My German Trip

No sticks in theses fish. We may have it again at Augustiner in Salzburg.

 

No, they were grilling them in cages. About the same size and shape as each fish.

 

Tuesday, June 9

Today we got an opportunity to tour the Weyermann Malzwerks. They had an English-speaking tour for a customer from Australia and they allowed us to tag along. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside the production facilities. It was a very nice tour and they treated us very well. The tour ended with a tasting of three of their craft beers.



The most interesting part was the room with the bins were the malt is germinating. It's in these big long bins with rakes that move from end to end. I had never seen germinating barley before.





Weyermann seems to be a very well run and forward thinking company.



The plan for the rest of the day was for lunch at the Boothaus im Hain Biergarten followed by a bike ride to Geisfeld to visit the Griess Keller. For the second consecutive day, the weather didn't cooperate. While it didn't rain, it was chilly and overcast.



The Boothaus-im-Hain Biergarten wasn't opened so we rode up to Greifenklau hoping their Biergarten was open. I had heard they had a great view, especially of Altenberg Castle. The door to the Biergarten was locked. We decided to have beers and lunch there. It would have been rude not to. My wife had the Lagerbier and I had the "R" which is a lightly smoked Rauchbier. Worth trying.



From there it was on to Geisfeld. We had heard it was pretty much up hill from Bamberg and it is, but not as bad as we had feared. We rode out to the Keller but it was closed. Three for three! We rode back the the Griess brewery where we both had the Kellerbier which (four days later) I can't recall.



We also saw a sign that said the Keller opened at 4:30, so we rode back. Still closed, so we headed back to Bamberg. After cresting the hill just outside Geisfeld I don't think I pedaled for two miles.

After cleaning up, we stopped by Fässla where I had the Zwergla. From there we headed over to Klosterbräu where I had the Braunbier. Decent and a bit different than the standard Bamberger fare. My wife had the Braun Hefeweizen. After trying it in 2013 she asked me to brew it, which I did. At that time it had very subdued banana notes. Not this time. I wonder which is intended?

We ended up our visit to Bamberg as we did in 2013, at our favorite place with our favorite Bamberger Bier, Spezial and their Lagerbier.



All in all, a good visit to my favorite German City.

 

The closings were all weather related. Wait until I get to today's fun!

 

Wednesday June 10

We picked up a rental car, said goodbye to Bamberg and headed to Aufseß. Not a long trip but Aufseß is not well served by public transportation from Bamberg. We checked into the Brauerei Gasthof Rothenberg and began the Brauereienweg, an 8 mile hike that passes by 4 Brauereien.




Aufseß claims to hold the world's record for the most Brauereien per capita. I'm not quite sure how they define a town though.



After about 3 miles through the countryside we came upon the Brauerei Stadter. They only serve one bier, a Landbier. The most interesting thing about it was that it was served in Seila from other Brauereien. Mine was in a Paulaner glass, Nancy's in a Kulmbacher glass. I've seen plenty of Bier with no logos, but never the wrong logo.



Another 3 miles took us Brauerei Reichhold. We had the Zwickel, a Dunkel and a Lagerbier. The Zwickel and the Lagerbier were fantastic. Two of the best beers so far this trip. And the best bathrooms in Germany! They had video screens on top of the urinals and apparently in the ladies' bathroom stalls. They play funny videos. Both of us came out of the bathroom laughing and smiling.





Another mile took us to Kathi - Bräu. It's a very popular stop with motorcyclists. At least 20 in the parking lot on a Wednesday. Everyone orders the Dunkel. Good beer, typisch Frankisch.





Another mile brought us back to Rothenbach. We had several beers along with dinner. Excellent food. Decent beers. The first beer I had was the Spezialbier. It came in a Teku glass. I asked the waitress if there was a description of the beer but I was told there wasn't. Best I can say was an imperial Helles with a touch of Belgian yeast.




Their Pils was vegetal. The rest of the beers were average. Very nice lodging. If you ever walk the Brauereienwag I recommend them.

 

Thursday June 11

About a year ago I read an ebook by Evan Rail @EvanRail (The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest, a good short book) about a magical brewery in the Czech Republic. After reading that book I wanted to try their beer. While planning our trip I realized that the brewery was just across the German border. While you can't go to the brewery I found that there was a pub in a little town called Domažliče.

For a while I couldn't fit this into our trip. A whole day to drink a couple of beers. But when the tour we were supposed to go on was canceled I was able to rearrange our schedule.

We left Aufseß this morning and headed to Furth im Wald. We were planning on taking an 11:50 train, but we missed that. There was another train at 3:50 but we were thinking that was too late. But after thinking about it we figured we may never get another chance. Turns out the train isn't running to Domažliče due to work on the tracks. But there was a bus!

We finally got there and went in search of an ATM since the Czech Republic isn't on the Euro yet.



