It's time to start making your plans to be in Köln (Cologne) on May 25 & 26, 2013 for the Festival of Beer Culture. This is the fourth iteration of this event, which has been a trailblazer in Germany for craft beer. Below is the German version, with my translation just under each sentence. The real interesting part is the line up this year: De Molen, a small craft brewer which makes some great beers fro Holland, Fritz Ale, a German guy named Frizt who homebrewed and has now gone pro, and a few interesting breweries from Scotland, Belgium and Switzerland. I'll be there and hope others will, too. Braustelle/Bürgerzentrum Ehrenfeld 4. Festival der Bierkulturen 2013 Klassische und innovative Bierspezialitäten auch jenseits von Reinheitsgebot und Kölschkonvention(Classic and innovative beer specialties beyond the RHG and Kölsch conventions.)Sa. 25.5. 14-22 , So. 26.5. 12-18 (Saturday, May 26, 2 - 10 pm. Sunday, May 26, 12 - 6 pm.)Liebe Bierfreunde, (Dear beer friends,) Vielfältigkeit statt Eintönigkeit steht auch beim 4. Festival der Bierkulturen im Vordergrund. (Variety instead of monotony in the foreground of the 4th Festival.)Etwa 15 kleine und unabhängige Hausbrauereien kredenzen ihre eingenwilligen, mitunter auch mutigen Bierspezialitäten, die man in Supermärkten oder im herkömmlichen Getränkehandel meist vergeblich sucht. (About 15 small and independent House-breweries serve their maverick, occasional and brave beer specialties that you search for in vain in supermarkets and drink-markets.) Die Auswahl ist groß: würzige Kräuterbiere, säuerliche Lambik- und Geuzevariationen, vollmundige Starkbiere, stark gehopfte India Pale Ale und weitere Bierkreationen versprechen ganz neue und besondere Geschmackserlebnisse. (The range of choice is large: spicy herbal beers, sour lambiks and Geuze variations, robust Starkbiere, strongly hopped IPA and other beer creations that promise an fully new and special taste experience.) Dass Bierbrauen nicht nur was für Profis ist, zeigt die Vereinigung der Haus- und Hobbybrauer mit ihrer beliebten Live-Brauvorführung. (That beer brewing is not only for pros is demonstrated by the Club of Home and Hobbybrewers in their live brewing demo.) Die teilnehmenden Brauereien: (The participating breweries - Alzeyer Volkerbräu aus Alzey - Black Isle Brewery aus Munlochy, Schottland (Scotland) - Brasserie Trois Dames aus Sainte Croix, Schweiz (Switzerland) - Braustelle / Freigeist Bierkultur aus Köln - Bayerischer Bahnhof aus Leipzig - De Molen aus Bodegraven, Holland - Fritz Ale aus Bonn - Hofbrouwerijke aus Beerzel, Belgien - Lahnsteiner Brauerei aus Lahnstein - Mc Müllers aus Linnich-Kofferen - Nomad aus Tschechien (Czech Rep.) - Oud Beersel aus Belgien Die Bierhändler Bierkompass und Bierzwerg stellen weitere Brauereien vor. (The beer dealers Bierkompass und Bierzwerg present further beers.) Eintritt: 5,00 € inklusive Festivalglas(Entrance fee: 5,00 €, which includes a Festival [commemorative] glass.)Hope to see y'all there. It's quite easy to get there taking the subway or S-bahn from Köln Hauptbahnhof, afterwhich it's a 4 minute walk to the community center. There'll be NO Kölsch beer here, so if you're looking for that, you can find it in downtown Köln in the Kölsch bars. Anyone else planning on coming?
