On the Trail of Regional German Beers
9 Comments Published by Joel May 22nd, 2007 in Beer, Travel. Share This
We’re thinking about spending some time in Berlin late this year. When we mention that, the first thing most people say is, “Of course! You and the beer!” Except that German beer, from my limited time in Germany, seems to have lost its way, as some of the more interesting and esoteric styles have been lost to a non-stop parade of generic pilsners and syrup-sweetened hefeweizen.
It sounds like there are still some good beers to sample, though, and I rather enjoyed Evan Rail’s piece in the Times documenting his travels around Germany sampling the regional styles. Not all the unique styles of German beer have been snuffed yet, but I want to go check them out anyway, just in case.
On a German Beer Trail, One More for the Road [NYTimes.com]
I can’t say that i’ve ever had a german beer that impressed me. There are a couple that i like, but with their reputation, you’d think that there would be some ass-kicking memorable german brews out there, and i don’t find that to be the case. I’m going to denmark in july, and most of what people drink over there is either belgain or german, so i’m guessing i’ll have ample opportunity to investigate the matter further and report back ;)
On a related note, does anybody know of a decent danish beer? My mission is to find one, but it’s looking like that might be a pipe dream.
I mean, really, if you’re willing to go all the way to Germany for beer, you might as well cross over the border for Czech beer. I’ve been told it was better just ten or fifteen years ago (similar problems as with German beer), and it makes me weep, because a lot of it is still REALLY damn good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_beer
I wrote a nice well-thought out reply, but wordpress error ate it. So now, you get the short version.
Go here:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style
Find some Altbeers, Rauchbeers and Swartzbeers that you can get while you’re there.
A little asterisk next to the “Mail” filed would be nice.
Give Pambla over on FP an email. She lived in Germany for years, and can give you some pointers. She’s a particular expert on the beers from Cologne, but is no slouch about the rest of the country.
I spent a year as an Exchange student in Germany my sophomore year of high school. I spent a wonderfully hazy weekend here: http://www.andechs.de/index.asp?lng=en . A gorgeous brewery/monestary with some amazing beer served in 1 liter mugs. Hang out on the terrace that seats roughly 1100 and get tanked with people from every country on this earth. We ended up hanging out with some flamenco musicians.
I forgot to mention – its not even remotely close to Berlin… Although its only a short hike from Munich.
I back up Phil’s point. I was in Berlin and Prague in 2004 and the beers in Prague were generally superior in taste and easier on the budget.
Berlin’s saving grace for me were the sauerkraut and sausages which made up for nasty March weather, all the construction, and even some of the museums being closed for renovation.
I think it’s great that you guys want to “sample” beer. And the best way to sample, is meeting with local people and drinking what they’re drinking. Forget about what you “have to” taste or see. Ask the natives to show you where to find the best beers, and you’ll have a great time.