German beer books

Ron's got it wrapped up

http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/

 

For Bamberg, take a look at http://www.bambergbeerguide.com/booklet.php

 

Hi Bill.

Two books that focus on Franconia breweries and beer gardens are:

1) Brauns Brauerei Atlas Franken by Boris Braun
2) Frankens Schönste Bierkeller und Biergärten by Markus Raupach and Bastian Böttner

I ordered the Atlas Franken online (see below) and picked up the other book at the Bamberg train station.

Both are available here:

http://www.bookdepository.com/Frank...r-und-Biergärten-Markus-Raupach/9783936897821

http://www.bookdepository.com/Brauns-Brauereiatlas-Franken-Boris-Braun/9783418001227

Free shipping to the USA. The price for the Biergärten book at the Bamberg train station was Euro 16.95 in 2010. The list price for the Atlas Franken was Euro 29.80, but I think I paid less when I ordered it online.

The books are in German, but if you know even a little German they are super handy. They list addresses, opening times, beers, etc. Heck, even if you don't know any German they will prove to be helpful in your planning. (I know hardly any German, but could still get the info I needed from them)

Both are well worth the money. Add them to your library!!!!!

Prost!

Chris von Milwaukee

 

I've a guide to the South of Germany:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/andrew-pat...l;jsessionid=381F70B307B4AD010E5D6B11C21004F2

 

I agree, Ron's guides are the best. I bought the Bavaria guide and am sure the others are equally good.

This actually is available as an app for both Android and iPhone & iPad. I bought the iPhone version for 1,79 € and it seems quite thorough, with maps, but almost no reviews, (is the book the same?) and in German only. Each brewer entry has a link to the brewer's website, so you can find it quickly when on the road. For the price, and compared to the hardcopy book's price of €27.37, a great deal if you ask me.

Never seen this one to browse through it, so Chris, can you tell us more about it?

I just saw this thanks to your link, Herr Spartan, and I bought it just now. It looks very nice. It's a PDF, 30 pages, and relatively cheap at $5. I bought it, stuck it in iBooks on my Mac, which then synced it to my iPhone - very convenient. I like the comments on each place, and they cover bars, lodging, bike rentals, even where the post office in Bamberg is, and have a calendar of yearly beer-related events, as well as the brewers and one nice map with an overview of the city and everything they listed. Plus, they promise free updates when they come out.

 

For Lower Bavaria: http://www.amazon.de/Bierführer-Niederbayern-Alle-Brauereien-Biere/dp/3931904741
For Upper Bavaria: http://www.amazon.de/Bierführer-Oberbayern-Alle-Brauereien-Biere/dp/3418001238/
For Middle-Franconia: http://www.amazon.de/Bierführer-Mittelfranken-Alle-Brauereien-Biere/dp/3418001211/
For Lower-Frankonia: http://www.amazon.de/Bierführer-Unterfranken-Alle-Brauereien-Biere/dp/3925325123/
For Swabia: http://www.amazon.de/Bierführer-Schwaben-Allgäu-Brauereien-Biere/dp/341800119X/
And for whole Franconia this one here is quite nice: http://www.amazon.de/Frankens-Brauereien-Brauereigaststätten-fränkische-Bierkultur/dp/3936897808/

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I'm slightly insulted that you would forget this one for the Oberpfalz aka Upper Palatine
http://www.amazon.de/Oberpfälzer-Bierführer-Brauereien-Ausflugs--Wandertips/dp/3931904563/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390211449&sr=1-1&keywords=bierführer oberpfalz

I have the ones for the Oberpfalz and Niederbayern at home and they are quite handy sometimes although they are both slightly outdated as both list breweries that are sadly no longer in business.

 

I'm very sorry - I have all of them in my book-shelve

You're right - Niederbayern and Oberpfalz are quite old, but all of the others are now out in a new edition

 

I keep thinking I should be doing those myself, it's my home turf after all, but I simply don't have the time for such a project... *sighs*

 

I bought this one: http://www.bambergbeerguide.com/booklet.php

It's not the greatest thing in the world, but there are some nice tips for planning your approach, who serves what, hours, maps, etc.
I printed it out and have used it on both my trips there. I'd describe it as more of a day to day trip planner rather than a serious guide.
The only real issue I had with it is that the street between Mahr's and Keesman branches off of Bleichanger. The guide never mentions that and if you don't know, you're going to miss it.

 

Re: Frankens Schönste Bierkeller und Biergärten by Markus Raupach and Bastian Böttner

Its essentially the book version of this webby: http://www.bierfranken.eu/biergaerten.php

But for some reason I still really enjoy paging through a good beer book. Like that one. Six hundred+ pages of info and pictures. Beer **** for sure.

The books don't give any reviews, so I guess its up to us to form our own opinions..... ; )

 

I'm partial to this one (as you can see, pretty well-worn!)

 

Interesting - not sure how old your book is, but now there are (only) 262 breweries in Franken. Source here.

 

My edition is from 1992. And I have to admit that while I have been aware of that new number for some time, it never fails to jar me seeing it in print. Any idea what the numbers over the past 12 months look like in terms of direction?

 

No idea, but if you click on "Ausgetrunken" you see the most recent, but in no particular order. My school friend Georg Reither (Lindenbraeu in Mittelfranken) is unfortunately on that list.

 

I have a copy of that as well... Met a German guy at Fässla back in '98... He, like me, was searching the area for good Bier.... We had a few and he left me his copy of this book.... I still refer to it now and then, though even back then he had scribbled notes in it about closings, including one that the "brewer died...closed"... :-(

Prosit!

 

I know of at least one place that closed recently: Hümmer in Breitengüßbach. Looks like they shuttered in 2011.
That's where Prost in Denver got their equipment.

 

You mean this one? That's a sad list.
On the other hand though, very informative and in some aspects also enlightening. Some of the brands are still available, but brewed elsewhere. Schlappeseppel for example, has been closed for many years now. Only after their "exitus", Eder & Heylands made it a Kultbier and it is widely available in all of the Rhein-Main-Gebiet, even average stores.