Will Walk for Beer: Franconian Brews beyond Bamberg

Suppose you have finally made your way to Munich to try all of those harmoniously brewed helles lagers, Bocks, and Hefeweizens. Supposing, too, that you ventured further afield to the iconic breweries that ring Munich, such as Kloster Andechs, Weihenstephan, and Ayinger. What’s the next logical step for the wandering beer drinker bent on trying all that Bavaria has to offer? Known for its Rauchbier (smoked beer) and located in the northern Bavarian region of Franconia, Bamberg would probably top the list. But if Bamberg is the epicenter of Franconian beer, hidden gems await the intrepid beer traveler willing to plunge into the secluded forests and hills near this justifiably renowned brewing center.

After you’ve imbibed the beguiling smoked-beer offerings at Aecht Schlenkerla and Spezial, and after you’ve climbed the Stephansberg to have a cold beer in the shade of the Wilde Rose Bierkeller, it’s time to head to the hills of Franconian Switzerland (Fränkische Schweiz).

A Forest of Beer Gardens: Forchheim’s Kellerwald

Forchheim sits at the western edge of Franconian Switzerland. On your way south from Bamberg, you’ll pass a densely wooded hill that lies to the northeast of Forchheim as you gather in the last few kilometers of your 25-km train ride. Before climbing that rather daunting-looking hill with all those beer gardens, take some time to wend your way through lane upon lane of quaint timbered houses and past Forchheim’s Fischkästen. Hanging a few meters above the Wiesent River, these tiny huts once served to hold the entire catch of the town’s fishermen. From there, head in the direction of Rathausplatz (the town hall square) to fortify yourself for the walk to the Kellerwald with a beer at Brauerei Neder or Brauereigaststätte Hebendanz.

Now’s the perfect time for a brief word about the semantics of beer gardens in Franconia. While no one in Munich or Upper Bavaria will look at you askance for saying you’re going to a beer garden, folks in Franconia have a different way of referring to these leafy oases: Bierkeller, or beer cellars. The reason is historical. As I’ve written about elsewhere, cellars were sunk deep into the hills and the bluffs along rivers both to modulate fermentation temperatures and to keep beer cool in the days before refrigeration. Brewers strewed gravel atop these cellars and planted shallow-rooted chestnut trees to provide extra shade. Before long, they set up tables and chairs so that locals could enjoy beer served up fresh from the cellars. We’ve come to know these places as beer gardens, but Franconians still go to the Bierkeller.

Once you’ve finished your beer in town (Brauerei Neder makes a particularly good Pils, by the way), you can either walk to the Kellerwald or take public transport to the base of the hill. (Bus 261 leaves the train station every half hour. For schedule and map of stops, click here.)

The Kellerwald (cellar forest) bills itself as “the largest beer garden in the world.” With more than twenty breweries serving up quaffable Kellerbier from cellars cut deep into the hill, I wouldn’t be inclined to challenge this claim. Simply hike to the top of the path and start at the first beer garden that’s open for business. (For a map and list of breweries, click here.) The beer gardens and the occasional Wirtshaus (inn serving food and beverages) are right next to each other, so you’ll never have far to go for your next beer in this refreshingly rustic setting. Unsurprisingly, the beer offerings lean heavily toward Kellerbier, an unfiltered and naturally cloudy beer also known as Zwicklbier, and that’s just fine. Try a plate of Stadtwurst mit Musik, a regional dish consisting of thinly sliced Nürnberger sausage and onions in a vinegar marinade.

