There’s something to be said of my hikes around the world. I’ve hiked a few places, and been in some spectacular spots, and yes, I have also drunk beer in some of these spectacular hiking spots too.

But, what is one of the most epic places I’ve ever had a beer? Well, I have had beer in some pretty cool, and unique places (that’s for sure) But, out of all the places I’ve had a beer, the most unique, and different (special, perhaps) places I’ve had a beer would have to be in Patagonia, in the Chile, and Argentina regions of South America.

So, when I say in the title of this article that this beer was a ‘very hard earned thirst’ I am literally not joking — it only took about 9 and a bit hours to reach this point, and so it was probably a good full days hike, spread over a few days… (multi-day hike), so when the hiking boots came off, so too did the bottle top (let me tell you!)

And I actually astutely remember hearing the bottle top hit the ground right around the same moment that the hiking boots landed on the ground too (landing almost in unison). And it was one of those moments where you literally cannot wait to wrap your lips around the tip of the bottle… Your lips hit the glass and you start to drink… ‘Aaaaaahhhh, Immediate relief’… it’s sort of therapeutic — in a way — and as your feet are sort of blistered, and are as sore as hell, and your body is aching all over — your back hurts, your knees hurt, your arms hurt, and your neck hurts — that is, EVERYTHING HURTS! But then you get a cold beer in your hand, and when you sit down in a relatively comfortable chair, and then you begin drinking… YOU HAVE WELL AND TRULY EARNT THIS BEER!

The beer consumption is going really well — so well in fact that while you’re sitting in your chair you’re wondering how you’re going to get out of said chair — to get another — BEER! But, as your body fights the urge to get up out of the camping-like chairs which your body has sunken into (like a rag doll falling into the gaps in a couch) you just have to ply yourself UP, and AT IT! So, back on your jelly-legged legs… you now begin to walk… like a robot towards the food tent to get yourself another beer… when you’re promptly told ‘No, no it’s OK — we can get you a beer!’ And then something goes off in your head… and you say to yourself ‘Why the hell did I just get up OUT OF MY CHAIR?!’ And then it hits you ‘to get a beer, silly!’ And you’re so determined to get a beer, you somehow manage to find, and work up that last little bit of strength (you may have metaphorically managed to dig out of your kit bag), and somehow, just somehow… you’ve found strength, because… because… because WHY?! BEER! That’s, why!! So, beer now in hand, you about-turn on the spot like Dr Evil would (slightly awkwardly, evidently), and then you start moving again (again, just like a mechanical robot would, AGAIN!) And make your way back to your slightly sunken chair that is just waiting to absorb you into its vortex, ready to wrap you up in a rather sunken position. Let the beer consuming continue…

But, tell me where you are again, Jose? I am in a place called Patagonia (at the Southern-most tip of South America, and very close to the bottom end of the earth, and my name’s not Jose!) And so I am currently in the Chilean side of Patagonia, for what is a truly epic adventure, taking in some of the most spectacular natural scenery I think I’ve ever seen. Hiking long and arduous paths, and trails through this pristine, and very special national park (which transcends not one, but two countries!) by day, and taking it easy, and glamping (fancy camping), and drinking beer, and eating good food by night! The area is just incredible, and you don’t really appreciate the true natural beauty of this place until you actually arrive, and it’s one of those moment where your jaw keeps dropping (metaphorically speaking) as you look around this place in absolute amazement, and wonder.

So, why am I writing about beer, after all I didn’t really travel to Patagonia just to write about beer, now did I? No, of course I didn’t, but that would be an interesting headline in and of itself — ‘Man travels to Patagonia JUST to drink beer!’ But, I am consuming beer here anyway, so in keeping with my tradition of cataloguing any sort of meaningful adventures that also happen to coincide with beer consumption, here I am… not wasting an opportunity like this to write about the many artisan beers that I consumed while trudging through this life changing, and simply incredible natural area (unlike any other place on earth).

But, since you are sort of here to drink beer, why don’t you oblige the readers, senor? OK, I will. So, what was I drinking here, and what was the beer like? Well, there really was one really dominant beer that we kept drinking from the time we arrived at El Calafate (on the Argentinian side of the border), until the time we visited Patagonia, and the time we ended up leaving via Punta Arenas (on the Chilean side of the border), and this was a local brew called ‘Austral’, which has an interesting name, as it’s the start and beginning of my home country — Australia. I have also come across this name before, and that was on another side of the world (in the French Indian Ocean Territories of Reunion Islands, and their airline, which is called ‘Air Austral’, so clearly this ‘Austral’ thing has something to do with an adventurer, it would seem? And that’s perhaps where our countries name has come from, I’m guessing? This is something I will need to look into further (when I get home), but for now I’m focused very much on the adventure at hand, and drinking said ‘Austral’ beer, which has a bit of a historical ring to it. And speaking of adventurers, and explorers, can I just say how incredibly jealous I am of these early explorers being able to visit these pristine, and incredible lands way back when they were completely untouched. Sailing in off the Atlantic Ocean, and landing in these coastal inlets… it must have been a truly remarkable experience seeing this raw, and untouched beauty (almost as if we were heading to a different planet in today’s terms).

But, back on to the beer (and the topic at hand), and here I am drinking this Austral, Helles Bock beer after completing a rather long day hike (for anyone interested it was actually called the ‘W Hike’, and there are other hikes that resemble a letter of the alphabet when you look at a map, and the course that the hike takes). What does the brew taste like? It has a slight hoppy flavour profile to it, and it tastes rather lagery, and more closer to a German lager than anything else. The hops are subtle, as it reminds me of the many different varieties of grasses there are all around me (in this raw and wild environment), and it has more of a pale, lager-like colour to it, which I can sort of see through the top of the bottle. I am drinking out of the bottle, so one has to forgive me for not being able to tell you as much about this beer, than say if I were to be drinking it out of a glass. I am still able to get some of the flavour notes on the nose, and as I continue to complete the very last section of this hours-long hike I’m sort of holding the beer bottle up to my nose (much to the concerned look of some of the other hikers, and they must be thinking ‘what on earth is this man doing? sniffing the beer so intently?’ — and if only they knew! But I think the Germans can understand). The beer is rather quickly consumed (no surprises there), after all, I have just finished a very, very long hike, and even though I drank plenty of water along the way, one does consume the first celebratory drink rather quickly (post-haste in fact!) when completing an epic hike, and this is exactly what I have done on this occasion. And to put it into polite words for you — ‘I’m bloody thirsty’, and I don’t think any of us have even bothered to do a little ‘cheers’ before letting that very hard-earned beer touch our lips, with the beautiful beery goodness now pouring down our tired, but very appreciative gullets. Cheers, Patagonia! And cheers to Austral, for serving up this beaut beer (or should I say, Cerveza?!)