Bamberg

Here it is, our trip to Germany's brewing heartland, Bamberg, where you can breathe the air of past centuries and experience a world heritage city that is endowed with one of Europe's largest intact old town centres, a major highlight for anyone traveling in Bavaria. It's also has the reputation a of being the secret capital of beer!

Bamberg and its surroundings are a paradise for the beer-lover. This is where the myth of German beer - "lots of good-quality, cheap beer" - is actually true. Not dozens, but hundreds of tiny breweries continue to brew traditional styles in the traditional way. You'll find more variation here, both in terms of different types of beer and in the differences between examples of the same style, than in the whole of the rest of Germany. Bamberg brewers aren't afraid to give their beers some individuality, or risk upsetting a few unadventurous consumers.

”To eat & drink holds body and soul together” According to this motto, good Bamberg landlords spoil their guests with dishes from Franconian cooking : beer, frying sausages, pretzel, and Franconian wine in a wide, rounded bottle called Bocksbeutel. There are always many dishes on the table and according to the season, there are additional pleasures like fresh picked asparaguses, carps and trouts.

Beer drinking in the beer garden, Thanks be to King Ludwig I, there would be no beer gardens without him. Bamberg has the reputation of Germany’s beer city. And it is justified. There are ten breweries in the town: the really cosy beer gardens on Stephansberg and Kaulberg underpin Bamberg"s special position regarding beer. The creation of the beer gardens is due to a royal decision. King Ludwig I of Bavaria decided that beer could be brewed only in the winter between « Michaeli and Georgi ». Nevertheless, the citizens didn’t want to abstain from bottom-fermented beer, which needs a temperature from four to eight grades to mature, and the resourceful brewers had deep caves built in the rock. Beer was stocked there and it matured in barrels under huge chunks of ice. To protect the caves against the sun heat, the brewers strewed light gravel upon the caves and planted chestnuts or linden trees, which provided shade. In the summer, the fresh beer was served in this pleasant place.

Any way enough of the history, onto the beer. You can compare and enjoy all sorts of different beers - Pils, smoky beer ,wheat beer or black beer. There is everything, that the beer-lover wants or needs.

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One of my favourite brew pubs of the visit was Brauerei Fässla; Obere Königsstraße 19-21. A corner pub with several rooms off a corridor. The style is usual for a brewery tap, a nice pub with panelled walls, white pine topped tables and bare wooden floor. The brewery emblem is a gnome and the seat backs are carved with the design of a gnome pushing a barrel, We tried all the range of bees here and had a good hearty meal to boot. The brewery buildings and bottles bottling line are to the rear of the building just off the small beer garden. I was luck enough to be allowed to walk at around the plant. The building also houses a hotel with 20-odd rooms.

Just over the road is the Brauerei Spezial, Obere Königsstraße 10. Spezial is an absolute must for rauchbier (smoke ale), with no fewer than four different varieties. The building is an attractive, ancient, half-timbered edifice, with an old-fashioned wrought iron sign. We sat at one of the long pine tables and took in the abundance of animal skulls around the walls. In one corner, atop a small bar, sit wooden barrels and this is where the beer is poured. We visited here early on a mid week afternoon and the place was packed.

These were two of the best brew pubs that I have visited and they both have an excellent atmosphere.

Onwards and upwards as they say, and as Bamberg is built on seven hills this is always the case. Next up was the Privater Brauereigasthof Greifenklau Laurenziplatz 20. This is a small brewery which was about 10 minutes out of town, on an old 18th century street snaking along a ridge. There are rooms either side of the entrance, the larger one on the right also housing the bar counter. We got there at 9:15am and were not the first in! A couple of the local were already knocking them back. The beer garden is supposed to be well worth a visit but was closed at this time of day, apparently there is a fantastic view of the forested hill where the Altenburg castle perches. Greifenklau is very much a pub brewery, not supplying draught beer elsewhere. Only one beer on offer, a Pils, which we found very refreshing, setting us up nicely for a day of beer hunting.

Off to the opposite side of town to the Kaiserdom Brauereigasthof & HotelGaustadter Hauptstrasse 26. A hotel, restaurant and beer garden close to the brewery. It seems to be quite a new building, which lacks character and atmosphere. The beers, however, are good, especially the schwarzen beer, which is served in large stone pots. Well worth the walk, especially for the cake shop half way there!

Next up was the Brauerei Keesmann Wunderburg 5. The entrance to Keesman is through a wide arch, behind which is a stone-flagged corridor. To the left is an L-shaped room containing the bar. It has the usual pine tables and panelled walls adorned with dead animal skulls. There is a courtyard which separates the pub from the brewery and a small beer garden. Only 2 beers here, but both ok.

Just over the road as luck would have it was the Mahrs Bräu Bamberg, Wunderburg 10. This is a must do pub, bursting with atmosphere, characterful rooms and a beer garden too. You enter the brewery through the garden. The inside of the pub is reached via a wide flagged corridor, which stretches right to the rear of the building. The first small irregular-shaped room contains the bar where the beer is dispensed from wooden barrels. All three beers were duly sampled and were not found wanting, my favourite was the Ungespundet (Unfiltered) at 5.2%, very suppable.

As we waved farwell to this excellent brewpub, we headed for the Klosterbräu Bamberg, Obere Mühlbrücke 1-3. Klosterbräu is Bamberg's oldest brewery, dating back to 1533. Around the corner from the pub, on Concordiastraße, is the facade of the brewery, with the name almost totally obscured by climbing foliage. The pub itself has the usual wide arch with a room on either side. The larger room to the right houses the bar counter, which is where we decided to sit and enjoy the beers and soak up the charm of the place. The interior is very simple, but pleasant. We did not try the food, however, it looked excellent and there were a lot of people eating. The staff all sat at the side of us and devoured a large pot of mussels! My favourite beer was the Schwärzla, a black beer unlike anything else brewed in Bamberg!!

The Maisel Keller at Moosstrasse 32, is another walk out of town and has a very large beer garden with an outside bar. Unlike most of its rivals in Bamberg, this is most definitely an industrial brewery with a taproom at the front, rather than an ancient pub with a brewery at the back. The interior is quite retro. On our first visit we saw a sign, advertising Bock Beer 5pm Thursday, which meant we would have to make another visit, not a problem as the Maisel's Kellerbier was excellent and the Bock beer would be the icing on cake or the head on the beer as the case may be!!

Eventually Thursday came and with it the rain, but this did not deter us from our quest. We entered the pub just about 5pm and it was packed at such an early hour. Every one was drinking the excellent Bock beer, which we supplemented with good robust traditional German fair. When we eventually left there must have been over 100 people in the beer garden all supping the bock beer.

There are obviously more good pubs in Bamberg, but space prevents me listing them. Worth a visit is the excellent Brewery Museum visit; www.brauereimuseum.org.

I well recommend a visit to Bamberg and Franconia we were only there 7 days and went to 20 new brewpubs and attended the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart, which is the biggest festival after the Oktoberfest in Munich (report to follow shortly).

Prost, Otto

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