The "Beer Me" Blog

Tuesday, 23 June 2009: Isny im Allgäu and Bad Waldsee

2009-06-23T23:59:00.008-06:00

Yesterday: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

I finally got my wireless connection working today. Turns out I was trying to connect to the <headslap>wrong network</headslap>.

We bought an twelve-euro all-day DING ticket for the buses to Brauerei Stolz in Isny im Allgäu. Real good beer and more food than I could eat.

Brauerei Stolz / Gaststätte Engel, Isny im Allgäu

Stolz Isnyer Hopfen Perle

Stolz Dunkles Weizen

Stolz Hefeweizen hell

Stolz Blaubändele

Stolz Isnyer Zunftbier

We got on the bus for Bad Waldsee, and the driver said our DING ticket is no good on the BODO lines, and he charged us another twelve euro for that 1½-hour ride.

Having missed the bus at Bad Waldsee, we walked a mile or so to the Mühlbergstüble and had a tasty Steinacher beer. The Mühlbergstüble is a nice bar that's probably lots of fun when it's busy, but we were the only people in the place at 4:00pm.

Mühlbergstüble, Bad Waldsee

Steinacher Hausbräu

We walked back to the train station just in time to see our train pull out. Just as well, since we didn't have tickets. We waited 50 minutes in the rain for the next train, nursing Choo's injured hand all the while. (I'll let her post those details.) We arrived in Biberach at 6:10pm, and nobody ever asked us for the tickets we bought.

Tomorrow: Bad Schussenried and Tettnang

Monday, 22 June 2009: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

2009-06-22T23:59:00.001-06:00

Yesterday: Travel days

Just like last time, I can't get the hotel's internet connection to work with my machine nor on Paris', so there might be some delays in posting my notes.

Choo and I got on a bus headed for Ehingen. Near the end of the trip, the driver asked why we were going there, and I told him we needed to change to a different bus to go to Zwiefaltendorf. He asked which bus, then what time it was scheduled to leave, which happened to be in about two minutes. He started hollering at the car in front of us to "Geh! Geh!", and he pointed us at the bus we needed, and we made the change just in time.

The bus made a turn by a sign saying it was only two kilometers to Zwiefaltendorf, so I figured we'd want the next stop and pushed the button. The next stop, however, was Datthausen Kapelle, about a kilometer short of Zwiefaltendorf, so we walked the rest of the way. Funny thing: about halfway there, the bus had made its u-turn and passed us going the other way. The driver looked amusingly confused.

Blank's Brauerei, Zwiefaltendorf

They are friendly people at Blank's, and the beers were good, and so was the food. The senior Herr Blank allowed us to walk around his 130-hectoliter (111-barrel) brewhouse and distillery, and he seemed quite interested in the American brewing scene.

Blank's Spezial Dunkel

Blank's Weisse

Blank's Pilsener naturtrüb

Blank's Edelbier

Our next target was nearby Zwiefalter Klosterbräu. The bus would have taken nearly an hour to get us there — if we hadn't already missed it anyway — so Choo decided we should walk. Five kilometers. Along a highway. In the rain. Bad idea immediately after lunch and beers. My stomach reacted like it did in København, but much less violently.

We did manage to get there in the end.

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu, Zwiefalten

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu is a fairly big brewery with a fairly big Gaststätte attached. We didn't eat there, but we did manage a few of their beers.

Zwiefalter Kloster-Weizen Hefetrüb

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu Spezial Export

Zwiefalter Kloster-Pils

Zwiefalter Abt Beda naturtrüb

We waited most of an hour for the bus to Biberach via Riedlingen, and got back to the hotel just after 6:00pm. I still can't get the wireless internet to connect.

Tomorrow: Isny im Allgäu and Bad Waldsee

Sunday, 21 June 2009: Biberach an der Riß

2009-06-21T23:59:00.000-06:00

This year's third trip to Oberschwaben begins! Follow along here, and check out the map.

Our flights — Omaha to Minneapolis to Amsterdam — were uneventful, which is always a good thing. Choo, having flown non-stop from San Francisco, was waiting (and by waiting, I mean sleeping) at the departure gate in Amsterdam, and we all flew to Stuttgart together. We had time for a couple of beers in an airport bar before the long train ride to Biberach. We arrived at our hotel around 6:00pm and had dinner and a couple of beers before hitting the sack.

