Bamberg & Munich Starkbierfest Tips?

As long as you are not at the 1st weekend of Starkbierfest, you should be OK. Also, it's not a super all day drinking event like Oktoberfest... after 3 Maß of doppelbock, most are pretty done. I would suggest that you call and make reservations for both... weekends could be tricky and there are not 1000's of people there.

Instead, it's a very local event (mostly folks from Munich) and it's not much like Ofest at all. I have been to both the event at Löwenbräu and at Nockherberg, I went with some "insiders", and I loved both for different reasons. Hard to describe.

After you are done with your trip, it would be great if you could post your experiences. I lived in Munich from 96-98 and it's possible some has changed, but in general, things don't change very quickly in Germany, but it would still be great for some documentation. Starkbierfest gets very little discussion here and for me it was the closest to what I imagined what a true Münchener beerfest is.

 

I went to Bamberg roughly this time last year and actually the weather ended up being great. I wouldn't count on it - it is Germany after all (it feels like it has been raining forever now ) but it is possible. It's been a warm winter too - so who knows, bring a jacket it might just be nice enough to sit outside. Sitting outside at Spezial-Keller is not to be missed if the weather allows it.

 

Weyermann in Bamberg has a tour on Wednesdays at 2pm. You get to try a few of their house beers at the end. Very interesting. Also Cafe Abseits and the Bierothek.

Non beer stuff: You should walk up to the Altenburg. There's a charming castle and a nice view. 30 mins drive outside town is a really quirky little church called the Gügel which is worth the trip.

The weather is likely to be cold. Hasn't been much above 10c here yet. Some snow/rain today.

 

I second the Cafe Abseits tip for Bamberg. Great place! Also, try the Weisses (Schneider) Brauhaus in München if you can... Fresh Aventinus is a treat!

Prosit!

 

And I second the Schneiderweisse tip. The Hopfenweisse is also good.

Also Biervana in Munich is a good craft beer shop. And get a schmalznudel from Cafe Frischhut.

 

Keep in mind that this tour is in German.

 

When I did it the guide spoke both German and English.

 

That's great. When I email them last year, I was told that tour was in German. Maybe it depends on who the guide is that day. I was able to contact them and they let us tag along with a couple of Australian customers so the whole thing was in English and we got treated like VIP's! It was fantastic.

 

Maybe that's the case. It's always worth a try. It's not too far from town if it doesn't work out and really interesting if it does. And you can always go to the fan shop (which has been moved and greatly expanded in the last year) to pick up some beers you won't find in the getränkemarkt.

 

I'm guessing you've already seen this, if not check it out... good info here on times and reservations @TheBreeze

http://www.nockherberg.com/en/starkbierfest_termin.html

We're depending on you.... we all live vicariously through our BA brothers who make it to Germany.

 

Jawohl.

Prost!

 

It helped that we were flexible. We didn't know for sure that we could do that for sure until until about 4 days before.

 

Unfortunately for me, I never made it to a Starkbierfest. I hope you enjoy it.

As for Bamberg, it sounds like you know where to go. Two days is more than enough time to see all the sights and not nearly enough time to drink all the beers. One of the best beers I've ever had is Klosterbräu's Maibock, although my guess is that it will be too early in the year for that. No harm in asking I guess, all they can do is laugh at you and say with no small amount of snark "but it's not yet May!" like they did with me. Nevermind that two years prior I had purchased some of this blessed drink on a March the 31st. And nevermind that their website said it was available as of April 1, which, at the time, it was. Not that I'm bitter. In any event, if you get a Schwarzbier out of it, it's still a win.

