Beer wise what do you BAs think I should look for on my trip to Frankfort/Heidleburg next month? Will be Sep 30 thru Oct 4. Special pubs breweries? Local beers that I should not miss? Thanks for the advice!
I went to Scheffel's in Heidelburg and it was quite good. Don't know if you'll have a car, but you're not that far from the Franconia region, which has some incredible (and very unique) beers too. Definitely the highlight of my Germany trip.
Thanks, any other advice? We are going into Frankfort and euro rail to different towns but only Heidleburg is nailed down so far.
A typical beer thing to do is try out Vetter's 33, it was for a time the strongest beer in the world. The brewery itself is downtown amongst all the other things you'd be seeing as you walk around town, and the other beer is nice enough as well (typical German stuff). Welde is another area brewer that has some okay stuff, nothing out of this world, but worth checking out.
Not exactly Germany's Beer Heartland but youll probably fins dedicated Beer stores there which carry great beer
In Heidelberg try: upperglass Craftbeer Shop http://www.upperglass-craftbeer.de and/or: Hopfenkind http://hopfenkind.de
Below is something that Matt (@Gutes_Bier) posted in a past thread: “Well Heidelberg is not the most exciting place in the world. There are two brew pubs in the tourist district, Vetter's and Kulturbrauerei. Both have decent beer, in particular Vetter's Hell. I usually opted for the seasonal option at Kulturbrauerei (their Frühlingsweisse, or Spring Wheat, was quite good). Both places have decent food. I think Kulturbrauerei is a little overpriced, but it is in the heart of the tourist district, so what can you do. There is not much of a "craft beer" scene in HD unless things have changed drastically since I've left, so keep your sights on German styles and you'll probably be happy. Palmbräu may also make their own beer, I forget. I was there once but don't remember much about it. If I remember correctly there's a place called Hemingway's that sells Schlenkerla's Märzen. The White Swan (Weisser Schwan) might have this beer as well. There's a small corner cafe (Strohauer's?) that sells Andechs. All of these places are in the Altstadt (Old Town), which is the tourist district.” http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...frankfurt-and-strasbourg.269796/#post-3429326 Perhaps Matt has some further input he can provide. Cheers!
I figure it's worth mentioning that that is the final weekend of Oktoberfest in München. Also you should be aware that on that weekend is also the "Tag der deutschen Einheit" which means the Monday (Oct 5) is probably a holiday and that many people will be travelling in general.
Not much to add. The local beers aren't great, but Welde, made in neighboring Mannheim, has a pils that's good on draft. I'd avoid Klosterhof beers. I enjoyed the two local brew pubs, Kulturbrauerei and Vetter's. Try whatever the seasonal beer is at Kulturbrauerei. Vetter's makes a nice Hell. Rothaus Pils on draft is delicious and can be found in many bars. I was gone before Upper Glass came to be, but it appears to be HD's only dedicated Craft store (and is priced accordingly from what I gather). There are two Getränkemärkte, or "drink markets", which sell beer & soda. One is in Neuenheim (Schroederstraße 25) and one is in Weststadt (Kaiserstraße 73). There one can find some good Bavarian beers such as Weihenstephaner's Hefe Weissbier Hell, Schneider Weisse Tap 7, or some Andechs beers. They will also have Rothaus Pils (aka Tannenzäpfle) by the bushel but probably no "Craft" beers. The Neuenheim location often has Schlenkerla's Märzen and Spaten's Hell. Don't feel bad buying beer by the single at these places, just grab one out of the case and they'll charge you for one. Getränkemärkte often close early on Saturdays and are not open at all on Sundays, so be aware. Grocery stores such as REWE, Kaufland, Edeka, and even the local department store (Galeria Kaufhof) will have a more limited selection, but you can usually find some goodies. You might want to consider a day trip to Miltenberg, where Faust is made. Their entire line-up is worth trying, in particular their pils, hefeweizen hell, and Schwarzviertler Dunkel. You can actually find Faust beers near HD, but they would require a tram ride to Wieblingen and I'm not comfortable recommending that for a casual tourist. Another easy day trip would be to Köln or, my favorite, Düsseldorf. Both are on the high-speed train line (ICE) and are direct with no changes. Köln is 2 hours from HD via the ICE and Düsseldorf is 2:15. Bamberg of course is a great trip but again one I might not recommend to a casual tourist. It is 3.5 hours away, local trains only with two changes (Osterburken & Wurzburg). I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Crafty place in Frankfurt yet. I'll have to dig back through to find the name of it, but it's around here in this forum somewhere. Other than that... Have fun!
Thank you all. We do plan on spending a couple of days in other towns for sightseeing but not sure where yet. We will take any advice offered. We may rent a car but plan on using rail mostly. I look forward to some great Hefe and Pils during our visit!
As always, @Gutes_Bier pretty much summed up the Heidelberg scene rather comprehensively. Assuming that you will not have a car and will be sticking to the downtown area, I would only briefly add a couple of thoughts... First, the Markthalle (https://www.markthalle-heidelberg.de/ - Poststraße 36) might be of interest, which is not far from the main transport hub of Bismarkplatz. They have an interesting upscale food store that features a number of German (and foreign) craft beers. Pretty much anything you might find there will also be at Upper Glass (http://www.upperglass-craftbeer.de/), but the Markthalle building itself has some decent food options (Urban Kitchen...) and the food store section itself has a few decent taps as well as bottles. Second, if you are looking to try a German IPA, you could check out Hemingways (http://www.hemingways-heidelberg.de - Fahrtgasse 1), which is kind of an ex-pat restaurant/bar hangout down by the river. If the weather is nice, sitting outside in the back porch area is rather pleasant. They have a limited bottle selection, but it has some interesting stuff, including Braukunstkellar Amarsi IPA, Maisel Pale Ale, Schlenkerla Märzen and occasionally other stuff as well. The food is sometimes great, sometimes not, but it's the only restaurant you'll find a German IPA (and Braukunstkellar's is excellent), so I've spent more than a few evenings there while in Heidelberg. As for specific beers in the area, I'd second (and third, if that is a word...) @Gutes_Bier suggestion as to avoiding the Klosterhof beers. As for local beers to drink, in addition to those already mentioned, I'd recommend the Dachsenfranz beers, if you run across them. I particularly enjoy their Dunkel. If you check the local (large) supermarket (REWE specifically) or Upper Glass, you might find Welde's craft beer experiments. I did a review of them somewhere on here. I've been drinking the Badische Gose, which however inauthentic, is still quickly becoming one of my favorite summer beers. Oh, and I really like Vetter's brewpub (http://www.brauhaus-vetter.de/html/aktuelles.html). It's kitschy and very touristy German, but the food is decently priced, there's lot's of it, and the beer is pretty good too. Or you could just do what I always do: order a couple of pretzels with your Dunkel Weizen and pretend it's a meal... Otherwise, have a great trip, and enjoy Heidelberg! Now that I no longer really live there, I actually kind of miss it!
No, unfortunately we don't do that here. If a public holiday is on a weekend day, it's just bad luck. No holiday on Monday then.
Just got back from the trip to Mainz and we did a day trip to Heidleberg which was a lot of fun. Went to Hemingways on the Nechar River, great burgers and craft beer, also enjoyed Jever on draft there. Hey Germany was great and people were greater, did notice some bus stops over run with the migrant push and can see the culture down the road changing big time. Sad.
About 20-30 minutes south of Frankfurt is this place. Was surprised at the great quality/quantity it had to offer. Nice prices too. If you have a car, I think it's worth going by.