So, no one wants to join me in Köln in the end of end of May? Or is it too soon to make plans? Or is it too far? Ok, there's another beer festival, this time in München on March 8 - 10. And there are a lot of brewers attending, mostly German but also from other Euro countries. It's the Braukunst Live 2013. It's fun to read what they have on their English page describing the reason for the festival: German beers are famous throughout the world. The number of local breweries is unique, the quality and variety of speciality beers in this country is unmatched.On the other side: While other countries since decades (!) enjoy prospering beer specialty markets, a lively public exchange and spectacular national festivals like Stockholm, Copenhagen and Denver, there simply used to be no equivalent to all this in Germany.As a result, German beers and brewers are celebrated like rockstars elsewhere – but hardly known to a broader public in their own country.This is not only a funny anachronism: this is totally unacceptable. Our mission is to contribute to a substantial change!We proved once that we can lead a festival to the very top: by making the FINEST SPIRITS Festival become a cult event, the biggest consumer festival for premium spirits in GER / AUT / SUI and, thus, one of the big shows of this kind in the world.Based on a broad experience, a proven track record and supported by important breweries and beer associations, we staged the premiere of “Braukunst Live! Festival” in Munich in April 2012. The list of participants: MÜNCHEN: Staatl. Hofbräuhaus München (PREMIUM PARTNER) CREW AleWerkstatt (Fraunhoferstr.) Forschungsbrauerei (Perlach) Richelbräu (Neuhausen) BAYERN: Auerbräu (Rosenheim) Ayinger Bürgerbräu Reichenhall (u.a. mit Alpenstoff) Camba Bavaria (PREMIUM PARTNER) Gutmann (Titting) Jacob (Bodenwöhr) Klosterbrauerei Baumburg (Altenmakrt) König von Flandern (Augsburg) Lammsbräu (Neumarkt/Oberpfalz) Georg Lechner (Biermuseum + Autor “Lechner’s Liste”) Maxbrauerei (Altenstadt) Neuschwansteiner Castle Cru Riegele (Augsburg) Rittmayer (Hallerndorf) Schimpfle / Löschzwerge (Augsburg) Schneider Weisse (PREMIUM PARTNER) Schönramer (Petting) Sitter Bräu, 1. Bier- und Wohlfühlhotel (Bayerischer Wald) Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan DEUTSCHLAND: Bayerischer Bahnhof (Leipzig) Braufactum (Frankfurt) Braustelle Köln / Freigeist Bierkultur Fritz Ale (NRW) Hachenburger Selection (Rheinland-Pfalz) Hochdorfer Meistersud (Baden-Württemberg) Propeller (NRW) INTERNATIONAL: Braucommune in Freistadt Brewfist – Italien de Molen – Holland Fuller’s – London Hofstetten – Österreich (Austria) Huisstekerij H.ertie – Belgien (+ NRW, Deutschland) Robinsons – UK Samuel Smith’s – UK St. Austell – UK Stift Schlägl – Österreich (Austria) Stiegl – Österreich (Austria) Trumer Privatbrauerei – Österreich (Austria) I haven't decided whether I'll be able to make it, but I'm going to do my best to find a way there. Hope some of you can make it here or to Köln.
I just bought train tickets to go to München for the Braukunst Live 2013. LungeRehm and I (plus another friend of his) will being hitting the place March 9, so hopefully we'll be able to see you there. I assume I'll be in Köln for the Festival der Bierkulturen on the Saturday, too. For those who're in Germany, this is well worth visiting. It's not a dopey Bierzelt (beer tent) with drunk idiots (á la Oktoberfest), it's for folks who are really into beer.
I said all that above with you in mind. But, you've got to admit the BrauKunst Live Bierfest is cool, eh? Too bad none from R-burg are participating. I'm most interested in drinking the "International" selection, for those are harder to come by here in D-land.
From a Bavarian point of view going to Cologne would be going international. It's in the same range as if US brewers would go to a festival on Cuba.
LOL! You are turning into a regular comedian. Maybe you could be the first German standup comedian!?! Prost!
