A Visit to the Hoptometrist

I am unapologetically a Hop Head. I can’t get enough IPA. I brew IPA’s, I drink IPA’s, I dream about IPA’s. India Pale Ales are the number one selling craft beer style in the United States. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts there are in increasing number of craft breweries in Germany, but their IPA’s generally fall short of an American IPA. Entering my third year in Germany I can safely say German craft brewers are making significant progress and closing the gap with American breweries. I have had the pleasure of experiencing the German hop revolution first hand.

This weekend the navigator and I joined four of closest friends at the 4the annual Stuttgarter Craft Beer Festival.  Sponsored by the owner of Kraftapaule beer bar (A close friend) the Craft Beer Festival is a must visit for all craft beer aficionados in the Stuttgart area. We arrived at the crack of 12 noon to find at least 200 people had beat us to the punch. Not surprisingly my first beer was a farmhouse ale by Kesselbrauer. A quaffable saison type beer. Best to ease into things. Naturally my second beer was an IPA. Not just any IPA but a spruce tip IPA by Lost River Brewing. The only thing I love more than IPA is a SPRUCE IPA and this beer hit the mark!  At first sniff subtle hints of spruce and hops tickle your nostrils.  A quick taste tells me all I need to know, a well-balanced spruce beer rivaling many of the U.S produced spruce beers. Four hours and 12 beers later I returned to Lost River Brewing for a farewell glass of spruce tip IPA and perhaps a case of bottles to go. Unfortunately, Lost River doesn’t bottle their spruce tip beer. Not only that they had kicked their keg, NO SPRUCE TIP BERR FOR YOU! I cried as the brewmaster tried to console me. The brewmaster reassured me that they would brew another batch which should be ready in 6-8 WEEKS! Oh, the humanity

In contrast to American craft beer festivals German craft beer festivals allow you to choose the size of your tasting with sizes ranging from 100 ml to a full 500 ml pour. No tokens, cash only based on your sample size. Suffice to say my “Samples” were all “Adult-sized”. Another unique part of the Stuttgarter Craft Beer Fest was the introduction of every attending  brewmaster.

Here are my top five IPA’s :

1.       Lost River Spruce Tip IPA (See above)

2.       Hey Joe Double Trouble IPA- Amazing IPA only available on tap. A hopper stronger version of their Mad Dog IPA

3.       CAST Double IPA- A local Stuttgart craft brewery who seem to have it figured out. Their IPA’s have improved significantly since I first tried them 2.5 years ago/

4.       Hey Joe, Mad Dog IPA- A solid IPA and my annual “Go-To” and the craft beer fest.

5.       Brassiere Boum’R Imperial IPA- This brewery had five beers on tap, all IPA’s. I have had many sucky French craft beers. These guys stand above every French beer I have ever tried. Viva la IPA!

Nearly three years into German tour one thing is evident, Germans are rapidly figuring out the secret to IPAs and I for one am ecstatic!  As we enter the height of the European craft beer season I leave you with a hint of my next trip:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cheech+and+chong+amsterdam+song&view=detail&mid=F1EA9E14F4D97BB27778F1EA9E14F4D97BB27778&FORM=VIRE

 Until next time,

Stay Crafty my friends.

Craft Beer Circus

Since my arrival in Deutschland I have opted to spend the winters drinking my homebrewed beer and counting the days since I last saw the sun. If I restricted my beer drinking to sunny winter days, I would undoubtedly reduce the size of my bulbous midriff by 100 centimeters, like 2 inches in standard measuring terms. But hey, what fun is that? As all the cool kids like to say YOLO. A rare mid-January beer fest is just what the doctor ordered. Well, not my doctor, but I digress. When a few friends suggested we attend the Karlsruher Craft Beer Festival I jumped at the chance to imbibe on my version of liquid sunshine.