Tomorrow: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

Oberschwaben itinerary

2009-06-15T18:43:00.006-06:00

Here's what we'll try to accomplish during next week's trip to Oberschwaben:

Sunday, June 21: Arrive in Biberach an der Riß around 5:30pm and check into the Hotel Drei König.
Monday, June 22: Brauerei Blank in Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalter Klosterbräu in Zwiefalten. The bus schedules are such that we might walk the 5 kilometers between the two breweries rather than wait for a bus to take us via Riedlingen.
Tuesday, June 23: Brauerei Gasthof Engel (Ausschank for Brauerei Stolz) in Isny im Allgäu and Mühlbergstüble Gaststätte (Ausschank for Steinacher Hausbräu) in Bad Waldsee.
Wednesday, June 24: Gasthof Goldener Löwen (Ausschank for Königsegger WalderBräu) in Königseggwald and Schussenrieder Brauerei in Bad Schussenried.
Thursday, June 25: Gaststätte zur Traube (Ausschank for Adlerbrauerei Gebhard Föhr) in Ehingen-Rißtissen and Pflugbrauerei Gnann in Langenau-Hörvelsingen.
Friday, June 26: We'll rent a car and drive from Biberach an der Riß to Hirschbrauerei Flözlingen; brewer/malter/distiller/owner Rolf Schittenhelm has shown us such a good time on our past couple of visits, I can't resist stopping by again. If time and sobriety allow, we'll try to stop at one or more of these breweries on the way to our hotel at the Stuttgart airport:
- Gasthausbrauerei Sonne in Herrenzimmern
- Schwanen Bräu in Bernhausen
- Hausbrauerei Schloßturm in Stuttgart-Möhringen
Saturday, June 27: Das grüne U is a series of parks in central Stuttgart that happens to be dotted with beer gardens. (Thanks to Choo for finding out about it!) We'll likely spend the day strolling from beer to beer if the weather is nice. If it's not, there are several brewpubs in Stuttgart Mitte that are worth a visit.
Sunday, June 28: Our flight leaves Stuttgart at 6:30am.

The Google Earth map is posted at beerme.com.

Buy my house!

2009-06-12T14:37:00.004-06:00

41.430598° N, 97.365145°W

Listing at realtor.com

Gottberg's new brewer

2009-06-02T09:25:00.004-06:00

I just heard from my former assistant Jeremy Kirby; he says he's been hired to take over the brewing operations at Gottberg when I leave.

I wish him all the luck in the world; I know he's more than capable of handling the job. Hey, maybe he and Sara can buy my house!

Back to Biberach

2009-05-28T11:56:00.003-06:00

For the third time already this year, we're headed back to Germany! Biberach an der Riß will be the home base again, along with a couple of days in Stuttgart. We'll arrive on Sunday, June 21 and fly home early Sunday, June 28.

I'm hoping to be able to visit at least ten breweries, but we'll see how that goes. As always, I'm putting together a Google Earth map of the routes and targets; you can find that map at beerme.com.

Two weeks notice

2009-05-28T11:35:00.002-06:00

It's time to move on: I gave my notice to Gottberg yesterday. Paris and I bought a house in Omaha, aptly-named "The Porter House". My last day at the brewery will be Wednesday, June 10, and our first day in the new house will be Tuesday, June 30.

I'll still have to make a thousand gallons of root beer before I go, and I should probably brew another batch of Pale Ale, but that's about it. As for the 715 pounds of Weyermann Rauchmalz in the cellar...well, I do regret that I won't be brewing the Rauchdoppelbock that I had planned.

Once we get organized in Omaha, I'll build a new half-barrel homebrew system^* and start making beer again. I'll keep the blog alive for that process; it's still "A Brewer's Life" after all.

As for a job, I don't have anything in the works. There are a few groups of people there that are thinking of building new breweries, and I can maybe consult for them at first, and brew for them if the situation is right. There are also rumors of expansions of existing breweries, but nothing very specific. In any case, there will be a lot more opportunities in Omaha than there are in Columbus.

