Kelheim - a Schneider Weisse experience

Wheat beer is one of the most popular styles of beer to come out of Germany and though there are several sub categories, such as Berliner Weisse and Gose, most people think of the hazy, wheat beers from Bavaria. Weissbier is indeed a Bavarian speciality, and it may be known both as "weizen" (German for wheat) or as "weisse" (white), since many wheat beers have a pale, almost milky complexion. When unfiltered, such beers are often prefixed by "hefe" from the German word for yeast, e.g. hefeweizen.

Erdinger is probably the best known weissbier brewery from Bavaria and Weihenstephan may brew the "gold standard" of Bavarian weissbiers but it's G. Schneider & Sohn aka Schneider Weisse, in the town of Kelheim, that is the boldest and most innovative brewery - offering a wide range of wheat beers that will surprise you and amaze you in equal measures. Kelheim is also close to Weltenburg, the topic of an earlier post, so it was high on my list of places to visit during the road trip through Germany in September 2012.

Mount Michelsberg in Kelheim, Bavaria

Kelheim
Kelheim has a population of about 15 thousand and is beautifully situated on the banks of the Danube river, between Ingolstadt and Regensburg, in Bavaria. Old town Kelheim is a very scenic place to visit, even if beer is not your fancy, with cobble stone streets, colorful, old facades and fenced in by four impressive city gates of age five hundred years or more.

If you crave great views, little will surpass the view from Mount Michelsberg west of old town. There you can also enjoy the magnificent Befreiungshall, or Hall of Liberation, which is currently under restoration. It was ordered built by King Ludwig I of Bavaria to commemorate the victories against Napoleon during the Wars of Liberation in 1813-1815.

From Kelheim you can take ferries or small cruise boats up or down the Danube river. A very popular one, which I took, goes upstream through the Danube Gorge to Kloster Weltenburg, where you can visit the abbey brewery from 1050 or just enjoy a hearty meal in the courtyard / biergarten of the abbey.

Colorful facades along Ludwigstraße in old town Kelheim.

For those with just the smallest shred of interest in beer, Kelheim is important for its central place in Bavarian weissbier traditions. It's home to the oldest exisiting weissbier brewery, Weisses Brauhaus, which is currently where G. Schneider & Sohn is brewing their famous Schneider Weisse series of wheat beers.

Getting there and staying
Though it's possible to take a ferry, from places such as Dietfurt and Riedenburg, a car is really the best way of getting to Kelheim and around in the area. The nearest train station is a good 6 km away from old town Kelheim, in Saal, which is a bit far to walk.

Old town Kelheim isn't really big, less than 500 meter times 500 meter, so instead of driving along narrow cobble stone streets I stayed at a hotel near the Donautor city gate which allowed me to park just outside old town. The hotel I stayed at, the Altstadshotel Wittelsbacher Hof on Donaustrasse 22, is a bit pricey (€69 for a single, €99 for a double room) but with a great location, excellent rooms and a very good breakfast.

The Schneider Weisse story
Located on Emil-Ott-Straße 1-5 in old town Kelheim, Weisses Brauhaus was founded as a weissbier brewery as long ago as 1609 and is still in the business, making it the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria. Since 1928, the brewery and the adjoining brewery tap and biergarten has been owned and operated by the Schneider family.

Weißes Brauhaus was founded in 1607 making it the
"Älteste Weissbierbrauerei Bayerns"

For a German brewery family, Schneider is a relative newcomer. Their entry into the world of beer came with Georg Schneider (1817-1890), the royal master brewer and leaseholder of the royal Bavarian Weisses Hofbräuhaus in Munich. In 1856 he received an offer he couldn't refuse.

For centuries it had been the exclusive privilege of the Royal family of Bavaria to brew wheat beers, everyone else had to stick to the plebeian beer style of lager. But with the advent of pilsner in the 1840s, lager beer rapidly grew in popularity and wheat beers went into a steep decline. Thus, it was in 1856 that King Ludwig II of Bavaria decided to get out of the brewing business by offering the rights to brew wheat beer to a commoner, his master brewer Georg Schneider.

With the wheat beer brewing rights in his pocket, Schneider got to work saving wheat beer from total extinction. He founded Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn  together with his son Georg Schneider II (1846-1890), and bought the old Maderbräu brewery in Tal 7, Munich, in 1872. After renovations, the brewing operations were moved from the old Weisse Hofbräuhaus to Tal 7 in September 1872. That year the brewery also introduced their Schneider Weisse wheat beer, now simply known as Original.

Since then the Schneider family has kept the wheat beer torch burning and more or less single handedly kept the old style alive, while the lager craze washed across Germany and Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1890, both father and sohn died, but the barely 20 year old grandson, Georg Schneider III (1870-1905), was able to take over the running of the brewery. He renovated and expanded the brewery around the turn of the century, and in 1894 he submitted the crossed wheat ears trademark to the Patent Office in Munich, making Schneider Weisse the oldest registered trademark for wheat beer.

The crossed wheat ears trademark of Schneider Weisse

Upon Georg Schneider III's untimely death in 1905, the running of the brewery was taken over by his wife, Mathilde Schneider. It was under her control that Schneider Weisse released their first strong wheat beer, the Aventinus weizen doppelbock, in 1907. She continued as the manager of the brewery until her son, Georg Schneider IV (1900-1991), had come of age in 1924. It's with him that Kelheim finally enters our story, when in 1927 he purchased the old Schramm brewery on Thalkirchner Straße in Munich and the Weisses Bräuhaus in Kelheim. The latter was renovated and put into operations in 1928.

In 1944, during World War II, the Schneider breweries in Thalkirchner Straße and Tal 7 were destroyed by allied bombs, causing the company to move all its beer production to the Kelheim brewery in 1946. In 1958, Georg Schneider V (born 1928) took over the brewery from his father. With a doctorate degree and also educated as a brewing engineer, he started expanding and renovating the Kelheim brewery. This work would continue for most of his time as managing director, and wasn't completed until 1998! Two years after that, he was succeeded by his son - the always smiling Georg Schneider VI (born 1965), who has overseen a growing popularity of Schneider Weisse with the relase of several new beers as well as an international collaboration - the Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen-Weisse made with brewmaster Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery in 2007.

Today, G. Schneider & Sohn is a successful wheat beer brewery with a modern and highly automated brewhouse and bottling plant, located in the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria - the Weisses Bräuhaus in Kelheim.

Brewery tour and tasting
A few months before going, I had signed up via email for an English speaking tour of the Weisses Brauhaus, but when I arrived it turned out that most of the others on the tour were German natives so the tour guide was sorry to inform me that the tour would be held in German. Fortunately, the group was well disciplined so it was easy to hear what the guide said and even pose a few questions, in English, from time to time.

A 320 hl stainless steel brew kettle at Weisses Brauhaus

The tour started with a walk through the hop garden in the back of the brewery. Unlike many other German breweries Schneider offers aromatic and strongly hopped weissbiers, so good hops are important to them. From there we were led into the brewhouse, to behold two large 320 hl brew kettles in stainless steel. According to our guide, about 5,600 kg crushed malt goes into each kettle where it is boiled for up to three and a half hours, resulting in 32,000 liter wort.

Schneider Weisse uses top fermenting yeasts in open fermentation tanks, where each tank can take 32,000 liter wort. The fermentation starts after roughly one day. After 2-3 days a Kräusen is formed, on top of the wort, protecting it from micro organisms in the air. Some of this Kräusen, which is basically yeast cells floating to the top of the brew, is harvested and later reused to start fermentation in new batches of beer.

