A year ago, in this article, I introduced readers to Brad and Tamara Carvalho, Two4Brew.
The Carvalhos were on the second leg of their adventure. They had sold their home in Alaska, packed up the RV, and were touring America, visiting breweries and looking for a new place to call home. Truly an epic beer run.
This summer, I met Kurt Sima, who has taken his passion for beer and beer traveling to another level. As a way to share his enthusiasm for craft beer and traveling, Sima created Epic Beer Trips, guided European vacations anchored in craft beer experiences.
Captain Kurt, as he’s called, leads group trips to Scotland, England, and Ireland to enjoy great beers, meet brewers and enjoy a variety of daily activities, both beer-related and unrelated.
Cheers: What’s the Epic Beer Trip’s philosophy?
Sima: Travel the globe, drink beer and have fun!
Cheers: How did your beer journey get started?
Sima: My daughter gave me a book called 1600 Places in the World to Drink Beer. And I told my daughter, before I die I am going to go to all 1600 places. When I go to these places, I have a bartender or server sign the book. It took on a life of its own.
Cheers: And that led to Epic Beer Trips?
Sima: That book was really the seed of the whole thing to see how many places we could see, how many different beers can we drink. As I was getting to the end of my other career, we took an extended trip to Scotland with my wife and daughter for a month. I have a friend who does small group vacations for women, and I thought I could do that with beer. All these pieces and parts came together, and next thing you know, we have Epic Beer Trips!
Cheers: Where are you on the list of places?
Sima: In the 50s now.
Cheers: What does an Epic Beer Trip offer?
Sima: Basically, what I do is pick a place I want to visit, one that I know has a nice beer scene. I do a scouting trip to check things out, meet the brewers, tell them what I do, and then I put together the trip, put together the plan, pick a city and organize a 5-6 day trip.
Cheers: How much beer happens on a given day?
Sima: I set up at least one beer-related activity a day, sometimes two. Sometimes even three. I also put in some fun activities. But I also like to build in some free time for my Beer Trippers so they can do whatever they want to do in whatever city we’re in.
Cheers: What’s the typical size group you take?
Sima: In order for me to execute a trip I need ten people. The maximum is fifteen. I average about thirteen on a trip, and that’s a good number for traveling.
Cheers: Are there some common traits of your Beer Trippers?
Sima: Well, they like beer. Some of them really like beer. But the real common thread is they like to have fun. They realize some things are planned on the trip, and some things are unplanned so you can go do your own thing. People on my trips want some planning and they want some time to do their own thing.
Cheers: If someone has a trip like this on their bucket list, and they can do it once, what country needs to be high on their list?
Sima: If you’re a beer lover, not just craft beer but many types of beer, I’d say England. We start in Manchester and stay at BrewDog. We go to Liverpool and do the Beatles Magic Mystery Tour. We do a beer and pastry event at BrewYork. Then we head to Leeds for Northern Monk. We base the trip out of Manchester because there are just loads and loads of great craft breweries there.
For more information about Epic Beer Trips, check out Captain Kurt on Instagram @epicbeertrips or visit the website: EpicBeerTrips.com. To hear more of the interview, check out I like beer the podcast.
And to follow up with Two4Brew, they have finally settled down in Middle Tennessee where they hope to open up a destination brewery of their own. By the end of their journey, the Carvalhos had visited over 500 breweries and tasted 1000s of amazing craft beers. Their personal journey continues on Instagram @two_4_brew.
Jeff Spanier is the host of I Like Beer the Podcast. Take a listen wherever you get podcasts. Follow Spanier’s adventures @ilikebeerthepodcast on Instagram.