One "itinerary" that I did that I can recommend is I started out at Schlenkerla and had a Fastenbier, which was so good I decided to stay for lunch so that I could have another Fastenbier. Then I walked over to Klosterbräu so that the waitress could laugh at me whilst I drank my Braunbier in abject humiliation over the April Maibock faux pas. (NB: still the best service in all of Bamberg?). Getting lost on the way is part of the fun. As for a Klosterbräu recommendation - although the Braunbier is good, the black beer is better. The Maibock is a different level altogether but let's not get me started on that again. Anyway, from Klosterbräu I headed up to the Spezial Keller with it's fantastic brew and fantastic view of the city below. That was enough for me for one day. I'll edit back and post a link to my original write-up HERE. Day two could be spent on the other side of town I suppose, doing a Keesman/Mahr's double. I've been to Mahr's, never to Keesman. My guess is you won't be disappointed in either.

Non-bier, there's not much to see, which is a positive IMHO, the less to distract you from the real business at hand. The cathedral is nice, there is a rose garden nearby that has a nice view. I don't know if the Green Market will be up and running this time of year, but either way you'll probably walk through it on your way from Spezial and Fässla to Schlenkerla. I'm pretty sure the Bier Museum at St. Michael's church is also closed during the winter.

Outside of the city, one of my big regrets is not having gone to Buttenheim during my time there. Always wanted to, never had the time. I think I would have enjoyed visits to the (other) Löwenbräu and St. Georgenbräu breweries.

 

Thanks alot brothers...my starkbier thread had two responses...
We will also be at Augustiner, have tickets for the Lagerkeller on the 10th, Löwenbräu on the 12th. We will try to get into Nockherberg Friday night - I've been told the line starts around 3. Looking for XXtor biers...
Salvator - Paulaner-Brauerei
▪ Trimphator – Löwenbräu / Spaten-Brauerei, Munich
▪ Maximator – Augustiner-Brauerei, Munich
▪ Unimator – Unionsbräu Haidhausen, Munich
▪ Delicator – Hofbräuhaus, Munich
▪ Aviator – Airbräu, Munich Airport
▪ Multiplikator – Edelweißbrauerei, Odelzhausen
▪ Spekulator – Weissbräu Jodlbauer, Rotthalmünster
▪ Kulminator – EKU Actienbrauerei, Kulmbach
▪ Bambergator – Brauerei Fäßla, Bamberg
▪ Celebrator – Franz Inselkammer, Aying
▪ Rhönator – Rother-Bräu, Rothenberg ob der Tauber
▪ Suffikator – Bürgerbräu Röhm &Söhne, Bad Reichenhall
▪ Speziator – Brauerei S. Riegele
▪ Rariator – Münzbräu, Günzurg
▪ Honorator – Ingobräu, Ingolstadt
▪ Bavariator – Mülerbräu, Pfaffenhofen
Lifted from: http://www.destination-munich.com/munich-strong-beer-festival.html

We are also planning side trips - Bamberg Wed, Andesch on Thursday.
For Bamberg my first stop is Schlenkerla for Fastenbier & lunch. I didn't spend enough time at Mahr's last time. As mentioned above, the view at Spezial Keller is one of the best but they open later in the day. I walked the hill twice but it was worth it.
If your in Munich on Sunday morning, be at Weisses but be early. Freising isn't that far away from the airport to hit Weihenstephan, which is a first class, destination type place.
Trip reports with my oversize pix to follow. Prost!

 

Then you have been looking at the city through the bottom of a beerglass only

 

I'm just back from Munich, unfortunately I was about 3 days too early for Starkbierzeit but still managed to track down some of the good stuff!

Aviator at Airbräu



Aventinus at Weisses Bräuhaus



Triumphator at Löwenbräukeller



Animator at Altes Hackerhaus



Flew home from Stuttgart but found Salvator vom fass at Paulaner am Alten Postplatz




Not been to Nockherberg at this time of year but would love to go!

Zum wohl!

 

Definitely get the Weisse Bock at Mahrs, one of my favourite beer drinking memories!

 

Killer, man! I traveled to Munich for Frühlingsfest some time back and was fortunate to sample some Starkbier on the opposite side of the Zeit.

Wholeheartedly agree -- Bamberg is a beautiful, old-European city that's just fun to explore.