Germany – Page 5 – thebeergeek.com

July 29, 2009November 7, 2013

Oh de Cologne

A short distance down the Rhein from Düsseldorf is Köln, our last beer style city of the trip. This was our third time to Germany’s oldest city, but our first time really exploring beyond the Dom, the dominant landmark of the city.

Kölns dominant feature... the Dom — Köln’s dominant landmark, the Dom

Köln is the home of Kölsch, another top fermented and lagered German beer. Köln is also the only German city with it’s own self-styled appellation control. The Kölsch Convention was a 1985 agreement between the breweries and the German government that defined the beer. Besides some technical details of the brew, the main tenet was that in order for the beer to be called Kölsch, it had to be brewed in the Köln metropolitan area.

A light and refreshing session beer, Kölsch has a nice, subtle hop presence. It’s not a beer that is going to challenge the palate.

We arrived mid-morning via the train, found our hotel and dropped our bags off. It was time to find some Kölsch. And some breakfast.

Kölsch at Malzühle with breakfast — Kölsch at Malzmühle with breakfast

It seemed a tad early for beer drinking, despite Früh am Dom being open. We passed on Früh because we were filming there later. Wandering past the Dom and into the Alststadt, we came to Peters Brauhaus. It wasn’t open yet.

Plugging on, we arrived at Brauerei zur Malzmühle, a brewery we tackled on our first visit. We were happy to find them open. We situated ourselves at a table and ordered a few Kölsch and an omelet. I remembered from our 2005 visit liking the Mühlen Kölsch. And it turned out to be my favorite one of the day.

From Malzmühle, it was back to Peters Brauhaus to try their Kölsch. A former brewery, Peters fell victim to the mergers in the German brewing industry. In fact, a number of the breweries that signed the convention back in 1985, like Peters, survive today just as a brand in a larger brewery’s portfolio. Their “brauhaus” is sure pretty though.

In the shadow of the Dom, Früh am Dom — Kölsch is typically dispensed from a wooden barrel

Next stop was Früh am Dom for lunch. Früh, as it always seems, was bustling with a lunchtime crowd. The waiters (and they are always waiters) buzzed around with their trays, dispensing the golden brew. We found a seat and soon had a Kölsch in hand and food ordered.

We like Früh a lot. The beer is nice. The atmosphere is buzzing. When I talk to people about the wonderful experience of drinking Kölsch in Köln, I am usually talking about being at Früh.

After a short rest at our hotel, the quest for Kölsch continued. The plan for the afternoon was to visit four Kölsch bars before returning to Früh to film the evening action.

A short 15 minute walk away from the crowds around the Dom, we found Brauerei Päffgen. What a difference a 15 minute walk makes. We joined a sparse crowd in the breweries central courtyard beer garden.

Though one of the least favorite Kölsch we would try on this day, we were happy to be at Päffgen. After four stops, finally, a new brewery to put on the List!

Continuing our walk, we followed a course that took us along the medieval city walls of Köln. Or what was left of them. After 20 minutes, we found our next stop Weißbräu zu Köln. Despite the name, the brewery also makes a Kölsch.

Hellers Wiess, an unfiltered version of their Kölsch

If we had one disappointment of the day, it was finding Weißbräu zu Köln closed for the next month. We could see brewers at work, but the restaurant part looked like it was being remodeled.

Undaunted, we continued our trek to Hellers Brauhaus, an organic brewery. Into our second beer, we struck up a conversation with our waiter. We explained that we had a day in Köln and that we were trying a bunch of different Kölsch. Besides offering suggestions, he also brought us over two Hellers Wiess, an unfiltered version of their Kölsch. Score one for the Hellers Brauhaus staff!

Hanging out in the Altstady at Sünner in Walfisch. — Hanging out in the Altstadt at Sünner im Walfisch.

We walked almost the entire outer ring of Köln, so we decided to cab it back into the city center. We headed to Sünner im Walfisch in the Altstadt. This was a special stop. On the front of the building it said “Historisches Brauhaus’ above the name. It was a brewery in the 1800s when the building was located elsewhere. But for our purposes, Gebruder Sünner was significant because they were the first to brew Kölsch in around 1900.

