So a while back, some of us in the Crew had a discussion about what was left on our beer bucket lists. You know, those beer-centered trips to special places or events.

I got to go to Oktoberfest in Munich back in the early 1980s, but I was just a wee kinder, and all I could do was enjoy the rotisserie chicken and the carnival rides (not in that order). Thus, I expressed a desire to go back as a beer-drinking adult someday. One of the Crew had read something that suggested trying to book out any Oktoberfest adventure two years in advance.

So he did just that. And, for the last couple years, we’ve slowly plotted out a trip not just to Bavaria, but to experience a good run of European cities. The other guys will head out this Saturday, landing in Europe on Sunday morning and starting their adventure.

My cousin is getting married outside of Philadelphia on Saturday, so I decided to be good to the family and stop there on my way to Europe. Hey, I plan to stay with the other cousins who have a beer cellar of legend, so I will be just fine. Then I get to fly to Europe on Sunday evening and land Monday morning, meeting the guys by the afternoon in Budapest.

We will also be hitting Bratislava, Vienna, and Salzburg, plus I scored a hell of a ticket to the Bayern Munich-Werder Bremen match (thus crossing off a sports bucket list item of mine). We will be at Oktoberfest in a week-plus from now.

The point of all this is not to brag too much, but to let everyone know that the site will go on hiatus while we are gone. The Crew members staying in Albuquerque are too consumed with their jobs/lives to pick up anything this time, so we’re just going to give the site a break.

Hey, it’s fine. This last Week Ahead in Beer included event listings through the weekend of October 4-5. You will all just have to keep track of beer releases on your own. We’re fairly confident you do that for your favorite breweries anyway.

We will still be active on social media while on vacation, and yeah, we will be happy to provide future suggestions of what to drink and where to go (and not go) in those cities for any future travelers.

Fear not, we will be back with a trip recap around October 6 or 7, Week Ahead will return October 8, and we will get back to focusing on beer news in New Mexico. This is not good-bye, it’s merely farewell for now.

Just, uh, save us some of those La Cumbre Wiesn Festbier cans. We’ll need those upon our return.

Pröst!

— Stoutmeister