Back to Bamberg

Day 4: The night, as some of you may have heard/read, was a pretty tempestuous one...pretty heavy storms including, apparently, some super-cell clouds that downed a number of trees along the Autobahn and train tracks between Bamberg and Nuremberg. Somehow we managed to sleep through the majority of it .

Our college friends departed pretty early and my buddy and I proceeded to make a lazy morning of it. When 12 noon rolled around, we decided to make the walk up the Kaulberg to Greifenklau. As I've said elsewhere, Greifenklau is a sentimental favorite. And despite the dreary day, it didn't disappoint. Found a couple of covered spots on the perimeter of the Biergarten and settled in with the locals and a couple of small families for a Sunday brunch. First order was the new Rauchbier, Greif-R. This was surprisingly tasty; lightly smoky (but much more so than their normal lager, which some claim has a hint of smokiness to it, but I never really picked up on personally) with a very nice, delicate balance between the smoke, sweet Pils (and, I think, Munich) malts, and some pretty generous hopping. Really I was struck by just how dry and, yes, hoppy many of Bamberg's beers are (of course it's nothing close to the extremes we see in the U.S....thank goodness). Like the others, we stuck around only for a bit (the place closed after Fruehschoppen at 2:00 p.m.) and headed back to the apartment. There are certainly worse places to spend a rainy day than the place we stayed, which looked out directly onto the Regnitz River and to the Wasserschloss (Water palace) Concordia (www.wolff-bamberg.de). Afterwards it was back to Schlenkerla, as usual, for our evening constitutional of 4-5 Seidla. Starting to sound boring? For us the stuff just got better and better with each visit. I don't know many beers that get better the more of it you drink, but Schlenkerla Maerzen is one.

Day 5: Woke up early to intermittent sunshine and drizzle and decided to make the trek out to another sentimental favorite, Brauerei Hoenig in Tiefenellern. A quick drive through the Franconian countryside brought us out to the village, and we promptly parked the car and headed in to what we'd find was a completely empty tavern. After only a slight hesitation, we walked in and asked about purchasing some bottles. The taciturn "Wirt" behind the bar said, "Sure." Then he followed that up with, "Two beers now?" To which we replied, "Sure." He then proceeded to pull a 10 liter keg out from under the counter, bang in the brass tap with a wooden mallet, and pour two stoneware mugs of Kellerpils for us. In business!

We started to sit at the cozy corner table where the morning newspaper had been laid out, but then I looked around first for a Stammtisch sign. Seeing nothing, we settled in a read the newspaper while drinking the beers. I don't think either of us said much, except to agree that the beer was damn good. Just read the newspaper about the storms and the local beer fests and sports scores. It's funny, when we were planning the trip from the U.S. we couldn't shut up about all the places and beers. Now, when we found ourselves sitting in this cozy tavern with a couple of ultra-fresh mid-morning beers, it seemed there was nothing much to say. And indeed there wasn't. What else do you say when you both know you're exactly where you want to be doing exactly what you want to be doing? Nothing. You just enjoy the silence and the beer (I know, not very BA-like, but much much more up my alley). Finished the beers and paid up, only to notice upon standing up that hanging over the table was an ornately carved wooden Stammtisch sign. Oops. Still, the Wirt said nothing, but instead just quietly charged us the 9 Euro for the two beers plus the 6 bottles we ordered (3 Kellerpils and 3 Lager, including deposit) and sent us on our merry way.

Drove back into town and headed to the butcher for a couple of Leberkaesbroetchen to take with us to Schlenkerla for a quick brunch. Sat down in the Schwemme and was promptly approached by a waitress saying "You guys aren't out-of-towners; you know you can only eat those before 11:30" (it was 11:45). So we packed the rolls up and settled in with our beers instead. A few minutes later, and in walks Matthias Trum. He greeted us and asked if we were enjoying ourselves. We said, of course, but we'd come a bit too late to enjoy our Leberkaes. To which he replied, "Oh, not at all. Eat!" and then went to tell the waitress basically to let us be. The dream of gaining the wait staff's "respect" had finally come true! As we would later refer to it, we pulled the "Trum(p)" card on her. Yes!

(Weyermann tour followed...more to come)

 

Yea, last time I lived in Bamberg I would have them deliver a crate of their lager to my door each Friday. Used to call in my order and speak with an ancient sounding lady. I remember it cost 18 DM, and I'd give them 20 with tip (about $10 or so). That beer truly puts the "Keller" in Kellerbier...the carbonation is very low and the beer just goes down so easy.

The classic combo is a couple of Leberkaesbroetchen from Metzgerei Liebold up the Sandstrasse a bit. I, personally, prefer the Leberkaes -- or really the Pizzaleberkaes, with chunks of cheese, pepper, salami, and ham baked in -- from the Böttinger butcher shop at Lugbank 3. If you sit at one of the long tables in the Schwemme you'll see a sign posted about when it's OK to bring your own (I think it's between opening and 11:30). Good stuff.

