Trip's Beer Trips

Discussion in 'Germany' started by PapaGoose03, Mar 18, 2025.

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  1. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I was looking around at the festival that I attended yesterday, and was surprised that most beers I saw were 0.5 liter, and it was a mixture of holding styles with that size. However, I saw one guy hold a Maßkrug the way I did it in my picture, and he held it long enough to crush the last third of the beer in his mug. But he was a BIG boy and had big hands and the strength to 'handle' it.

    I presume that you're advocating the style where four fingers go thru the handle loop and around the glass? I saw a lot of that with the option for the thumb to finish encircling the mug, or to put the thumb on the glass area above the handle loop and to drink from the lip more to the front of the mug rather than the side. I agree that 'wristng' it like I was doing takes a special strength.
     
  2. SLeffler27

    SLeffler27 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,906) Feb 24, 2008 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Ha!
    I read “Kellers” which is an altogether different kind of autocorrect. Maybe sometimes two wrongs are the same as three lefts.
     
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  3. SLeffler27

    SLeffler27 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,906) Feb 24, 2008 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    This is awesome! I had no idea.
     
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  4. Bavarican

    Bavarican Pooh-Bah (1,815) Apr 27, 2025 Germany
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    There is another I will show you but that is a special skill, but never use two hands.
     
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  5. WhatANicePub

    WhatANicePub Zealot (712) Jul 1, 2009 Scotland

    Why not?
     
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  6. Bavarican

    Bavarican Pooh-Bah (1,815) Apr 27, 2025 Germany
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    It is not customary to drink a Maß beer using two hands in Bavaria. The proper way to hold a Maß, a one-liter glass mug, is to place your hand through the handle and rest your thumb on the top for stability, as the mug weighs approximately 2.3 kg (5.1 pounds) when full. This method helps maintain balance and control, especially important when the mug is heavy and being used for cheersing. While it is acceptable to hold the glass with one hand during drinking, using two hands is not the traditional practice and is considered less appropriate in the context of Bavarian beer culture.

    Just the rules, not really sure why. Like when you are almost finished with your beer and your new one comes and you pour the leftovers in your new glass. They really hate that. Or reheating spinach they dont like that either. Not really sure why any of these are a big deal but they are.

    Welcome to Bavaria
     
    #106 Bavarican, Sep 16, 2025
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2025
  7. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Tuesday -
    After overnighting in Erlangen our bus got us to our hotel in Bamberg where we dropped off our luggage. Then on to Mahr's Brau for lunch and a beer. I had the Pils and my wife had the 'U' bier. The U was too mild for my liking, and the Pils was balanced a bit too far to the hops side but without it being a hoppy beer. Lunch was very good - I had the schnitzel and fries and my wife had a salad.

    Then we walked across the street to Keesman and had a bier in the biergarten. I had the Herren Pils, and my wife had the Keesman Lager (amber). I liked this pils so much better because the unique flavor of the pilsner malt was very noticeable.

    A tour of Weyermann Malting was the next event. I've done this tour before, so I only looked forward to the tasting afterward. A pils and a festbier were what we chose. Both were good but unexciting.

    We returned to the hotel to check-in, freshen up, etc. and that was followed by a brief walk to Schlenkerla for dinner. The place was jammed but our group had reserved a private room with one large table where we could actually talk with one another.

    I had the Schlenkerla a' la Grodziskie, and my wife chose the Weichsel Red Lager (smoked with cherry wood). Both were excellent beers. For dinner I chose the Bamberg Onion (thanks @steveh for the recommendation) which was outstanding, and my wife had a pasta dish.

    The itinerary had us going next to Spezial Keller and then Wilde Rose Keller. It was raining/sprinkling on/off all day so Wilde Rose was closed, but the group headed for Spezial without three of us who weren't up for that uphill climb.

    Tomorrow's schedule will be a ountryside tour with stops at three breweries in nearby small towns, so that sounds like a relaxing day without so much walking.