^*Does anyone out there remember the one I had at the Big Pink House in Oshkosh and/or in Clear Lake? And do you have pictures? I don't think I actually took any.

Oktoberfest beer Maß prices bubble over

2009-05-20T10:14:00.004-06:00

In what has become an annual ritual, beer prices at Munich's Oktoberfest are going up again.

Visitors to Munich’s world-famous beer bash Oktoberfest will have to dig even deeper in their pockets for a one-litre Maß of delicious amber nectar this year, with prices set to climb up to €8.60 per mug.

The city’s tourist office announced on Wednesday that a Maß will run revellers a minimum of €0.30 more than last year. Prices for non-alcoholic drinks will also be more expensive, with water costing on average €6.63 per litre and soda costing a hefty €7.44.

Read the whole story at The Local.

Steppin' out for a smoke

2009-05-15T09:25:00.003-06:00

Here's an interesting take on prohibitionism from an interesting source:

English musician and Berlin resident Joe Jackson explains why he’s delighted Germany’s smoking ban appears to be unravelling faster than a self-rolled cigarette.

Having lived in Berlin for the better part of three years, I’ve been asked to write something about my ‘right’ to smoke here. But I’m not sure I have one. The real question, I think, is: who has the right to forbid me to smoke, and on what grounds? Consider the following:

(1) Tobacco is legal in Germany.
(2) Smokers are adults.
(3) Smokers contribute enormous amounts of tax revenue.
(4) Pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants are private property.
(5) If some people don’t like smoke, this is a matter of taste and therefore for the free market to sort out, not the government.
(6) A decent modern ventilation system can render smoke virtually unnoticeable.
(7) ‘Second-hand,’ or ‘passive’ smoke hurts no one anyway.

Every aspect of our personal lives is being dictated, more and more, by unelected and unaccountable bodies like the WHO or various bit of the EU bureaucracy. If you don’t smoke, you may think it’s none of your business. But don’t kid yourself. If you’re a few pounds ‘overweight,’ or drink more than two government-defined ‘units’ of alcohol per day, or eat ‘unhealthy’ foods, then you’re next in line to be scapegoated and stigmatised, denied health care or insurance, denied jobs or housing, forbidden to adopt children...the list is growing daily.

Read Jackson's entire column at The Local.

2009 Graduation Season

2009-05-12T10:40:00.002-06:00

At least 10% of Gottberg's annual root beer sales will occur this weekend. That's why there hasn't been much on the schedule lately, besides filling kegs and making root beer.

Things should get back to normal (whatever that means) starting next week.

15th Annual Green Bay Rackers Titletown Open Homebrew Competition

2009-04-27T11:09:00.005-06:00

Paris and I were in Green Bay this weekend to judge at the Titletown Open Homebrew Competition. We've been fortunate to attend the past eleven of their fifteen events, ever since my first year at Egan Brewing.

Before the first night's judging, we met some friends in Appleton at Stone Cellar Brewpub.

Left to right: Don Goen, Jon Jorgenson, Paris Cunningham, Richard Stueven, Loriann Andersen, Dan Pleshek

The Titletown Open, held at Titletown Brewing, set records this year with 159 entries and 20 judges over two days.

Scenes from Titletown Open XV

There were a lot of great beers entered this year. The Best of Show winner was a magnificent Eisbock. I gave it 45 points out of 50, the first time I've rated a beer that high at a competition. I noted that while it wasn't EKU 28, it was at least EKU 23.

Not even close

2009-04-20T10:50:00.003-06:00

Last week didn't go according to plan. Not even close. But then that seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

I had planned to brew three or even four times; I brewed a batch of All American Gold on Monday, and that was it.

The yeast wasn't active enough on Tuesday to kräusen a new batch, so I worked on my brewery record-keeping software instead.

I got a root beer order from Lincoln to be delivered on Thursday, so I spent Wednesday filling kegs, and dumping the disappointing Maibock. A busload of people came in for a not-really-a-tour; instead of actually walking through the brewery, they just wanted me to talk about what I do around here.

I forgot to mention that I ran out of root beer on Wednesday, so I had to steal some from the pub's tank Thursday morning before hitting the road.

