Biergarten Reviews

I thought it might be better to start a new thread specifically for beer and FOOD at Biergartens. They could be in Bamberg, München, or anywhere outside of that in Germany. My reasoning is that often the beer is incredibly fresh there and often a Brauerei ausschank, or served directly by the brewer to the customer, no middle men. I hope y'all can put other experiences here for a 1-stop, go-to thread to find Biergarten Reviews, just like we've done for the Pils-a-thon and Bayernbiere Bought & Drunk (and Reviewed).

My first review is at Erbacher Brauhaus in the Odenwald. The Odenwald is an area between Darmstadt, Heidelberg, and the Main river on the east. Here's the German language Wikipedia site, and the English version. Erbach is a small town in a valley around some lovely small-ish mountains we visited to escape the summer heat last weekend.

Anyway, I'd read about Erbacher Brauerei somewhere, though I'm stumped to remember where now, but... anyway, according to this article (in German) from the Brauerei Faust's website that chronicles the history of the previous and current brewers in this region, it states Erbacher was taken over by Binding in 1987, and was planned to be marketed nation-wide as a Premium brand; however, when Binding Gruppe became the Radeberger Gruppe, these plans were killed, and by 2006, the brewery was closed. The brewery was restarted only for this Gasthaus or inn and restaurant, and has grown since then.


First, here are some pics of what the Marktplatz and the Fürstenpalast, or Dukes's palace.

Notice the cute-ass dog to the right. Go Lucky!


The food at this inn/brew-restaurant (brew-pub would be too demeaning) was fabulous. Here's a pic pf my Bierbraten mit Semmelknödel und Rotkohlsalat. (Pork with a beer-based sauced with a toasted, sliced dumpling and red cabbage and sweet apple and cinnamon - warm salad.) Wow, the meat was super juicy, the Semmerknödel was crisp and juicy inside, and the Rotkohl was both sweet and cabbagy.

Food is 5+. Even if you hate beer, the food was one of the best in a long long time for me.


I drank 2 of their beers, the Erbacher Brauhaus Naturtrüb and the Erbacher Premium Pils;

The Naturtrüb had a sweet pils aroma. Flavor: Bitterness up front - decent amount, a wee bit tart. some light lemon notes too in middle. Some sweet pils malts but not too overt. In back, very sweet pils malt back with more pils malt in aftertaste. Enough bitterness to be refreshing, and sweet pilsy enough to keep you coming back former. 4. The pic: notice the Binding glass of the Naturetrüb.


Erbacher premium pils:
Aroma.: some sweet Pils aroma. Clear gold color. Bitterer than the Naturtrüb up front. Light malt middle and end is less pils sweet than Naturtrüb. Only 3.

Overall, the food was great, the Naturtrüb was very good, and the Pils was average. The view was wonderful and the town quaint.

 

Äppler, part I.​

Went to an Äppler, Frankfurter dialect/slang for Apfelweinlokal, or Apple wine restaurant. I thought I'd show it more to explain what to do when/if you find yourself in FfM, after all, this place is a beer desert. The Radeberger Gruppe has it's corporate headquarters just minutes walk from Alt Sachsenhausen, the area where many of the traditional Äppler are found, and FfM's main beers to be found when out and about are Binding and Licher, basically the Dumb and Dumber of the German beer world.

So what to drink when in FfM? Hell, if it's summer, drink an Abbelwoi, Frankfurter dialect for Apfelwein. The flavor is very tart, somewhat sour, a little apple flavor, and extremely refreshing. It helps you understand why the Belgians developed sours and Saisons to help quench the farmer's thirst after a hot day in the parched, sun soaked fields. For me, I only drink Abbelwoi in the summer when it's warm. Beer's too heavy on a hot day, and there is noting more refreshing when sitting outside than an Abbelwoi. My favorite place is the Maincafé, which is a bar directly on the banks of the Main river. They have deck chairs to rent, benches and some cake too, and beer and Äppler at a decent price (2.40€ for 1/2L glass), all directly on the grass a few feet from the Main river bank. I love the people watching here, for you get all kinds, from teens to business folk to university students, moms with kids in strollers to cyclist and joggers running by. You also get the best view of the FfM skyline in town, and you can watch the freight barges lumber up and down the Main as you sit and talk. Here are some pics to show you an afternoon a few weeks ago when I had some free time.