    Mahr's Brau Pils
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  8. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Weyermann Malting
    [​IMG]

    Bamberg Onion and a Grodziskie
    [​IMG]
     
  9. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

  10. Bavarican

    Bavarican Pooh-Bah (1,815) Apr 27, 2025 Germany
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Those huge Schlenkerla onions are the best. The Oakwood beer or a good Smoked Bock are really good with them.
     
  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I have read/heard that Mahr's Brau is not the brewery it once was. Did other folks of your trip also express "meh" opinions of their beers?

    Prost!
     
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  12. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I haven't talked specific opinions, but everyone is rating beers on Untappd.
     
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  13. Bierman9

    Bierman9 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,313) Dec 20, 2001 New Hampshire
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    The Schlenkerla Bamberger Zwiebel kicks ass!!
    Prost!!
     
  14. WhatANicePub

    WhatANicePub Zealot (712) Jul 1, 2009 Scotland

    I think the fuss is specifically about a perceived decline in quality of their flagship beer U. The last time I had it, it was perfectly decent. Perhaps not God-tier as it supposedly was in the past. I also thought some of the seasonal beers were very good, and the tavern is unmissable.
     
  15. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Do you have any idea (or a guess) on why U is now 'only' a decent beer?

    It has been quite a long time since I have consumed a Mahr's U beer (I have had it in bottle, regular draft and gravity poured cask) but all of those beers were much better than "decent".

    Prost!
     
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  16. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Wednesday -
    Well, the best laid plans.... Yep, again our tour's itinerary for today ended up being changed since the original itinerary link that is in post #2 in this thread. Dont't know when these plans changed, but we did get a revised itinerary a few days ago.

    We were supposed to visit three breweries in the countryside area around Bamberg, but instead we visited two breweries that were around a 45 minute drive away, and only one of them was in the list of the three in the original plan, Brauerei Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum. The other brewery was newly listed, Brauerei Witzgall.

    Witzgall was the first place this morning, and we only had one bier in their biergarten, a Vollbier, which I think is a spin-off of the helles style. It was poured from a bottle by the bartender then brought outside. (Not available in kegs?) It was delicious. Our Untappd associates on the tour with us said the Vollbier is the highest rated in this style in Germany. (These two Untappd associates had a hand in selecting the breweries for this tour.)

    To add a filler into the itinerary until we would be expected at Grunen Baum, we did a touristy event and stopped at a place called Treetop Path. A walk into the forest on an elevated deck/walkway (150' ? up but still not higher than the trees) led to a walkway tower, a wood and steel circular structure with a path that wound around the tower's outer edge until you end up at the top and then much higher than treetop level. Well worth the walk for the view!

    The second brewery, Grunen Baum, is female owned. Our tour guide is an owner and the head brewer, and doubles as a server in the restaurant. During the tour we were able to sample the Landbier directly from the lager tank. Later we also sampled their historical beer, a Knörzla, also from the lagering tank. And these were the two beers that my wife and I chose to go with our dinner.

    The day then ended for us once we got back to the hotel. Tomorrow we move on to Nurnberg.

    Biergarten at Brauerei Witzgall:
    [​IMG]

    Vollbier bottle (forgot to take a pic of the bier)
    [​IMG]
     
  17. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

  18. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Looking down thru the tower
    [​IMG]

    Brauerei Grunen Baum
    [​IMG]
     
  19. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Brewing kettle and mash tun
    [​IMG]

    Lagering tanks
    [​IMG]
     
  20. WhatANicePub

    WhatANicePub Zealot (712) Jul 1, 2009 Scotland

    You were very lucky to get to go to Witzgall. It is one of the type of places that is slowly dying out.

    Vollbier is an obsolete tax category, but in Franconia it is not so long ago that many tiny breweries like Witzgall only brewed one beer. So just calling it Vollbier was enough.
     
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