I picked up 1300 pounds of sugar Friday morning, and made 14 barrels of root beer Friday afternoon to fill the two empty tanks in the cellar. Also, my Weyermann Rauchmalz arrived, so I need to schedule the brews leading up to the Smoked Doppelbock.

I probably should have brewed some Tin Lizzie Hefeweizen today, but the remaining 800 pounds of sugar was still in the brewhouse, so I made 21 barrels of root beer instead. A gasket failed on one of the holding tanks, and a barrel and a half or so ended up on the floor by the time I fixed it.

Tomorrow I'll clean the draft lines and brew the Hefeweizen. Wednesday I'll clean and fill kegs. No plans for Thursday yet. Friday, Paris and I are going to Green Bay for the annual Titletown Open Homebrew Competition. If you happen to be in Appleton, Wisconsin this Friday afternoon, come have a beer with us at the Stone Cellar Brewpub!

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State of the Brewery Address: April 2009

2009-04-10T10:42:00.005-06:00

So I haven't posted anything about A Brewer's Life since ... (looking back) ... late February, it seems. So rather than catching up all the mundane details — and they have been mundane — I'll just provide the current state of the brewery and beers, and try to start again.

What's on tap? Seven beers, which is probably one too many.

Bugeater Brown Ale (3 barrels)
Uncle Ivan's Dunkelweizen (2 barrels)
Impromptu Pale Ale (6½ barrels)
Tin Lizzie Hefeweizen (7 barrels)
All American Gold (6½ barrels)
1916 Irish Stout (5½ barrels)
Papa Dale's Amber Ale (3½ barrels)

The Dunkelweizen is showing its age, and the Stout and Amber aren't moving at all.

What's in the tanks? Not a whole hell of a lot. Of the eleven fermenters, two of which are only used as holding tanks for root beer, ten are empty. The eleventh contains this year's Stüvenbräu Maibock, which didn't ferment out, and which is tasting pretty tart, and which I'll probably dump out early next week.

What's coming up? The problem with the Maibock seems to be that I underpitched the wort. So before I brew anything special again, I need to build up my yeast stocks. I figure that if I brew three beers on consecutive days, pitching each wort with kräusen beer from the previous day's batch, I can harvest one tank for future beers, and harvest the other two to pitch into a single strong beer. I'm leaning toward that strong beer being a Rauchbock. So next week, I'll probably brew a Gold, a Brown, and a (don't know yet), then brew the Rauchbock two weeks later. Which means I need to order the smoked malt, like, today.

What else is coming up? KJ gave me a list of beers he'd like me to brew.

Altbier
Amber/Red
Brown
Doppelbock
Dubbel
Dunkel
Dunkelweizen
German IPA
Hefeweizen
Helles/Gold
Hopfenweisse
Imperial Oktoberfest
Imperial Porter
Kellerbier
Kölsch
Maibock
Oktoberfest/Märzen
Pale Ale
Porter
Quad
Rauchbier
Roggenbier
Ryebock
Schwarz
Stout/Cream
Tripel
Weihnachtsbier
Weizenbock
Wheatwine

So, yeah, that oughta keep me busy for a while. I'm just wondering who we're going to sell all this beer to.

Huber Haus Bockfest 2009

2009-03-28T23:59:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Choo for these pictures of this year's Bockfest at the Huber Haus in Omaha!

Thursday, 26 March 2009: Neu-Ulm, Ulm, and Freising

2009-03-26T23:59:00.013-06:00

Yesterday: Berg and Ehingen/Donau

(The complete Google Earth map of this week's adventures is available here.)

Paris knew that her meeting would run late today, so rather than take the train to Munich and arrive around midnight, she decided we should rent a car and drive there. So this morning Choo and I picked up a Volkswagen Polo — with a handy TomTom navigation device — at the nearby Budget office and headed for Neu-Ulm.

Fine German Engineering

We zipped up the B30 to Neu-Ulm and found Brauerei-Gasthof Schlössle. The beers were excellent, the food was satisfying, and the coffee was necessary.