We found one and headed towards the pub. As we walked down the street we heard music and people singing. It turned out to be coming from the pub! A sax player and two accordian players and everyone one was singing!


We walked in and were quickly invited to sit down. The people were very welcoming. We got our beers and they were amazing, some of the best beers we've had.



We had the Kout na Sumavě Koutská Dvanáctka12° first. Wonderfully hoppy, clean, crisp, refreshing. Everything a Czech Pils is supposed to be.

For our second round, we had another 12° and a Koutský Tmavé 14°. Another great beer. Not as good as the 12 but still good. Stan Hieronymus' Hops book has a recipe for this beer that I brewed earlier this year. The 14 is better, but mine is a reasonable copy. I'm looking forward to having another when I get home.

As we sat at the table, the people kept talking to us even though we couldn't understand a word! Although one woman spoke some English. The people at our table got the sax player to play a solo for us. The whole experience was so much fun!




The tab for our 4 beers was 102 Koruna or about $4. Simply amazing that such a fantastic beer is so inexpensive.

And of course, the bus back to Furth im Wald didn't show up. The Czech railroad paid for a taxi for us and six others back to Germany.

Today was a memory we'll cherish for a long time.

 

Friday June 12

We drove to Regensburg, dropped off the rental car and checked into the hotel and rushed across the Steinbrücke to Spital. We had an appointment with the Bräumeister for a brewery tour. We had met him in 2010 when he was at the Weltenburger Kloster. Another friend from that trip had kept in touch so we were able to arrange this visit.





We finally found Anton and had a quick but complete tour of the brewery. A modern brewery in a very old building. The highlights, they still decoct, they open ferment and they blend Regensburg water with RO water to reduce the hardness of the water.







We were supposed to have a beer or two with Anton after but he had celebrated his 30th birthday the evening before and didn't want any beer, so we headed over to the Spitalgarten for a light lunch and a Spital Hell.



We left there and headed over to Kneitinger. On our last visit, their Bock and Dunkel were two of my favorites from the trip. The Bock isn't available in June, but the Dunkel is. Not quite as good as I remember but it's probably my memory that is off. Still very good. We also had an Edel-Pils, a fine example of the style.



From there we headed over to the Fürstliches Bräuhaus only to find out that tomorrow was their grand opening! I don't quite understand what happened here as the Good Beer Guide to Germany says it opened in 2005.

So we headed over to the Regensburger Weissbrauhaus and tried all four of their beers. I had the two lagers, my wife the two Weiss beers. It was a nice spot to sit and watch the world go by. Solid beers, but nothing to seek out.



I had been wanting Schweinhaxe and hadn't seen any on the menu since maybe Miltenberg. Kneitinger had it so we headed over there for dinner. First time I had Kloß this trip too!



We ended up the evening at the Kneitinger Keller. We tried their Sommerbier there. Darker than expected, but a good beer on a hot day.

 

The hotel wi-fi is really slow. I'll post the last four days after I get home .

 

Saturday June 13

Today we had an 18 mile bike ride that would take us to four breweries. We got our bike clothes on and headed over to the Hbf. We bought tickets including for the bikes (which was a pain) and went to rent bikes. No bikes available! The last time we were here I saw hundreds of bikes outside the shop and figured reservations weren't necessary. Apparently most of those bikes I saw weren't theirs. Lesson learned, don't leave such a critical detail to chance. And no bikes on Sunday either.

We returned the train ticket for the bikes (which didn't make the man who sold them to us very happy) and went to change clothes. We knew the first brewery we had planned to ride to was available by train so we decided head there anyway. We got off the train at Laaber and found the Brauerei Michael Plank. I had the Edel Export (a Dunkel) my wife the Hell. Both good solid beers.



The first page of the Speisekarte had all the awards they had won. Looking at it more closely, I realized they were Weizens of one type or another. So, if you ever visit this brewery and you like Weizens, that's probably the way to go.



The second stop on our bike ride was also just a bit from the train station so we were going to ride the train there, but after looking at my original bike ride plan, we saw it was only 3.5 miles away so we decided to walk. So we headed off to Deuerling and the Brauerei Josef Goss.

We were both hot and so we ordered the Hell. Really good, one of the best Hells so far. Crisp, nice hopping, clean, refreshing. I should have asked if they had it in bottles. For our second beer, the waitress suggested the Märzen. So I tried it, Nancy had another Hell. The Märzen was good, but the Hell was better.








On our way to Goss we saw a sign for the town that the third brewery on my original plan was in and only 2 km away! So we pulled out our map and saw that there was a train station only a mile or so from the brewery so we decided to walk there too.

So off to Nittendorf, home of Schlossbrauerei Eichhofen. We walked into the Biergarten and all the tables were reserved, most with linen tablecloths and nice glassware. After asking if all the tables were reserved, the waiter told us to sit at the Stammtisch. We ordered a Dunkel and a Pils. Both better than average. We would have liked another beer but they were so busy we decided to get going. They have a beautiful Biergarten. I need to go back to Goss and Eichhofen some day.