Below is me with my Gerippte (Ribbed Apfelwein glass).

And below, not the best view of the skyline, but certainly a good view of the river and people.

 

Äppler, part II​

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Now how to order and what to order when you go to a real Äppler. First, there are many places to go around FfM. Adolf Wagner or Zum Gemalten Haus on the Schweitzerplatz in Sachsenhausen is a good place, though very touristy (if you want to meet Americans, Koreans, etc, go here) with great food and Abbelwoi and famously rude waiters if you even attempt to order beer here.​

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There's a more hidden and not as well known area of Sachsenhausen where many locals go: Textorstrasse, where there are 5 Äppler practically next to each other. My favorite is Konnensteppel, Zum Feuerrädchen (which had the worst food of all of them) & Zur Germania, but there's also Textor, and Depot 1899 (an old tram depot redone as a restaurant) and Exenberger, all 3 modern, quirky versions. Below is a pic of Exenberger, which has "new interpretations of traditional Frankfurt dishes," too.​

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Alt Sachsenhausen is more famous, and places like Struwwelpeter, Dauth-Schneider, which are next to each other, are tourist traps, but the food and Abbelwoi is outstanding. Lorsbacher Tal is also good, and maybe has the best food of all of these places.​

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There's also a good Äppler near the Opernplatz, Apfelwein Klaus. The Bornheim area also has a few good Äppler, though I've not been to them.​

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However, a few days ago, a student of mine invited me to go to an Äppler with him after our lesson and went to one of my 2 favorites, both across from each other in the Brückenstrasse area near Alt Sachsenhausen. Fischtekränzi and Atschel are both good and I usually go to whichever has an open table in the garden area.​

We ended up in Atschel because the other was full, but both are really good. Here are the pics I took of the view from our table and the Abbelwoi.​

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And the food. My friend opted for a traditional FfM dish, Handkäs mit Musik, which as you can see below, is Handkäse, a very stinky hand-formed cheese, with something on top, here onions, and here in a vinegar sauce.​

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I usually prefer Wienerschnitzel, but this evening it was really hot and humid, so I went with something lighter, a Cesar's Salad with Satay-like chicken sticks and Parmesan cheese.​

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Now the drinks.​

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You can order either single glasses of Apfelwein, which case you have to specify with you want it Pur, or uncut with water or anything, but for me that's too sour and has no spritz. The preferred FfM way is Sauer gespritzt, or ⅔ Apfelwein and ⅓ or less sparkling water. The weenie (or what women sometimes order, and waiters at these places might laugh at you for ordering it if you're a man) way is Süss gespritzt, with ⅓ lemon flavored cola instead of sparkling water.​

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If you're not drinking alone, it's best to order a Bembel, the ceramic pitchers that come in sizes that contain servings for 2, 4, 6, 8, and more glasses. You simply order a 6-et Bembel with "eine Pflasche Sprudelwasser," or a bottle of sparkling water, and you're good.​

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Now you should know everything you need for having fun in FfM, so I don't want to see any more, "I've got a day to kill in Frankfurt, what do I do beer-wise" posts. Just link to this thread and Basta, we're done. This should be your one stop post of what to do in FfM, other than visiting Oberursel Brauhaus or Bier Hannes.​

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Another weekend, another Biergarten review. Tis the season, you know. We were trying to escape the FfM city heat last Sunday and thought the town of Bad Orb in the Spessart mountain range would be cooler and nicer. It's in the state of Hessen, off the A66 Autobahn between FfM & Fulda, about 45 minutes drive from FfM.

We went hiking in the forest but it wasn't much cooler. We just built up a major sweat by hiking up the small mountain side.

