Advent at Forchheim

Forchheim isn't just one of those charming Franconian towns that dominate the area between Bamberg and Nuremburg.  It is though, like many, picture postcard pretty, but in addition it has great interest to the beer traveller as the home of no less than four breweries.  But we aren't here for the beer - well not entirely. We are here to watch the unveiling of the Town Hall Advent Calendar window. The venerable Rathaus uses its many windows as the Schönster Adventskalender der Welt (“World’s Loveliest Advent calendar”). And, lit up with Christmas lights, in a fairy tale setting, it is indeed lovely. A decent sized Christmas Market, the inevitable mulled wine and bratwurst stands, an easy going and expectant crowd and a small funfair all add to the feeling of bonhomie - or rather gemütlichkeit.  The fairly large crowds, jostle for views in that polite but determined German way. There are happy children snaking around the stand up tables and there is even beer - not as common as you might suppose at Christmas Markets in Germany. No rip off prices here either, with a half litre of local pils at €2 and 50 cents back when you return the bottle.  There was a band too and an over cheerful MC who attempted to whip the crowd into a frenzy. At the appointed time, spotlighted from another building, a local schoolgirl, dolled up to the nines, opened the appropriate Rathaus window, waved to the crowd and made a charming speech to much good natured applause. The air was full of sizzling sausages, wine, donuts, pizza and Christmas cheer. In the cold, crisp December air, it was just perfect.

But man does not live by such bucolic scenes alone. We made our way to one of my favourite hostelries for proper beer.  The pub and brewery, Brauerei Neder,  is typically German. Seemingly small on the outside, but with a Tardis like interior. The side door to the main room was locked, so we made our way through the noisy corridor where it seemed everyone was smoking furiously and probably illegally, to the far door where we fought our way in.  We were immediately taken in hand by the female server, who said one word: "Zwo?" I nod and she snakes her way through the throng to the front of the pub and orders a group of drinkers to make room.  They do and we are told where to sit - edged against the locked door with a perfect view of the beer servery and the whole room. A prime spot.  Two beers are brought without further ado. Broadly in the kellerbier style, totally delicious and a mere €1.90 a pop.

Outside it is cold, but inside it is steamingly warm.  A couple of accordion playing dudes are giving Deutsche Blasmusik their all, while the crowd - some of them at least -  sing along, or tap their tables enthusiastically. Along the front of the pub, which somehow seems like the back wall, a group are playing Skat - or it could be Schafkopf, both of which are popular German card games of impenetrable rules, that, whichever it is, involve a lot of noisy shouting and table thumping.  Some play and others bawl encouragement or derision at the players from the sidelines. They compete happily with the accordionists and nobody seems to care. In the midst of all this good natured chaos, our matronly saviour slaps down half litre stone pots of beer as soon as an empty one is laid on its side - the signal from the thirsty that another is required. She is kept very busy.  Our tablemates, by now used to our presence, nod to us. Another one arrives and squeezes in, tapping with his knuckles on the table at our position. The unspoken greeting of Franconia.

We look at the crowd and having been there before, the odd face starts to look familiar.  There are some, shall we say,  rather individual types in this town that aren't easily forgotten. One or two raise their steins to us and we beam back. I'm watching the mystifying card game when E nudges me. "I've pulled!"   An elderly gent smiles and winks at her. She smiles and toasts him.  It is harmless fun. And great fun it is too.  Soon we are lucky enough to hear a song we know on the squeeze box. Along with the crowd we roar out "Eins Zwei Zuffa". This is more commonly sung in the Hobraühaus in Munich and here the words are adapted to be local, but we know the tune and sort of know the words, so we sing.  It is so German, so Franconian and just a sheer pleasure to be a small part of it. We are the only two there that aren't local, yet we feel welcome. And happy.  My stein is placed on its side more than once. This beer slips down easily.

All too soon though the musical duo cease their merry din.  The set and indeed the act is over. I come across them at the back, when going for a pee. Now off duty, but still with their instruments strung across their chests as if ready to swing back into action, they are knocking back the same beer as everyone else, young or old, male or female. That's just how it is. We look on this interlude as a cue to depart, though we don't go far. Almost next door is Brauerei Hebendanz where there is a much more sedate crowd, but again, no obvious seats. We are once more taken in hand by the Boss. He finds us a corner and brings us, unbidden, two beers.  We sup contentedly and are nodded to cheerily by our table companions.