I guess I should have specified - the Köln fest was the one I was thinking of. I visited Köln about 2 years ago and it would be nice to go back again for a brief visit. Perhaps I could move on from there.... If I decide to come I'll let you know
One more reminder: Braukunst Live! is next weekend. Anyone going? Would love to meet up on Saturday. Also, Paxbräu said they'll be there too. Only time for you to be able to try his Doppelbock Hell Fosenöchter. He's already sold out the 1,000 liters that was brewed for February. Others I'm looking forward to is Maisel and Friends, and Fritz Ale. Here's the full list as of today. MÜNCHEN Brauerei im Eiswerk CREW AleWerkstatt (Fraunhoferstr.) Forschungsbrauerei (Perlach) Staatl. Hofbräuhaus München (PREMIUM PARTNER) BAYERN 1. Dampfbierbrauerei Zwiesel Ale Project (Erding) Auerbräu (Rosenheim) Ayinger Bürgerbräu Reichenhall (u.a. mit Alpenstoff) Camba Bavaria (PREMIUM PARTNER) Drei Kronen (Scheßlitz, Franken) Göller (Zeil am Main) Gutmann (Titting) Eder & Heyland’s / Schlappeseppel Hinterhofbräu Aichach Hofmark Hofmann (Pahres, Franken) Hösl (Mitterteich) Jacob (Bodenwöhr) Klosterbrauerei Andechs Klosterbrauerei Baumburg (Altenmakrt) Klosterbrauerei Weißenohe König Ludwig Schloßbrauerei Kaltenberg Lammsbräu (Neumarkt/Oberpfalz) Maisel & Friends Mittenwalder Privatbrauerei Lang Bräu (Franken) Georg Lechner (Biermuseum + Autor “Lechner’s Liste”) Maxbrauerei (Altenstadt) PAX Bräu (Oberelsbach) Pyraser Landbrauerei (Thalmässing) Rhaner (Schönthal-Rhan) Riedenburger Brauhaus Riegele (Augsburg) Ritter (Nennslingen, Franken) Schäffler (Missen) Schimpfle / Löschzwerg (Gessertshausen) Schloßbrauerei Maxlrain Schneider Weisse (PREMIUM PARTNER) Schönramer (Petting) Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan Schweiger (Markt Schwaben) Schwendl (Tacherting) Unertl (Weißbräu, Mühldorf) DEUTSCHLAND Braufactum (Frankfurt) BrauKunstKeller (Michlstadt) Freigeist Bierkultur, The Monarchy Fritz Ale (NRW) Hachenburger Selection (Rheinland-Pfalz) Hopfenstopfer / Häffner Bräu (Baden-Württemberg)) Propeller (NRW) Ratsherrn (HH) Schoppe Bräu (Berlin) TABAK / ZIGARRE Die Dallmayr Tabacladen Cigar Lounge präsentiert (unterstützt von 5th Avenue Products Trading GmbH, dem offiziellen Alleinimporteur von Habanos Cigarren), feinste kubanische sowie die hauseigenen Dallmayr-Zigarren. Botschafterstände FINEST SPIRITS Festival The Duke – Munich Dry Gin Mike’s Whiskeyhandel / American Whiskey Academy Slow Drink / Munich Spirits INTERNATIONAL Belhaven – Schottland Bierregion Innviertel – Österreich Bierzauberei – Österreich Brauhaus Gusswerk – Österreich Brewdog – Schottland Brewfist – Italien Brygvaerket – Dänemark de Molen – Niederlande Die Weisse – Österreich Fano Bryghus – Dänemark Fuller’s – London Gratzer – Österreich Hofstetten – Österreich Jopenkerk – Niederlande Kelburn – Schottland Loncium – Österreich Midtfyns Bryghus – Dänemark Orkney – Schottland Pilsner Urquell (PREMIUM PARTNER) Pivovar Nomád – Tschechien Robinsons Unicorn – UK Rogue Ales – Oregon/USA Samuel Smith’s – UK Sierra Nevada – Kalifornien/USA St. Austell – UK Stiegl – Österreich Strathaven – Schottland
Part I: Prelude to BKL Sorry for the delay in writing this up. I thought this would be the best thread for a report on BrauKunst Live! (BKL) since this is where I introduced it. The trip to München (MH) was an adventure in itself. I was talked into talking the night train from Frankfurt (FfM) to MH, which I'll never do again. The train was supposed to leave the Frankfurt airport at 1:50 am, but was 50 minutes late (They said it was due to someone testing the emergency brakes on the German/Holland border.), so we didn't get on the train until about 3 am. The seats are old (wagons were from the 70s or 80s), stiff and uncomfortable, though they were meant to be "sleeper seats," I got maybe only 2 or 3 hours sleep, then we got into MH around 8 am. Our friend who lives in MH met us at his subway stop, we had breakfast at his apt, then slept till 1 pm. BKL didn't open till 2 pm, and we arrived there at 2:30 pm. They were crowded already when we got there. Here's a few pics. First the ticket, next some of the people I took pics of. and the more tradional beer folks: Here are the 3 Musketeers (us with d'Ardagnan as the photographer) at the entrance: The venue was the MVG Museum, the museum of trams in MH. Nice, open hall, airy full of antique trams.
