Groningen Beer Festival 2017

From Thursday 20 April, Groningen is the place to be for beer lovers and professionals. For three days, you can drink beer in the beautiful Martinikerk under the guidance of national and international beer gurus.

The festival starts on Thursday evening with a genuine beer dinner. No, not a liquid dinner, but five courses prepared with regional produce. A table will be set in the Martinikerk for 600 (!) people. Each course comes with a matching glass of specialty beer, brewed in the Far North. There will also be ‘table beer’ on the table, and you can help yourself to a refill. Dinner starts at 7:00 p.m. A ticket costs €85,-.

Drinking beer
On Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, you can also drink beer to your heart’s content. Brewers will be standing behind the stalls themselves, so you can ask them anything about brewing techniques and different types of hops. A ticket for an afternoon or evening costs €15,-. For this price, you get a tasting glass, a bottle of water (always useful after four specialty beers) and two tokens with which to buy beers.

Masterclasses
Top beer sommeliers will teach true enthusiasts and professionals. Attend a masterclass on beer and food pairings or trends in hop beers (IPAs).

If, after a day at this festival, you can no longer or do not want to drive; book a hotel. The pubs in Groningen have no closing times. Dance your way through the night and eat an eierbal before crawling into bed. The next day, you have to come here for fresh bread, coffee and apple pie. Your hangover will disappear like snow in the sun.