Cheapflights.ca Toasts the Start of Summer Season With Its Beer Lover's Guide to Europe

TORONTO--(Marketwire - May 19, 2011) - Cheapflights.ca, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, kicks off the summer travel season with its Beer Lover's Guide to Europe. Last year, Cheapflights.ca published its Canadian Beer Lover's Airport Guide mapping out some of the best airport pubs in Canada and several in the States. Now, just in time for Victoria Day (aka the May Two-Four long weekend), Cheapflights.ca offers its Beer Lover's Guide to Europe. With more than 2300 breweries, the continent offers an endless array of beer styles and flavours. And, with Europe being a popular summer travel destination for Canadians, this guide will be a useful resource for those Canadian travellers navigating through this brew lover's delight.

"Cheapflights knows that Canadians love their beer," said Lauren Sullivan, site editor for Cheapflights.ca. "In fact, according to Statistics Canada, beer continues to be the alcoholic drink of choice for Canadians, making it no wonder that the unofficial start of summer is nicknamed after a case of brew. Thanks to our new guide, Canadians can take their love of beer on the road and test the tastes across Europe as they travel this summer."

To help travellers drink like a local, even if they are just passing through an airport, Cheapflights' Beer Lover's Guide to Europe breaks down the beers of six countries: Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom (including a Scotland guide) and Spain. After a quick introduction to the beer landscape of a country, the guide dives into the brews to look out for and even regional specialities.

Below is a sample from Cheapflights.ca's Beer Lover's Guide offering some beer history and insider information from three of the most popular European destinations for Canadians.

United Kingdom: The UK has 400 breweries that produce more than 750 different bottled ale labels not including Guinness and Murphy's Stout. So, to help travelling beer lovers seek out a new airport beer experience in the UK, we'll be listing the local brews that are most likely to be available at regional airport bars. At any UK airport, beer lovers should look for a Pub style bar as these are most likely to carry a range of bottled ales as well as draught beer. To discover what brews to seek out for when travelling in the UK, check out the complete United Kingdom Beer Guide.

France: France is more usually associated with fine wines and Champagne. However, it has a long tradition of brewing centred in the north of France, Alsace and along the borders of Belgium. Consequently, the beer is related to the pale lagers from Belgium and Germany. To discover what brews to seek out when travelling in France, check out the complete France Beer Guide.

Germany: Where to start? German beer to the rest of the world is synonymous with Lowenbrau, Becks and Holsten Pils, but it houses more than half of Europe's breweries inside its borders; there are 64 types and sub-types of German beer. To complicate things further, Germans are discerning when it comes to beer styles and can be wedded loyally to their local brew. When they order a beer, they hardly ever ask for a brand name. Instead they order beer by its style name, asking, for instance, for a Pils, an Alt (Old), a Kölsch, a Weissbier, a Helles or a Dunkel. Generally, beers become maltier going from north to south and "hoppier" from south to north. In addition, some styles can have more than one regional name. A Kellerbier, for instance, may also be called Zwickelbier, Kräusenbier or Zoigl. The north German Dortmunder, which is a pale lager containing 5 percent alcohol, is also known as Export. To discover what brews to seek out when travelling in Germany, check out the complete Germany Beer Guide.

To read Cheapflights.ca's complete Beer Lover's Guide to Europe, visit www.cheapflights.ca/travel-tips/beer-lovers-guide-to-european-destinations/.

About Cheapflights Media
Cheapflights Media is an international media network providing users with different ways to find low cost travel. Since 1996, Cheapflights Media has been helping consumers research, compare and save on domestic and international travel. Our flagship brand, Cheapflights, is one of the largest flight deals publishers, delivering over 4 million deals daily. With brand-name deals on airline tickets from more than 300 partners and 600 airlines and a team of travel experts hand picking the best offerings, Cheapflights offers visitors a mix of deals they can't find anywhere else. There are currently Cheapflights sites in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Germany, Australia & New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain. For more information, visit www.cheapflights.ca.