Part II: the Beers not drunk. No way this is going to be chronological. I took some notes, but it was hard, really hard to write, hold the beer glass and stay standing upright. I had a pen and yellow highlighter with me and highlighted every beer we tried. There were dozens, no hundreds, of beers I wish I had tried but I didn't have the time, the energy (back, feet, brain hurt) or sobriety to try them all. Here's one's I wish I got gotten around to: Birrifico Italiano, Boon's Oude-Geuze, Hinterhofbräu's "Jailhouse City Rogg ale, Hopfenstopfer/Häffner Bräu's Citra Ale & Jahrgangsbier 2012 (lager), Schoppe Bräu's Mandarina IPA, Roggen Roll PA, Klosterbrauerei Weißenohe's Virtac Bior (middle age's herbal beer) and their normal German beers, Crew Ale's IPA and "Surprise Brew," TUM Weihenstefan Studentbier's BanX-Black Nude (Experimental Ale), Jopenkerk Bierbrouwerij's (from Holland) Joppen Hoppenbier and Jopen Koyt (Gruitbeer 1407), Mashing Pumpkins, Spanish Inquisition (Coffee/pepper stout) Maxbrauerei's Hopfenschweinerei (Kellerbier) Pivovar Nomad's "Gentelman" ale Ritter's Ritter 1645 (Märzen) Friegeist's Pink Gose, Wilde Wutz (Sour ale) The Monarchy's Grätzer, Grodziskie, Son of a Batch Apple Wood, & Son of a Batch Hickory Wood Schneider Weisse's Tap X Stift Englelszell's (from Austria) Gregorious (Trippel) & Benno (Dubbel) Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg (Austria)'s Männerschokolade (Choco stout) tons of stuff from Scotland, Bürgerbrau Bad Reichenhall's Bayerische Hoppfenvariation Polar (Export with hops) Loncium's (Austria) Austrian Amber Ale Brauerei Hofstetten's Honigbock and Champoin Bitter (Imperial Pilsner) Trappistienbrauerei Engelszell (Austria) Gergorius ( Trappistenbier) Weissbrau Schwendl's Schalchner 5-Korn (top-fermented with wheat, barley, dinkel, rye and oats) & Schalchner Weisser Bock (with choco and intensive fruit notes) Rogue Ale's entire lineup Brauhaus Riegele's Dubbel Eiche (Ripened in oak barrels) Damn... those sound delicious just writing them up; wish I'd had them.
Of those, the ones I would have most liked to try, in no particular order, would be the Weihenstephan, the Gregorius, the Tap X which sounds delicious to me, and the Pink Gose from Freigeist. But, yeah, killer line-up.