The day was winding down but we needed to make a return visit to Früh. I wanted video of the evening crowd and Merideth’s episode conclusion. We needed some dinner, too. Of course a few more Frühs were had.

There is a reason it is called Gaffel am Dom

We made one more stop before going back to our hotel. The Gaffel Kölsch at Gaffel Am Dom was the seventh example of the style we tried during our day in Köln. In the end, there really wasn’t much difference in flavor, some just tasted better than others.

I am a firm believer in beer needing to be tried in the context of it’s culture. And Kölsch is a perfect example of this. Outside of Köln, it’s just a light session beer. But to experience it in the city of its birth, now that’s something special.

July 26, 2009November 7, 2013

Seems Like Alt Times

After spending two days in Düsseldorf, I am somewhat embarrassed that this was our first visit to the home of Altbier. From the moment we entered our first brewery, we realized that this city’s beer culture was something special.

After a short train ride from Dortmund, we deposited our bags in the hotel room and were off to Düsseldorf’s Altstadt to find some Altbier. There are three breweries in the Altstadt. A fourth, Brauerei Schumacher, is just outside the city’s old quarter. It was our first stop, as it was on the way to the Altstadt from our hotel.

We walked into the entrance and were immediately greeted by the sight of the bartender pouring the amber-colored Alt from a wooden barrel. ‘Alt’ simply means ‘old’ in German and the name is a reference to the brew predating the development of bottom fermenting beers. However, an Altbier is lagered.

After investigating the series of rooms that makes up the Schumacher dining room, we discovered a beer garden in the back that butts up against the brewery. The sun shined warm. It was the first really nice day of our trip, so the beer garden was the place for us. The waiter promptly brought us the first of many Alts we would drink during the day. The Altbier delivery system is very similar to that of Kölsch in Köln. Waiters cruise around with trays of Altbier replacing empties with full glasses of beer and keeping tally by ticking a beer mat.

As we watched the brewery workers go about their daily routine, we tasted the beer that made Düsseldorf famous. Schumacher’s Alt was clean and crisp, something I expect from all German beer. It was topped by a really nice hop bite.

Merideth enjoying Ueriges Altbier — Merideth enjoying Uerige’s Altbier

After lunch and a few Alts at Schumacher, it was off the the Altstadt, the bustling core of Düsseldorf. We quickly found Uerige, a brewery a stone’s throw from the Rhein.

Uerige, like Schumacher, did a good business for a Tuesday afternoon and we joined the crowd of beer drinkers on the sidewalk. With all the tables outside filled, we found a space in one of the window sills. Halfway through our first Uerige Alt, we realized they also had a series of tables across the cobbled lane, but decided we were happy with our sill.

Do all the Altbiers taste the same in Düsseldorf? The quick answer is no, with Uerige being sweeter and hoppier than the first Alt we tasted at Schumacher. A German gentleman with whom we struck up a conversation, suggested that you can’t drink the other Düsseldorf Alts after Uerige. Uerige’s aggressively-hopped version makes everything else taste very weak.

A barge on the mighty Rhine — A barge on the mighty Rhein

We needed a short break from the Altbier, so we walked down to the Rhein for a stroll. Plus, we needed to record the introduction to the One Pint at a Time episode. I thought the Rhein would be the perfect backdrop for our first episode outside of Bavaria.

The walk along the Rhein was nice and a pleasant breeze took a bit of the edge off the warm day. I had visions of stopping at one of the multitude of restaurants to enjoy a beer and the view. But the pathway along the Rhein was not a beer drinkers paradise. We passed one Caribbean-themed restaurant after another. The German tourists loved it.

Introduction filmed and sightseeing completed, we hiked back up into the Altstadt to find our third Altbier brewery, Brauerei im Füchschen. Their Altbier was much more like Schumacher in flavor, just not as hoppy.

Seemingly the smallest of the four breweries, they also seemed to have the largest number of ‘locals’ enjoying a few Altbiers in the afternoon. As we drank our Füchschen Altbier, we listened to a group of friends talk amongst themselves, as well as to passers by. Judging by the level of laughter and banter, it appeared to be lots kind-hearted ribbing amongst friends.

