American craft in Germany

I am aware of the local/regionalization of things in Germany and that it applies to beer as well, if not almost specifically.

So, what you're basically saying is:

Braufactum/any beer widely available throughout Germany = Fernsehbier = AVOID

 

Welcome to Germany!

 

Here's a list of bigger breweries that are "safe" to consume because they are independent. It's by no means all of them but as far as I can tell there's only privately owned breweries of some size here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Freien_Brauer

 

Those are the fun part though !

 

Yeah, on my quest to find out who owns Paulaner, I found this out.

I can completely understand why you guys are ordering all this beer online, it makes perfect sense to want all the best beer of the country and it's unfortunate it's not "readily" available (I have known this since my first trip to Germany almost 3 years ago). I was excited to learn about the store up in Darmstadt as it sounds like my best bet in the area.

 

"In 1965, the son of Franz Brombach, Werner Brombach, entered the business. He took over the private brewery in 1975 and still leads his father's successful business today. In addition to a strong emphasis on quality, Werner Brombach focuses above all on a targeted sales and promotion strategy with a clear brand identity, which highlights the values of the old Bavarian beer specialty and its superior quality standards.

Today, Erdinger weissbier stands for wheat beer enjoyment and the Bavarian brewing tradition. The traditional brewery has established itself as the national and international market leader for weissbier. As one of Germany's largest private breweries, Erdinger Weissbräu is among the leaders on the national German beer market."

Apparently Erdinger is the one...

 

I advise a beer trip

 

Haha, thanks. It's been an entertaining, interesting, and informative couple of days on the forums for me, thanks guys!

 

On a serious note, the gems are sometimes hard to find, but there are true gems out there. And some of the macro swill is really not that bad (I enjoy Paulaner's Dunkelweizen from time to time, Spaten I think is delicious). Augustiner is independently owned and widely available. Hofbrau and Rothaus are state owned.

Many of the best German brewers it would seem follow the belief that beer should be consumed where it is made. I've brought this up in these forums before, but Füchschen (5 weeks!), Uerige (8 Weeks) and Schumacher (??) all have impossibly short shelf lives. It doesn't seem like they will ever be available anywhere outside of Düsseldorf. They are also the best (IMO) alt beers on the planet. Stahlsturm's opinion seems to reflect the same although I don't know Eastern Bayern at all - that the best beers are the local places churning out stuff for the local people. Having been to Düsseldorf a few times, I find it very easy to believe him.

Hang in there, keep looking, and use us for help! We'll try to keep you on the right path.

 

Seconded.

Not always convenient, although if one has a car and plenty of free time...

 

Yeah, I knew Schneider was (which I haven't seen in this area) and as you may have seen in my last post, I just discovered that Erdinger is as well.

 

I offered organising a trip. I was serious too, you know.

 

I appreciate the encouragement and the help, glad to find that every day I keep learning new and different things about beer; keeps it interesting. Like I said, my hopes of discovering all the variety and best beers that Germany has to offer in one trip was shattered on my first trip here 3 years ago. I learned very quickly that the best beer is from it's town/region and stays in it's town/region. Of course there are a couple of exceptions and am glad this is the case (Schneider, Ayinger, and Weinstephan).

Füchschen, great food, wasn't too impressed with the beer. Uerige, they give a year for their export bottles, we had the Alt and Doppelstick at my shop in Paris and I believe I've seen them in the states. Unfortunately, the Alt really falls off after a few months (and the bottle version has nothing on the cask pours at the brewery) but the Doppelstick has aged nicely, even after the best by date.

 

I am a huge fan of Rothaus, especially the pilsner, but the weißbier is also good.
Additionally, I really like Kapuziner, though it is owned by Brau Holding, and Weihenstephan.

 

Fun fact: The Dopplesticke is not made for the German market. (you can get it online, though)

I have gone through the reviews of Uerige on this website and can believe that old Uerige (alt alt?) does not hold up very well. I'm stunned that they export it at all, to be honest. Although now that I think about it, there's a place in NYC that has it by the keg if I remember the story correctly.

 

I hope to take you up on it one day! Just don't ask me to go Maß for Maß with you.

 

Ohh on a sad note, I just swung by Kaufhof to see if I was correct about their beers, which, sadly I was:
Milwaukee's Best, Busch, old SN Torpedo, Leffe, the unimaginative Old Tom beers and your every day large distro German beers.

 

Yeah I knew it was originally produced for the US market, but as far as I know, you can purchase it at the brewery in their special tasting room, during certain hours (sticke room, maybe, cant remember the name). At least that is what my wife told me when the woman responded to our quesiton about buying some of it...

Yeah alt alt, is no good and I really think the bottled version (fresh or not) doesn't hold a candle to the pours at the brewery. Guess that is a prime example of the great beer not leaving it's town/region.

 

That's sad to hear that anyone would bother to import or export Beast or Busch...fuck.

How old is "old Torpedo" and what/where is Kaufhof?

 

I think that's true about the tasting room, but I don't know if it's always there. I am "friends" with Uerige on FB and they will sometimes announce that they have it available, which leads me to think they sometimes don't have it as well. Uerige also makes distilled products for sale at that space across the street, but I've never tried any.