Brauerei-Gasthof Schlössle, Neu-Ulm

Schlössle Zwickel

Schlössle Spezial Märzen

Schlössle Hefeweizen

After lunch, Christoph the "Lerner-Brauer" kindly gave us a tour of the "new" (2005) brewhouse.

Scenes from Schlössle

Not far from Schlössle is Brauhaus Barfüßer Neu-Ulm. It's one member of a small brewpub chain; the other two locations are in Ulm and Heilbronn.

Brauhaus Barfüßer, Neu-Ulm

Barfüßer Blonde

Barfüßer Schwarze

Barfüßer Weiße, the highest-scoring beer on the trip!

Barfüßer's grounds abut the Danube River.

Ulm, from Neu-Ulm

Choo dips the Donau

With several hours to kill, we drove into the heart of Ulm and wandered around a while.

This monument stands on the site of Albert Einstein's birthplace, which was destroyed in the firebombing of 1944. The Albert Einstein Memorial McDonald's is visible in the background.

We encountered the former Brauhaus Drei Kannen, which is now a Gasthaus and Biergarten. They commission a beer from Gold Ochsen that's served under the Drei Kannen name.

Historisches Brauhaus Drei Kannen, Ulm

Drei Kannen Spezial

The B30 took us back to Biberach, where we picked up Paris around 7:00pm, then we were off to Freising. Most of the trip was on the Autobahn. For most Americans, Autobahn driving is exhilarating, the closest we'll come to driving a race car. It requires a great deal of attention and even more driving skill than on our freeways, and it's great fun. I got our VW Polo up to 180 km/h (110 mph), but the front end started feeling a little light, so I backed off to 160 km/h (100 mph) for most of the trip. We arrived at our hotel just after 9:00pm.

After checking in, we decided to visit one last brewery, the famous Brauerei Weihenstephan, just a couple of kilometers from the hotel. The oldest brewery in the world, founded in 1040, brews some of the best beer in the world. And the food here is pretty damn good too.

Bräustüberl Weihenstephan, Freising

A brief history of Weihenstephan

Weihenstephaner Tradition Dunkel

Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel

Weihenstephaner Korbinian

Weihenstephaner Vitus

Tomorrow:The trip home, uneventful, unworthy of an article

Wednesday, 25 March 2008: Berg and Ehingen/Donau

2009-03-25T23:59:00.011-06:00

Yesterday: Bamberg to Biberach

We didn't plan on leaving Biberach and starting today's brewery tours until 11:00am, so Choo and I spent the morning wandering around town and checking out the view from the Weisser Turm.

Weisser Turm, Biberach an der Riß

Biberach an der Riß

"Spring, he says." Choo was led to expect nicer weather than we experienced this week.

A half-hour bus ride got us to Berg. We passed the Warthausen malthouse along the way. There used to be a brewery here, but no more.

Warthausen Malz, near Biberach

Brauerei Berg is a bigger brewery than I expected, in a very small town near the Danube River. The beers were pretty good, and the Maultaschen were excellent.

Brauerei Berg, Ehingen/Donau-Berg

Berg Original, UlrichsBier, and Hefe-Weizen

Berg Bräumeisterpils and Märzen

Berg Schäfleshimmel

Berg Spezial

Berg Kristallweizen

Berg advertises in Biberach

Brauerei Rößle in Ehingen/Donau is a small brewery in a bigger town, and it's just three bus stops away from Berg.

Brauerei Rößle, Ehingen/Donau

The brewer, the 7th-generation of the family that has owned the brewery since 1833, happened to be there, and he gave us a quick tour. It's an 80-hectoliter brewhouse producing 3000 hl per year, 80% of which is sold for distribution.

Scenes from Brauerei Rößle, Ehingen/Donau

They had three very tasty beers on tap today:

Rößle Helles

Rößle Dunkles

Rößle Edel-Ross

The plan was to catch a bus at Ehingen Bahnhof and head back to Biberach, but nature called us instead to the nearby Brauerei Schwert, which I had visited last year.

And at the end of the night, we had a glass of Zwiefalter Pils with our fajitas at El Poco Loco in Biberach.

