Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

But that is simply not true. How often will we have this discussion ?

 

That may have to do with the fact that you live over 200 km (400 km round trip) away from Bamberg. I'm sure they'd deliver to you as well if you'd reimburse them for 4 to 6 hours on the motorway and the gas to go with it. Plus a 19 % sales tax on everything on course.

 

I don't know enough about the "behind the scenes" in the US to really compare but what you call "wild west" is considered as highly regulated here. It's not done so by any federal or state law, true but tradition (and that system has been in place for centuries) can be just as regulating and is probably harder to break than any law.

 

Well, outside Bavaria the RHG has no tradition and I'm perfectly fine with breweries not adhering to it. Most do anyways because apparently it's still a sales point. I haven't checked any bottle I bought for RHG compliance in decades myself and I really don't give a flying f... as long as I like the beer.

Of course, I don't want my beer to taste like bananas, strawberries or rabbit droppings and I don't feel limited in the slightest. If that makes me somewhat of a lesser human being in your eyes (and I am starting to get that impression) then oh well, I guess I'll just have to bear that cross, won't I ? Though, while I have 3 breweries in walking distance who's beer I can tell apart blindfolded even though it's all the same "boring lager" I don't consider my fate all that cruel after all.

Sorry if I sound jaded or irritated, I'm just getting kinda tired of the same old argument. And you seriously need to get out of FFM more often. Seriously. Take a beer trip occasionally

 

Get out of FFM (or any other Makro Hellhole for that matter) and try to experience the real thing. Right now you sound like someone who took a weekend in Manhattan and thinks he can judge the whole US of A by that experience. I know it's not easy and I seriously pity you for being stuck there but you still need to do it. Soon.

 

Hell, take a free Kaffeefahrt to Prague and ditch the group. Or hop out around Regensburg for a piss and have Stahl agree to pick you up and drive you to some places.

These past few weeks have seen beer geeks in the U.S. spend more in gas chasing a $20 six-pack of Hopslam than it'd cost you to get a train ticket to Franken/Koeln/Duesseldorf.

If it's OK with Jack, I think I'll start the "Send Bodd to Franken Fund" first. And I promise to send you only to places with <2 tourists present at any given time.

 

You should check out what Stephan Michel at Mahr's is doing. Almost daily he posts pictures to their Facebook page showing Mahr's being drunk by young people throughout Germany at clubs, etc. At home in Bamberg, Mahr's remains one of the most traditional and local of all the brewery taverns. He's definitely making a conscious push in the very direction many of us are advocating.

 

Free Coffee Trip? What is this, never heard of such an adventure.

(guessing it's sort of slang)

 

No.

 

Tony,

Don’t get too excited. Scott allegedly started a get Jack to Schlenkerla fund quite some time ago and to the best of my knowledge it is all talk. For all I know, he only has received 20 bucks so far and he probably spent that on his six-pack of Hopslam.

It would be best for you to formulate a Plan A to get yourself to Franken.

Cheers!

Jack

P.S. I liked your utilization of “y’all” in a previous post. I felt like I was back at Wurstfest!

 

Yeah, but Jack ain't a 2 hour train ride from Schlenkerla while Tony is. What in Poor Jack's case doesn't even cover the cab ride to the airport will already get Lucky Tony halfway there.

 

We just started distributing Weltenburger (brewed @ Bischofshof in Regensburg) this week. Looking forward to a fresh Helles this evening. Prost ihr Säcke!

 

Quick review: the helles was clean but quite uninspiring, the Anno 1050 (5.5% ABV) was nicer and had some caramel notes which seemed reminiscent of a festbier and the helles hefeweizen was truly delightful: major banana esters, silky smooth mouth-feel and great carbonation which had me yearning for more.

 

The "flagship beers" of Weltenburger have always been the "Barok Dunkel" and especially the "Asam Bock". If you can get a slurp of the Weihnachtsbier, by all means try that too, it's delicious but their Hell and their Weizen are uneventful in comparison. I didn't even know they made Hell until they started using the Bischhofshof kettle, it never made it that far (and "far" is like not even 20 miles in this case...).

 

The Barock & Asam are also being imported, I'll give them both a go next week. And, as mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised by the hefeweizen which was superb.

If the website is saying it's a Märzen, that probably fits. It's not necessarily my favorite style, I'm an equal-opportunity drinker.

 

We've had a local grocery that carries many different imported foods -- beers included. I've had all the Weltenburger beers available (alas, no Weinachts - want to try that) and reviewed them here at BA. I like them all -- some better than others, but they all have that German character I look for.