Karlsruhe is a lovely city. The second largest city in the state of Baden-Wurtemberg (Stuttgart is the largest) it is the seat of the Federal Constitution Court. Located a mere 80 Km’s (12 miles or so non-metric measurement) north of Stuttgart its an easy drive, which is why we opted for the train. We are nothing if not responsible. Arriving at the fest location we discover the beer tent is in fact a circus tent. As we all know its best to leave circus tents erected year around in case a circus without a tent wanders through town.

Entering the tent, I’m pleasantly surprised by both the temperature and the lack of elephant dung.  Several beer fest tables stood at center ring with nary a clown in sight. We quickly secured a table and struck off to experience craft beer under the big top. Most participating breweries were German, many of which I had sampled before. One German craft beer stood out amongst the others. Chilliero a chili pepper beer produce by Hofpfengarten brewery in Bamberg, Germany. This beer was shocking on two levels. One, most pepper beers are unbalanced, with the spice overpowering the beer. Chilliero however was well balanced. Second and more notably, Bamberg is the home of Rauch (smoked) beer. Ninety nine percent of the beer produced in Bamberg is smoked beer. I challenge anyone to enter any bar in Bamberg and asked for something that isn’t smoked……good luck.

Smoked beer aside I found myself returning again and again to the Browar PINTA booth, Polish craft beer at its finest. Their Vermont IPA was surprisingly juicy, rivaling many U.S. produced New England IPA’s. Somewhere around my third trip to the Browar PINTA both with a friend of mine he was told beer is free for brewery representatives. We shared confused glances before realizing the server had assumed my friends Guinness shirt meant he was also a vendor. I quickly began disrobing, removing my hoody revealing my Stone Brewery shirt. Alas I was to late as my friend informed the server that we are NOT vendors.

While the weather outside was frightful, craft beer under the big top is the epitome of the craft beer scene in Germany. Random beer fests in unusual locals are what makes my beer experience in Germany one for the ages. I look forward to next years Craft beer Circus during the height of European winter dankness, providing hope in the form of liquid sunshine that winter cannot last forever.

Until next time,

Stay Crafty my friends.

Age is Just a Number…..

Tap Room

Age is just a number, at least that’s what they say. Age also equates to experience leading us to the “age old” question, youth versus experience. The same holds true for beer. Would you choose beer from a new startup brewery or one that is well established and has a history? Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery was founded in 1829. In contrast Germany’s oldest brewery Weihenstephan was founded in 725. While I have yet to visit America’s oldest brewery I did seize the opportunity to visit Germanys. 

A mere two hour drive from Stuttgart, 20 minutes from the Munich airport lays the town of Freising. With a population of approximately 45000 Freising is the home of the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University which is where I found myself the day before Thanksgiving, sort of.  Freising is also the home of the Weihenstephan brewery, adjacent to the university. In early November the Navigator and I paid a visit to Weihenstephan, embarking on a two hour tour of the brewery. Naturally, beer samples were included.

Weihenstephan operates at maximum capacity year around. Despite their obvious need for expansion, and an offer from the town to provide the land, the brewery remains true to its roots remaining at their original location where they have brewed beer for more than a thousand years. In so doing Weihenstephan places history and tradition ahead of profits, a rarity in this day and age.

Brewery

As the state brewery of Bavaria, Weihenstephan beers are generally considered by beer enthusiasts to be among the best in Germany. Weihenstephan strictly adheres to the

Weihenstephan strictly adheres to the Reinheitsgebot or “German Beer Purity Law” using only water, barley and hops in their production process. Their beer offerings include a hefeweissbier, weizenbock, hefeweissbier dunkel, kristallweissbier, dopple bock, and pilsner. As an American, lover of all things big, I gravitated toward their bock both for its flavor and the 7.4% ABV.

Weihenstephan may be short on variety, but they are definitely rich in history. As the saying goes, “If It Aint Broke Don’t Fix it” and Weihenstephan definitely aint broke. Age is just a number however in the German beer scene; it’s a really BIG number.

Until next time

Prost!

