European Grand Tour 1985, Part 1: Three months that shook my world

1984 gets all the ink, but it was 1985 that changed me forever. There was no keeping me down on the farm after I’d seen Paree/is (and Istanbul, Leningrad, Dublin and Oslo). There have been many journeys since then, and I’ve always returned home to the place where I grew up, but in 1985 the European continent irrevocably rewired my consciousness. I’ve been unfathomably fortunate. I’ve also worked exceedingly hard to sustain my wanderlust. It should be said that as transformative as Europe proved to be, the 1985 trip was emphatically not undertaken for the purpose of learning about beer, even if a formidable level of beer education took place by sheer osmosis. Rather, it was a two-pronged journey of opportunity and passion; I could do it, and so I did, primarily because I’d become enamored with ideas and ideals about culture, art and ......Read more