Hi guys, I have some friends who live in Ingelheim and they are going to be coming out to South Africa in September. They offered to bring me some local beer, but I have no idea what the best local brews in the region are, so I am not sure what to ask for. Any suggestions? Cheers
Sorry for asking the obvious question, but have you asked your friend yet? I've never been there, though it looks like it's across the Rhein river from Rüdesheim. This area is called the Rheingau and is famous for it's sweetish wines, so if you like that stuff (I don't), ask him to bring you a bottle of whatever he likes most. (That way, if you don't like it, at least he'll drink it up.) Nonetheless, there is a Brauhaus in Ingelheim, as a mini-Google-search found out, but it seems they have just the normal, boring variety of Helles, Dunkeles, and Wiessbier. I'm sure any "local" brew he brings you will be more interesting than any national, conglomerate beer, but I hope he's the expert in that area.
I will agree that that is wine country, and a beer wasteland in Germany. No breweries of any note in that part of Germany. The wines have become more dry in the last decade, and are some of our favorites, as those can have a mineraly finish that our German friends call "flinty". The ones from the Mosel, not so much.
The only place I know and like from around there (though it's 100+ km away) is Bellheimer bier. Just a nice, floral, but also bready/malty pils. If you can get it ultra fresh it is very tasty indeed.
He is actually more a friend of my parents and when he contacted them offered to bring us each something from the region. My mom told him that I was into beer and would like that and he mentioned to her that there is a great beer from the town but is usually only on tap. Of course my mom cannot remember anything about it! I do know he is really into wine, so that seems to fit with the region! Since I also enjoy wine, I might ask for a good bottle instead of the beer!
You might find some Rothaus, which is highly recommended. Bellheim was always seemed marginal to me like anything from Mannheim. Another faint possibility from the general area is Schmucker, which I always enjoyed.
Hell, anything he brings should be great, after all, to carry glass and liquids in a suitcase adds A LOT to the total weight. I once paid a 50€ heavy baggage surcharge for having 8+ bottles. I figured the postage of that would've been less, but not that much less, and by hand delivering them, made up for it by knowing they arrived intact and fresh.
Bellheimer is not available in Ingelheim, the beers from the Brauhaus Ingelheim are only available at the Braushaus for take away in large and heavy 1l-bottles. A Getränkemarkt (bottle-shop) I can recommend in Ingelheim is Getränkeland Ziegler, Nahering 6, 55218 Ingelheim am Rhein They normally have a good selection, but you should tell your friend to check the Best-before date to ensure that you'll get really fresh beer!! As far as I can remember, they had some beers from f.ex. Martinsbräu (Marktheidenfeld) which you normally don't find in this area. But their large selection changes regularly (And I was there a year ago). So if you like to get some beer, the best is telling them which style you like. This might be the easiest thing