Of note:

• Opening days and times vary wildly among the individual beer gardens. Mondays and Tuesdays are the least good days to visit.
• If you can plan to visit the Kellerwald on a Sunday between April and the end of October, you can take part in a 5-hour tour (in German) of the Kellerwald and a few of the historic cellars. Tours leave at 4:00 p.m. from the info board at the foot of the Kellerwald. Update, November 2018: The link I originally included for the tour no longer works; be sure to check in with the tourist office before planning on attending the tour or check the following link periodically: https://www.forchheim-erleben.de/de/kulinarik/kellerwald/

Off the Beaten Path in Franconian Switzerland

If the Kellerwald wasn’t enough to quell your enthusiasm for exploring, strap on your hiking boots and make for the remote towns and hamlets of Fränkische Schweiz. As you may have guessed by now, Franconian Switzerland is not in Switzerland. Rather, its scenic landscape alternating between gently rolling hills, enchanting rock formations, eerie caves, and narrow valleys evoked Switzerland in the minds of Romantic poets and artists. Several brewery walks and hikes in this triangle between Bayreuth, Bamberg, and Nürnberg beckon the beer traveler with scenery that will make you feel like you’re wandering through a nineteenth-century etching.

During my most recent trip to Franconia, I opted to hike the “original” Brauereienwanderweg, the brewery path that inspired numerous other communities in the region to create their own brewery trails. Most of these rambles average between 12 and 18 kilometers and wouldn’t take you more than an afternoon to complete. But since you probably want to spend some time in the small breweries and inns along the way, consider booking a room for a night or two in one of the region’s several charming brewery guesthouses.

Brauereigasthof Rothenbach marks the starting point of the well-posted Brauereienwanderweg that takes you to four different breweries in the town of Aufseß and its surrounding hamlets. With a population of 1500 lucky souls and four breweries, Aufseß boasts the highest number of breweries per capita anywhere in the world — that’s one brewery for every 375 inhabitants. Reward yourself for all that effort getting to Aufseß with a toasty amber-coloured Zwickl at Rothenbach before setting out. The trail leaves the town proper and follows a stream up a shaded valley before ascending through a dense copse and past craggy rock formations.

Five kilometers after leaving Brauereigasthof Rothenbach, you’ll come across Brauereigasthof Stadter in the hamlet of Sachsendorf. There, the loquacious innkeeper will regale you with stories about the brewery and the region while serving up the house special, an amber-bronze Landbier that bears a passing similarity to both a lighter-weight Märzen and an Altbier. This latter association is not accidental; according to the innkeeper, this Franconian beer is, in fact, a kind of Altbier, albeit one that is brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast.

From Sachsendorf, the trail sweeps past gently undulating fields hewed out from the forest and bordered here and there by woods before descending into the hamlet of Hochstahl. Brauerei Reichold awaits with its rich Zwickl and, if you’ve worked up an appetite by now, Franconian dishes based on generations-old recipes.

It’s but a few kilometers from Hochstahl to Heckendorf and Kathi-Bräu, a brewery that has built up a cult following among motorcyclists. Find yourself a place to relax in the beer garden if the weather’s nice; otherwise, join the locals inside. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a mug of dunkles Bockbier — among the best I’ve had.

Not much further away through some woods and down a hill is the town of Aufseß, its ensemble of medieval fortress tower, Romanesque church, and baronial palace looming over the Brauereigasthof Rothenbach impressive at sunset. Finish it all off with any of the fine dishes served up at Rothenbach and maybe a Dunkel or Festbier to wash it down. I went for the Press-sack Brotzeit Teller, a local specialty consisting of three kinds of head cheese, liverwurst, and a Landjäger-style smoked sausage. You won’t leave the table hungry.

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At the end of your journey — 15 kilometers and four breweries in all — you’ll get a certificate recognizing you as an “honourary Franconian beer drinker.”

Of note:

• Getting to these places without a car is half the fun. Train service is sparse, and regional busses may only run once or twice per day to your destination, often not on weekends. Plan ahead and make ample use of German-speaking friends if you can’t speak German.
• If you can read German, pick up a copy of Bastian Böttner and Markus Raupach’s 100 Biergarten-Ausflüge für Familien und Entdecker — a wealth of information not only on beer gardens and breweries, but also extremely useful tips on public transportation.
• Pro tip: arrive a good fifteen to twenty minutes early for regional busses. It wouldn’t be the first time that the only bus for the day has arrived well before its posted departure.

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Images

Gebiet der Fränkischen Schweiz, Wiki Commons

All other images by F.D. Hofer

© 2018 F.D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All rights reserved.