Unser Burgerbrau

Bad Reichenhall is a charming little German town in the Bavarian Chiemgau Alps, noted in the past particularly for salt production. It is the capital of Berchtesgadener Land, set in spectacular forested countryside, not a million miles from Salzburg.

I first encountered it many years ago, cycling to it from the Alpine resort of Inzell in what can best be described as pissing rain.  It was in the early days of my long-lasting, but now defunct German cycling holiday phase and one of only two times I forsook the bicycle we had paid so much for. Both were for the same reason - the aforementioned pissing rain.  Our destination was Berchtesgaden, another charming (in a kind of colder way) Bavarian town , probably best known as the home of Hitler's Alpine redoubt, the Obersalzberg and its Kehlsteinhaus - also known as Hitler's Tea House.

After a horrible slog, in a torrent of rain, up countless Eiger like hills, we arrived, knackered and soaked in Bad Reichenhall and made for the nearest pub for much need liquid refreshment. I remember the relief and I thoroughly enjoyed the cloudy hefe-weizen brewed by the pleasingly named Unser Burgerbrau.  How do I know what I drank?  Well somehow, the distinctive glass - perhaps to cock a snook at the appalling German weather - found its way home with me and it took pride of place in Tandleman Towers for quite a few years. Back in Bad Reichenhall, we looked our maps and the waterfall of rain outside. Noting that the railway station was near and that Berchtesgaden was to be reached by even more precipitous alpine ascents, we decided. "Bugger this, we are getting the train."  And we did. And I've never regretted that decision.

Is there more to this tale? Well yes. A few years after acquiring the glass, while in bed one morning before work, while E made tea (my job these days and ever since), I heard a horrendous crash of broken glass. I immediately knew what had occurred having drank a hefe-weizen the night before. My treasured glass, on end to drain, had taken the knock by a sightless E, who had neither glasses nor contact lenses aboard at the time.

I was reminded of this a few days ago in Berlin at the Berlin Biermeile, when among the many beer stands, we came across one from Unser Burgerbrau. I was firstly uncommonly pleased that it is still on the go and secondly, I was determined, on this sunniest of days, to reaquaint myself with the thirst slaking hefe-weizen of that rain soaked day of yore.  Alas it wasn't to be. The hefe-weizen wasn't on sale.

Nor was it possible to pay the deposit and buy and keep a replacement Unser Burgerbrau Hefe-Weizen glass. They didn't have any. Some things are just not meant to be. 

It peed down in Berchtesgaden that first night too. I remember sitting in the almost deserted hotel dining room, when at about 9 o'clock, the waiter returned to our table with his coat on and gave us the bill.  The rain bounced back to knee height. Escape was impossible. We were in bed by 9.30. On a Saturday night too.

Our trip to the Kehlsteinhaus was completed in glorious sunshine. Our luck changed. We were the last group to enjoy the panorama (2600ft) before fog swept in rendering the views invisible.  

Bavarian Beer Prices Stable

As the good weather returns and the beer gardens open again, public broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk reports that most Bavarian drinkers can enjoy a beer at last year's prices. The exception is Munich where prices have gone up by around 20 cents a litre. The somewhat bizarre explanation is the Munich attracts more tourists who steal more beer glasses. It seems for example, that 30,000 mugs a year are stolen from the Chinese Turm Beer Garden alone.

Beer price inflation in Germany, like here, runs way ahead of "normal" inflation which since the 1950's has run at around 300% while beer prices have increased by 1500%. Seems to be an easy profit maker for both retailer and government no matter the country!

Get away from Munich though, where you will pay €6.90 a litre this coming season, prices are much more reasonable. According to checks conducted by the radio station, prices per litre have changed little since last year, when they were on average €4.40 in Bamberg, €5.20 in Passau, €5.60 in Augsburg, €5.80 in Regensburg, and €5.90 in Nuremberg and Würzburg. The most affordable Maß was found in the Upper Franconia region, in the town of Hallerndorf, for just €3.50.

So there you have it. Not only does Franconia have the best beer in Germany, it is cheapest too. Another good reason to go if you haven't been or indeed, if you have.

Bier + Deutsch = Problem

Readers of this blog may know of my interest in Germany and the German beer scene. I therefore read in the on line version of the influential Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, that German beer is in trouble. They say so in no uncertain terms, with the headline above, which needs no translation. Outsiders and keen observers of the German brewing scene, including me, have said so for some time and now it seems, a major German newspaper has noticed the issue.

They start by saying "When all was well with the world, in Bavaria, in each village there was a small brewery and a tavern. On Saturday evening people would head over for a few drinks and again on Sunday after a good roast pork lunch". The article goes on to demolish this bucolic scene in a withering and hard hitting way. They remark that it is all very well that Germany boasts so many breweries, but their beer is all too similar nowadays. SZ laments that at one time German brewers brewed to suit local tastes and now technology allows them to produce such bland beers, that when they are taken over by the big boys, no-one really notices. Mockingly they say that most German brewers can't even identify their own beer in a blind tasting with others!

