Heading to Germany

Time to get this thread back on topic!

Day 5 - Bamberg

Originally, we were supposed to go on a Beer & Bike tour of Bamberg. The tour got cancelled, but we figured we should still go for a bike ride. Somehow, I figured out there were 4 breweries in Memmelsdorf and Merkendorf. The total distance was just over 12 miles. Perfect!

So we rented bikes from the Fahrradhaus a couple of blocks from our hotel. The first thing we saw was the Weyermann Malzwerks.



I wasn't expecting this! A pleasant surprise.

Anyhow, before we got to Memmelsdorf we found this:



Although I was expecting this. Someone here in the German forum told me about this. It's the summer residence of the Prince-Bishops of Bamberg.

First stop, Brauerei Drei Kronen in Memmelsdorf.



My wife ordered the Stöffla (rauchbier) and I had the Fralt (Frankerische Alt). Both were pretty good. The place was pretty empty, but it was still early. We talked to the brewer, who was working the restaurant because a couple staff were out sick. A very nice gentleman. He said he had a lot of respect for homebrewers because we had to be more precise. Because he was stuck in the restaurant he couldn't show me his brewery. He was telling us about a bier his daughter brewed with three other female brewers. The story was on TV and people were coming from 60 miles away to try the bier! A proud papa!

We moved on to Merkendorf and the Brauerei Wagner.



We ate lunch there. We trying to figure out what was on the menu. The locals quickly figured out we weren't German and were laughing at my attempts at German. But they were very nice about it and tried to help us. Somehow, I still ended up with herring in some type of sauce. It wasn't bad. As far as bier, I had Richard Wagner Dunkel and a Jubiläumsbier. My wife had the lagerbier. All were well made but average for Franconia.

Then we walked around the corner and down the block to the Brauerei Hummel. It's my idea of what a small town brewery in Germany should be.



My wife had the Räucherla and I had the Kellerbier. Both were very good and we were wishing we had stopped here first and had lunch. We talked a couple times about coming back but we never made it. Maybe next time.

Our final stop on our bike trip was Brauerei Höhn. They only have one bier, Görchla.



Another average bier (for Franconia). The tap was looked like it had been recently remodeled. It felt almost like a US family restaurant. All the wood looked new.

I understand the brewery is still wood-fired. I looked for the brewery on our way back but somehow missed it. I wanted to peek inside and see it.

After dropping the bikes off we ventured over to Klosterbrau for their Bockbieranstich.



The place was packed, but we managed to find a place upstairs between a family and a group of guys who kept managing to squeeze more and more girls into our table. I tried to order a Braunbier, but only choice was the Bock. I was able to manage. We stayed for a couple of hours and drank several Bocks. It was pretty good!

 

I don't recall buying any .25L beers, but that must be what it was. Maybe my wife opted for a smaller glass because it was about 11 AM.

 

Day 6 - Bamberg - Saturday

On this day we hiked the Fünf Seidla-Steig. Part of what we wanted to see parts of Germany that many tourists never see. Hence Miltenberg, Memmelsdorf and Merkendorf. So we figured a hike through the countryside would be worthwhile. 5 breweries along the way made it an easy choice.



So, we took the train to Nürnberg, the U-Bahn across town, came out of the U-Bahn station to see the D-Bahn train pulling out of the station. Oh well, only an hour to the next train. So we finally made it to Weißenohe, got off the train and headed over to the Klosterbrauerei Weißenohe.



We both had the Altfränkisch Klosterbier. It seemed to be what everyone was drinking. A nice bier to start the day with.

Apparently, there are two ways to get to Gräfenberg, the easy way and the way we went. The beginning of the trail isn't very well marked and we had trouble finding it. Fortunately, I had done a translation of the brochure using Google Translate and we were finally able to figure it out about a half hour later. Our route took us up and over a large hill to get to Gräfenberg. The other route was pretty much flat. But we had better views.



The first Brauerei in Gräfenberg is Friedmann. The brewery is way up another hill, but their tap room is in town. We had lunch there and tried their Dunkel and Hell.



Fairly typical Franconian bier. Good but not notable.

The second Brauerei n town is Lindenbrau. There we had the Vollbier Dunkel and the Naturtrübes Weizen.