Social inclusion. That's the secret to it all. Even when you aren't obviously part of it, you are. 

Forchheim is on the main Nuremburg - Bamberg rail line. It is about 20 odd minutes from Bamberg and half an hour from Nuremberg.

We also chalked up the only brewery I hadn't visited before as it has always been closed, Brauerei Eichhorn, but that was early doors and it was almost empty.

Dear Do in Düsseldorf

Germany, well North Germany, is getting an expensive place to drink.  On my recent trip to Düsseldorf, the brew pubs in particular, the glorious four of Uerige, Schumacher, Fuchsen and Schlussel all the alt beer hovered around the €1.80 mark for a 25cl glass.  That's pretty hefty, especially when you effectively pay €2, as given that when there was a lot of us and the bill was paid jointly, you ended up chipping in two euros for convenience.  Even when you paid yourself, it seemed a bit petty to wait for 20c change. I'm guessing too that is pretty standard.  Not a great deal for the drinker, but admittedly it was at least nice for the waiter. Twenty five centilitres isn't much either, so you end up with quite a few glasses to pay for.

Germany is wealthy. North Rhine Westphalia is one of the better off places in a better off country. Düsseldorf is one of the better off places in a better off state.  You see the picture.  The place seems to be booming.  The pubs were pretty much full to bursting point.  We were refused admission to some, so busy were they.  Even with these pubs typically flowering into room after room receding into the distance and deep into the bowels of the earth where even more rooms lurk,  it was "house full." There was no room (or very little of it) at the inn.  Dining, despite its sameness in that part of the world, edges drinkers out too and a point for those that think smoking bans always affect trade adversely, North Rhine Westphalia has recently extended its ban to all but the smallest of places and that seemed to make no difference to custom at all.  Pub going was a thriving affair in every way.


Nor, in most cases, did you have to run a gauntlet of smokers outside.  They all seemed just to be getting on with it despite smoking being more or less a national sport. A different world it seems.

There is a degree of confidence, maybe more than that in Germany that you just don't get at home.  More to follow.

Frankfurt Brewpubs

It wasn't all apfelwein in Frankfurt. We found a little time to visit three brewpubs, none of which particularly excelled in the beer sense, but were pretty competent in that subdued style German hausbrauerei seem to adopt. Two though had very fine beer gardens which were a delight to spend time in on such a hot summer day. It also reminded us, in the second case in particular, of the need to sometimes at least, separate beer from the occasion. This was all about drinking beer in the summer, outside with your friends. Can you think of a better way to sup?

Far along the U Bahn line in a quiet town, Oberursel, the first beers of the day were consumed in a perfect courtyard setting under a beating sun. Alt- Oberurseler Brauhaus had decent enough pils with just enough hop to refresh, while the opalescence was thankfully subdued. The weizen was however bang in the middle of the style and a very decent drink, more of which would have been consumed if we weren't needed elsewhere. To me wheat beer is a perfect summer drink, especially as they did in this case, when they manage to get a balancing bitterness into the clovey, spicy, banana dominated sweetness of wheat.

Bavaria Brauerei models itself on Bavarian beer. Really? Yes! They even had a keller bier which Nick our resident in Franconia pronounced as OK+ and the usual dunkel, pils and weizen. They were pretty good with the dunkel possibly the pick of the bunch. We ate hearty German food there and enjoyed a perfect couple of hours with charming waitresses (regrettably not bedecked in dirndls, but you can't have everything) the buzz of conversation, the clink of cutlery on plate, sunshine dappling through the trees and that feeling that you could happily spend hours there in this timeless German tableau. I'd say drinking beer in a German beer garden or keller has to be one of my favourite ways to do so.*


On Sunday, the more subdued and urban Frankfurter Hausbrauerei was the destination. With probably the slowest service I've ever experienced anywhere (and we were the first customers), we supped the usual dunkel and pils, which were just "all right". Well, two out of three ain't bad!

