Munich Observations Part Two

You’ve already had the lowdown on some of the beers we enjoyed in Munich, but man – and indeed woman – does not live by Helles alone (though in Munich you certainly could have a decent attempt). As I mentioned before, E took quite a shine to Augustiner Pils. Alas her attempts to sample a few different pils along the way were thwarted. Sadly, you can’t find Pils on draught anywhere, and for reasons best known only to themselves, Spaten insist on offering the dreadful Beck’s as their bottled pils in their most prestigious outlets. It appears Spaten Pils, which I recall was a lovely beer, is no longer brewed. A real shame.  In fact, Spaten it seems, only brew Helles in both normal and alcohol-free forms and, of course, an Oktoberfest. 

It gets worse. The whole shooting match of Spaten-Franziskaner-Löwenbräu-Gruppe is owned by AB InBev, who presumably have streamlined the brands available, though under the Franziskaner brand you'll also find weissbier and a kellerbier.  Like Spaten, the rather delightful Löwenbräu  Pils has been dropped. It is a pretty grim picture as the odd hoppy pils provided an alternative to Helles, which in its Munich iteration, can be a little sweet, and dare I say, bland? (The locals call it “süffig”, meaning “easy to drink”. And, in fairness, it is.

Less common, but sitting just above pils in strength, you'll find Augustiner Edelstoff, a delicious export style or "spezial" beer. Tegernsee also produce one, though this is harder to find. Expect around 5.6%. 

So what other beers can you find in Munich? Well, aside from helles, the most common is weizen – wheat beer – also known as hefe-weizen or weissbier. It’s a hugely popular summer refresher, and unlike pils, every major Munich brewery makes one.  Such is its popularity that wheat beer is almost always available on draught, not just in the big beer gardens but in most pubs and bars around the city. Bottled versions are everywhere too, though in busier places you’ll usually be served beer from the tap, unless you specifically ask for a bottle. The standard pour is half a litre, and I enjoyed quite a few of them in my week in Munich.

The differences between the big Munich brands are subtle, with one notable exception: Schneider. They’re specialists in wheat beer and produce a broad range of excellent and distinctive brews. Interestingly, they haven’t brewed in Munich since 1943, when in a losing encounter with the Royal Air Force, their brewery was destroyed. These days, production continues in Kelheim, where the wheat beer tradition is still going strong. More of this in Part 3.

 Dunkel bier varies between light and dark brown and is malt accented. It seems a minority taste these days, though I do recommend the Hofbräu version which is fuller bodied, darker and tastier than most. You'll also find the noted strong beers in bottle in most of the bigger places - and at very reasonable prices too. But beware, these are usually over 8% abv and should be sipped cautiously, not necked.  Well known examples are Paulaner Salvator, Augustiner Maximator, Hacker-Pschorr Animator, Hofbräu Maibock and Augustiner Heller Bock, sometimes depending on time of year. If you really want to go for it, March sees a number of "Starkbierfests" where you can certainly fill your boots..

Finally, it is worth mentioning that many of the breweries sell beer from a wooden cask, but you have to seek it out. This is sold without extraneous CO2, in wooden barrels filled from the conditioning tank in the brewery. Look out for signs saying "vom Holzfass" or sometimes "bier vom Bayrische Anstich".  Often this is only at a particular time or day, but see below.

Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr,  Ayinger and even Paulaner offer beer from wooden barrels here and there, but the only place you'll find Edelstoff sold in this manner is the Augustiner Keller, more of which in part 3 where I recommend a few decent places to drink the stuff. 

It would be remiss not to mention Oktoberfest beers, made available from late August until they all consumed after Oktoberfest ends. I just missed out this time, but here at least you can usually buy them in the UK from specialist online suppliers to try for yourself. This is the optimum time to do so.