Back to Bamberg

I know that Schlenkerla and Spezial have their own maltings. I'm 99% sure that all the other Rauchbiere you find around Bamberg are brewed with the Weyermann. The ones from Rittmayer and Greifenklau were both much more mildly smoky, which would support the theory that they are using the Weyermann.

Now for me it's off the Augustiner for some Helles vom Holzfass. Prost!

 

Interesting that this should come up.... When I was talking to Herrn Trum about some of the things Weyermann is doing, including their recent Suessholz (licorice root) beer, he informed me that he had actually been the first to try out that recipe on his pilot system! But, no, I don't think they have collaborated officially.

Even more interesting is that he told me that while Schlenkerla won't be brewing any of the non-Reinheitsgebot-compliant beers like Weyermann brews, he does, in fact, have a list of nearly a dozen new recipes that may come out at some point in the coming years. Yum!

 

OK, going to just keep my mouth more or less shut (for now...and for once!) and let the images do the talking.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66242214@N06/?uploaded=19&magic_cookie=92052124f54098395696a227b605c367

 

OK, before I forget all of this, let me start writing it down....

Day 1: Trip started off on a nice note when we got complimentary passes to the Delta Sky Club in Atlanta: Sweetwater beers on tap...and free.

After an uneventful flight, we arrived in Munich and left our bags at the Maritim Hotel. We walked into town and in 20 minutes or so found ourselves sitting at the Weisses Brauehaus. Truly fresh Muenchner Weisswuerste, soft pretzels, and deliciously spicy Schneider Weisse...no better breakfast on Earth! After breakfast we couldn't resist a quick stop at Zum Pschorr for a Helles straight from the wooden keg. Hugely satisfying on a nicely warming day. And when we heard the bell ring signalling a new keg being tapped, we couldn't resist another. Walked back to the hotel for a brief check-in and nap after that. Then at 5:30 p.m. I met with a business partner at the Augustinerkeller for a "simply perfect" Mass. Two more Mass, a Brotzeitteller, Obatzda, and some disappointing soccer by the Germans later and we were done for the night.

Day 2: Set out for Bamberg mid-morning. Quick trip up the Autobahn through the Hallertau and we were there. Walked about the old town center a bit to get a SIM card for the phone, trying to resist sneaking into the brewery taverns before the scheduled lunch meeting with Matthias Trum at Schlenkerla. Finally 1:00 p.m. rolled around and we went into the Schwemme at Schlenkerla and had them call up to Herrn Trum, who lives and works above the tavern. A few minutes later, we're sitting together ordering Bamberger Zwiebel and some Maerzen and Krauesen. I quite enjoyed the freshness of the Krausen and the hint of smokiness. Still, I couldn't resist the Maerzen (or the second one...)

One of the true highlights of the trip was the conversation (both on and off the record) with Matthias Trum. Extremely personable guy who makes you feel right at home. I asked him about a number of things, and he offered perspectives on subjects that one minute would be extremely local (some production problems at Klosterbrau down the road; growing up above the Tavern and having his buddies summon him at age 13 to go drink some beers by tossing pebbles at his window out to the Sandstrasse; being friends with Mahr's Brau boss Stephan Michel and some of the wild things he did as a kid) and the next minute would be regional (local grain growers and contracts; Franconian beer and its changes (or lack thereof) and the minute after that national and even global (Munich Big Six's stronghold on distribution in that city; some of the issues raised by the film "Hopfen und Malz Verloren"; Weyermann's explosive growth and supply chain challenges; U.S. craft beer and sites like BA and RB). Going to have to go back and listen to the interview again to recall more of the topics, but suffice it to say it was one of the most interesting conversations I've had about German (and U.S.) beer ever.

After Schlenkerla it was up to Spezialkeller for dinner and to meet a couple of college friends who had come back to see us. Made the trip back down the hill for a Schlenkerla nightcap in the Schwemme before heading back to the apartment of off to bed. (Fortsetzung folgt)

 

He knows quite a bit about it, actually, and has hosted a number of Schlenkerla beer dinners (including one in Philadelphia) here. He also follows BA and RB reviews. I don't want to put words into his mouth, so I'll forgo assigning any type of views to the statements he made, but one thing stuck with me: it was about the extensive education he received at Weihenstephan. The man knows the chemistry of beer inside and out (he explained, for example, how the professors at Weihenstephan test the students' knowledge of off-flavors by first isolating in the laboratory the chemical compounds that cause those off-flavors and then adding those chemicals to beer samples...then the students have to recognize, identify the chemical composition of, and understand how these off-flavors are produced. And yes, they are tested on it. And, yes, if they fail that class then their studies are effectively over. Amazing stuff.). He did say he knows a number of brewers here in the U.S. that have that type of depth of knowledge, but also said that there are far more who lack it. Again, this was in no way condescending, just an answer -- and a factual one at that -- to one of my interview questions.

I had to chuckle when I thought back to one poster here on BA saying it was easy to be a German brewer because you don't need "creativity" -- you only have to brew the recipe you father gave you.

 

OK. Before these memories disappear into the ether...


Day 3: Woke up, had a nice breakfast of Fuchs Kaiserbroetchen, meats, and cheeses (to form a solid foundation) and called around to try and rent some bikes. As the weather had been spectacular – and as we were in Germany where people can sometimes plan waaayyy ahead – there were no bikes to be had. So instead we set off for Hallerndorf and the the Kreuzbergkeller by car. The Kreuzbergkeller, as some of you know, is not one but three beergardens all connected and dug into the side of a small hill outside of the village of Hallerndorf, between Bamberg and Forchheim. Parked at the base of the hill and hiked up. Place was pretty empty at first (it was only 11:00 a.m.), but it started to fill up quickly. Went first to Rittmayer and saw the rustic sign “Rittmayer Rauchbier vom Fass.” Decision made. The beer was lightly smoky with a rustic Kellerbier feel underneath the smoke. Delicious and refreshing.

From the Rittmayerkeller we just hopped over to Friedel to try their interpretation of the Weyermann recipe I've brewed a few times, Schlotfegerla (a smoked Kellerbier). To be honest this one was a bit thin and more or less a disappointment. Good to see them doing some new things, but the beers need work IMO. We hiked back down the hill and stopped at some cherry trees to fill our stomachs further. Turns out later that that was a bad move, as the cherries didn't help digest the Schweinshaxe we'd end up ordering at Klosterbrau when we got back to Bamberg, but instead seemed to create a sort of secondary fermentation in our bellies. Ouch. Interesting about Klosterbrau was that we'd heard from Matthias Trum that they had been having some production problems. Seems when Trum took some visitors there a few months earlier he'd ordered a Braunbier, to which he'd received the following reply from the waitress: OK, but our Braunbier is a bit like a Hefeweizen today. Apparently Klosterbrau's filtering system had given out and they'd decided to serve the beer anyway. Hmmm.... Anyhow, when we ordered ours they were in good shape (really unique beer among Bamberg beers, the Braunbier). The Schwaerzla (Schwarzbiere) were really tasty, too. After one more round it was back to Schlenkerla (where else?), this time in the ever-expanding Biergarten out in the courtyard. The Maerzen were going down particularly nicely, so we settled in and made a long(ish) night of it.

(Still more to come)