Black Forest Brew

With falling leaves and falling temperatures the end of beer garden season is upon us here in Germany. This is by no means the end of beer drinking but rather a change of venue from outside gardens to a more climate controlled environment. Finding ourselves at the seasonal crossroads our friends, “J” and J”, asked us to join them on a trip to a beer museum in the Black Forest.

Approximately 40 miles southwest of Stuttgart on the eastern edge of Germany’s Black Forest lays the village of Alpirsbach. Nestled in a valley Alpirsbach is typical of most villages in the area with one exception, Alpirsbach is the home of the Alpirsbacher Klosterbrau brewery. Founded in 1880 by then 18 year old Carl Albert Glauner the original brewery, serving primarily as a museum, sits adjacent to The Alpirsbach Monastery.

We arrived around noon, ensuring we could get tickets for the 2:30 museum tour. Fortunately “J” and “J” made lunch reservations at Zwickel and Kaps, a local burger/ steakhouse specializing in Nebraska beef. A quick scan of the menu revealed that “Imported” beef is not cheap, with some of the steak prices tickling 100 euro. Traditional German food it is! I quickly ordered a Jager Schnitzel, which in hindsight could have fed at least two people. If it weren’t for the occasional “Belly Rub” from our waitress I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish my meal!Returning to the brewery after lunch we met up with our tour guide along with a dozen other people. The original Alpirsbacher brewery is a traditional German brewery

complete with copper mash tuns. The brewery and monastery have always been separate institutions, according to our tour guide. After the reformation circa 1530 the citizens of Alpirsbach were forced to take on the same religion as the ruling Duke, which was protestant. As a result all of the Benedictine monks departed with the exception of one, Ambrosius Blarer, who converted to Catholicism. The brewery has named their “Ambrosius Barley Wine” in his honor.   Having been replaced with a larger facility in 1970 the original brewery with its belt driven pumps, remains fully operational and is still occasionally used! The brewery currently employs more than 80 people and uses Black Forest spring water from their privately owned spring to produce their beer.

At the conclusion of the tour the “Tourists” are ushered into the cellar where they are given two .330L samples of beer of their choosing. Thanks to  an extra token from the navigator  I tried three of their beers the Dunkel, Export, and Zwickel, an unfiltered cellar beer that was surprisingly good. Following the beer tasting we made our way to the gift shop where a variety of trinkets and all of their beers are available for purchase. Additionally, depending on your tour ticket the gift shop provides complimentary beer mugs for every member of the tour. For approximately 10 euro tour participants receive a guided tour, two beer samples, and a complimentary mug. Furthermore I purchase eight of their half liter bottles racking up a whopping 15 euro bill. The tour and the beer purchase combined were significantly less than the cost of our lunch! A bargain for an afternoon beer adventure.

While many, including myself, complain about the lack of German beer variety compared to the craft beer revolution in the States there is no substitute for the rich history that is German beer. If not for these early pioneers we wouldn’t have the privilege of enjoying the wide variety of beer available in the world today.

Until next time,

Prost!

                                 

Where There’s Smoke….

In July the navigator and I hosted our extended family from Maine for their first trip to Germany in more than two decades. Not surprisingly beer played a major role in the visit. Two days into the visit we found ourselves in Bamberg, home of Rauch Bier (Smoked Beer). Suffice to say Rauch Bier is damn near the ONLY beer offered anywhere in Bamberg. Home to nine breweries and a malting facility  a 24 stopover visit is not nearly enough time to visit every brewery, much less the malt house. Obviously a return trip was in order.

Weyermann Malt House

In mid-August we returned to Bamberg, focusing not on breweries, but malt. Weyermann Specialty Malt founded in the late 1800’s, originally malting grain as a coffee substitute. Today Weyermanns is the world’s leading malt producer with 85 different varieties of malt.  Each Wednesday Weyermann offers a facility tour, including beer samples from their pilot brewery for 15 euro per person. Yes Please!