Part III: Beers Drunk First, forgive me for not taking better notes. I tried juggling a pen, the list of beers, a yellow highlighter to mark the beers I'd had, the glass of beer itself and sometimes 2 glasses. All that while just trying to remain upright and standing. Schneider Weisse's Tap 5 was very good. As part of the entrance ticket, it was a freebie, so I couldn't turn it down. It was my first Schneider's in quite some time, so I was looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint. It was hoppy, somewhat lemony, only hints of bubblegum, overall very balanced and slightly bitter at the end. Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München's Eiskalt gehopfter HALLODRI. It says it is a 6% Festbier, very nice with melon and lemon flavors, almost pure Simcoe, but not too much malt. Very good but I'd hoped for something to go with the hops. This was also free as part of the entrance tickets. Freigeist's Peated Porter was also very interesting. It was full on peaty/malty all over the tongue, not smoked malt, though. I liked it, but maybe only as something to mix it up once in a while, but my friends hated it. It had a thick, silky feel and went down well. Ratsherren's Iggy Hop was another fun beer. A weizen at 5.6% with Simcoe. Yes, Simcoe-lemony and a little weizen, but it was too dry for me. I enjoyed more talking to a guy from this brewpub in Hamburg, who invited me to stay in the pension above the pub for free when I visit, but I think he was pulling my leg and didn't get his business card. Fanø Bryghus from Denmark was hit and miss. Their Fanø Havgus was a 2.7% Session IPA but so bitter as to be nearly undrinkable. There weren't many beers I wanted to water the plants with this day, but this was one. Their Oyster Stout also disappointed as it was too thin. However, their Pikkulintu IPA was maybe one of the best of the day. You could taste the Citra and Simcoe hops clear as a bell, and at 11%, the alcohol was really well hidden. A WOW beer. Gerbrüder Maisel & Friends has 3 I wanted to try, but I only got around to the Mar's Chocolate Stout. Another WOW beer, tasting like dark bitter chocolate melting all over freshly cracked barley, with hints of blackberries. Maybe the best Chocolate Stout in a long long time. Pivovar Nomad came from the Czech Rep. and I'm glad he did. I wish I could've tried all 5 on offer, but only got the Karel, a “Czech IPA,” which was a 7.6% citrusy wonder, dry hopped with Czech hops, Smaragd I bet. Another WOW. Pax Bräu was also there I had only 2 of the beers. At first I tried the Salix Ale, the oly one not on the beer calender. It says it was lautered over a wicker basket but I didn't taste anything like that. It was a slightly sour, very well rounded ale, though. The best part was getting to talk to Andreas Seufert. I told him how I had ordered the monthly Abo how much I loved the beer and he said, “You're Tony” and also said my last name. I asked how he knew it. He said he looks at everyone's Facebook who likes Pax, and I was coincidentally wearing the same t-shirt this day that I'm wearing on my FB profile. That's getting to know every customer, eh. I really wanted to try the Imperial Peppermint Stout from Pax, but he told me we couldn't drink it until 6 pm because he needed to finish up the keg of another beer first. I cajoled him without success, but at 6 pm I wasn't disappointed. It really tasted like an After Eight chocolate, only better because of the beer/malt flavors added in. WOW WOW. I asked how he added the mints, either as dry hop or extract. He said he just dumped in “eine Menge Blätter,” or “bunch of leaves” in the boil. This was my favorite beer of the day, really. It was thick, silky, smoth, and hid the 6.8% really well. I bought a Pax Bräu t-shirt, too. -----> Will continue later -------->
For more pics, or at least professional pics, go here to BrauKunst Live! page. Or at neubierig.de. & here.
If I was still living in Germany I would be there I went to the first two, Sebastian is doing some great things!
Part III: Beers Drunk, con't. Privatbrauerei Camba Bavaria was another one to give a free beer along with the entrance ticket, so of course, we drank 'em. I'd never had any of their selection, so I was looking forward to it. Their one of the older and bigger boys in the Neue Deutsche Welle from Craft Beers. However, I was wary of them because I'd heard a rumor that they sucked. I found that rumor was completely off base. The first was their Camba Dettl Fire Beer. At 8% I was expecting a good beer, but I found it WAY too sweet and basically a Malzbier, too much maltiness and not balanced with hops or other flavors. Unfortunately, I had to pay for that one; the free tickets were only valid with the lower alcohol beers. Next up was a free one, their Pale Ale. I didn't write anything about it... so it musn't have been great or terrible, right? However, the next 2 we tried we WOW beers. Their Nelson Weiße was a mini-wow and a 1/2, coming in full citrusy but smelling like