After seeing the brewhouse, we were led over to the bottling plant. This is a fully automated bottling plant with a capacity of 40,000 bottles per hour. The view from the second floor viewing platform was absolutely breathtaking. Along the viewing platform guests could also view some older bottling machines and even try their hands on a simple manual bottle filler. Part of the tour was actually to pour and cap my own bottle of Schneider Weisse Original, which I could then bring with me home as a souvenir!

The modern bottling line at Weisses Brauhaus in Kelheim

After the tour of the brewery, it was time to taste the beer so our group was led over to the brewery tap right next to the brewery. There we were given tasters of seven of the Schneider Weisse beers in order of growing strength, from the mild Kristall to rich Hopfen-Weisse.

All of the Scheider Weisse beers now have a unique Tap number, in addition to their old names, and these were the ones we got to taste:

- Schneider Weisse Tap 3 Mein Alkoholfreies
- Schneider Weisse Tap 2 Mein Kristall (5.3% filtered weizen)
- Schneider Weisse Tap 1 Meine Blonde Weisse (5.2% hefeweizen)
- Schneider Weisse Tap 7 Unser Original (5.4% hefeweizen)
- Schneider Weisse Tap 4 Mein Grünes (6.2% hoppy hefeweizen)
- Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus (8.2% weizen bock)
- Schneider Weisse Tap 5 Meine Hopfen-Weisse (8.2% hoppy weizen bock)

Tap 5 is the same beer originally brewed in collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver as Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse in 2007.

Bottles of Schneider Weisse tasted on the brewery tour.

After the end of the official program I moved out into the cozy biergarten in the back of Weisses Brauhaus, it was a bit quiet in late September (and cold after sunset!), but I found it a great place to contemplate the long history of this place and of Bavarian wheat beers in general, while indulging in a fresh Schneider Weisse Original from draft, the only beer on draft during my visit.

Next time I'd love to come back in July, to spend a long summer evening out in the biergarten.

Schneider Weisse Original, first brewed 1872
- in the biergarten at Weisses Brauhaus.

More photos from the visit to Kelheim and Weisses Brauhaus are found at Flickr.

Enjoying a Franken stein in Bamberg

Franconia, known as Franken in German, and in particular the small city of Bamberg has been known as a great brewing region for centuries. In fact, Franconia still has the largest number of breweries per capita anywhere in the world, with nearly 300 working breweries shared by a population of around 4 million. As an illustration, if California wanted to reach such a brewery ratio the US state would need a total of 2850 breweries!

Thus, Bamberg was an obvious place to visit during my road trip through Germany.

A beer stein at Rathausschänke in Bamberg

Bamberg
Located 60 km north of Nuremberg, in what is known as Upper Franconia (Oberfranken), the city of Bamberg lies among seven hills, just like ancient Rom, and has a history stretching back more than a thousand years.

Originally inhabited by Slavs, the town was first mentioned in 902 as belonging to the Babenberch castle. The area was subsequently Christianized and in 1007 the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II made Bamberg a family inheritance, the seat of a separate diocese. This resulted in a number of impressive cathedral and church buildings being erected, and for a while Bamberg was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire.

From the middle of the 13th century onward the bishops were princes of the Empire and ruled Bamberg, overseeing the construction of monumental buildings. This gave Bamberg status as a free city and it remained so until the secularization of church lands in 1802, becoming part of Bavaria, together with the rest of Franconia, in 1803.

Altes Rathaus in the middle of river Regnitz in Bamberg

Thanks to its remote location and lack of heavy industries, Bamberg survived World War II relatively unscatched so most of its historical buildings and the old town area are still intact. Today the city has a population of 70 thousand and attracts tourists both for its historical sites and for its still vibrant beer culture.

Despite a sharp decline in number of active breweries, from 60 back in the 1850s to 30 as recently as World War I, Bamberg is still home to eight breweries, ranging from small brewpubs to large export breweries, so it's a great place to visit in order to explore the famous rauchbier - beer brewed with smoked malt - and sample some authentic Franconian fare, such as the Bamberger Zwiebel - onions stuffed with pork farce and braised in the oven with broth and beer.

The easiest way to get to Bamberg is either by car or by train, depending on where you come from. I came by car from Munich and spent two days in Bamberg in late September 2012. Here follows a listing of some of the highlights from my visit.

Brauerei Spezial

One of the oldest working breweries in Bamberg is the family owned Brauerei zum Spezial on Obere Königsstraße 10. It was founded back in 1536 as a "Bamberger Rauch-Bier-Brauerei", a brewery of smoked beers, and has been in the Merz family since 1898.

Today, Spezial is one of the few breweries left kilning its own malt, which was the norm just a hundred years ago. For smoked malts this is particularly important since what you use to generate the smoke heavily influences the resulting aroma and flavor of the smoked malt and hence the resulting rauchbier. Like the other maltsters in Bamberg, Spezial relies on dry beech wood, usually dried for several years, to create the right smoke for its kilning. The annual beer production is just 6,000 hL (2003), making Spezial one of the smallest breweries in Bamberg, so it's mainly sold locally at the brewery tap room.

Brauerei Spezial in Bamberg, founded in 1536

Like several of the smaller breweries, Spezial is also a public house where food is served and guests can spend the night in a gästezimmer - a guest room - for a low price. Spezial have seven guest rooms on the second floor, above the restaurant, and it cost me just 35 euro per night to stay there. I highly recommend it, but make sure to book early.

The interior of Spezial looks much like a typical Bavarian bierstübl, with heavy oak furniture and hunter trophies on the walls. The indoor seating area is limited so it will quickly fill up at night, but finding a vacant spot at the end of a table is usually no problem (but do not try to sit down at the stammtisch, the regulars' table!). Food is served all night and is both tasty and plentiful, and reasonable.

The beers offered at Spezial (with prices for half a litre, like in the rest of this post):

- Spezial Rauchbier Lager (4.6%): €2.40

- Spezial Rauchbier Märzen (5.3%): €2.50

- Spezial Weissbier (5.3% smoked hefeweizen): €2.60

- Spezial Ungespundetes (4.9% lager): €2.40

Ungespundetes means unfiltered, so an ungespundetes lager is slightly hazy from the yeast and will usually have a fuller mouthfeel and a richer flavor than filtered lagers. It was the only beer on their menu that was not brewed with smoked malt.

The Merz family also run a large biergarten, Spezial Keller, on top of the Stephansberg hill in Bamberg, commanding a great view of the city. Unfortunately, after huffing and puffing up the steep hill, I found a note at the gate saying the keller was closed until mid October because of "urlaub" (German for holiday). Thus, I never got the chance to try out the biergarten, just admire it through the fence.

Brauerei Fässla

Fässla, meaning "little cask", is a family owned brewery and public house, with sleeping accommodations, on Obere Königsstraße 19-21.

Brauerei Fässla in Bamberg, founded in 1649

Though not quite as old as Spezial, just across the street, Brauerei Fässla dates back to at least 1649 when Büttnermeister Johann Kauer bought the property to start a brewery. Büttnermeister, by the way, is German for a Cooper, someone building and repairing wooden staved vessels, used for storing liquids - such as beer. 

The brewery and public house continued under various owners and by 1796 it was known as Schwanen- und Fässleinswirtshaus which then morphed into just Fässla. In 1978, Fässla was purchased by Sebastian Kalb and the Kalb family is still the owners of Fässla, now with Roland Kalb at the head of business.

