Terrier's Vacation - Starkziet in Bayern

General Beer Discussion by BRADPEAR

Obeservations and opinions mine alone. Spelling and typos, please pardon. My girlfrined's stay in Deutschland was coming to an end (she was to leave on the 10th of March), so it was time to hit the Trail of Tears that would take her to Frankfurt, and back to dem USA. We want to make it memorable, so we set out to see my Friends in Passau (aka Passout) and hit Munchen on the way. This time EuroCar served up a 106 PS golf, not near as powerful as the diesel Bug we got last time, but hey it is four wheels and rolls. We left the old Black Forest and headed East. On the way to Munchen we stopped in the town of Dachau. I have to say, this is a must see. The story was nothing like the version I got in the states. No punches are pulled here, go see it, and tell me 'bout it In Muchen we started with a cluster of Museums, collections really, that included: Easter Bunnies, pisspots, thundermugs, peddle cars, Angels, and the Sissi Museum. If you want to see the Heil Hitler Easter Egg (I kid you not) and several others pics, they are at lxw.com-pic of the day. Well, after a concentration camp and the Easter Bunnies we strolled down to the Schneider WeissHaus to check out the brews. There we consumed way too much Aventinus and Eis Bock. As I have mentioned, it is my opinion Aventinus is one of the best travelled biers you can get in the states, with the excamples, very close to what you get over here. That was until the trip to Munchen, the Aventinus at the WeissHaus there is best of the best. It was cold and sleet outside, but in the Haus all was warm and rosy. The Eis bock is perfect, and the regular Dunkle there is damn nice as well. This is Munchen, the most expensive city in Deutschland, so be prepares to handover 3.5 Euro for a half liter, and 3 for .33 liter of the Eis Bock. If this was not enough, we headed back to Perlach, took the terrier out for a bomb run and then went to Forschungs Brauerei in Perlach. For you Bore of Beer fans, this is his favorite stop in Munchen. In spite of that, this is a very small and little known brewery with a strong local following. I have taken long time Munchen residents there for their first time. The bier is excellent. Again, not cheap, 6.5 Euro a liter, but the Heller bock is the best excample you could hope to find. Food is damn good, and the c rowd is friendly to a fault. The S-6 takes you there, and if this isn't enough, get back on the train and head to Aying, a little further down the line... Morgen found us not with the Kata, but we were still a bit wasted after an afternoon and evening of stark biers. Starkzeit, strong bier time, happens in the Fall in the Forest where I live. In Bayern, it is a short fest traditionally one week before and after the 18th of March, ST. Joseph's Day. Some of the big outfits in Munchen, brew bocks year round, but most only produce them at starkzeit, and in Mai. While all bocks are stark, not all starks are bocks, more on that in a bit. Around noon we left for Passau, took the wrong route and eneded up in the back country of Eastern Bayern. You will note by the dates mentioned we are a bit early to for the main fest time. True to fact, in numerous small villages, and towns, there are posters for the coming starkzeit. Being a Sunday, all the stores are closed along with the Getranken Markts (aka get drinking markets) so I was not able to stop every 2k and check out the selections. At this time let me say while much is mentioned about pubs, taverns, and breweries, the best bet to find an excellent selection of brew is in what he Deutsch call Getranken Markts, and the Belgis call Beer Barns. After three hours, we finally pulled in to the lovely ole city of Passau, and a cold rain and sleet greeted us. After finding a great place to stay that serves Innstadt brau, I called my friend and we went about 20k outta Passau and had a wonderful evening with my old pal Klaus and his wife Elfie. The food was off the scale, roasted pork from hand raised swine, home made dinkle bread, sourkraut, and hand made kunudle, I spelled it wrong for sure. The biers Klaus produce were from within 10k of his home. They included the excellent Aldersbacher Export (.5 Euros .5liter) a Pils from down the street that was just perfect, and a Braun bier to write home about. Having to drive we cut the drinking short, and promised to meet the next day for a go at the Donau valley, and beyond to Austria. When we got home my gal and I dove into the Innstadt Weissbock. This is another unique wheatbock, that I have tried in depth on two occasions. The first batch was liquid banana nutbread, this batch was more of a spice cake with chocolate undertones. Morgen found us ready for the road, and to get gassed up we stopped a a small place for a pig liver ball and loe and behold a Bock from some local outift. The bock was perfect, with a slight burnt taste, and no sweetness. My friend had the Dunkle as he was to drive, and both biers were peas outa the same pod, on just 25% stronger then the other. Since this is a bier post, I will quickly run us down the Donau valley, up to a monestary in Austria with decomposed bodies in glass coffins lining the wall, back to old Passau and a place I have been to twice but never can figure how to spell the name do to the old style of the letters. This was once a monestary, and they served up a stark brown bier that was designed