By now, it was late afternoon. We had been drinking Altbier for five hours but we still had one more brewery to go, Hausbrauerei zum Schlüssel.

Sitting outside at Schlüssel, we saw two guys that we had seen at all the other breweries that day, except Uerige. They were obviously, like us, on a beer tour and also Americans. Merideth talked to them and these two guys, former brewers at a New England brewery, joined us for what turned out to be a long, fun-filled evening.

We spent five hours at Schlüssel and chatted with some older Germans who sat next to us. I jokingly tried so switch our ever increasing tick-marked mat with my elder German friend’s. With only a couple of marks on his mat, he wasn’t too interested in switching.

Half way through the evening, we were joined by a group of Slovaks. One of them spoke English, so he interpreted for the rest of the group. They were curious about our careers in America and travels. They were a worldly lot of Slovaks and told us about some of their own adventures. Even a huge thunderstorm and downpour couldn’t deter the fun of the night, though it did shut down beer delivery for a short, but excruciating amount of time.

At the beginning of the day, Merideth and I did our normal solo beer touring. But by the end of the evening, we were in an international group of beer tourists. Funny how that always seems to happen in beer travel. It certainly makes the new experiences seem like alt times.

Most of Tuesdays Altbier tally — Most of Tuesday’s Altbier tally

July 24, 2009November 7, 2013

A Tale of One City

Curiosity brought us to Dortmund, the first stop on our “Cities with a Beer Style” tour. Dortmund is the home of Dortmunder Export, a style that is disappearing. Dortmund was once a steel and coal town and Export was the beer of the workers. In the 1970s-80s, these industries died and the jobs along with them. As a result, Export suffered as well.

As the industries died, the Dortmund breweries went through a series of mergers. The medium-sized breweries bought smaller breweries only to be gobbled up by those bigger than them later on. In the end, there were just two breweries left, Dortmund Union Brauerei (DUB) and Dortmunder Actien Brauerei (DAB). Today, Export is a small fraction of their production.

We were curious to visit Dortmund and see what was left of their beer culture.

An early morning flight from Munich got us to Dortmund quickly. We made our way into the city center and dropped our bags at our hotel. We scheduled to meet Barry Masterson, one of the co-founders of Irish Craft Brewers. Barry, a native Dubliner, now lives in nearby Münster. Having returned from a business trip to San Diego the day before, Barry braved jetlag to meet us at Wenkers Brauhaus.

At Wenkers, we tried Export for the first time, as well as the two house beers, an Urtrüb (an unfiltered lager) and Schwarzbier. Wenkers, a brewpub until about 10 years ago when they sold their brewing equipment, has their beers brewed at nearby Hövels Hausbrauerei.

Hearing us speak English, Wenkers’ manager, Jörg, started chatting with us and gave us more information about Dortmunder Export beer. Jörg turned out to be quite knowledgeable about Dortmund beer history and the current attempts to resurrect the style. We also learned about Stösschen, a small glass of beer the miners and steel workers would drink for breakfast.

With a few beers under our belts it was time to see a new brewery on the Dortmund scene. Barry had been nice enough to arrange for a visit to Dortmund Bergmann Brauerei, a brewery working to resurrect the Export beer style. In the 1970’s, a larger brewery purchased Bergmann, then promptly shut it down. The current owner, Thomas Raphael, purchased the name a few years ago. The recipes were lost, so he tapped the brains of all the former brewery workers he could find in order to recreate the beer.

The brewery we visited is new and Bergmann has not yet started brewing at the location. So unfortunately, it didn’t count on the List. Thanks to Barry for setting up the visit and Jonas and Mark for giving us the tour and whisking us around town.

Together with Barry, we walked over to Hövels Hausbrauerei, the one brewpub in town. The main beer at Hövel’s is not Export, but rather a beer called ‘Original’. An amber colored beer with a sweet taste, Original is nothing like Export.

Jörg suggested we ask for the brewer Martin, but when we arrived, Martin was no longer around. We settled in for some lunch and beer. Jörg, taking care of business at the brewery, came up to our table and offered us a tour. We graciously accepted and descended into the cellar brewery. We were happy that this one did count on the List.