The it was on to Hohenschwärz. This was the longest leg of the hike through woods and fields with a little bit of climbing. It was very pretty. Hohenschwärz is the home to the Brauerei Hoffmann.



The tap is across the street. I had the Hofmannstropfen and my wife the Helles Naturtrübes Kellerbier. These were easily the best biers of the day. We had to have another Hofmannstropfen. Somehow I failed to take a pic.

Onto Thuisbrunn and the Brauerei Thuisbrunner Elchbrau.


I had the Dunkel Naturtrüband Nancy had the Hefeweizen. Probably the second best bier. We tried the sauerwurst while we were there. Very interesting. They had a very nice biergarten.




Since sun was setting, we had to take the bus back to Gräfenberg we had a couple of more of the Dunkels.

It made for a long day. It would have made more sense to have stayed in Nürnberg to do this. But we had fun and it was worth doing. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

It was pretty late by the time we got back to Bamberg so we picked up a couple of Döners and went to bed.

 

I finally asked my wife and she confirmed that it was .25L.

 

It was Hoffmann, not Hormann. If your message was a typo, then yes they do. They had a least three beers. They also had a Weizen.

 

Day 7 - Bamberg - Sunday

We decided we'd go to Greifenklau for a early lunch since the brauerei closes early on Sundays. We were actually earlier than we thought since we forgot about the change to Standard time!

I had the Zwickel and my wife had the Lagerbier (or was it the other way around?).



Two good, simple biers. Probably really nice to drink while sitting in their biergarten after climbing the hill to get there. I forgot to take a look at the view there. I've read that it's nice. It was worth going to but there are better places in Bamberg.

Since we were finished with lunch an hour earlier than planned, we ventured back to Klosterbrau so I could try the Braunbier. Very good! We sat with three Englishmen on their annual pilgrimage. Their take on German food was pretty funny. But they ate everything that was served!



My wife had the "Hefe Braun." She liked it so much that she wants me to try and brew it. I'm thinking a standard Hefe with Munich replacing much of the Pils malt and a touch of crystal fermented at a temp that inhibits the banana esters.

The afternoon was pretty quiet. We walked around a little seeing a few sights and took a boat ride. The most interesting thing about the boat ride was the trip through the lock.

That evening we took the bus out to zur Sonne in Bischberg. I was expecting a Bockbieranstich, but the place was quiet. It turned out that I had been given the wrong date elsewhere in this forum and the Bockbieranstich had been the night before!



So we decided to stay for dinner. The food was excellent and the Hell was very good. We also had the Bock (since it had been tapped the night before ), the Hefeweizen and the Kellerbier. We're glad we made it out there.



EDIT - I almost forgot that the on the way back, the bus passed Spezial so we had to jump off and get some Lagerbier! Mmmmmmmm.

We finished the night at Cafe Abseits. My wife ordered the Hummel Rauchla, and I had a Hölzein Bock and a Huppendorfer Vollbier. The latter was probably the worst bier of the trip.



I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner. Another guy was dominating his time and he was sharing biers from his stash with him. Which one of you was that? Overall, I thought Cafe Abseits was okay, but I'd rather drink at the Brauereis. It might have been more enjoyable if I had been able to sit at the bar, since the opportunity to do that seems to be rare in Germany, and if I had had a better idea of what to order off the menu.

 

No need to apologize, I misspelled it, too! I've been using 2 "f's". I was trying to clarify that we were talking about the same place.

They definitely had at least three beers. I didn't notice identical twins when I was there, but the place was packed as it was a beautiful autumn day reaching 21°C (70°F). We couldn't even sit at a table and just enjoyed our biers from a bench. A lot of people were doing the Fünf Seidla-Steig plus a motorcycle club was visiting the tap.

I inadvertently opened the door to the brewery when I was trying to find the tap. I agree, it didn't look very modern, but they know how to make it work!

 

I just realized who you are! I enjoy your travel blog and I downloaded your Trips South book before I left. Since they had a Dunkles, would you have tied anything else even if they had more?

 

I don't know the story of the twin sisters. I'd like to hear it.

After opening the door to the brewery, I quickly guessed what the sign on the outside meant! So I really didn't take a good look. I'd like to see a wood-fired brewery in operation. I can't imagine there are any in the US.

 

I was hoping for a longer story! You pick now to be concise.