grass, not horse blanket, but fresh mown grass. Very refreshing. Their blurb stated "fruity with a strong taste of bananas and Mangos," none of which I got a hint of, still yum. Finally, The real WOW WOW was their Doppelbock. It was super süffig (drinkable)! Silky chocolate mixed with vanilla, with some pear or another fruit we couldn't place. At 8.5% if felt strong in flavor but hid the alcohol bite well, a sign of a master brewer at work, IMO. I can see why this beer won the European Gold Star. On their site they call it the "Mastrobator", which is funny because most German don't know the English word masturbation (Selbstbefriedigung). Their stand was a madhouse, lines 20 people deep for hours; I would say the most popular stand there. Well, that's due to the free tkts, right? Not really, for Schneider Weisse, Pilsner Urquell and Hofbräuhaus also had free tkts but they never had a line. Rather, they offered quality beers, often very unique takes on German styles and also non-German styles. I'm sold, and especially looking at their website, seeing all their offerings, I will be ordering from them in the future. [Also note their selection of foreign beers, too.] Near the end I focused on a large stand of beers from a wide range of Österreich (Austrian) brewe. First was Kiesbye's BIERkulturHAUS' (from Salzburg) one offering: handgepumptes (hand pumped: read cask) REAL ALE. It was dry, very very Simcoe-y but lacking much else. It seemed like this was one of the ABI (Another Bloody IPA) that Andreas Seufert of Pax Bräu was talking about. Then 2 from Handbrauerei Forstner, from Steiermark, Österreich. Website here. First was the Slow 2 Roggen Ale, a 6.8%. As you can see below (Flaschengärung), it's bottle conditioned. Very tasty... thick, a fruity aroma, some bitterness from the rye and hops, too. Not as good as the Hop Rod Dry Rye Stout I had made a year ago, but still, it wasn't a stout, it was more a pale ale. Then I tried their Brew Secco, and 8.5% Starkbier that they say was modeled after a Belguim style and fermented with Champagne yeast (Proseco is a popular, cheap northern Italian Champagne.) I loved it. Boy did it ever have foam! After they poured the glass, I waited 3 or 4 minutes while talking to the staff in the stand and a man came up and said, "You got the Brew Secco, only chapagne yeast make foam that strong." Here's a pic 3 minutes after it was poured into the glass! I finally had to slurp through the foam to get to the beer, tickling my nose in the process. The taste was dry, champagne-like brut, but beery too, for it was thick and malty to match a really lemony flavor. A WOW beer. A German brewer from München was Brauerei im Eiswerk, from which I really wanted to try another beer with a new German hop, Mandarina, so even though I wanted to try their Joseph's Spezial, a Braunbier, which they said was smokey beer, and their Bourbon Bock, I went with the Wiezenbock Mandarin. Again, WOW. It had a süffig, round mouthfeel, really balanced malts and oranges that mixed well. Thankfully no bubblegum or banana here. What turned out to be our last 2 beers of the night here were 2 from the Orkney Islands in Scotland from Sinclair. I think it was because my taste buds had had an overload of Simcoe and Citra already and needed some comfort beer, we went for 2 dark beers. First was the Dark Island Reserve, a "Dark Ale." Man, vanilla, chocolate with the aroma of a whiskey barrel,... mmm lovely. Finally, I drank the most satisfying beer of the day, a 4% Dragonhead, which despite it's low alcohol, packed a smokey, rich, thick feel all around my tongue. At this point, it was around 7:30 pm, which meant we had spent 5 hours drinking and thinking beers. All of us agreed, our heads hurt from the crowd noise and we were tipsy, and more importantly, we couldn't drink another beer packed with an explosion of taste. Literally, our taste buds were worn out and we needed something to eat and blander to drink, so we left. What happened after we left is funny and I think y'all will enjoy it, but I have to save it for part IV.
Awesome report. Have you had Duvel recently? How does the Brew Secco compare? It sounds like that's what they were possibly going for. If you go to the Köln event, be sure to try the Tap X and the Gregorius. I want to hear about those!
I will need to remember this thread for the next time I go to Munich. Eiswerk's Joseph Spezial sounds terrific, and I'd like to check out some Camba Bavaria stuff, too.
I'll be there, well planning on going to it anyway it's just a short hop on the bahn up from Munich and how can I say no to good beer! I noticed that you didn't list Brew Fist's beers, maybe they're still coming in your lineup. For me those were my favorite beers at the event, the 2 Late IPA was delicious! As was everything else that Pietro brews!! It's just too bad that he won't be up in Cologne. I've got to check with my homebrew club, but I think a few of us will make the trip up to Cologne in May.. perhaps we'll see you there.
