3 Countries Pub Crawl - 24 mins

Basel/Germany/France
for Switzerland v England

Sunday 7 September 2014

Today we did the 3 countries pub crawl on foot. The basic set up is you get Basel Tram no. 8 to the end of the line at Kleinhuningen.  There are a few cafes & bars there in Switzerland. You can then walk over to Germany & then across a lovely footbridge over the Rhine to France.

More about the trip & the destination today than the beer.

Because it was a Sunday & because of opening times it suited us to do it in reverse.

So, we started in France at La Brasserie du Rhin/Three Born Pub.  Heineken & Ganter on keg. Some Belgian bottles - Blanch de Namur, Leffe, Chimay, Orval, etc.

Close schoolboy French questioning of the barman. He somehow turned up 2 bottles of French Artisanale Biere. He was great. Patient & cheerful.

I went for Sante Cru (Sainte Crucienne), Orange Mecanique at 7%.  (Biere Satirique Au Miel D'Acacia). I deciphered it as a satirical beer made with honey. Maybe its more like "a cheeky little number made with honey". 

Slightly sour aroma which doesn't come out in the palate. I could taste the abv kick. Coating & thick in the mouth. Sweetness is dominant but not overpowering. Pleasant enough. I'd happily have that over cooking lager or Pelforth Brune.

Then it's 0.45 miles nine and a half minutes (GPS .... don't argue) back over the Rhine to Ryan's Irish Pub in Germany. Guinness Kilkenny Strongbow Heineken on tap. And Ganter Pils & Hefeweizen.

I plumped for the Hefeweizen. Perfectly good & drinkable.

OK but an identikit sort of place. Faux everything. English the Lingua Franca. Barman helpful when I quizzed him about available German beers.

Then it's 0.69 miles fourteen and a half minutes back to the Schiff Restaurant in Switzerland. Old fashioned neighbourhood gaff. Mainly cooking lager. I had the Feldschlosschen.

Not my normal bag. Pleasant enough sweetness on the palette. Slightly unwelcoming in a standoffish way.

I actually think the Drei Koningen restaurant is closer to the Swiss/German border. But that was closed on Sunday afternoon.

So. I've got that as 3 pubs, 3 beers, 3 countries in 1.14 miles & 24 minutes schlepping time.

Reversing things for those doing the Switzerland/Germany/France route. Tram 8 to the end at Kleinhuningen. Couple of bars over the creek in sight of the tramstop. Walk over the flyover to Germany. Ryan's on the right hand side of the roundabout. Left at the roundabout takes you to the footbridge to France. Immediate right at the end of the bridge takes you to La Brasserie du Rhin.

Good day out that.