We arrived at the Weyermann fan shop an hour prior to the tour, perusing the wide variety of gifts, craft beer, and liquor. By 2 pm approximately 20 people had gathered in the shop at which point the shopkeeper informs us that the tour will be divided into two groups, English and German. Much to my surprise at least 14 people opted for the English tour, four American’s and 10 Italians with Gregor, the self-proclaimed “Beer Pope of Slovenia” as our tour guide. Our tour started with the malting facility where locally grown grain is cleaned and repeatedly soaked in water to start the germination process. The grain is then sent to one of several germination boxes where the grain is slowly dried over a period of days then sent on to several large dryers for kilning and roasting.  More than 500 local farmers supply Wyermann with approximately 110 tons of grain at their offsite grain silos.

Pilot Brewery

Following the malt house was the pilot brewery, a 2 hectoliter system producing small batches to not only test the grain quality but also allow customers to try new recipes utilizing Wyermann specialty malts. Current production is limited by fermentation capacity in the form of six small horizontal lager fermenters (Lager Jacks). Because they are designed primarily for lagers it’s difficult, but not impossible to brew ales. Planning is underway for the addition of a conical fermenter, improving their ale capabilities.  

Fermenters

The façade of the 137 year old buildings comprising the original Bamberg facility have been designated historical landmarks, preventing the company from modifying the exteriors. Weyermann is a family owned business with the current owners occupying the second floor of the original Weyermann home, while the quality control lab occupies the basement.  Every truckload of grain, some 15 trucks a day, undergoes multiple quality tests prior to unloading. During one test grain samples are warmed with a heat lamp, drawing out any insects that may be present. The entire test process takes approximately 20 minutes, resulting in rejection of approximately one percent of all deliveries. No production facility is complete without distribution. The Weyermann distribution warehouse is a brewers dream with 25kg bags of malt stacked floor to ceiling, wall to wall. On average 40 truckloads of malt are shipped daily. Most impressive was the automated malt palletizer,   palletizing 800 bags of malt per hour.  

Beer List

Our tour concluded in the tap room which consisted of a standard size bar with six taps and a large seating area. Included in the 15 Euro tour fee were full pours (330ml) of any and all of the beer produced in their pilot brewery. Choices included, but were not limited to, a lager, bohemian pilsner, and of course two IPA’s. Gregor was both tour guide and bartender, pouring sample after sample as he shared his brewing and malting expertise.  It quickly became apparent that as long as we continued to drink, he would continue to pour. One beer in particular became a subject of conversation. Bamberger Hofbrau was purchased by a large Nurnberg based company and then subsequently closed 3 years later. In 2007 Weyermann purchased the Bamberger Hofbrau trademark, resuming production of the classic German pilsner, a testament to the importance of Weyermann to the Bamberg community.

In conclusion, I encourage anyone interested in beer or brewing to take the Weyermann tour. The process, facilities, and more importantly the people, make this one of the best tours I have taken. Where else can you sample as much beer as you want, served by none other than the Beer Pope of Slovenia!

Without malt there can be no beer

Until next time,

Prost!

German Craft Beer Scene-Going Nuclear

Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant,

Approaching my one year anniversary overseas I have a better sense of German craft beer, and the influence of the American craft beer explosion on German beer culture. While Berlin is considered the epicenter of the German craft beer scene however craft beer seeds are sprouting in other parts of the country. Enter Camba Brewery. With three locations Seon, Truchtlaching, and Gundelfingen Camba is definitely an up and comer in the German beer scene. With temperatures plummeting and autumn just around the corner I could think of no better excuse than a day trip to the Camba Old Factory in Gundelfingen.

