Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
Breweries, beer gardens, beer halls
~German Beer Day, the Feast of St. George, and the Reinheitsgebot~ German Beer Day is almost upon us, which means it’s time to stock up on your lagers so you can celebrate in style. The 23rd of April is a big day in German …
The Alps of Southeastern Bavaria Berchtesgadener Land was once coveted for the wealth of its salt. As the salt trade waned over the course of the nineteenth century, interest in southeastern Bavaria’s spectacular scenery grew. It was a time when Europeans discovered a new …
If you’ve spent any time at all in Germany, chances are you’ve been to Munich. And you may even have visited Salzburg in neighbouring Austria, either on your way to Munich from points east like Vienna or Budapest, or as a day trip from …
Starkbierzeit and the “Fifth Season” You’re rarely at a loss for an excuse to have a beer in Bavaria. You’ve got beer garden season in the warmer months, and Oktoberfest in the fall. You’ve got Maibock season in the spring and a slew of …
On the Old Antique and Second-Hand Market The Trödelstuben’s very name hints at what’s in store inside while also gesturing to the city’s past. It’s a warren of discrete nooks and crannies with wrought iron, coloured glass depicting motifs of Old Nürnberg, wood reliefs …
Guiding Lights A few years back I wrote a series that began with a post called Accounting for My Tastes in Beer and ended with a list of twenty-five beers that had caught my attention over the previous year. Last year I did something …
Every year of beer travel is special in its own way, and 2025 was no different. The past year is a mosaic of beloved places I hadn’t visited for decades, like Japan. Old friends like Munich for Oktoberfest or Bamberg for Bock. Cities I …
~If you’re in the vicinity of Bamberg this weekend, mark Thursday, 21 August to Monday, 25 August on your calendars!~ Where the Altstadt Becomes a Bierstadt For five days in late August, Bambergers gather to commemorate the consecration of the tiny Chapel of …
~Munich Beyond Oktoberfest~ The very sound of the word Munich is enough to conjure up fond memories for fans of German beer, memories of languid afternoons in beer gardens, of joyous and occasionally raucous beer festivals, of winter evenings in beerhalls drinking warming …
Forchheim is the gateway to Franconian Switzerland, a beer region with a density of breweries like no other. Yet if it weren’t for beer, you’d probably only know of Forchheim as a stop on the trainline between Nürnberg and Bamberg. But it wasn’t always …