Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
Meeting the people who make your beer.
~A Day Trip from Munich~ One of the (many) things I love about beer travel in Bavaria is this: I had just spent the morning hiking around Benediktbeuren and quenching my thirst in the shadow of its magnificent monastery when it occurred to me …
1838 in the Old Town: Düsseldorfer Altbier Düsseldorf is the informal capital of German fashion and home to some of Germany’s most cutting-edge contemporary architecture. Forward-looking as the Düsseldorfers are, the very name of their beloved beer points in the direction of times past: …
An entry from my beer notebook describes a day trip from Brussels in June 2019: “By shortly after noon, I had found my way to Het Anker, the ‘real’ reason for my visit to Mechelen. I love how beer, breweries, and their history get me …
Augustiner is Munich’s retro-hip brewery. That wasn’t always the case. Until relatively recently, Augustiner-Bräu was considered a dusty old brewery. There’s no denying its age: Founded by monks in 1328, Augustiner is Munich’s oldest brewery. But conceptions of tradition change. Today, the brewery’s use …
I’d passed through Traunstein several times on trains between Vienna and Munich and had always been struck by the beauty of its surroundings. The picturesque region is a place of flower-bedecked meadows, old wooden farmhouses, and cows grazing languidly in emerald fields. Situated amid …
For those who just want to get things over with and sign up for my Beerscapes Newsletter, here’s a link that’ll take you to the subscription form. For those who want to know what’s in store, read on! It’s been awhile since I …
Kölsch is part of the very fabric of Cologne, an element of the city’s cultural heritage as important as Carnival. Kölsch is a relatively young style, and it wasn’t until after WWII that Kölsch cemented its status as the premier beer in the city. …
Weihenstephan is a brewing institution steeped in superlatives. The very name of this venerable old brewery north of Munich evokes associations with some of the most respected wheat beers in the world, beers like the style-defining Hefe-Weissbier, and Vitus, a lush Weizenbock. And not …
~Weltenburger Kloster and Its Beers~ The morning fog in Kelheim has just lifted as we walk down the ramp to board the boat. We set sail, passing the imposing Befreiungshalle, the neo-classical hall commemorating the battles that ejected Napoleon and his armies from …
Ayinger is affectionately known as Munich’s “country brewery,” and it’s easy to see why. When you take the train out from Munich, the cityscape gives way to the industrial margins of the city, and then suddenly you’re on a broad green plain with gently …