Tomorrow: Neu-Ulm, Ulm, and Freising

Tuesday, 24 March 2009: Bamberg to Biberach

2009-03-24T23:59:00.003-06:00

Yesterday: Bamberg

Our train from Bamberg to Biberach was scheduled to leave around 1:30pm, so we had a whole morning to kill. Paris unfortunately had to work, so she headed to the nearby Internet cafe, while Choo and I went into the Altstadt for some last minute souvenir hunting. She dragged me into a shop full of beer steins and spent a great deal of time carefully picking out her gifts.

Then it was my turn. But on the way, we ran into Brian and Liz one last time, on the upper Altes Rathaus bridge. We all traded pictures and said goodbye. Again.

Liz and Brian at the Altes Rathaus

Choo & me at the Altes Rathaus

Altes Rathaus, Bamberg

My first shopping-stop was zum Dominikaner, where we enjoyed some fine Gemütlichkeit late Sunday evening. They sell a "Bamberger Beer Basket" containing a bottle of beer from each Bamberger brewery, a commemorative stein, and some other goodies, and they even ship to America! So mine should arrive shortly after we get home.

Stop #2 was Schlenkerla, to pick up a Krug for KJ, who is doing a fine job as my beer salesman.

Finally, just down the street from Schlenkerla, is the Bamberger Trachtenstadl. With Bockfest 2009 coming up in Omaha on Saturday, I wanted some appropriate garb. I think what I got will do nicely.

Richard's Trachten, von Hut bis Schuhe

Choo and I got back to Spezial at noon, an hour after we told Paris we'd meet her there. (I blame Choo's dawdling at the stein store.) Paris was fuming because it turned out she didn't have to work after all, but at least she had some Spezial Märzen to calm her down. We had lunch and trudged to the Bahnhof.

Four trains and five hours later, we arrived in Biberach. Our hotel, Drei König, is conveniently located in the Marktplatz, and they serve beer from Brauerei Berg. I don't have any pictures here, because we're going to Berg tomorrow already.

Hotel Drei König, Biberach an der Riß

Tomorrow: Berg and Ehingen/Donau

Monday, 23 March 2008: Bamberg

2009-03-23T23:59:00.006-06:00

Yesterday: Bamberg

We have an ambitious plan today: visit as many Bamberger breweries as possible to try all of the different Bockbeers available this time of year.

Our ambitious Bamberg plan

Our first stop was Fässla, directly across the street from Spezial.

Brauerei Fässla, Bamberg

Fässla Zwergla

Fässla Lagerbier

They didn't have any Bock, and we weren't ready for lunch yet, so we headed for Klosterbräu.

Klosterbräu Bamberg

Klosterbräu Maibock

Klosterbräu Braunbier

We did better here, and the beers were much better than they were when we last visited, six years ago. Then suddenly our new-found friends, beer drinkers, and card players, Brian and Liz magically appeared, and we had a few more beers and we played a few more cards. It got to be 5:00pm already, so we decided to eat at Klosterbräu too.

Choo, Paris, Richard, and Brian

There are a couple of beer bars in the area, so we headed up the hill to Tapas for a half-liter or two.

Tapas, Bamberg

Reckendorfer Kellerbier

There used to be a bar at the top of the hill in Laurenziplatz called "zum Ösi"; Paris and I had visited it in 2003. The bartender at Klosterbräu told us that it was a wine bar that had closed some time ago, but I remembered seeing references to a "zum Ösi" in a different part of town. Since it was on the way back to the hotel anyway, we looked it up, and it turns out that they had closed the one on the hill and opened a new bar with the same name. The decor was much more subdued — no witches nor skeletons hanging from the ceiling — but it is a nice place with real good beers.

zum Ösi, Bamberg

Huppendorfer Hefeweizen. (I forgot to photograph the Huppendorfer Josefi-Bock.)

The owner was working the bar, and I told him that we had visited the old location six years ago, which he found amusing. When I went to pay the bill a little later, I found him looking at a moderately-popular beer web site.

Beer Me! at zum Ösi

It turns out that he remembered us from six years ago, and we all had a good small-world laugh.

A walk in the rain back to Spezial finished yet another long fun night.

