Best Beer Museums in the World
By: George

Deutsches Brauereimuseum, Munich

The Deutsches Brauereimuseum is located at the St.-Jakobs-Platz in Munich was founded in 1952 on the initiative of the Bavarian Hofbräuhaus.

It is the most famous museum of its kind in Germany and is part of the local city museum (Munich Stadtmuseum). The museum is sponsored by a voluntary museum's association. Focal point of the collection is the historical and technical evolution of beer brewing. The oldest exhibit is a drinking vessel of the 4th millennium BC. In addition to beer glassware and beer jugs there are models of big breweries and a complete microbrewery.

Museum of Beer and Brewing, Milwaukee, USA

The Museum of Beer and Brewing is a non-profit educational organization that was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by a group of beer history enthusiasts. Since its conception, the group has lost one of its founding members, Karl Strauss, a retired brewer from the Pabst Brewing Company. Karl died in 2006, at the age of 94.

The organization plans to have a physical tour center opened in 2008, but currently hosts temporary exhibits at various venues in Milwaukee. Some of the venues include the Miller Inn tasting room at Miller Brewing Company, and the former Brown Bottle Pub at the former Schlitz Brewery.

"De Boom" National Beer Museum in Alkmaar, the Netherlands

The National Beer Museum, or ’Biermuseum de Boom’ is housed in a 17th century brewery just north of the Waagplein in Alkmaar. The brewery was once one of the largest ones in the town. Beer was a very popular drink in the Netherlands during Medieval times, as few people had a safe, regular supply of drinking water. The Alkmaar brewers would bring clean water up from streams or ponds, and lift it from the quayside with specially designed cranes. The Beer Museum features a bar which serves 86 different kinds of beer.

Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Ireland

The Guinness Storehouse is located at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin and is, according to its website, "Ireland’s No. 1 international visitor attraction." Since opening in November 2000, it has attracted over 4 million visitors.

The Storehouse is laid out over seven floors surrounding a glass atrium in the shape of a pint of Guinness. The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients, water, barley, hops and yeast, as well as the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and an interactive exhibit that encourages responsible drinking. In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present day brewing process. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar where visitors may claim a complimentary pint of Guinness and enjoy the 360 degree views over Dublin City.

Sapporo Beer Museum, Japan

Located in the Sapporo Garden Park in Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Registered as one of the Hokkaidō Heritage sites in 2004, the museum is the only beer museum in Japan. The red-brick building was erected originally as a factory of the Sapporo Sugar Company in 1890, and later opened as a museum in July 1987. The building also houses the Sapporo Beer Garden in the south wing.

The Sapporo Beer Museum has three floors, and is free to enter. A museum tour is available. The panels displaying the history of people involved in beer industry and the Sapporo Brewery Inc. are exhibited. Other exhibited items include beer bottles, signs, posters, miniatures of the building, and instruments for brewing beer. Some of them were actually used in the brewery before World War II.

Since some products of the DaiNippon Beer Company, a predecessor of the Sapporo Brewery, were also housed in the museum, materials related to the Yebisu Beer are exhibited as well as the Sapporo Beer ones. A museum bar is located on the second floor, and visitors can try alcohol products of the Sapporo Beer. The first floor has a restaurant called "Star Hall", and a museum shop. The Sapporo Garden Park also houses the Ario Sapporo, a shopping mall, and the Sapporo Beer Garden, which is connected to the museum.

Heineken Museum, Amsterdam

In 1991, the brewery opened to the public as a brewery tour and visitor center, known as the "Heineken Treat and Information Centre" . The attraction grew to become one of Amsterdam's most popular tourist attractions and by 2001 the visitor center changed its name to "Heineken Experience".

After a year of extensive remodeling and expansion, the Heineken Experience reopened to visitors on 3 November, 2008. The latest transformation of the visitor experience comprises four levels of historical artifacts, product exploration and sampling, and interactive exhibits which employ the latest high-tech multi-media technologies.