Clearly written from a Bavarian perspective, SZ scathingly says people nowadays are happy to "drink green bottles from Prussia". They blast some of the popular German mixes such as radler and cola mix, as well as the generation of alcopops, which they call "funny lemonades". Even the beer purity laws, which state only malt, water, yeast and hops can be used in brewing, can be seen as restrictive and preventing brewpubs diversifying beer styles as much as elsewhere. The article quotes the USA, the UK and Belgium, where brewers can produce more interesting beer to compete with wine. Somewhat surprisingly the article doesn't refer to Franconia where the tradition of village breweries still abounds, but I don't suppose that was the point they were making.

The article goes on in much the same vein and is worth reading if you are remotely interested in how German beer is very much under threat. From our own UK experience it all sounds depressingly familiar and will hopefully be a wake up call to German drinkers.

The article can be found here in German only.

Oktoberfest - O'zapft is!

The 175th Oktoberfest is under way in Munich. I hear on the BBC that Chinese lederhosen is undercutting the price of this most Bavarian of attire. Traditional Bavarian tailors are up in arms.

For those of you interested in such things, C&A in Munich has a huge array of reasonably priced traditional Bayerische clothing on the first floor of its store in Munich. I stare at it longingly from time to time until I am slapped back into reality by E.

Is it all made in China? I don't know!


The photo shows the Mayor of Munich, in lederhosen, tapping the first cask.

Munich and the Hofbrauhaus

We spent our last night in Munich. Despite my mixing up exits from the Hauptbahnhof and thus thinking two streets along was in fact two streets down, we found our hotel. Unsurprisingly it was at 90 degrees to where I thought it would be! I've been a little unlucky in weather in my recent visits to my favourite city and so it proved this time. Sunshine and very heavy showers greeted us. Nonetheless we set off for one of our favourite spots, the Viktualenmarkt, the city's major food market and a source of one of my favourite breweries, Landshuter.Their Hochzeits Weisse certainly hit the spot and their unfiltered pils is one of the more palatable of this wretched style. A meander through some of the better known places followed. The Andechser Am Dom, Ayinger Am Platzl where we just missed out on a keller beer from the wood and of course a quick glass of Edelstoff in the Augustiner outlet, but my target was, love it or hate it, the Hofbräuhaus.

This massive beer hall, a tourist attraction in its own right, contrary to what people allege, is extremely popular with Germans. In fact a large number of tables is reserved for them. The Oompah band seemed lazier than ever, seemingly out of puff after about two numbers but the waiters were fast and efficient and, if they like the cut of your gib, don't ask you to pay up front. It was as buzzy as usual and we shared our table with a couple of gorgeous German girls who E later assured me were gay! How did she know? I certainly didn't, though on reflection, they did seem to cuddle up a lot. The beer for me is always dunkel and comes by the maßkrug - a whole litre - at €6.90 a pop. Not too bad. I reckon it's a pretty good beer. We stayed for three, with a reluctant E drinking wine! Great fun. If you ever get the chance go there. It remains a world classic.

And that more or less was that, apart from a quick beer in the Spaten Haus on Sunday morning and a couple at the airport's Airbrau brewpub - shite unfiltered pils and dunkel, but decent weizen. We sat in the beer garden complete with pond and fake ducks while a mere 5 minute walk from our gate! The beer is an amazingly cheap €2.30 a half litre.

My Bavaria trip confirmed my suspicion that German beer is not in good shape. The public are complacent, in most cases will drink any old rubbish and predatory international breweries smell blood. They'll get it I fear!

The Bavarian Smoking Ban in Action

There is a lot of rubbish talked by the one of the Publican's bloggers about how the German High Court has ruled the German smoking ban as unconstitutional. It hasn't. What it has said is the law must be applied in consistent way, so that single room pubs are not disadvantaged by allowing multi roomed pubs a smoking room. Thus in three German states the law must be revised. The likely outcome is a complete ban on smoking. It would be unthinkable to go back now and I confidently predict that they won't.

Bavaria has no such problem. Smoking is completely banned in all pubs, so a level playing field and no need for law revision. Smoking is banned and it is constitutional. OK? This makes Bavarian pubs even more delightful places to be in and as far as I could tell, just as thriving as they always have been. Why am I telling you all this? Well our next stop on our tour was the walking and ski resort, Oberstdorf. We arrived knackered after a long ride high into the Allgäu Alps. Our room looked over towering peaks and a ski lift. It was stunningly beautiful.