* The Germans have a word for this - "Gemütlichkeit". This connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the opportunity to spend quality time. Thanks Wikipedia. I couldn't put it better and it describes our day perectly.

A German First?

It seems that our German friends have come up with a pretty good idea. A brewery on a cruise ship. Well nearly a pretty good idea given what they are actually doing with the idea. Brewmaster Andreas Hegny has been on board the newly launched ship MS AIDAblu brewing Hövels Original, the super-premium beer brand owned by Radeberger Group, for thirsty passengers.

The five hectolitre brewery on a cruise ship is a world first. Pity they seem to be following the usual German Brewpub formula of brewing a lot of dross.

The ship might have cost €360 million and weigh 71,000 tons, but it's an ugly looking bugger.

No Longer in the Schwemme of Things

My thoughts on the German pub scene are still in the formulative stages, so you'll have to wait for that one. Instead I'll share a few observations of the German Rauchsverbot or smoking ban, as applied in North Rhine-Westphalia. Unlike the Bavarian version, this state allows smoking in separate enclosed rooms and one roomed pubs are exempt, thus making this drinker avoid a number of promising boozers. The smoke also chased us out of the Pilsner Urquell Ausschank after one hastily consumed half litre of U Fleku dark.

Of course my drinking in Dusseldorf was largely confined to the classic brew pubs and it was here the hurt was deepest. It started off promisingly though in F Schumacher's Altstadt pub. Here in the schwemme or public bar, (my favourite spot so I can watch the barrels being tapped and the beers poured,) there was no smoking - in fact it was no smoking throughout. I always think the delicately balanced, hop infused alt here is the finest to be had and many glasses were consumed over the two days we were there. This lulled us into a false sense of security, as across the road, Zum Schlussel's schwemme was a smoking zone. Damn. Fortunately this is my least favourite alt, though by no means bad, so we had a couple in a separate no smoking area and left. Later that day we were due to meet some American friends in Zum Uerige, in my opinion, one of the best pubs in the world. Here, my favourite room was given over entirely to smokers. Curses. I love that room. We fled to the comfort of the side room where at least, we could watch the beer being poured, as uniquely among the four home brew pubs, the schwemme is not the setting for beer dispense. I like Uerige's Alt, more distinctly bitter than the others and very, very drinkable.

The next day in a sleetstorm, we headed for Im Fuchsen - The Fox. Here the schwemme was firmly no smoking with the alcove at the right , previously part of the main schwemme, now with doors on it and a new sign saying "Raucherschwemme". We settled in at one of the typical high tables here, having quite a few glasses of another well balanced alt.

It seems that North Rhine-Westphalia has reached a reasonable compromise as far as big pubs go. The smokers are confined to small enclosed areas. Regrettably the apparent exemption for one roomed pubs makes quite a few places unpleasant to visit. There was no sign of diminished business in any of these pubs, in fact all were going like a fair, but the quality of the beer and the general "offering" is outstanding, so why should it?

The figures in the photo are in the schwemme in Zum Uerige.

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.

Damp Squib at the Dampf Beer Brauerei

As a footnote to Oberstdorf, I sought out the Dampf (Steam) beer brewpub while E had a kip. I won't send a fiver to the first person who guesses what the beer was like. They had the unholy trinity - an unfiltered helles, an unfiltered pils and a weiss bier. Bet it took some time to think THAT beer range up. I'll tell you this time what my notes say: "Helles - Usual unfiltered mess. Dull, watery and unfinished. Dunkel: Dull, muddy snd yeasty. Hard to tell it from the helles." I don't write too kindly of the weizen either!

I liked the pub though again. I wrote "it should be said that the pub is absolutely superb. A tree (false) dominates the bar, but it works! The brewery sits in the middle of it all and the decor is typical German dark wood, but with good lighting it looks great. I go on to admire the barmaids!

That's a recurring theme of mine in Bavaria. I wonder why?

My notes also say that it is seemingly owned by Hirsch Brau. As I recall it had photos of the Hirsch Brewery on the wall, so maybe I am guessing. I had been drinking!