Tomorrow: Bamberg to Biberach

Sunday, 22 March 2009: Bamberg

2009-03-23T03:37:00.012-06:00

I really need to catch this blog up one of these days. No time now, though: the brewpubs here in Bamberg open in a few minutes, and today (Monday) is the only full day we'll have here. We arrived yesterday (Sunday) early in the afternoon. We're staying at Brauerei Spezial, and of course we had to try all of the beers there. Several times. We met a couple from Colorado and got into a Schafkopf game. Gaststätte Stilbruch for a couple of beers. Enjoyed a few Rauchbier at Schlenkerla. Meant to visit Brauerei Ambräusianum, but got there minutes after closing time. (They're not open Monday, so it will have to wait until next time.) Accidentally found zum Dominkaner and had plenty more beers and Schnapps before calling it a night.

Choo on the train from Flughafen München

Röhrl Edler Sud from Yorma's in the München Hauptbahnof

Zirndorfer Landbier from Döner Point in the Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof

Brauerei Spezial, Bamberg

The view from our hotel room at Spezial, facing the brewhouse. The keen-eyed observer will note the tub of spent grain in the lower-right of the picture.

Spezial Märzen

Spezial Lager

Spezial Ungespundetes

Liz and Brian, beer drinkers and Schafkopf players from Golden, Colorado

Schlenkerla Holzfass

Gasthaus-Brauerei Ambräusianum, Bamberg

zum Dominkaner, Bamberg

Tomorrow: Bamberg

And a good time was had by all

2009-03-15T16:18:00.005-06:00

I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout last night at the Brass Monkey, where we re-introduced our Impromptu Pale Ale to Omaha. More importantly, Chief Monkeys Kevin and Maria seemed pretty happy with the beer's reception as well. Kevin said he'll probably need a couple more kegs this week already; I'll have to take them Friday, since I'll be in town anyway.

Thanks to everybody who showed up! We'll do it again just as soon as KJ lines up another account for us.

On Tap at the Brass Monkey

2009-03-14T09:31:00.003-06:00

After a years-long absence, Gottberg beer has once again found a regular home in Omaha! I delivered two kegs of Impromptu Pale Ale along with the last keg of Wrecking Ball Weizenbock to the Brass Monkey, located at 36th & V Streets in South Omaha. This is the same batch of Pale that Kevin and Maria (the Brass Monkeys themselves) brewed with me on January 29.

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Appropriately, we're having an Impromptu release party there this evening, and with luck, we'll have an Impromptu polka band on hand as well. If you're in town, stop by for a pint!

The Wrecking Ball is the bad-assest tap handle ever.

Thanks to KJ Harnack for his persistence in lining up our wholesaler, and to Kevin and Maria for their patience!

Bavarian brewers strike

2009-03-02T08:26:00.002-06:00

This could be very bad news indeed.

In terrifying news for Weißbier fans, Bavarian beer brewers staged temporary strikes on Monday morning in an ongoing wage dispute with employers in the southern German state.

Some 40 workers at Munich’s beloved Augustiner brewery walked off their jobs at 5:30 am, along with 50 at the Spaten brewery and others at the Kulmbacher brewery, the union reported.

Read the whole story at The Local.

Bierdeckel from Kronen-Brauerei Laupheim

2009-02-23T17:22:00.003-06:00

I didn't have anyplace else on the site to put this. It's supposed to be an animated GIF that rotates, but if it doesn't move, you'll just have to turn your monitor upside down.

New beers on tap and in the tank

2009-02-23T12:37:00.003-06:00

Three brews last week: that's a lot, considering I brew on average every twelve days or so. Seven barrels each of All American Gold, Stüvenbräu Maibock (thanks to Tom for doing the hard work), and 1916 Irish Stout.

Papa Dale's Amber Ale got tapped last Friday. It's amber all right, and it's very hazy, and it tastes more like a Kellerbier than an Amber Ale. I guess that's not a bad thing, but it's not at all what I had in mind when I brewed it. They went through a whole keg of it this weekend, mostly due to our "buy one, get another for a penny" promotion. I'll have one out of the second keg with lunch today and see how I like it.

This morning, I took apart and scrubbed all of the beer faucets before cleaning the lines. There was lots of guck built up, so the beers should taste better now. And I'm just about done cleaning the three dozen or so kegs here in the cellar.