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Month: May 2025

Paris Beer Festival: The Run

Paris Beer Festival: The Run

Published on 25 May 2025

Okay, technically the run isn’t part of the Paris Beer Festival… However, the Paris hashers made it a tradition to end the run in the festival week at the beer festival. Obviously, I joined them for this run!

After enjoying a coffee and some cake at Café Tranquille, I dropped off my bag at a Nannybag location near the Gare du Nord. That way, I wouldn’t have to go back to the hotel on my way home.

From there I went to metro station Michel Bizot, the start location of today’s hash.

I was a bit early, but soon the members of Sans Clue H3 started to arrive. As it turned out, there were only two runners including me, and in order to get to the beer festival in time, it would be a short run anyway.

A bit of a drizzle meant most of the outside tables were still empty by the time we arrived, so we managed to secure a spot for ourselves for the remainder of the festival.

Eventually it was time to go home though, so back to the Gare du Nord I went. The Eurostar left perfectly on time, so I was home again before dark…

Paris Beer Festival: The FestivalA hand holding up a glass of stout, people in the background

Paris Beer Festival: The Festival

Published on 24 May 2025

While the Paris Beer Festival actually is a whole week of activities, it culminates in a more classic beer festival—brewery stands in a big hall, where you get your tasting glass filled—in the weekend at the end of that week.

But first… Coffee! I found a tiny roaster in the Marché Beauvau, not far from the festival venue. When I got to Early Bird, I was unexpectedly welcomed with a thick Irish accent, and some really nice coffee and cake.

The Marché Beauvau covered market. And a normal market in front of it…
A cortado, an espresso, and a piece of cake on a bar. Early Bird branded insulated behind them, and the espresso machine covered with stickers

The Paris Beer Festival festival was at Ground Control, a venue that was both an event space and a food market. That meant it was also open for people not interested in the festival, leading to a very mixed public. Since no beer list was published in advance, I spent the first hour checking out all the brewery stands, adding beers to try later to my list…

Keeping well fed is essential when drinking that many beers, so after finishing my list, I had a butter chicken naan wrap from Burning Naan.

Beer stands and lots of people
A glass of beer in front of stacked beer cans
Hand holding up a small, filled Craftmaster beer glass

It was a Paris/Brussels hasher who brought this festival to my attention, and he was there as well. He introduced me to some other Paris hashers, who I’ll see more of tomorrow.

Before diving into the imperial stouts, I definitely needed another meal, so I got myself a nice truffle carbonara pasta from Solina.

Some weird, hand cranked, wall mounted telephone
Glass of beer on a railing, some greenery behind it, and a woman sticking out her tongue
A hand holding up a glass of stout, people in the background
An industrial building, crowds of people in front of it

When there was only fifty cents left on my cashless card, I decided it was time to call it a day, and headed back to the hotel. More beers tomorrow!

A cartoon of a fencer attached to a cable, attacking two surprised people in trainers
Paris Beer Festival: The Bars

Paris Beer Festival: The Bars

Published on 23 May 2025

I’m back in Paris! This time the reason for my visit is a beer festival—my first French one—and a run—also my first French one!

I didn’t try any of the newer—cheaper—train options available, but took the comfortably quick Eurostar again. After arrival, I whipped out my Navigo card—which surprisingly still had a lot of rides on it—to take the métropolitain to my hotel for the weekend. After check-in, a coffee and banana bread at Kaffeebar 19, I was ready for a day of beer bars!

The slanted nose of a red Eurostar high speed train, waiting at the platform in Brussels Midi. The red lights give away this actually is the back of the train.
A busy platform in the station, red Eurostar trains on either side.
Paris Nord station in the background, an art nouveau style metro entrance in the foreground
The metro arriving in the station.
Double bed in a hotel room

With some bars only opening at four or five, it was a bit of a puzzle, but in the end I had a schedule that enabled me to visit all the bars and breweries I picked out for this trip! First up was Paname Brewing Company, near my hotel.

View on the terrace and facade.
A beer on the bar at Paname Brewing Company.
A brewer between his kettles and tanks at Paname Brewing Company.

After that I had to take the metro again to get to Le BaB OPERA. While they didn’t actually have a Paris Beer Festival event on Friday, they still had most beers from a Nuka Brewing tap takeover the day before.

A drawbridge, with a very high and steep pedestrian bridge right next to it.
Facade of the bar.
Five small stemmed glasses filled with beer on a bar, tap handles in the background.

There were no events at I.B.U Petites Écuries and BEER Paris either, but they had some nice beers on nevertheless.

Facade of the bar
Facade of the bar/shop
A glass of beer on the bar, a cutting board with a dry sausage and bread next to it, the tap handles and the menu in the background.
A beer at BEER Paris. 
Blackboard with beers listed in the background.
Fridges full of beer, customers queueing.
Racks full of beer.

At Les Cuves de Fauve they did have a PBW event: a Sudden Death tap takeover and collab brew.

Last stop of the night was L’Atalante—back near my hotel—where they had a Kauri Brewery and Wabi Brewing tap takeover. I could easily have spent hours in each of those bars—all new to me—but it was nice to at least have visited them briefly!

A lovely glass of beer on the bar.
A bowl of Chicken strips with a tub of sauce.
A glass of beer on the bar

Beer Lovers’ Marathon 2025

Published on 18 May 2025

I did it again! The Beer Lovers’ Marathon that is… Sans wig this time, but with a homemade blue balmoral bonnet with a red toorie, embodying Tintin in his The Black Island album.

The theme of the Beer Lovers’ Marathon this year was “Belgian Comics”, so that’s why I gave my best interpretation of Tintin in his album “The Black Island”, or as it’s called in Gaelic “An T-Eilan Dubh”: kilted—obviously—wearing a blue balmoral bonnet with a red toorie, and a blue, long-sleeved running shirt, with the album cover printed on the back.

My first attempt at this marathon was in 2022, and it definitely went better this time: more than half an hour faster! I still had to walk the last bit, but I managed to run most of it this time. I actually already started feeling my right knee from about kilometer 20, and my left knee started acting up soon after that.

After climbing the 374-step Montagne de Bueren staircase, and the nasty climb following that—around the 11th beer stop at 34,4 km, Saint Nitouche—my my knees told me that, if I still wanted to use them after that day, I’d better stop running…

I tried a little jog every once in a while, but the signal my knees gave me was clear: don’t overdo it… Even after slowing down, the pacemaker with the “10 minutes until the bar closes” sign never caught up with me, and all seventeen beer stops on the course were still serving beer by the time I reached them.

In despite of the pain, I still ran the final 100 meters from the last beer stop to the finish. You can’t finish a marathon walking, can you? In the end, I finished 1152th, of 2274 finishers in total, so not too shabby at all!

(See this run on Strava)