Fässla has a 50 hL brewhouse producing 16,000 hL annually (2003), some of the beer gets bottled and shipped to other pubs in Bamberg and probably outside the city. Unlike Spezial, Fässla do not brew with smoked malts. The interior of Fässla is fairly typical of a German beer stübe, but out back they have a small but nice open air yard with shady trees and artwork on the walls, and despite a bit of smoking I enjoyed myself there.

Fässla served two beers on tap, both gravity fed from large oak casks:

- Fässla Gold-Pils (5.5%): €2.40

- Fässla Lagerbier (5.5%): €2.40

On bottle they offered the popular Fässla Zwergla (6%) dunkel, for €2.40, and the famous Fässla Bambergator (8.5%) doppelbock was also on the menu but wasn't available until mid October.

Klosterbräu

Situated in an old lagerhaus from 1500, on Obere Mühlbrücke 1-3, Klosterbräu claims to be the oldest brewery in Bamberg with almost 500 years in the brewery business.

Brauerei-Gaststätte Klosterbräu in Bamberg

The history of Klosterbräu Bamberg dates back to 1533 when the Fürstbischöfliches Braunbierhaus ("Prince-Bishop Brown Beer House") opened up as a state-owned brewery at this location. 

For a long time the brewery remained in the possession of the Bamberg Prince-Bishops, but in the late 18th century the brewery started losing money and in 1790 it was sold to a private brewer by the name of Johann Georg Behr. 

Since then the brewery has remained on private hands but it was sold in 1851 to one Peter Braun, the son of a pharmacist from Kitzingen. It was under his ownership that it acquired the current name of "Klosterbräu", inspired by the nearby Franziskanerkloster. The Klosterbräu is still owned by the Braun family and is currently headed by the 5th generation, Frau Anne-Rose Braun-Schröder.

Even though I found the old interior charming the weather was sunny and warm so I sat down outside, by the small square between Klosterbräu and the Altstadthotel Molitor. Klosterbräu serves good food in addition to a number of their own beers, but no smoked beers:

- Klosterbräu Pils (4.9%): 2.30 euro

- Klosterbräu Schwärzla (4.9% schwarzbier): 2.90 euro

- Klosterbräu Braunbier (5.7%): 3.10 euro

- Klosterbräu Braun's Weisse (4.9%): 2.90 euro

- Klosterbräu Bockbier (7%): 3.30 euro --only available in October

- Klosterbräu Schwärzlabock (7%): 3.30 euo --seasonal

- Klosterbräu Maibock (7%): 3.30 euro --only available in April/May

According to their beer menu, the Braunbier is made after a 450 year old recipe and is unique to Bamberg (see my review).

Brauerei Heller - Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier

It may not be the oldest or the biggest brewery in Bamberg, but Brauerei Heller of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier fame has one of the most attractive tap rooms in the city, on Dominikanerstraße 6. Here, many a tour group stops for a taste of the famous rauchbier, while locals protect their stammtisches with angry looks if any ignoranimus should dare to sit down there.

Founded in 1678 and owned by the Heller-Trum family for the last 150 years, Brauerei Heller has become the golden standard of Bamberg rauchbier and is known all over the beer world for the strong smoky character of their Aecht Schlenkerla series. Brauerei Heller, just like Spezial, kiln and smoke their own malts. All beers named "Aecht", which means "real", are brewed with their own smoked malt.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
- served from oak cask at the brewery tap

While the modern brewery and maltings are located on the Upper Stephansberg hill, a kilometer to the south of Dominikanerstraße, the old brewery has become the tap room and this is where most visitors come to get a taste of the famous Schlenkerla rauchbiers. 

At the brewery tap you will always find oak casks serving beer with the help of gravity only, when I was there they had Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen on cask; an elegant rauchbier, with a wonderful smoke and caramel balance.

The name Schlenkerla is supposedly a reference to Andreas Graser, who took over the brewery in 1877. According to one story, one of his legs got run over when some horses bolted while he unloaded kegs at the brewery. The injured leg caused him to walk with a limp and dangling arms for the rest of his days, in the Franconian dialect this kind of limping walk is known as "schlenkern" - hence Schlenkerla.

The Schlenkerla tap room is located near the tourist trail in Bamberg, so it will feel a bit noisy at times when one or more groups of chattering tourists enter. But in the morning, they open at 9:30 am, it's nice and quiet, and you can sit by a window, watching the Dominikanerstraße come to life and then, a little before 11, witness local workers enter to have a quick snack and a beer or two for lunch.

At the time of my visit, they offered the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (5.1%) for €2.50 per half litre, it was served from an oak cask using gravity only - as shown in the photo.

Rathausschänke - Haus der Kaiserdom Privatbrauerei

The history of the largest brewery in Bamberg, the Kaiserdom Privatbrauerei, dates back to 1718 when Georg Mohr was given the rights to set up a brewery in the 12th century buildings of the Benedictine abbey on Sankt Michaelsberg. In 1910, the brewery was bought by Georg Wörner and it became known simply as Brauerei Wörner and a bit later as Bürgerbräu.

In 1969, the sons of Georg Wörner - Theodore and Ludwig - were forced to move the brewing to a larger facility, in order to keep up with demand. The new brewery is located in the Bamberg suburb of Gaustadt, some 3 km north west of old town Bamberg. When Ludwig unexpectedly passed away in 1978, his son - Georg - had to abandon his studies and return to the family company to take over the reins as Georg Wörner II.

The Rathausschänke on Obere Brücke in Bamberg

Today, Kaiserdom Privatbrauerei is fully owned by the Wörner family and still headed by Georg Wörner II. The annually production of Kaiserdom beer is 350,000 hL, almost fifty times more than Brauerei Spezial, and the beer is exported to 33 countries around the world.

Even though Kaiserdom is now located outside central Bamberg, its tap room - the Rathausschänke - is still found in the heart of old town near the Obere Brücke - the bridge which takes tourists across the Regnitz river to the Altes Rathaus. In the summer season, you can sit at tables outside, on the cobble stone street, and enjoy the view of the river, the old town hall and all the weird tourists walking by.

As for the Kaiserdom beers I tried two nice ones from draft, the Meranier Schwarzbier (5%) and the Alt-Bamberg Zwickl (4.8%), and one from bottle, the Alt-Bamberg Dunkel (4.8%), which disappointed me as thin and tasteless. But I still enjoyed myself at Rathausschänke and had a pretty good lunch there too, a tasty Champignon-Rahm-Schnitzel.

Café Abseits

Even though most of this blog post has been about breweries and their tap rooms, Bamberg also sports some very decent beer bars and one in particular: Café Abseits on Pödeldorfer Straße 39.

The unasssuming entrance to Café Abseits

Café Abseits is the oldest student café and speciality beer bar in Bamberg. It looks very much like a student café inside, artsy with a young clientele and usually loud, modern music. But it also sports a cozy biergarten out back, where people can cool down, under shady trees, in the heat of the summer.

During my visit, the café had six different beers on tap, nothing really fancy but the Gänstaller-Bräu Zoigl was a nice surprise. They also had about 40 different beers on bottle, including five from Weyermann Versuchsbrauerei, the research brewery of the local malt producer Weyermann, where they test the quality of their malts by brewing small test batches of beer.

I spent a quiet afternoon in the biergarten, enjoying a number of good beers as well as the food provided by their kitchen. This really is a good beer bar and I can understand why, in the most recent annual RateBeer poll (January 2013), Café Abseits was rated the best beer bar in Germany.

Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen

If you have some time to spare, which I know is unlikely in a city like Bamberg, you may consider taking a bus from near the Bahnhof Bamberg railway station to the small village of Schesslitz-Straßgiech. It's about 10 km east of Bamberg and is home to the newly opened Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen. The buses leave frequently and take only half an hour to get there, and the bus stop in Straßgiech is within sight of the Drei Kronen, so it's really not so difficult.

Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen in Straßgiech

Located in Drosendorfer Straße 24, with a sign on the wall saying "Brauerei Drei Kronen Gasthaus", this 700 year old brauhaus was recently purchased by Manuela and Andreas Gänstaller. The latter is the founder and brewmaster of Gänstaller-Bräu, one of the most exciting new breweries in Germany and the main reason I took the bus trip from Bamberg to Straßgiech. The couple renovated the interior of the old Drei Kronen buildings and reopened the pub in 2011 as the Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen - the official tap room for the Gänstaller-Bräu brewery. As they put it:

We, Manuela and Andreas Gänstaller, had more than half a century of Frankish brewing experience when in 2011 we decided to breathe some life into Drei Kronen in Straßgiech. With our Zoiglstube concept we combine self-brewed beer of the highest quality with a "beery" kitchen. That means we do our utmost to serve you the freshest beer.

The restaurant part of the Zoiglstube can take 70 guests, the bar another 20 and the outdoor Bräuhof terrace around 90 guests, in the summer season. The Bräuhof terrace was not in use when I was there, though it looked like a great place to enjoy a beer, so I settled for a table inside. 

Even though the building housing the Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen is very old, the interior is clean and new with golden wood panelling on the walls and ceiling and solid wooden furniture for the guests. It had a "homey" feel to it, with old art and deer antlers on the walls, big grandfather clocks, and flowers and tiny tablecloths on the tables.

While Andreas Gänstaller, naturally, is responsible for the beer at Zoiglstube, his wife Manuela is responsible for the Franconian fare on offer (though I spotted at least one male cook in the kitchen, when I arrived, so she does get some help with the cooking). In addition to some really good draft beers I tried their special Schnitzel dish, which instead of bread crumbs was coated in spent malt before the deep frying: It was just delicious, the malt adding a mild sweetness to the meat.

Gänstaller-Bräu Birra Kultura Scura
- a tasty Vienna lager at the Zoiglstube

Here are the four beers they had on tap during my visit:

- Gänstaller-Bräu (Drei Kronen) Kellerbier (5.3%): 2.00 euro

- Gänstaller-Bräu (Drei Kronen) Zoiglbier (5.8%): 2.20 euro

- Gänstaller-Bräu (Drei Kronen) Zwickelpils (5.1%): 2.00 euro

- Franz-Xaver-Gänstaller Märzen (5.6% rauchbier): 2.40 euro

The bottle menu was very limited, but they did have the local Hartmann Felsenweiße (5.2%).

Recently, RateBeer published its annual top lists and the Zoiglstube Gänstaller Drei Kronen in Straßgiech was rated the best brewpub in Germany in 2012, so it's well worth a visit if you're in Bamberg with an afternoon to spend.

Bamberger Zwiebel, a hearty Franconian speciality
- at Scheiners am Dom in Bamberg

For the rest of my photos from Bamberg see this Flickr set.

World class beer places in Stockholm

Despite being less than an hour's flight away from Oslo, I had never been to the Swedish capital until a business appointment forced my hand. Thus, on a cold Friday in early January 2013, I found myself on the Arlanda Express train from the airport to Stockholm Central Station, with three days at my disposal.

The Royal Palace in Stockholm seen from Skeppsholmsbron

Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the largest city in the Nordic countries, with a population of 870 thousand in the city and more than 2 million in the greater Stockholm area. The city was founded sometime in the 13th century at the spot where Lake Mälaren empties out into the Baltic Sea. This was probably a strategically important place to settle, in order to protect entrance to the lake and the old settlements along its shores.

The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League, but it was with the accession of Gustav Vasa to the throne in 1523 that Stockholm really grew into the major city it has remained ever since. Especially in the 17th and 18th century, with Sweden a major European power, did Stockholm take on much of the appearance it has today - with a massive royal palace, impressive architecture and a multitude of harbors.

Modern Stockholm is a mixture of history, art and culture, with endless waterfront walkways and small islets connected by bridges or ferries. Whether your thing is museums, theatres, island hopping, walking along beautiful canals and waterfronts, shopping or dining at great restaurants, Stockholm has it all. And, of course, it also has a world class beer scene.

The easiest way to get to Stockholm is to fly to Arlanda Airport and take the Arlanda Express train, departing up to five times an hour for most of the day. It takes you straight to Stockholm C, in the heart of modern Stockholm, in just 20 minutes.

Södermalmstorg in Stockholm seen from Katarinahissen

The beer scene
The beer scene in Stockholm is old by Nordic standards, several of the great beer places started up in the 1990s, just as the first wave of US craft brewing was peaking. Because of that, the older places still have close ties to US craft brewing, usually offering a number of US craft beers on draft. In addition to much else.

Because of their age, some of them twenty years old, the Stockholm beer bars feel more like great US beer bars than the more hip beer bars I've been to in Copenhagen and Oslo. In Stockholm, it feels like the most natural thing to ask for a SKA Modus Hoperandi or a Girardin Guezue Black Label 2001. No beers are hip, they're just plain, good quailty beers served by people who know what they're doing.

Because I only had three nights, one of which was a public holiday with many places closed, I only got to visit three beer bars on this trip - Monk's Porter House, House of Ales Oliver Twist and Akkurat Restaurang & Bar.

Monk's Porter House
Despite its old appearance, in the cellar of a protected 17th century building on Munkbron 11 in Gamla Stan ("old town"), the Monk's Porter House is actually a fairly new place, which opened up in 2010. It's one of several "daughter pubs" of the famous Monk's Café Wallingatan, in the north of Stockholm, which opened up in September 2006. Like its mother pub, Monk's Porter House is a working brewery, basically a brewpub, which focuses on dark beers, typically stouts and porters, as its name suggests.

Porter steak and stout at Monk's Porter House

When you arrive at Munkbron 11, walk in the main entrance and don't let the wine bar on the first floor fool you, but take a sharp right turn and head down the staircase into the basement. There you'll be met with walls and vaulted ceilings made out of old, reddish brick stones stained by time and what looks like open fires.

The bar is on the left hand and straight ahead you'll be able to peek in, through a large window, onto a dark, cave like room containing all the kegs connected to the tap lines of the bar. All in all, Monk's Porter House sports 56 tap lines, allowing visitors to try locally brewed beer, beer brewed at the Monk's Café mother pub and guest beers from all over the world. And with about 150 types of beer on bottle, again mostly porters and stouts, you should be able to find something to enjoy - if dark is your craving.

I settled by a small table in a dark corner, only lit by a candle. A rather romantic setting, if I had brought a partner, and certainly cozy. The bartender was on my case right away, giving great suggestions both for beers to try and for beers to drink along with my dinner - a tender and juicy porter steak which I ended up having with Monk's Café 101 Oktan imperial stout. A reasonably good match.

Monk's Porter House and Monk's Café both make seriously good beer. Usually strong too. On the night of my visit they had two well aged beers fron Monk's Café on draft, the 101 Oktan Imperial Stout and Trequartista, both around 10% abv and brewed in 2010, making them smooth and well rounded with age, but still very tasty and enjoyable. Of their own beers, I just had to try the Red Rauk'n Roll - a really well made smoke beer of 14,5% abv.

