Hey guy's I was wondering if anyone new of any home brew shops where I can get some yeast and dry Malt cause I'm all out and I thought Koln might be as good a place as any to get some. I also need a few knick knacks that broke along the way.
I do not know of any...but on the other hand I do not brew. You could ask the brewer of Braustelle, he might know if something exists in Köln.
You might be able to find some information here: http://www.hausgebraut.de/ English language available, just click on the German flag in the top right to change languages.
I lived in Germany in 98 to 99. The Germans were fascinated that I made beer at home in the US. Homebrewing was just not done there, mainly due to the great beer at affordable prices (compared to where I live). Our German friends say that Homebrewing is gaining some traction in Germany, but would be like the US in the 80's as far as numbers that do it.
Part I: The travails of Homebrewing in Germany. Part II will be about experiences with Germans and my homebrewing (upcoming) I can attest to all that has been said concerning home brewing in D-land. I moved here to Frankfurt about 2008 and have been brewing since 2009. First, the only supplies available are over the internet, which is a pain and requires buying lots of grain hops and storing them in the cellar (it's a 100+ year old sandstone building with a barrel vaulted cellar!). I buy a kilo or more of about 10 different malts and 100+ grams of also more than 10 variety of hops, all of which I store in air-tight containers in the cellar, which though somewhat moist (when the Main river went to flood stage last spring, it backed up our drainage system!), keeps things relatively fresh. One of my neighbors left a small window open in the cellar during a rain storm last year and a month later, while retrieving a suitcase stored there, I found a huge mushroom growing under it, attached to cardboard I had laid under the suitcase! I emptied that area, washed the brick floors with bleach, and placed plastic sheeting under everything, and kept an eye on that window to ensure it's never reopened. I mention this because I tried only once to do the fermentation down there. I got a mushroom infection in the beer! There was a one inch layer of white cheese-like looking stuff floating on the top and under that a completely undrinkable beer that tasted like... I can't remember but I was happy I didn't die or got sick from mushroom poisoning. I ceased to ferment down there, and to my g/f's chagrin, keep the fermenter in our living room. Second I also buy only unmilled malts and bought and use a hand-cranked malt mill, which though a real pain gives me fresh malts. In addition, I buy about 10 different Wyeast liquid yeast varieties and keep them in the cellar, which I forgot to mention stays at about 15C (60F) year round. There are some ingredients I simply can't get here, e.g. brown or victory malt, which I found I can order from England online, but it's much more expensive. In addition, the American hop varieties are extremely limited in online shops, with Amarillo or Cascade with one of the few available in a Belgian online shop and in 1 or 2 German online shops. Third, I brew exclusively beers I either can't get here in Germany or are quite expensive or require a lot of extra work to obtain, which means anything that's non-German. I don't try to brew German styles, for German beers are REALLY cheap, almost on par price-wise with milk. I leave the Weizens, Bocks, Alts, Pils, etc alone and buy there commercially. I mean... a 1/2 liter bottle of a Czech dark Pils yesterday at 0.67€! That's about 80¢ for a world class beer! Thus, I brew British, Belgium and American styles, all ales. Some of those can be bought either in Karstadt, Kaufhof, (German dept. stores), a local Brit-shop, or a 45 minute ride to Maruhns, a huge drink store that sells 100+ variety of German beers and very decent variety of non-German beers, or I order online from Bierlinie Shop, Bierzwerg.de or Bierkompass.de, both of which have good selections. In all of those cases, non-indigenous beers are expensive, ranging from 2.50€ to 8€ per bottle, an expense doable for my budget isn't sustainable over the long-run. I found my costs of homebrewing (per Euro, not per hour of work homebrewing) compete fairly well and are even slightly cheaper long-term versus buying non-German styles commercially. In addition, I can brew stuff, like