 Approximately 100 km east of Stuttgart is the town of Gundelfingen, home of Camba Old Factory. As I soon discovered Gundelfingen is also home to the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant, a mere 5km’s from Camba. Fortunately I wasn’t there for the water. We arrived at the Old Factory moments before their 1600hr opening ensuring we were the first customers. With rain in the forecast we bypassed the robust outdoor beer garden opting for the climate controlled inside seating.  As we entered the building I was awe struck at the sheer size of the building. Like a kid in a candy store I scurried to the nearby brewing equipment in what I can only describe as one of the most amazing tap room/beer gardens I have ever visited.  In addition to the brewing equipment, a bottling line, barrel room, restaurant, and beer store fill the cavernous factory.  Approaching the bar my eyes fell upon nearly 40 taps, the most I have seen since leaving the states. So many beers, so little time. 

Not knowing where to begin, and knowing I would have to drive home, I opted for their “Tasters” selecting two of the Camba IPA’s and one New England IPA, winner of last year’s Camba homebrew (Hobby Brauer) competition.  All three beers rivaled many of the American IPA’s I have tried. With ABV’s ranging from 6-9% I couldn’t help feeling I had found my new beer home away from home. Over the next two hours I sampled two more Camba IPA’s, barely scratching the surface of Camba beer offerings. Of course, what would a German beer garden be without food. Fresh baked pretzels, curry wurst, pulled pork, and schnitzel just to name a few.

Unlike many stateside tap rooms Camba Old Factory has a robust international beer offering including beer from France, Belgium, and of course the U.S.  In September Camba Old Factory will host its annual homebrew competition, a three day event featuring nearly 80 homebrewers and 100 beers. I'm not only planning to attend the event but I'm also participating, entering my award winning IPA in what promises to be an epic event.

In conclusion if Camba Brewing is indicative of the German craft beer scene then the future is not only bright, dare I say its “Radiant”. In the coming months I will not only return to the Camba Old Factory but also visit their other two locations, with any luck, as the winner of their homebrew competition.

Until next time,

Bleib Schlau!

A Visit With Carl

      

Carls Brauhaus , located in Stuttgarts Schlossplatz  (Palace Square), is named after the founder of  the DInkelacher brewery, Carl Dinkelacher. Founded in 1888 Dinkelacker brewing is an infant by German standards, selling their first bottled beer in 1897. In 1900 Carl Dinkelacher was the first brewer in Stuttgart to brew a beer with the Pilsner brewing method. Fast forward to 1996 when Dinkelacher merges with Stuttgart’s Schwaben Brau making Dinkelacher-Schwaben Brau Stuttgart’s largest beer producer. In 2004 Dinkelacker-Schwaben Brau makes a deal with the devil, becoming part of InBev. Fortunately in 2007 they are able to successfully purchase their independence from the InBev devil, no small feat by any standard.

 

I learned the history Dinkelacher while reading the menu at Carls Brauhaus (Thank You Google Translate) and enjoying a half liter of their Kellerbier (Cellar Beer), which dates back to their original recipe in 1888. According to their menu Carls Brauhaus serves “Fresh Beer Straight from the Barrel” and this beer doesn’t disappoint. Cloudy, as a Kellerbier should be, it tips the scales at a modest 5.6% ABV. Perfectly balanced this beer goes down with ease, leaving me wanting more. Unlike breweries in the states a “Sample” at Carls is a half liter, so I eagerly ordered a half liter of their Privat, a 5.3% ABV Dortmunder Lager. Again I am not disappointed. The beer lineup at Carls Brauhaus consists of 10 traditional German beers. Fearing I may not be capable of returning to my point of origin I cease my “Sampling” but will continue to visit Carls in an effort to sample the remainder of their lineup!

Beer quality aside, Carls location is nothing short of spectacular. Located near the “New Palace” (Original Heavily Damaged in WWII) the area is adorned with sculptures and water fountains, surrounded by shops and eateries. The original Palace was once home to the Kings of Wurttemburg and is currently the home to the ministries of Baden Wurttemburg state government. I can think of no better place to experience historic beer, than in such a historic palatial setting.

"New Palace"

Until next time,
Prost!