With my cheese dessert, the bartender suggested Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2009, which turned out to be a great combination with the strong, slightly earthy flavor of the aged brie. Yummy.

Akkurat
Akkurat or Akkurat Restaurang & Bar was founded in 1997 and is located in Hornsgatan 11 in Södermalm, not far from the Slussen metro stop. From the outside it doesn't look like much, except for the reveiling red neon sign for North Coast Brother Thelonious. But once inside you'll be met by an impressive bar with a great number of beer taps and lots of exclusive bottles lined over the bar.

Akkurat Restaurang & Bar in Södermalm

Akkurat is not only the highest rated beer bar in Sweden but has for many years been rated as one of the best beer bars in the world, by the users of RateBeer.com. With a great draft beer selection and a truly amazing bottled beer menu, containing rare beers of many vintages, it's a place you can spend days and weeks without getting through it all. Akkurat is also one of the few places in the world participating in the annual Zwanze Day event, because of their long and close ties with Belgian lambic brewery Cantillon.

On my first visit, late on a Friday night, the place was so packed I had to stand in the second line by the bar. It didn't make for an enjoyable drinking experience, so the next day I was back shortly after their 3 o'clock opening to secure a spot at one of the long, wooden tables. That worked much better and I was even able to ask the very knowledgable bartenders about beer suggestions before they got swamped by the crowds.

Girardin Gueuze Black Label 2001 at Akkurat

As a sour ale lover, in particular lambic based sour ales, I was amazed by their bottled beer menu which sported several pages of lambics, gueuze, krieks and other fruit sour ales. My eyes fell on a 2001 vintage of Girardin Gueuze Black Label, this 11 year beer cost me just 175 swedish kroner for a 37,5 cl bottle. Ridiculously cheap for such an old an awesome beer!

I also got to try another old favorite of mine, Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood of 2008 vintage. It was amazing. On draft I tried the very nice Monk's Blood from 21st Amendment, Gouden Carolus Christmas from Het Anker and Närke Vintermörker to name a few.

After my two visits two Akkurat, I understand why this place is so highly rated. But you should make sure to be there early in the day, before it gets too crowded and noisy.

Oliver Twist
House of Ales Oliver Twist opened up to the drinking public in May 1993 and it can still be found in Repslagargatan 6, just a block south of Akkurat, in Södermalm. It radiates more of a neighborhood pub feel than the worldly Akkurat, with a dark, English type of pub atmosphere. The ceiling is covered by banners, for beer as well as sports teams, while the walls are covered with beer ads and blackboards listing what's on tap.

The impressive bar at House of Ales Oliver Twist

Unlike at Akkurat, it never felt that crowded on Oliver Twist, even late on a Saturday night I found a small table to sit down at. The bartender knew his beers, both the Swedish and the American brands. I also enjoyed two good meals at Oliver Twist, a rich and tasty fish soup for lunch one day and a tender sirloin steak for dinner the next. Along with the steak I enjoyed the delicious Belgian Style Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Company, which I thought was a good match.

Because of the neighborhood feel, with many regulars sitting in the bar, it seemed easier to get involved in conversation about beer and food. And when I forgot my guidebook, it was handed over to the bartender who gave it back to me when I returned the next day. Thus, even after just two visits I feel very much at home at Oliver Twist.

Regarding the beer selection at Oliver Twist. On draft I tried several American classics, such as Avery The Maharaja, SKA Brewing Modus Hoperandi and Rogue Ales Old Crustacean, in addition to a number of beers I'd never had before - such as Magic Rock Dark Star from England and the awesome Nils Oscar Saison 2009. On bottle I got to try a couple of rare beers from American craft brewer Michael Lalli, his Brewmaster's Signature Gose and Grätzer.

Choc Brewmaster's Signature Grätzer at OT

All in all, Stockholm more than impressed me as a cultural and craft beer city. Akkurat is just as good as its RateBeer ranking says, though I felt that the atmosphere at Monk's Porter House was more cozy and that Oliver Twist had a more homey, neighborhood feel. But all three pubs are worth several visits, their beer selection will keep you busy for days.

I will surely return, but probably when the weather is a bit warmer than in January.


More photos from my trip to Stockholm can be found at Flickr.

Kloster Weltenburg on the Donau

Known as Donau, in Germanic languages, Danube is the second longest river in Europe, after Volga in Russia. From its source in Schwarzwald (the Black Forest), in south-west Germany, it winds its way eastward for 2860 kilometers before emptying out into the Black Sea. Its historical importance as a border between the Roman empire to the south and the "barbarian" nations to the north and, later, for trade and traffic is obvious from the many famous cities founded on its banks - such as Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary and Belgrade in Serbia. Along its upper reaches a number of old monasteries can be found too, including Stift Engeszell in Austria and Kloster Weltenburg in Bavaria. The latter is home to the second oldest brewery in the world, Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg, and is the topic of this post.

First view of the Weltenburg Abbey from a Donau ferry. 

Kloster Weltenburg
Located 440 km downstream from the source of Danube, near the Donaudurchbruch bei Weltenburg or Danube gorge by Weltenburg, lies the Benedictine abbey of Weltenburg. This the oldest monastery in Bavaria, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620 CE. The abbey has brewed its own beer since at least 1050, which has been taken as the official foundation date for the modern brewery, making it just ten years younger than the Weihenstephan brewery in Freising and thus the second oldest brewery in Bavaria and in the world!

The simplest, most relaxing and scenic way of getting to the abbey is to park your car on the large car parking by the river in old town Kelheim and take one of the Altmühltal ferries going from Kelheim to Weltenburg, some 5 km upstream. During the summmer months (April-September) the ferries leave Kelheim every 45 minutes, between 10 am and 3:30 pm, taking 40 minutes going upstream and half that time going back down.

Weltenburg abbey - the oldest in Bavaria.

On the way to Weltenburg you get treated to some great views of old town Kelheim, the Befreiungshalle on Mount Michelsberg, riverside houses and gardens and of the narrow gorge, with its steep walls, that the ferry passes through just before the beautiful abbey comes into view on a small peninsula on the left bank of the river. The ferry landing is just under the walls of the abbey, a short walk from the main entrance. Some people also opt to walk the riverside trail from Kelheim to Weltenburg, so if you feel sporty that is also a nice way of getting there, and it adds the extra attraction of crossing the rapid river in an unmotored cable ferry - propelled forward by the force of the river water only.

Most of the buildings seen at the abbey today are from the 18th century. The baroque church was built 1716-1751 by the architect brothers Cosmas Damian Asam and Aegid Quirin Asam, who have been immortalized with their own Asam Bock beer at the abbey. Because of the turbulent times in Europe, with wars and conflicts, the abbey was surrounded by a protective stone wall along the river (the other side is protected by a hill) and a large gate at the front.

Like other abbeys in Bavaria, Weltenburg was forced to close and the monks dispelled during the secularization of Bavaria in 1803. However, fourty years later some Benedictine monks were allowed to settle here and re-found the Weltenburg abbey, which is still today operated by the Benedictine order.

The beer garden in the courtyard at Weltenburg abbey.

Today, the Weltenburg abbey provides visitors with a nice beer garden at the main square, art galleries, shops selling religious artifacts and a museum. And the abbey also offers guided tours of its old brewery.

The Klosterbrauerei
You can book a brewery tour by filling out a form on the www.stadtmaus.de website, or you can just stop by the abbey museum and sign up for the first available tour - they're usually not full anyway, but you may end up on a German speaking tour (like I did).