I had Duvel about 6 months ago, fresh from a friend who was in Belguim, and it is NOTHING like the Brew Secco. Duvel is nuttier, almost a hazelnut flavor, I'd say, and not close in flavor. The Brew Secco was fizzy like a Champagne but had the body of a beer. Loved it. If you looked at the list above from Köln, neither Schneider Weisse nor Gergorius will there. How did you come up with those brews? Though I'm sure they taste good, the selection in Köln will be much less than in MH.
Is that that new Austrian Trappist place ? It's just beyond Passau, behind the border. An easy day trip from here. I've been meaning to check it out but the wife isn't interested and I don't feel like going alone...
Part IV: The Aftermath. Sorry it's taken almost a month to get around to finishing the review of BKL 2013. I even thought of NOT posting it, but the more I thought of this, the more I thought y'all might want to read it. Ok... around 7 pm we were (at least, I was) somewhat tipsy and our taste buds were hammered. By that, I mean the extreme tastes of the IPAs and Stouts and whatnot had basically put our taste buds into sensory overload, and we couldn't stand much more flavor. We all had tongue fatigue (don't laugh too hard, it's really how it felt!) and needed something blander, milder, something to sooth our tired tongues. Our host, the one who lived in München and whose apartment we were crashing in, suggested that since it was Starkbierzeit, we hit downtown München and go there and get something hardy to eat and drink. First, we went to an Irish pub, which was packed to the gills, for some fish and chips, but all we did was hit the restroom and go back out. Luckily, our guide led us directly to Augustiner am Dom, where we plopped down and What'sApped each other the pics we'd taken all day. Here's what it looked like: The 2 glasses of dark liquid were Starkbier and the glass on the left was Pils, I think. And now, just the beer the Starkbier: The food was great, as you can see here: This is basically Frickadellen or some other meat concoction that was delicious, and Kartoffelsalad. Though the food was great, the beer was disappointing. The Starkbier was very malty but the alcohol was very very present. At between 7% to 8%, the alcohol was hot, a burning sensation that tells me it might do well to lager the beer a few weeks more before serving it. If I drink a Doppelbock or whatever, I find the burning sensation of alcohol very disruptive to enjoying the beer. I had beer just as strong earlier in the day, stronger even, and to me as a homebrewer, hot beer is sign of lesser brewing skill or simply impatience in not letting the stuff mature enough. Anyway, I could only drink one glass of Starkbier and didn't really enjoy it. I was very disappointed, for I'd read so much about the stuff on BA. I really wouldn't ever order this beer again; that's how much I disliked drinking it. After this, we head out to another bar our guide directs us to. The place is called Substanz, and it served Tegernsee, of which I drank the Helles & Dunkeles. I was too tired mentally and physically to review this beer or even remember much more than I really felt at that moment it hit the spot perfectly. They were somewhat blander than what we'd had during our time at BKL, good but no flavor bombs, just simple and tasty beers. It was like eating a bowlful of Japanese rice after having a wasabi attack. After a long day and evening of palate-demanding beers, it was nice to drink a more boring, humble beer. Granted, we didn't go all Fernsehbier and go whole-hog boring beer, but this was quality blandness, ( ) like a nightcap to ease us back into normal beer reality again. Here's the only photographic evidence of that part of the trip: I think I had 2 glasses of 1/2 L beer and called it a night drink-wise. The following day, I couldn't even imagine drinking another beer, not because the of effects of the alcohol we'd consumed, but it was more of a hangover of the palate, a hangover of too much taste that lingered into the next day. We took the ICE train back north and couldn't even drink a beer in the train's bistro car, where I had to hang out due to a lack of reserved seat and an extremely full train. I stuck with coffee all day and didn't/couldn't drink another beer for at least 3 days thereafter. To end, here's some pics of folks riding the subway in Lederhosen and Dirndls: The 2 two guys in Lederhosen were hilarious, but not because they were trying to be funny. They asked us if we knew how to get to the Münchener Hauptbahnhof ! I took a pic of them, and they complained, saying "you can't take our picture, we're law students." We laughed at these idiots for every hour of the next 2 days. Probably future CSU politicians.