Bad Orb is an old Kurstadt, which means it was a place where people came to sample the curative waters to heal whatever the water was supposed to heal. It also meant it had a nice, old garden park for strolling with tall trees providing shade and a cool stream running through it. The best part is they have a Barfußpfad, or Barefoot Trail, where you can walk along the stream barefoot and tread on all kinds of interesting surfaces as well as walking through parts of the stream to cool off. Here's the photo evidence:




Right at the beginning of the stroll garden is a brewpub with a Biergarten: Kärrners Hausbrauerei, where we ate dinner and sampled their beers. We had obligatory schnitzels, which were decent but not the bet I've ever had (A few FfM Äpplers win that category.) And sorry, I didn't take pics of the schnitzels.

The service was painfully slow due to supply/demand problem: only 3 waitresses to service over 100 people. You had to wait 15 to 20 minutes to order a refill or pay your bill. We're the only ones grousing about the time it took. Also, being a Kurstadt, the restaurant was full of old folks, and by old, I mean mostly retired. There were some younger people sprinkled in, but these pics will attest to the crowd being tilted to the silver crew.



I have to jet off to teach a few English lessons now, and I'll write up a review of the beers later, with pics of course.

 

The beers of Kärrners Hausbrauerei were all slightly above average, but nothing in the wow-category or worth traveling for. Nonetheless, if you're in the area, it's a great place to enjoy very decent Bayerische beers.

Here's the drink menu, or at least the beer half:

Pictured on the menu are the take bottles, 1L each, of which I bought 2, the Kärrners Helles and Schwarze.
I always collect the Bierdeckel of the places I visit, writing the participants and date on the side:


I had the Helles first, and my g/f the Weisse.

The Helles:

The Helles lacked much aroma, some Pils malt, but that's all. Their was a little bitterness up front, but not a lot, but again, not much else. In the middle you got some more Pils malt, but yet again, not that strong. The back and aftertaste, is where all the main flavors were, and there almost all sweet, caramelly Pils malt flavors. Maybe you're thinking that's not much to write about; however, it was a solid, very average Pils/Helles, just not much more. If that's what you want, great, you'll be pleased with a highly average but not a bland or bad version of this style. 3 points.

The Weisse, which the waitresses kept calling a WEIZEN, was equally middle of the road.

The aroma was all banana, bubblegum (BBG) sweetness, very strong in comparison to the Helles. The flavors matched the aroma with BGG, banana and some citrusy notes mixed in. There was no bitterness at all up front, and the middle had more sweetness of BGG, banana. It wasn't until the end and the aftertaste that you tasted the wheat malt or any other malts. Again, neither bad nor bland, but also not worth spending time seeking it out. Another solid 3.

After my Helles, I ordered the Schwarzbier. I didn't take a pic of it. The aroma was again, like the Helles, weak. There was a little sourness up front, not much, but I liked it. In the middle there was mild, sweet, dark, roasted malts, not a lot, though. Finally, the back had a lot of sweet Märzen-like flavors of Wiener malt. Like the others, a solid but unremarkable 3.

My final beer was their Jubiäumsbier. It was more a Dunkles (dark) or a Märzen, and it looked really cool filtering the sun:

This was their most complex offering, and probably for me, their best. There was barely any aroma again, a little bitterness up front to taste, and lots of Münchner malt in the middle and back, sweet roasted caramel and very enjoyable. I hate to keep repeating myself, but it was just a little bit more above average than the others, but again, not something to travel to drink. I gave it a 3+.

Overall, satisfying food and beer after a hot, sweaty hike in the forest and through the Kurpark, but not something to make a destination out of. I'm glad it was there and enjoyed the hearty food and drink, and I'm grateful to have been able to bring some home with me. In the bottles, I detected virtually no differences in flavor from being on tap. If you're in the area, then go here, but if you find another place, it'll probably be equal in food and beer. Next weekend… mmm… maybe we'll go to Oberursel's Brauhaus.