The three of us enjoyed Wenkers, so we decided to return there. Together we discussed the merits of the Export beer style. In the end, we decided that Export is not a bad beer, the style simply lacks distinction.

Ever helpful Jörg introduced us to Gerhard, a freelance tour guide who leads walking tours of Dortmund’s beer scene. Gerhard explained that Export costs about 12% more to produce than Pilsner. With little taste difference between the two, most breweries opt to brew Pilsner. The three of us would have liked to ask him more questions about the decline and current resurrection of the Export style, but he was actually leading a tour and could only take a few minutes with us.

The old DUB breweriy is being converted into a cultural center — The old DUB brewery is being converted into a cultural center

Eleven hours after first meeting Barry, we called it a night. He traveled home on the train and we went back to our hotel. Hopefully, we’ll be able to share a few pints with Barry again in the future.

It was an interesting experience. Not knowing what to expect from Dortmund, I guess I didn’t expect to meet passionate beer people. How wrong I was. Despite the demise of Export, the people we met really cared about their Dortmunder beer history and culture. They were definitely passionate people who would like Export to be popular once again.

July 22, 2009November 7, 2013

Back in Munich

Another long (and fortunately) uneventful day of travel landed us in our favorite beer city, Munich. We used our two days in the Bavarian capitol to recover from jet lag before starting our beer adventures.

We arrived at our hotel in the city center and had just enough time to take a quick shower before jumping on the train to Herrsching. We headed for one of our favorite breweries, Kloster Andechs, something we had been unable to do our last several times in Munich. We also had a date with our friend Willy, A-B’s hop guy in Europe who we first met last September.

Apparently the previous week in Munich was full of sun and warm temperatures, but on our first day the weather was chilly and rainy. The rain fell lightly during our train journey until we reached our destination. Exiting the train in a downpour, we dreaded the 45 minute walk to the monastery in heavy rain. But we refused to take the bus, the other means of getting up to the kloster from the train station. Luckily the rain let up a few minutes after leaving the train station and we reached the monastery fairly dry… well except for the sweat running down our faces.

Enjoying a Dunkel at Kloster Andechs — Enjoying pickles, dampfnudel and our Dunkels at Kloster Andechs

We quickly found Willy and decided to sit outside in the covered part of the beer garden. The hot, steamy and loud braustüble was not a good jet lag recovery atmosphere. Once situated outside, I went for a round of beers while Willy headed to get some food.

It was good to be back at Andechs after a three year absence. As we caught up with Willy, we enjoyed the Andechs beer offerings, Helles, Dunkel and Doppelbock. We even tried the Apfelweiß, a mixture of apple juice and Weißbeer. Not a lover of beer cocktails, adding apple juice to Weißbeer seemed to me to be a good way to ruin a perfectly good beer. Luckily, Willy ordered it so my manhood never came into question.

With our evening complete, it was time to head back to Munich for some much needed sleep.

Sunday’s weather dawned better, which was important because the plan was to visit two beer gardens new to us. On the advice of Willy, we also added a third. The Königlicher Hirschgarten, an Augustiner beer garden a short S-Bahn ride outside of central Munich.

Before hitting the beer gardens, we walked to the Löwenbräu Keller. We had been there on a previous trip but hadn’t counted it on “the List”, because I wasn’t sure about the location of the brewery. This is rather stupid on my part because the monstrous brewery, I learned just recently, is almost directly across the street. Walking around the corner from the Keller, the Löwenbräu brewery cannot me missed. It butts up to its neighbor brewery Spaten.

With the brewery location verified, we joined the Sunday morning crowd in the Keller. I think we were supposed to have Weißbier but each of us went with our respective Munich favorites, Helles for Merideth and Dunkel for myself. With a lot to do, we only had time for a quick half-liter.

We made a short stop at one of our favorite beer gardens, the Seehaus. Then it was off to the Hirschgarten, an easy 5 minute walk from the Laim S-Bahn station.

The largest of Munich’s beer gardens with 8,000 seats, the Hirschgarten was the former royal hunting grounds (Hirsch means deer in German). Even today, deer wander the park, though they all must have been hiding from the large crowds the day of our visit.

