricky to spot among several rows of similar-looking business suite buildings, but our GPS knew the general area where to find Lost Rhino based on the address. Or you can just look for the sign along Red Rum Drive.

The large tasting room has a few seating areas – the main space is furnished with sets of long picnic tables and a few high-tops with stools, and then a smaller room to the side includes more picnic tables. From what we observed, Lost Rhino seems super family friendly with a kids’ menu, highchairs available for use, bottled craft sodas and even root beer on tap (more on that in a moment), so there were several kiddos enjoying the brewery along with their parents on a Sunday afternoon. We plan to go back on a Friday or Saturday night when Lost Rhino is open until 11pm and they have live music – I’m guessing there is a difference in atmosphere. And on Saturdays between 1:00-5:00pm, you can pop by for a tour every hour on the hour.

Chris sampled a Brewer’s Flight, a pre-determined selection of five 5-ounce beers. You also have the option of making your own selections in a custom flight. And for lunch, we noshed on sandwiches from the food menu. The selection is small, but we both found something we liked and all of the items are made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

As I mentioned in my last brewery post, I’m not really a beer person (but Chris is, and I love visiting breweries with him), so the highlight for me was Lost Rhino’s amazing root beer on tap, made with locally sourced honey and pure cane sugar. I don’t usually drink root beer since I often find it too sweet, but I ordered it on a whim and the stuff is perfect. I actually couldn’t stop thinking about it, and we went back in the evening so I could get some to go! We didn’t realize they close at 5pm on Sundays, but the staff were incredibly nice and rang us up even though it was shortly past closing time.

I’m excited about the opening of their new location Lost Rhino Retreat in Brambleton next to the Fox movie theatre. It goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that I hope they have the root beer there as well. I’m officially obsessed.

Old Ox Brewery

Our second stop of the day brought us to Old Ox Brewery. We drove to the also somewhat hidden location tucked away behind the data center buildings of Ashburn, but Old Ox is also easily accessible by cyclists on the W&OD Trail. In fact, the brewery provides a completely cyclist-friendly atmosphere including a bike rack, a tire pump, and of course refreshments. We saw several patrons donning helmets and gloves, and lots of bikes in the rack near the outdoor seating area. Old Ox is just a few miles down the trail from our house, so we actually made the trek out on two wheels the next afternoon as well.

Chris made his selection of samples on tap and we found an open spot at one of the tables inside. I noticed a collection of board games in addition to the big TV for entertainment options. A group of four next to us engaged in a nail-biting round of Jenga. When I wandered back to the restrooms, I discovered a second indoor seating area with a view of the production area, so there’s quite a bit of room to spread out whether your group is large or small.

Old Ox has live music, happy hours, and other special events such as, “Work Out & Beer In” which sounds self-explanatory. Tours are offered on Saturdays at 2:00 and 3:00pm; tickets are available on a first come, first served basis. It turns out we could have eaten lunch at Old Ox as well (but we didn’t; we don’t need to eat two lunches), since they often have visiting food trucks on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Note: Someone has some serious chalkboard skills as evidenced by the upcoming events list. See below.

As far as I know, those are the only two games in town, but we’re happy to have both of these breweries right in Ashburn and we’re looking forward to visiting them again. Let us know if you’ve tried either one and what you thought!

June 1, 2015