The brewery is located in the building on the south-west side of the central courtyard, just a few steps from the tables of the beer garden. The brewhouse is located on the first and second floor and the grist mill on the third floor, so that gravity can be used to transport the ground malt into the mash tun and from there the wort down into the brew kettle.

The building housing the Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg.

In 1973, the last brewmaster at Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg retired and the abbey brewery went into a "Personalunion" with Brauerei Bischofshof in the city of Regensburg. Personalunion means "shared staff", so in effect the abbey brewery is now operated by brewers from the Regensburg brewery and not by the monks of Weltenburg. Today all the Weltenburger Kloster beers are bottled at Brauerei Bischofshof and several are brewed there too, but the classics - such as Barock Dunkel and Asam Bock - are still brewed at Weltenburg.

The deal with Brauerei Bischofshof was not made just to take the workload off the monks at Weltenburg but also because the old abbey brewery badly needed an upgrade, which was duly done in the mid 1970s - meaning that the modern Klosterbrauerei is a fairly modern brewery. It has a capacity of 100 hl per batch and produces 400 hl per week or 2 million liter beer per year.

According to the tour guide, Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg only uses hops from the Hallertau region and local malts in their beer. The hops are added in the form of pellets, usually 20 kg per batch. When I was there, in late September, hop harvest had just ended in Hallertau and the museum at Weltenburg had been decorated with fresh, deliciously smelling hop bines along the walls and under the ceiling. I couldn't help myself but squeeze and smell a hop cone ... hmmmm, euphoric!

Mash tun at the Weltenburg abbey brewery.

Another interesting piece of information from the tour was that the Weltenburg beers are now also brewed in Brazil, a country where beer seems to grow rapidly in popularity (I ran into a group of Brazilians at Weihenstephan a week earlier).

After touring the brewhouse, we were taken up to the third floor exhibition / tasting room, with windows overlooking the courtyard and beer garden. There we were given tastings of the various Weltenburg Kloster beers while the guide described the styles.

Because Weltenburg is a working monastery it closes its gates early, at 6 pm, and the last ferry returns to Kelheim at 4:15 pm so you've basically just got time for lunch in the beer garden before leaving. But it's well worth the trip, since the food is tasty and the draft beer world class. On my visit I enjoyed a dish of wild boar in porcino mushroom sauce accompanied by Barock Dunkel from draft before ending the visit with an Asam Bock from draft in a beautiful ceramic mug.

Asam Bock on draft at the Weltenburger abbey.

More photos can be found in this Flickr set.

Austrian trappist and castle beers

Austria is one of those old world beer countries that has dropped below the radar in the craft beer crazed America and western Europe. While beer connoisseurs flock to the Czech Republic - hunting the source of pilsner, to Bamberg - exploring rauchbiers, or to Belgium - for everything else, what happens east of Bavaria seems hidden behind a modern day iron carpet. Thus, on a recent trip to Bavaria I took a day off to cross the border and visit Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) in search of good beer.

Hop trellis at Eggenberg Castle near Vorchdorf, Austria.

The beer culture in Austria is probably as old as the one in Germany, but less famous and these days more of a local scene. But Austria has set its mark on the world beer map, primarily through the lager that Anton Dreher developed at the Schwechater brewery in 1841. Now known as Vienna Style Lager, this copper colored type of lager has an elegant malt profile, often with a sweet touch and roasted notes. Reminiscent of the Märzen style from Bavaria, this beer combined English malting techniques with bottom-fermenting lager yeasts and became very popular in Europe in the mid 19th century. Today it's mainly brewed in Mexico.

For my day in Upper Austria I had picked out three very different places to visit. The first stop was in Engelhartszell on the Danube, just across the border from Bavaria, where the only Trappist abbey in Austria can be found. From there I drove to Vorchdorf, for a brewery tour at Schloss Eggenberg, before ending up in Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart and home to Augustinerbräu.

Stift Engelszell
Stift Engelszel is an old abbey in the village of Engelhartszell an der Donau which, as its name implies, is located on the banks of the Danube river - two kilometer downstream from the border with Bavaria and Germany.

The abbey church at Stift Engelszell in Austria.

The history of this abbey goes back to 1293 when Cistercian monks settled here. The brothers remained for half a millennium, until 1786 when the Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II, confiscated the property and expelled the brotherhood.

For the next 150 years the property was used as a factory and living quarters, but fell out of use after World War I. In 1925 the Trappist abbey in Oelenberg, Alsace, was forced to shut down and its monks to move. They found a welcoming home in Engelhartszell and settled at the old abbey, making it the first Trappist abbey in Austria.

Today, Stift Engelszell is a thriving Trappist abbey which makes a living by selling their own products. Until recently that consisted of a series of different liqueurs, but in 2011-12 the monks constructed a brewery at the abbey and on June 1st, 2012, Engelszeller Klosterbräu launched their first beer, Gregorius, described as a 9.7% abv dunkles trippel. My curiosity was piqued, would Engelszeller Klosterbräu become the first new member of the exclusive Trappistenbier family since Achel in 1998?

On the day of my visit, in mid September 2012, autumn was well under way in the Danube river valley but the sun was out and warming well. The 76 meter tall tower of the abbey church made the abbey easy to spot once I got to Engelhartszell. I had sent an email in advance asking about visiting the brewery, but it went unanswered and I found no signs pointing the way so I guess Stift Engelszell, like most other Trappist abbeys, prefer to keep their brewery operations away from the public attention.

Engelszeller Klosterbräu Gregorius
- with a taste of honey and nuts.

As far as I could tell there was no place near the abbey where I could sit down to enjoy their beer either, so I settled for the next best option and bought some bottles at the abbey for later tasting.

The entrance to the abbey shop was right next to the church and the shop is open on all weekdays, but not on Saturdays or Sundays. Inside the small shop you'll find religious effects for sale, such as booklets and small icon paintings, in addition to the many types of liqueurs they make. And now also beer, but so far only one type.

When I later tasted the Gregorius I was pleasantly surprised to find a smooth and well balanced dark beer not like any of the other Trappist beers. Instead I got a wonderful honey and nuts character, both in the aroma and the taste. It concealed its 9.7% abv really well and was fairly balanced overall, with a mild roasted character. A promising start for this new brewery.

When I visited Stift Engelszell their brewery had not yet received the approval to use the "Authentic Trappist Product" logo for their beers, so my bottles came without. But a month later, on October 15, 2012, the Trappist newsletter reported that Engelszeller Klosterbräu had been granted the right to use the ATP logo. It is now a fully fledged Trappist brewery, the first one in Austria and number 8 in the world.

Congratulations to Stift Engelszell and Austria!

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg
Half a millennium ago Austria was famous for its many water castles, which were castles surrounded by natural water or man made moats for protection. This was a necessary precaution at a time when Europe was teeming with war and the Ottoman empire laid siege to Vienna.

One of those old water castles is Schloss Eggenberg, located near the modern town of Vorchdorf, just off the A1 motorway between Vienna and Salzburg. Though it's no longer surrounded by water it certainly is  connected with the wet element in a very important way, it uses large amounts of it for brewing beer!

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg near Vorchdorf, Austria.

Apparently beer has been brewed at the Eggenberg castle since the 14th century but it wasn't until Michael Weismann bought the property from the Benedictine Kremsmünster abbey in 1680 that the beers became available to the general public. Weismann had a new brewery installed and in 1681 started brewing beer for public sale. Since 1803, the castle and its brewery have been in the capable hands of the Forstinger-Stöhr family.