The Hirschgarten’s other claim to fame is that they are the one of the few remaining beer gardens where you select your liter mug from a cabinet and wash it before having it filled.

Tradtional Bavarian dancing — The May Pole dance

We easily found a seat and each ordered ein Maß and some lunch. There were a number of people in traditional outfits and we learned from the menu that it was “Trachtentag”. This is a day when the locals dress up in traditional clothes and perform traditional songs and dances. We were treated to everything from traditional Chevy Chase slap dance to an accordion accompanied by the cracking of horse whips. Most impressive was the intricate May pole dance, where the dancers wound the colored ribbons around the pole.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Hirschgarten and passed on visiting the other beer gardens. The weather was beautiful, so we enjoyed our liters and the entertainment in the sunshine. The others would have to wait for our next visit to Munich.

We ended our day with our two traditional Munich stops. First, Weisses Brauhaus for a Hefe Weizen. Then it was up the street to the Wirtshaus Ayinger for Kellerbier and dinner. We had a fun-filled day but it was time to retire. We had an early flight to Dortmund on Monday.

July 9, 2009

Heading Back to Germany

This will be our ninth visit to Germany, which ties it with Ireland as the country we most frequently visit. The beer, food, scenery and German people keep us returning to our favorite country for beer travel.

test — With Wolfie at the Porterhouse in Dublin

But this trip is extra special. We are going over for our friend Wolfgang’s 50th birthday party. We’ll join the horde of his friends descending on Mannheim the last weekend in July for fun, merriment and punk show.

Prior to Wolfgang’s birthday party weekend, we are stopping in Munich and embarking on a “City with a Beer Style” tour. We will visit three German cities: Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne. Each has it’s own unique style of beer.

We are using our short time in the much beloved city of Munich to get our European legs, visit a few biergartens, see friends, and of course drink some liters.

While in Munich we’ll make another pilgrimage to Kloster Andechs. The trek was something we used to fit in to our schedule every time in Munich, but on our last few visits we haven’t had the time. The walk, beer, food, and atmosphere all make Kloster Andechs one our favorite breweries.

After getting adjusted to being back in Europe, we head north for some new beer adventures.

Our first new city will be Dortmund. There we’ll search for Dortmunder, which is a native beer style, not a city resident. Back in the day, this beer was popular with the region’s coal miners and steel workers. Think of Dortmunder as a cross between a Helles and a Pilsner.

Unfortunately, over the last decades, the style has suffered the ill effects of brewery mergers. The two major breweries in Dortmund, DAB and DUB, have gobbled up the smaller competitors. The style that put Dormund on the beer map is now only a small portion of their production. Today, a few private breweries are trying to revive this brew and restore it to it’s past glory.

From Dortmund, we travel down the road to Düsseldorf, the home of the top fermented Altbier. Alt means ‘old’ and the name is simply a reference to the fact that the brew predates bottom fermenting beers.

Unlike it’s neighbor in Dortmund, Altbier is thriving in Düsseldorf, with breweries in the Altstadt serving the copper-colored brew from wooden barrels.

Our last stop on the ‘German Cities with a Beer Style’ tour is Cologne, the home of Kölsch. Another top fermenting brew, the golden-hued Kölsch may be the ultimate session beer. It certainly makes for a enjoyable afternoon with friends.

The waiters buzz around with their trays, called a Kranz, filled with 7 ounce glasses, called a Stange, of Kölsch. They dispense the brew with amazing speed. Once a Stange is empty they drop off a new beer, adding a tick mark to the beer mat. The beer deliveries stop and the ritual comes to an end when the mat is placed on top of the glass. Our last time at Früh am Dom, one of Cologne’s main Kölsch bars, six of us finished with 40 tick marks on our mat.

After Cologne, we are off to Mannheim for three days of revelry celebrating Wolfie’s 50th birthday. Interspersed with the beer drinking, there will be a couple of brewery visits.

Enjoying a few Eichbaums with Ute and Wolfgang in Mannheim

The culmination of our trip is a punk show headlined by The Dreadnoughts, an Irish punk band from Vancouver, BC. A good time is sure to be had by all.

We hope to add a dozen new breweries to the list, which will put us within sight of reaching 500 by the end of the year.