 

So....

The Weyermann tour was a pretty tightly organized affair, complete with personalized stick-pin "badges," my company's name hand-drawn and decorated in their Guest Book, and a photo op afterwards. The place is truly like a malt-lover's Wonka factory. Everyone and everything (...and I do mean everything...all the way down to the tiles and grout (!) in the Germination room to the toilet seats in the bathroom) is decked out in the company colors of yellow and red. If only they had a river of beer! The tour started at a tanker truck that was delivering grain right as we arrived. The grain was from the East German countryside near the town of Chemnitz; but Weyermann also obtains grain (the majority, actually) from the Bamberg region, where it grows in abundance. The grain trucks arrive 4-5 times a day, and, apparently, on average 2-3 trucks per week are turned away for quality control reasons (Kornkaefer...or grain beetles (?) being apparently the primary reason, but also because the grain may not contain the right amount of moisture, etc., etc.). All pretty standard stuff, but their QC did seem pretty strenuous.

After the trucks, we went to see where they produce Sinamar (their beer additive -- Reinheitgebot approved -- that is used for coloring beers...as some of you may have seen in the film I posted here "Hopfen und Malz, Verloren.") From there we climbed the 4 stories up the picture-plastered stairwell, through the poster-clad walls, to the germination room. This was really cool, standing in the humidity and watching the germinating grain be turned. Even got to taste a small handful. From there we walked down (apparently a lot of the operations are still gravity-fed) to the malting/roasting rooms; this was the only place where we were forbidden from taking pictures. Still, got to sample a lot of grain I had never tried/brewed with before. Cool stuff.

But the real highlight was the pilot brewery. Man, do I wish I had a setup like that! Copper kettles from Schulz in Bamberg, 4 vertical fermentors, and 10 horizontal lagering tanks. Of the beers fermenting away I saw a couple of IPAs, a Bohemian Pils with all floor-malted grain, a wheat wine, a Rauch, and a Keller, among others. And then there were the beers we got to sample: their latest creation(s), a Suessholz (licorice root) Kellerbier and Porter. These were both really quite nice, as was the wheat wine and the Schlotfegerla, a smoked Kellerbier that I have brewed myself. The Rauch we picked up from the "fan shop" was not a hit (slightly sour, as if it was spoiled). All in all, it was a great visit, and I look forward to writing up the article I'm preparing, especially as I learned that the physical restraints around any future expansions are significant and could impact the brewing scene worldwide in the coming years. Hmmm.

After Weyermann (and a neat new underground cut-through from Brennerstrasse to the Bahnhof), we were so close to Mahr's Brau that we couldn't resist stopping in for a couple of beers. It was still slightly drizzly, so the Biergarten was half-empty. We sat down to a couple of Helles and then moved on to the Ungespundetes, or "U." I had forgotten how special this beer really is. As far as Kellerbiers go, it's still at or near the top of my list...just a brilliant balance of maltiness, naturally suspended yeast, and generous hopping, paired with that low carbonation...dang. I had been in contact with Stephan Michel, the Head of Mahrs, but my phone wasn't working so I couldn't call to see if he was there to show us around. I ended up sending him my interview questions, and he was really cool about answering them.

Didn't really want to leave, but home (and Schlenkerla) beckoned, so we walked along the canal and through the Villenviertel (where a number of the prestigious homes were, we'd learn a day later at the Hops Museum in Wolnzach/Hallertau, originally built and owned by hops merchants), back to the apartment. Evening, as usual, was spent at Schlenkerla: 4-5 Maerzen paired with smoked trout and potato cakes, topped with horseradish cream. Absolutely delicious. The food at Schlenkerla has become, IMO, among the best in Bamberg. I mentioned this to Herrn Trum and he was very pleased to hear it, as he has spent considerable effort in improving the kitchen and the food. Apparently their cook used to the the personal chef to a number of German television and film stars. Good, good stuff.

 

Totally remember those days myself. The only things worth ordering back then were the Bratwuerste, the Schlenkerla Kaese, and, if you were bold enough, the Blaue Zipfel (pickled Bratwuerste). Now they have a range of truly fresh, nicely prepared dishes (in addition to the ones I've listed, the Bamberger Zwiebel, the Spiessfleisch, and the Schaeuferla are great).

 

When was the last time you had the Zwiebel? It, like most/all of their other dishes, has really gotten better (the Rauchbiersosse it's served with seems to be much improved as well).

 

I'd say so. Matthias Trum explained how when they expanded the kitchen they installed all new ovens; these are now used to complete the cooking process of items like the Schaeuferla and the Zweibel that don't hold up well under heat lamps or will easily dry out if left in the oven at low temps. Now the Schaeuferla and the bacon atop the Zweibel has that nice crispiness of pork cracklings. Dang...getting hungry...and thirsty. Prost!