Today the surrounding water is gone, replaced by lush, green fields and beautiful views of the distant Alps. And the old castle has become home to the modern Castle Brewery Eggenberg (Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg), perhaps the best known Austrian brewery.

The brewery's claim to fame is a strong beer that didn't originate there but in Switzerland. In the early 20th century, Swiss brewer Albert Hürlimann spent twenty years researching different yeast strains at his family brewery in Zürich. There he discovered a particular strain of lager yeast, now known as Hürlimann-yeast, which tolerated surprisingly high levels of alcohol. He used this strain to create several potent lagers at the Hürlimann brewery, before he passed away in 1934.

However, the strongest beer was yet to come. In 1979, the brewers at Hürlimann pushed the yeast to its limit creating the strongest beer the world had ever seen - a doppelbock at 14% alcohol by volume! It was brewed on Saint Nicholas Day (December 6), aged for ten months and given the name Samichlaus in honor of the saint. Samichlaus became an instant classic and was brewed every year until 1997, when the Hürlimann brewery closed. Schloss Eggenberg took over the recipe and the exceptional yeast strain from Hürlimann and has brewed this strong beer every December 6th since 2000.

On my visit in September 2012 I was given a tour of the castle brewery together with a group of Austrian pensioners. This didn't turn out so well, because the group was really loud, talking all the time, which made it difficult to hear the guide, Alfred, unless you were standing right next to him. Other than that it turned out to be a nice and very informative tour, where we got to see the insides of the old castle as well as the modern brewery.

Brew kettle #1 at Eggenberg Castle Brewery.

The brewhouse is the oldest part of the brewery, sporting two large 2-story brew kettles in shiny copper from 1967. Both kettles have a capacity of 280 hl, resulting in an annual production of around 60 million liter beer.

Because they make lager beer, which must be matured - some of it for months, Eggenberg has a number of large storage tanks, the largest are three 650 hl and six 1000 hl tanks! Those tanks are too large to fit inside the brewery, so they've been erected out in the back. In order to tolerate the Alpine climate they are insulated to tolerate temperatures in the -35 C to +35 C range!

The last stage of the brewery tour included a visit to the bottling plant at the back of the castle, which is a modern, fully automated plant. We were told that the brewery currently has 12 beers and a radler in their lineup:

- Hopfenköning (5.1% pilsener)
- Classic Märzen (4.9% märzen)
- Gold (5.3% helles lager)
- Naturtrüb (5.2% kellerbier - unfiltered lager)
- Sommerfrisch! (5% pale lager)
- Hopfenköning Medium (2.9% pilsener)
- Birell (0.35% low alcohol lager)
- Festbock (7.1% bock)
- Urbock 23° (9.6% doppelbock)
- Samichlaus Classic (14% doppelbock)
- Samichlaus Helles (14% helles bock)
- Nessie (4.9% vienna)
- Salzkammergut-Radler (2.5%, beer wixed with lemonade)

Some of these beers can be sampled at the Braugasthof Pesendorfer just across the road from the brewery, there you'll also be treated to some excellent local food in a cozy, rural setting.

Salzburg
The city of Salzburg is located about 80 km west of Vorchdorf, a 1-hour drive along the A1 highway, on the banks of the Salzach River. It's the 4th largest city in Austria and famous for being the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Old town Salzburg is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of the largest medieval castles in Europe, Festung Hohensalzburg.

Old town Salzburg by the Salzach river.

In addition to music and history, Salzburg is also known for its beer scene. The city can boast of the largest beer garden in Austria and of a popular brewery in a former abbey: Augustinerbräu.

The history of Augustinerbräu dates back to the early 17th century when Archbishop of Salzburg, Wolf Dietrich, invited Augustinian monks from Bavaria to settle in Mülln on the northern slopes of the Mönchsberg hill in Salzburg. A monastery was built for the Augustinians between 1607 and 1614, and in 1621 the monks started brewing as well. Augustinerbräu was born.

When the Augustinians died out in Salzburg in the 19th century, Emperor Ferdinand the Kind handed over the monastery to the Benedictines from Michaelbeuern. Represented by Abbot Nicolaus Wagner, the Benedictines still own 50% of Augustinerbräu while Maria Gabriella Barth and Dr. Heinrich Dieter Kiener controls 25% each.

Augustinerbräu is often called Augustinerbräu Kloster Mülln or just Klosterbrauerei Mülln to avoid confusion with the more famous Augustiner Bräu in Munich.

In connection with the brewery there is also the Augustiner Bräustübl, which opened up in 1890. With a working area of over 5,000 m² and an additional 1,500 seats in the shady biergarten outside, this is the largest beer tavern in Austria and a pleasant alternative to the more hectic biergartens of Munich. The Augustiner Bräustübl is a traditional self-catering tavern where you can buy food from a number of stalls in a Delicatessen arcade, offering a variety of hot and cold dishes, from grilled chicken, sausages or fish to cheese and ham plates.

Located in Augustinergasse 4 in Mülln, Augustiner Bräustübl is a 20 minute walk from the main train station in Salzburg, just across the river. If you're walking along the river you can cross the Müllner Steg bridge, if you're on the east side, and walk up the slopes of Mönchsberg hill where you should encounter the bräustüberl. Opening hours are 15:00-23:00 on weekdays and 14:30-23:00 during weekends and public holidays.

When I entered the unassuming front door I was immediately impressed by the grand interior with classical murals, chandeliers from the ceiling and marble staircases. It was like walking into a palace! But once you get into the food arcade or one of the many beer halls, the atmosphere lightens up.

Before you can order beer at Augustinerbräu, pick a stein mug.

It took me a few minutes to get my bearings straight and figure out how to order the beer, as there was no sign telling me. It turns out that at Augustiner Bräustübl, unless you order from a waiter at your table, you need to go to a special store where you select the stein mug you want, you can either go for a large 1-liter mug (known as a maß) or the small half-liter mug. You pay for the mug, which cost €6 for the big ones, and then take it to a special washing fountain where you rinse the mug before taking it to the beer filling station. There you hand over the receipt and your mug, which gets filled up with beer from a large wooden cask.

The beer of choice on cask, during my September visit, was the Augustinerbräu Kloster Mülln Märzen, a 4.6% abv märzen style lager that is very popular during the Oktoberfest season in September and October. It's on the sweet side for a märzen, with a strong caramel character. Still, it made for a nice evening drink with a fairly light body and a mild bitter finish.

I took one beer out in the biergarten, just after the sun had set, but it was a bit chilly so I headed inside for the warmer atmosphere of the beer halls. Inside, Augustiner Bräustübl have several large beer halls with a total seating space for 1,400 guests, so there's usually vacant spaces to be found. But make sure you don't sit down at a stammtisch, usually found along the walls, as such tables are reserved for regulars. I almost made that mistake once and got some pretty angry looks from the regulars at a neighboring table.

Enjoying the cold and hot dishes from the Delicatessen arcade, while drinking fresh Augustinerbräu beer in a large stein mug, is a great way to end a day of exploration in Austria. I'd really like to come back in the summer though, to be able to sit outside under the shady chestnut tress. For now I'll cherish the memories of the warm and cozy atmosphere of the Stockhammer room.

The Stockhammer room at Augustinerbräu Bierstüberl.

More photos from my day in Austria can be found at Flickr.

Weihenstephan - world's oldest brewery

During a recent road trip through Germany, I spent a few nights in the town of Freising in Bavaria, about 40 km north of Munich. The plan was to use Freising as a base for taking daytrips into Munich, it made more sense this way because most Munich hotels were fully booked due to Oktoberfest. But Freising itself also has something unique to offer: The oldest existing brewery in the world - Weihenstephan.