to do on thing: get you smashed and happy. This is a point to go into the starkbier vs. bock story. Later in the year, a bock will come from this brewery, but at this time, they serve a Braun bier that is stronger then the normal version. There is none of the maltz or heavy body I associate with bocks, just a strong excellent tasting bier. Here in the Forest, we have similar brews. My girl knocked back two liters of this stuff, along with three weisswurts, and some bretzels that has a pastry like quality to them. A perfect time, in a great old town. We said our goodbyes, and headed back to the room for an early start. On the way to the last nite for my girl in Deutschland we decided to have one more evening in Bamberg. On the way, being it was Tuesday, I stopped at several Getranken markts on the way an found some delights I will share with you. In Regensburg, I stopped at a small mart and found Eichator, an 8% Dopplebock/dunkles starkber that is a real sleeper. This bier is another of the full bodied, full flavor brews of Bayern, that is not sweet, very drinkable, and STARK. A .33 liter bottle was .65 Euros; depp I am I bought only three. I also picked up a Weltenburg Assam bock for old times sake, and a bottle of the excellent Keitninger bock as well. One the way to Bamburg, we hit a markt that had maybe 25 if not 30 different breweries from the Franken region. I found a Monchshof bock I had not seen in 20 years in the states, and Kitneer bock. Kitneer is of the Slavator style, the Monchshof less sweet with a sour note to it. Both very fine indeed, and now an observation: You will note out of 30 odd breweries there were only two local bocks. I was in the area early, starkziet in Franken is in the fall, but this is an oppertunity to pass on some info I have gleaned from working in the bier trade in ths states and drinking here in Deutschland. Most locals don't like to consume starkbiers as daily drinkers, in fact, many of the large outfits will not brew bocks and starkes because the demand is not there. However, being a tradition, the locals do get a thirst up for starks and bocks in Mai, and once or twice more in the bier year. At the Terrier, 4 bocks a year are produced, an oddity in todays market Ok, off the soapbox,and on to Bamberg. Learne to pronounce berg and burg very well, because you can ask for a ticket at the train staion, or for directions driving, and end up far from where you wanted to go if you can say Berg and Burg correctly. A berg, is a mountain, a BURG is a city that once was a fortress, walled city, or one with an old castle about the area. Near the Terrier we have Burg Berg just for good measure, and ther is the ruins of and old castle there, which is not uncommon in the wherwolf invested Black Forest. We stayed at Fassla, which has one of strongest, and best bokcs in the country in OCTOBER, so being March, we settled for a fine lager. Hard as a rock, with a hop finish. Being my gal had injured her foot, we could not make the rounds of the 10 small and one larger breweries in the area, so across the street to Zum Spezial (s in Deutsch are like a z, the z is like ts in bits) for a go at their version of rauch bier, and AU. Schlensserla (don't have a Deutsch keyborad, can't spell it correctly) is the version of rauch bier most commonly found in the states. Last time in Bamberg (it is built on seven hills, never had a wall) we drank to excess at this brewery. The rauch bier in the states is sticky and heavy, like it has been cooked. By the time you get a container through the Panama canal, and stored in an uncooled warehaus in California, trust me it is COOKED, but here is is a delight. The bier taste like salami, or black forsest ham, depending on the style- (Marzen, Urbock). Spezi, (as Zum Spezial is know to the locals) does a softer version of rauch bier, that is not as overpowering, but still perfect with Hirsch (deer meat) and Swine. AU (umlat over the U) is a version of "keller bier" that is cloudy and just delicious. Yeast and malt dominate with a hop finish. To some taste, the biers of Germany or "not complex". I will let you in on a secret- the idea of the bier in Deutschland is to let the drinker consume a quantity of alcohol based on the drinkers personal tolerance, with minimal side effects, period. The next morning found us on the bahn to Frankfurt. The autobahn is one of the great freedoms in the word. As the American has the right to bare arms, the Deutsch have the right to drive as fast as the pocketbook allows. As much as I love my weapons, I find the "no speed limits" (in towns, there are speed limits)to be a more useful expression of freedom. Doing over a 100mph, and being passed by a string of Deutsch iron nose to tail drafting like Talladega Watching them burn up a sweeping turn, in the rain, and watch them vanish into the mist is unreal. On a dry day, folks really get with it...You think we got "muscle cars?" ROTFL!!! Now I am back in the Schneeloch-snowhole, sore as hell after a day at the Wounded Terrier. School starts again on the 21st, my last semester. Stay in Deutschland after that? Sometimes I hear the high desert calling me back to the hot water and the high lonesome. At this time, I would like to complete the bier year, but the future is not mine to see, it is a lovely day, snow blowing sideways, hope you all can see this some day. With the Badish, Brad. This message was edited by Brad Pear at 3/12/2005 5:55:15 AM.