Bamberg & Prague trip write-up

Discussion in 'Rest of Europe' started by Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017.

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  1. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    Thought I'd pass along some pictures and words on my early May trip to Bamberg and Prague, and a couple Munich bonus shots.

    First beer of the trip about an hour after landing. HB dunkel in the Viktualienmarkt. Goes down good with some curry fries.


    Later in the afternoon we hit the Augustiner klosterwirt for some lager from the wood. Just about perfect way to wrap up our first day.


    The next morning we took the ICE to Bamberg for a 1pm arrival. First stop was Mahr's since it seems like the Wunderburg gets further and further each year. Then naturally my crew needed to visit the world famous.



    Beware the deposit on the glasses, which are no longer branded so I don't understand the need to charge deposits.

    At the end of the first day in Bamberg, this place is really magical.



    Day three at the Kellerwald is next.
     
    #1 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
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  2. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    FYI the Kellerwald is a solid 20 minute walk from the train station, 35 minutes if you try to NOT utilize your GPS tools. All the same, the weather was perfect if a bit chilly at 63F. This was my first experience at the Kellerwald as well, and my crew could not believe this isn't more widely known.



    Beer ****. This was at the Hoffmannskeller I believe but they were serving Wolfsraum. I would love more info on this as it was the most impressive foam of the trip.



    Another one bites the dust at the Eichhornkeller.



    We covered about 15 miles on foot this day. It was a very long day but a true highlight for us.



    More to follow
     
    #2 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
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  3. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    Sunday the weather was perfect again back in Bamberg, so it's hard to beat a day relaxing at the Spezial keller.




    We had to seek shelter under one of the covered areas from a late afternoon rainstorm, but it paid off when we got back into town to hang in for the night.



    Prague next.
     
    #3 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
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  4. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    This was my first visit to Prague and it exceeded my expectations. We stayed in Prague 7 which was a solid 20 minute walk to the old town. This was at our first beer stop, overlooking the Charles Bridge.




    Later this afternoon we made our way to the Barcade where we played many games and had several of these.



    FWIW I was really not expecting beer to be so cheap. After Franconian prices, I was still surprised to be paying around 39 corona or ~$1.50 for a half liter.

    Not much to say other than that Prague castle was breathtaking



    Our walk brought us to the top of the hill for some familiar beer styles, probably quite new school for Prague. I had the IPA, it was not great. The Blueberry beer was similarly underwhelming. The lesson here is to always get the traditional beers.



    Found on the walk home to Prague 7, seems that you cannot escape him.

     
    #4 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
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  5. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    This was my third consecutive year going to Bamberg and I likely wouldn't have known about it without this forum or the Franconian beer guide website (run by a BA I believe). I can't talk highly enough about Bamberg and Franconia in general as a must for any beer fan. Any questions, I'm happy to answer.
     
    #5 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
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  6. Ozzylizard

    Ozzylizard Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,419) Oct 5, 2013 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks! I'm heading to Bamberg tomorrow! No, seriously, I'm flying out of Toronto to Munchen to Nurnberg then training to Bamberg and am staying at the Fassla brewery for 10 days. Lots of beer planned.
     
    #6 Ozzylizard, May 28, 2017
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  7. Ozzylizard

    Ozzylizard Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,419) Oct 5, 2013 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Did you arrive in Bamberg via train? If so, how far is it from the bahnhof to the Old Town? I'm concerned whether I should hoof it or take a taxi.
     
    #7 Ozzylizard, May 28, 2017
  8. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    Yes, we took the ICE train from Munich to Bamberg. Hoof it. It's only 10-15 minutes depending on your walking speed and how many bags you have. I like to walk a lot on vacation so we didn't take many taxis, certainly not in Bamberg. I think the only time I might take a taxi would be from the Spezi keller to Mahrs, which would be a solid 45 minute walk.
     
    #8 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
  9. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    You're going to have a blast. You do any research on the breweries surrounding Bamberg in the countryside? If not, download the VGN app so you can buy tickets and plan your trips. Wouldn't recommend a car unless you have a driver.
     
    #9 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
  10. Ozzylizard

    Ozzylizard Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,419) Oct 5, 2013 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm going on a tour and am meeting in Bamberg but I'll be there a couple of days early. The tour will take care of the itinerary and my god-awful Deutsch will have to do for the first couple of days - my only real concern is getting from Nurnberg to Bamberg then finding my abode. As far as driving, not this trip. A few years ago my wife and I flew into Frankfurt, rented a car, and drove around Bavaria for a couple of weeks. Other than getting stuck on the wall at Rothenburg and scraping some paint off, things went OK. WTF is VGN?
     