The above awning is made of part of an old brew kettle or mash tun.

Of the original four breweries we were going to ride bikes to, we ended up getting to three and walking 10 miles. We salvaged the day.

As we were walking to the train in Undorf we heard music. We came upon what we guessed was a Kirchweih. Since we pretty much missed on attempt at a Kirchweih the previous Saturday we thought about stopping but we weren't sure. For all we knew it was a private event, so we walked on.



We were getting weary of Schnitzel, Würst and Braten so we had pizza that night in Regensburg with Scherzinger Pils and Kuchlbauer's Helles. Not much to say about either of those.

 

Sunday June 14

Since we couldn't get bikes, our plan to visit 5 breweries was kaputt. Nancy said she'd like to attend Mass at the Cathedral so we did. A Mass with all pomp and circumstance you'd expect at a Cathedral including a boys choir. Very beautiful.



Since Abensberg has 3 breweries including 2 we had planned to visit, we decided to head there. We arrived and went looking for Ottensbräu. We found the brewery which was not where the Good Beer Guide to Germany said it would be. We also found where the tap used to be (in front of the old brewery). It was still marked as the Ottensbräu Gasthof but it obviously wasn't any more. It looked like it had been turned into a classroom for the company next door. We probably spent 45 minutes trying to find the tap and gave up.



We headed over to Hof Bräu Abensberg. We got there and two guys power washing in the lot told us it was closed due to construction. I had noticed on Facebook that they were working on the brewery, but I never even considered that they wouldn't have beer!

They told us where the Ottensbräu tap was. We spent some more time looking for it. They're not trying very hard to be found.

By this time we were hot and frustrated and had enough of Abensberg. Originally, we were going to skip Kuchlbauer because 3 breweries in the first mile of a 23 mile ride seemed like too much and their website made it look like Disney Land (on meth).



But we needed a beer. We had time for a quick one before heading to the train. I had another Helles and Nancy the Turm Weisse.




We got back to Regensburg and went in search of the Bischofshof Biergarten. Nancy had been looking for Rouladen and they had it, so we ate dinner there along with Weltenburger Pils and an Original 1649. Both good beers.





We then walked over to Fürstliches Bräuhaus. The place was dead. But they had a bar we could sit at which seems to be a rare thing in Germany. Everything has Thurn und Taxis written on it. We had a Dunkel and a Hell. Nothing special. Kind of a first beer on a new system was the impression I got. But it's one of the most impressive locations for a brewpub that I've ever seen.





We stopped by Kneitinger. We each had a beer and I bought a couple of bottles to take home.



We finished our visit to Regensburg the way we started, with a visit to the Spitalgarten. I asked the waitress if it was possible to have Spital Pale Ale. She said that when they weren't busy, it was possible, and they weren't busy.



Very nice beer. A great hop nose with orange notes. The flavor had a malty background with the same hop flavor and notes. Not bitter as an American Pale Ale, but there's a place for a balanced APA. Maybe along the North Arm 8 the Donal is the place. To me it was thoroughly enjoyable so I had another.

Thunderstorms were threatening so it was time to call it a day.

 

Monday, June 15

On to Salzburg. Salzburg was more of a sightseeing visit than for beer. After arriving, we took a self guided tour of the Altstadt that was in the Rick Steve's guide I had bought. It was a pretty good tour.







For dinner, we headed over to Augustiner Mülln.





We both had Steckerlfische, this time with a stick! Mine was trout. @steveh , this one's for you!



We both started out with a Mass of Märzen and later switched to half liters. Enjoyable beer, but light for a Märzen. Good for a Biergarten though.

 

Tuesday, June 16 - Der Endtag

More sightseeing. We took the Fraulein Maria bicycle tour of the Sound of Music sights. Very well done and a lot of fun. I'd recommend it to almost anyone. We rode with a group of American high school students who had just come over for an exchange program (mostly boys). I doubt many of them had ever seen the movie. It would have been more fun with people who were fans of the movie. More singing and all that.









After that we rode the Funicular up to Hohensalzburg and looked around for a while. When we came back down, it was starting to rain (again) and the Stieglkeller was nearby so we ducked in there for a couple. We started out with the Spezial and the Zwickel. The Zwickel was pretty good. After that I had another Zwickel and Nancy a Gold - Bräu.







We had dinner at Der Wilder Mann in the Altstadt (recommended by Rick Steves) was very good with more Gold - Bräu.



Finally, after packing up, we headed down to the bar at our hotel, the Zum Hirschen, recommended by Ron Pattison @patto1ro ). The hotel was very nice, the first we had with A/C.

Ron ' s Salzburg Pub Guide indicated that they carried Hirter Biers. This is no longer the case (at least it wasn't on the menu) and are serving Stiegl like everyone else in town. A bit disappointing for my last beer of my German trip.