a clone of a Westvleteren 12 that's lagering in the cellar, or a Hop Rod Rye, which are completely unattainable here. Fourth, equipment. It has been an adventure seeking and finding alternatives to stuff to brew with. First, I Carboys don't exist in Europe. NOT AT ALL. They only sell plastic tubs, which are cheap and readily available at all online brew shops in Germany, are in my short experience a yeast infection in waiting. It's impossible to completely clean them, regardless of which disinfection stuff you use. There are always microscopic nicks and scratches for a hardy yeast to find sanctuary to infect the next batch. After 2 infected batches in a row, I was about to throw in the towel for homebrewing when I was given a tip about glass wine "Gärballons," or fermenting ballons. I bought two 54 liter things. (follow the link for a pic), which are unwieldy but at least I haven't had an infection again. I can't keg due to space limitations so bottling is done in the bathroom with the fermenter sitting on the toilet while I fill the bottles in the shower. I tried doing it in the cellar in the washing machine room but it was a huge pain, being communal and was frowned upon by the others who live in this building. Second, I wish I lived in a house with a huge cellar to brew and lager beer. Unfortunately, I live in an expensive, tiny, old/completely renovated but beautiful apartment near the center of Frankfurt with 7 pizzeria's within 5 minutes walk, numerous other ethnic eateries and bars within 5 or 10 minutes WALK from our front door, 3 supermarkets basically ACROSS the street and a tram stop (2 stops from the city center) ACROSS the street, and the best Italian ice place in the city 3 blocks walk from the front door. I don't own a car, though my g/f does, and can get anywhere in the city by bicycle, tram or subway in 30 minutes. Another thing, I have managed to turn my Geman g/f into a Pils hater. By introducing her to all these ale varieties and wonderful tastes such as American IPAs or Porters, she (like me to a certain extent) won't drink any more Pils. In fact, at local festival last year, she refused to to drink a Jever Pils and pined for one of my Porters.
I have never home brewed, but still I find this report hysterical. I can definitely empathize with the cost and trouble one has to go through to track down a non-German beer, and sometimes German ones as well. At least you're close to Mahrun's (programming note: apparently there will be a feature on Maruhns on "Abenteuer Leben" on Kabel Eins this Tuesday at 21:00. Unfortunately this coincides with Munich vs. Real, but your priorities may vary.). I look forward to Part II. Until then... ISO: potentially lethal Mushroom Infected Beer; FT: Welde.
Thanks... just goes to show the trouble a beer obsessed man will go through to get a decent IPA, Porter, etc. Sorry this is off-beer topic: Though I'm BVB fan (die Eintracht Frankfurt are horrible but I've been to a few of their homegames), and I'm a ANTI-Bayern fan in the BuLi (Bundesliga), I root for FC Bayern München in the Champions League. I'd rrather watch the Bayern-Real Madrid match. That will be one of the best games of the year... Özil/Khadira/Ronaldo/di Maria, etc. vs. Schweinsteiger/Lahms/Gomez/Ribbery/Robbin... it promises to be even better than the Hinrunde! Congrads to BVB Dortmund on the BuLi Championship!!!! Now... back to beer, but apropos Dortmund: I have been in Dortmund recently, for my g/f hails from a city near there, it's horrible that all the great breweries died there, like DAB or DUB. The Dortmund style has almost died out, though Hövels has revived an Altbier that is wonderful. Love the Flavor profile! Here's a link to their restaurant page.
A German friend gave us a bottle of Hoevels, and it is in the basement, to be consumed soon. He was surprised they were still in business.
Hövels is not a beer to age. In BA they call it an Alt, though it's not a traditional Düsseldorfer Altbier. Here is the recipe for a clone I found at Hobbybrauer.de Yeast: WYeast #1338 European Ale Amount: 30 Liter OG: 12°P 4,5 kg Pilsener Malz 1 kg Münchner Malz 0,5 kg Weizenmalz Hell 0,1 kg Carafa Spezial Color ~25 EBC Hops: Spalter Select 25 IBU they have a second recipe on the bottom of that post. I would call it a Dortmund Alt.
It has been in my basement for about 2 weeks, not trying to age it. Pretty much all of my frige and keezer space is full of homebrew.
