Enchanting Rhine
- Beer Cruise

The August 2027 sailing features Christian Kazakoff, Head Brewer at Canyon Club Brewery in the Bay Area, with 27 years of brewing experience. He has expanded the brewery’s production from under 400 barrels to over 1,100 annually and has a background in culinary arts, which shapes how he thinks about beer and food pairing. The November 2027 sailing features Sam Corbeil, Head Brewmaster and founding team member of Sawdust City Brewing Company. He trained at Berlin’s VLB brewing institute, has created over 300 beers, has taught brewing at Niagara College and has previously hosted beer-focused river cruises with brewery tours and tastings. Both experts sail for the full seven nights, leading tastings, guiding brewery visits and providing context at each port.

Both are top-fermented ales, which makes them unusual in a country that largely switched to lager in the 19th century. Kolsch is pale, clean and lightly fruity, served in a small straight glass called a Stange, and has been protected by EU geographical designation since 1986, meaning it can only be brewed in Cologne. Altbier, from Düsseldorf, is amber to copper in colour, maltier and with a firmer bitterness; its name means ‘old beer’, a reference to the traditional top-fermented style. The rivalry between the two cities and their beers is long-standing and genuine. On day six of this itinerary you get to try both, which is the most satisfying way to form a view.

Burg Lahneck is a medieval castle above the confluence of the Rhine and Lahn rivers at Lahnstein, originally built in the 13th century to protect nearby silver mines. The AmaWaterways visit is exclusive to guests on this itinerary. Lahnsteiner Brauerei is a local brewery with a tasting available on the same day. Both are solid options; the brewery fits the theme of the cruise more naturally, but the castle views over the gorge are hard to argue against. If your Beer Expert has a preference, it’s worth asking.

Other beer-centric cruises provided by AmaWaterways may have a similar itinerary, ports, or excursions, but they lack a dedicated Beer Expert on board. This Enchanting Rhine Celebration of Beer cruise adds a named expert for the full seven nights, giving the brewery visits and tastings a level of guided depth that the standard itinerary doesn’t have. If you want to do a Rhine beer cruise and get the most out of every tasting, this is the version to book.

No. The itinerary covers Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and UK citizens don’t need a visa for any of them. Germany, France and the Netherlands are Schengen Area members; Switzerland has its own bilateral arrangement with the UK. From 2025, UK travellers heading to Schengen countries need to register with ETIAS before travel.