Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
Meeting the people who make your beer.
~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 …
~Beers, breweries, and beer gardens in Bad Tölz, Tegernsee, Kloster Reutberg, and Benediktbeuern~ Munich has it all for the beer drinker. And if that’s not enough, breweries like Ayinger, Kloster Andechs, and Weihenstephan fan out at various points along Munich’s regional train network. …
You’ll come to Kloster Reutberg for the beer and stay for the Alps. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, the panoramic view from Kloster Reutberg’s terrace is one of the best beer garden views in Bavaria. If you get here in the …
Kloster Andechs occupies a central place in the pantheon of German brewing. Founded by Benedictine monks in 1455, Kloster Andechs has been offering hospitality to weary pilgrims ever since. Now run by the Benedictine Abbey of St. Boniface in Munich, Kloster Andechs is the largest …
“I’m heading off on the Fünf Seidla Steig beer hike next weekend,” I said to a friend back home last spring. “A beer hike?” he asked rather incredulously. “There’s such a thing?” Indeed, there is. And it’s a wildly popular pastime in the Alpine …
Weissenohe at the Gateway to Franconian Switzerland It’s a gloomy afternoon in late spring made slightly brighter by the cheerful yellow canola in full bloom and the several shades of green fields spread over the hills like a patchwork quilt. The bus from Forchheim …
Tucked away in northeastern Bavaria on the Czech border, the Oberpfalz is home to Zoigl, a beer style brewed the same way it was a century ago. But Zoigl is more than a beer style. It’s an ethos upholding a tradition that has long since …
Belgium’s compact size and its efficient transportation network make it a paradise for beer travelers. Say you’re staying in Brussels and want to head to Antwerp or Bruges for lunch and a few cultural excursions, followed by drinks in classic beer cafes. You can easily …
It was my last day in Bamberg, and the sun had finally dispersed all the clouds, gloriously illuminating the fall foliage. I had just spent the late morning hours at Greifenklau and still had a few hours before my train. The gravitational pull of Aecht …