The modern bar in the tasting room at Weihenstephan
- the oldest existing brewery in the world.

Freising and Weihenstephan
The history of the town of Freising is intertwined with the history of the Weihenstephan brewery and predates the founding of nearby Munich by many centuries. According to the chronicles of Bishop Arbeo (723-784), Pope Gregory II had sent out the Frankish monk Corbinian, ordained a Bishop, to evangelize Bavaria. In 724 the future Saint settled on a berg (a small mountain) in what is now Freising, where there already was a shrine. Here he established a monastery and a school.

While crossing the Alps from Rome, or so the myth goes, a bear had killed Corbinian's pack horse, but Corbinian knew how to solve this problem: He made the bear carry his luggage the rest of the way to Bavaria! The saddled bear has become a popular Bavarian legend and is today displayed in the coat of arms of Freising.

When Corbinian died in 730, his brother Erembert took over the governing of the monastery and school and in 738, when Saint Boniface regulated the ecclesial structure in the Duchy of Bavaria by creating four dioceses to be governed by the archbishop of Mainz, Erembert was chosen the first Bishop of Freising. From then on Freising became an important religious center in Bavaria.

The symbol of Freising, a saddled brown bear,
this one by the Weihenstephan brewery.

In 996 Freising received city rights from Emperor Otto III of the Holy Roman Empire and a couple of decades later, in 1020, a group of Benedictine monks settled on the Weihenstephaner Berg in the south of Freising. Here they built a Benedictine monastery and started brewing beer.

In 1040 the City of Freising gave the Benedictine monastery license to brew beer for sale to the public, which is why that year has been claimed as the foundation date by the Weihenstephan brewery, making it the oldest existing brewery in the world. But only ten years older than another Bavarian brewery, Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg.

For the next hundred years Freising remained an important city in Bavaria. In 1158, after having destroyed the episcopal bridge, custom houses, mint and salt works in Freising, Duke Henry the Lion moved the custom house and erected a new bridge in the village of Munich, which he had just founded. From then on Freising started to lose its economic significance while Munich grew to become the most important city in Bavaria.

With the rise of the French republic, which by definition was against all established religions, monasteries were closed all over Europe. First in France and Belgium, but in 1803 monasteries were closed in Bavaria too. Thus, after almost 800 years the Benedictine monastery on Weihenstephaner Berg closed and its buildings were taken over by the Bavarian state.

The brewery, which had been run by the monks, now became the property of the Bavarian state but it continued to make the Weihenstephaner beers. In 1865 a technical brewing school was established at Weihenstephan and since 1923 the brewery has been known as Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan or Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan, operated in conjunction with the Technical University of Munich as both a state-of-the-art production facility and a centre for learning.

The Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan.

Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan
Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan is located in the buildings of the old Benedictine monastery on top of the Weihenstephaner Berg in the south of Freising. It facilitates a research laboratory for the study of yeast and other beer related topics, as well as an educational program for new brewmasters. The brewery is open for public tours and tastings, and about a dozen types of beer are brewed here.

I joined a tour in September and was guided around the brewery by future brewmaster Daniel. Each tour starts in the tasting room, watching a short movie about the history of Weihenstephan. Then the visitors put on orange vests, to make them stand out, and are then led into the brewery proper, to see the large mash tuns and brewing kettles - all fully automated and run by computers from the control room.

We were told that Weihenstephan will brew around 320,000 hectolitre (hl) of beer in 2012, which is small by international standards but still sufficient for export to many countries in Europe and America.

The large 300 hl mash tuns at Weihenstephan.

A typical batch at Weihenstephan is made from 5,000 kg malt, which is mixed with 250 hl water in the large mashing tuns to create the wort used for brewing most of their beers (though I assume the stronger bocks have a different ratio of malt and water).

Our guide informed us that Weihenstephan currently brew 13 types of beer - including both top and bottom fermented beers.

Their top fermented beers, mostly wheat beers, ferment at 20 degrees Celsius for a couple of days and is lagered for five weeks before they are ready for consumption. Their bottom fermented beers ferment at 7-8 degrees Celsius for a week and are lagered for 7-8 weeks before kegging or bottling. We were also told that the brewers reuse the yeast many times, the bottom fermenting yeast 3-4 times and the top fermenting yeast up to 20 times.

Like most German breweries, Weihenstephan prefer German or Czech noble hops - more precisely Tettnanger, Hallertau and Saaz. The hops are mainly used in the form of pellets but the brewery also uses hop extract when brewing beer. To keep the full flavor, none of their beers are pasteurized or filtered (with the exception of the Kristall which is filtered).

The last stop on the tour, before returning to the tasting room, was in the large and very modern bottling plant where a robot handled the kegging of beer and another machine bottled up to 36,000 bottles per hour. To save the environment, the brewery reuses a bottle up to 60 times before it gets recycled.

After the tour of the brewery and bottling facility we were led back to the tasting room where we were given tasters of several types of beer - from their low alcohol alternatives and weissbiers to their high gravity bocks, including the delicious Korbinian doppelbock, named after the Saint mentioned at the beginning of this blog post. It was a nice way to end a great brewery tour.

The tasting of Weihenstephaner Korbinian
- a delicious 7.4% abv doppelbock.

Weihenstephan bräustüberl and biergarten
After a visit to the brewery, I highly recommend making a stop in their biergarten - if it's a warm and sunny day - or in the cozy bräustüberl. Both are located right next to the brewery, on top of Weihenstephaner Berg, sharing a very good Bavarian kitchen and offering the freshest Weihenstephaner beer found on tap anywhere.

Bräustüberl Weihenstephan is separated into several charming beer halls and rooms. The largest room is the Stephanskeller, on the ground floor, where up to 230 guests can be seated on heavy wooden furniture under the old, vaulted brick ceiling. You can almost feel the ghosts of long gone monks pass by your table.

The food at the Bräustüberl is top notch, on my visit I enjoyed the very tasty and filling Brewmaker's Frying Pan - with medallions of pork and beef in a rich mushroom sauce. The service was fairly quick and good, despite several large groups being served at the same time. The downside is the acoustics, it can get a bit noisy when Stephanskeller fills up.

A big attraction at the Bräustüberl, if you're into beer, is the unfiltered Weihenstephan Edel-Pils which is served only at this location. And draft only. You really don't need any other reasons for a visit, this is a smooth and very tasty pilsener.

The Stephanskeller beer hall in Bräustüberl Weihenstephan.

The biergarten is located at the back of the Bräustüberl building. About 500 guests can be seated under the open sky, enjoying the view of Freising and its green surroundings while indulging in good local beer and food.

At the end of September, not many of the tables in the biergarten were taken. But the sun was out so I decided to enjoy the view and a couple of beers outside. The schänke offered hot brezn, leberkäze, chicken and other food stuffs. And, of course, several beers on draft - including:

* Weihenstephaner Original Hell (5.1%)
* Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier (5.4%)
* Weihenstephaner Tradition Bayrisch Dunkel (5.2%)

On bottle I could also order their two bock beers, the 7.7% abv Vitus weizenbock and the 7.4% Korbinian doppelbock. The biergarten is small by Bavarian standards but has a lovely view and is absolutely worth a visit if you should happen to be in Freising.

The 5.1% Weihenstephaner Edel-Pils Unfiltriert
- only sold at Bräustüberl Weihenstephan

More photos from the Weihenstephan visit can be found at Flickr.