    #10 Ozzylizard, May 28, 2017
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  11. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    VGN is Nuremberg's train/tram/bus scheduling service/website. Provided you have wifi or a data plan you can buy tickets and coordinate your travel schedule. Walking from Bamberg bahnhof to Faessla can be accomplished in 10 minutes easy. Another good tip is downloading offline maps from google maps of Bamberg and any other areas you intend on visiting. That way you don't need data or wifi to access your GPS.

    Edit: VGN covers Nuremburg/Bamberg and all points in between.
     
    #11 Seacoastbrewer, May 28, 2017
  12. bergbrew

    bergbrew Initiate (0) Jan 12, 2004 Minnesota

    It's a pretty easy walk to Fassla from the Bahnhof. Maybe 15 minutes. It's another 15 to Schlenkerla
     
    #12 bergbrew, May 28, 2017
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  13. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    Schlenkerla has branded glasses, but never served in them when I lived or visited there. Think the deposit thing is new since they started letting people drink on the street a lot.

    Awesome pictures and report. Thanks for posting.
     
    #13 herrburgess, May 28, 2017
  14. Lurchus

    Lurchus Zealot (733) Jan 19, 2014 Germany

    39 CZK for a pivo? those robbing bastards, prague is really getting expensive these days:wink: (I'm partly joking, but I remember beer in some pubs in prague for half that, but it has been a while)
    Mh, labeled glasses at Schlenkerla...I'm not sure. I remember getting served Schlenkerla in branded glasses but I am not sure if that was at the actual pub itself or at some other place...

    Anyway,glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves.
    All great locations.
     
    #14 Lurchus, May 28, 2017
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  15. jeebeel

    jeebeel Zealot (667) Jun 17, 2003 Texas

    #15 jeebeel, May 28, 2017
  16. Lurchus

    Lurchus Zealot (733) Jan 19, 2014 Germany

    IPAs by smaller czech brewers have been around for quite a while now, and even Pilsner Urquell and Bernard made something IPA-ey....
    It basically was already a bit like that when I first visited prague in 2008 or so:
    Primator always made "non traditional","foreign styles" like Hefeweizen, English Pale Ale, Stout, even Staroparmen had a Stout back then.
    Modern Ales nothing toooo new in the czech republic.
     
    #16 Lurchus, May 28, 2017
  17. Bierman9

    Bierman9 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,313) Dec 20, 2001 New Hampshire
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thnx for the writeup... never get tired of reading about Bamberg and environs... Last visited Prague in 2013... Yes, relatively inexpensive, though quite a bit higher than my first, and only other, trip, in 1991.... It was DIRT CHEAP back then... Prosit!!!
     
    #17 Bierman9, May 28, 2017
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  18. FrankenBier

    FrankenBier Zealot (645) Feb 4, 2003 California

    Schlenkerla hasn't used branded glasses in the 18 or so years I've been going there. But they received lots of complaints from neighboring businesses about glasses being left on the street, on the window sills, etc. etc. Hence the deposit to get people to return their glasses. In the past, the deposit wasn't all the time, basically just evenings and weekends when people were likely to be drinking in the street. Personally, I think the little plastic replica Schlenkerla seal they use as a token is almost worth the €2 (for one, at least) -- forget the glass :slight_smile:

    We maybe just missed crossing paths in Prague as I was there a couple weeks ago. The cheapest (and actually my favorite) beer of my visit was 27 Kč for a Hostomice Desítka (10º) at
    Hostomická Nalévárna on Soukenická (near Dlouhá třída). The most outrageously priced beer was 78 Kč for Únětické 12º at the new Prague Beer Museum location near the Karlův most. I was quite outraged until I realized it was still only about $3 :slight_smile: If I could buy that beer for $3 in LA I would never leave the pub...

    One other interesting point in Prague: BeerGeeks had both North Coast Old Rasputin and De Molen Rasputin on draft -- and for exactly the same price (equivalent of about US$9 for 16oz but they were serving smaller portions). I don't know that I've ever seen both on draft at the same time -- and certainly not for the same price :slight_smile:

    And I'm glad you found my Franconian website useful. The high points of my Prague trip are at www.BeerGuidePRG.com (to toot my own horn : )
     
    #18 FrankenBier, May 29, 2017
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  19. Gutes_Bier

    Gutes_Bier Maven (1,363) Jul 31, 2011 Germany

    Awesome trip report, thank you for posting!
     
    #19 Gutes_Bier, May 29, 2017
  20. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    I've done it, and 45 minutes seemed too long, Google says 34, which was more our experience. OF course, going downhill from the Keller.
     
    #20 hopfenunmaltz, May 30, 2017
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