After a good meal in a pub owned by the Allgäuer Brauerei who do a strong range of beers with the very decent, chewy, malty dunkel being my favourite, we strolled around the town before the call of beer became too strong. The nearest pub to our hotel would do. After all it was late. Nearly half past nine. I already told you it is early bed in the Bavarian sticks. After assuring the waiter that we only wanted a bevvy, we were shown into a delightful side room in which another family were sitting - mother and young child, father and what seemed to be a grandfather with his mate. All was well until the grandad lit up! The waiter rushed in, threw open the windows and angrily berated the old guy, pointing out smoking was "verboten" and reminding him of the presence of the young child. The miscreant said the mother didn't mind him smoking and the waiter was withering in his reply. A row ensued with the waiter (who was black) being told that this is a German pub - what right had he to tell him, a German to stop smoking. We watched in amazement - public rows in Germany are rare beasts - and the matter was concluded by the family being told to drink up and go. We exchanged glances and rolling eyes with the room's only other two occupants until order was restored.

The waiter returned and politely declined my order of another half litre*. He pointed out it was nearly ten and they'd be closing. Wouldn't a small beer be better? I wasn't going to argue with this guy! A small beer and "ein korn" were duly ordered. "Jawohl" says he.

*Postbraurei Nesselwang!

Independent Breweries at Last

It wasn't raining when we set off for Fussen and beyond, but it soon was. Our cycle ride took us in and out of Austria before returning to the Fatherland at Fussen where we found that Brauhaus Fussen had ceased to brew in the years since we had last been there. Prince Luitpold of Kaltenberg seemed to have it taped up now. At least it only came from just up the road, as, presumably, did the insect that bit my wrist causing a lot of discomfort and swelling!

Our ride took us way into the countryside in by then, glorious weather. There wasn't a pub to be seen until we came to a Hacker Pschorr outlet in a village whose name escapes me, but was welcome 20k in to my first cycle ride since Bamberg last summer. It had to be done and I must say I find HP Helles rather refreshing. Nearing "home" on our circular tour, around 5 k from base in a little village called Kohlgrub, at last we found something different in the shape of Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren, a largish regional whose beers we were to encounter again. The hefe weizen was bang in the middle of the style and the helles, dry and hoppy. Decent stuff.

Our luck held on our return to Pfronten when by following our directions back to base we encountered a neat little beer garden selling Zötler beers. The hefe weizen was a very full tasting, quenching beer and the bottled pils, hoppy, fresh and bitter. Zötler was founded in 1447 and has been in the same family since then so they ought to know a thing or two about beer, From the same town of Rettenburg, later we had a very decent dunkel and pils from Engelbräu though it has to be said the helles and Hefe weizen were both underwhelming! Despite my pleading I was dragged past a nearby Gasthof selling beers from Post Bräuerei Nesselwang, but I did notch them up later in the trip! The ball was rolling!

Bavaria isn't Germany

Bayerische Erste say the Bavarians. Bavarian First. You are always struck how Bavaria is simply different. The yokel accent, the traditional dress, the huge skies, the beer gardens, the food and the "blasmusik" make for somewhere that is quite unique. It's why we always love going there and why it rarely disappoints. It was thus we arrived in Pfronten, a mere two miles from the Austrian border but firmly in Bavaria, with hope in our hearts, despite the pissing rain, so heavy it precluded our cycling. We went in the luggage van, neither of us fancying 55km in a monsoon. Others from the same company agreed and we spent quite a time picking up waifs and strays and their sodden bikes.

Our hotel was a pub. A big pub and early signs were hopeful. Kloster Andechs said the sign. Alas after checking in, it was not to be. The Andechs had been swept aside in favour of Kaltenberg, whose brewery tap in Neuschwanstein we had just passed on our way there. It could have been worse. We had a couple and then, braving the rain which had eased off to a downpour, we explored the town. I knew there was a brewpub and this was our target, both for beer and lunch. Braugasthof Falkenstein was easy to find, just in front of the station and impressive inside as these kind of places tend to be. In fact very impressive. The coppers were on show, but a quick look around had my heart sinking. Was this going to be yet another German brewpub with a crap unfiltered helles and a sweet, worty dunkel? You bet your life it was.

Now I could start a rant here about why this pointless style exists, but I won't. OK. I will. What is the bloody point of all that expensive brewing kit if you are simply going to sell tasteless, unfinished beer that is full of trub? It isn't smart and it isn't clever. You might as well buy some partially feremented beer from a big brewery, bung it in glasses, save the wages of the brewing staff and flog the kit to the Chinese for scrap. Stop it and use your kit to produce something decent and drinkable you morons! A glass of each was enough and we departed in a persistant drizzle to find a decent drink. At least the grub was good.

Later that night we went to yet another Munich Brewery's outlet. This time Augustiner, where glasses of Edelstoff and giant portions of schnitzel in a very "gemütlich" atmosphere restored our equilibrium. In honesty the beaming Bavarian waitresses in their dirndls did just as much to do that as the beer - for me at least. That's another thing I like about Bavaria!