Welcome to my tribute to – Beer  

 

 

Franconia has the highest density of beer breweries Truly unique is the variety of small breweries. On about 200 sq.km we find 74 brewers. It's just like it is with wine: Every brew tastes a bit different, depending on which brewer uses which kinds of hop and water. These aren't huge breweries. Sometimes the facilities are tiny, made just for the needs of its own pub. And that is why prices (calculated per half-liter beer) are so amazingly low.

          

The town of Aufseß is - according to the Guinness Book of World Records - the original beer town. Measured by the numbers of residents (1,400) and of breweries (4), the Guinness editors here found the world's highest density of breweries. To live up to its reputation, the town has recently opened the first "Brewery Hiking Trail" of the region. Over the course of 13 kilometers all four breweries are visited by foot. Once this has been done - which of course can be stretched over several days - each visitor receives a certificate proving his commitment. For information and details on the route, call the tourist information in Hollfeld: +49 (2974) 9800

By the way: There is a society called "Bierland Oberfranken", committed to promote this "Beer Paradise" and its highest density of breweries around the world.
More Information: http://www.bierland-oberfranken.de

 

Reinheitsgebot

Germany is famous for the Reinheitsgebot (the German Beer Purity Law), a consumer law dating from 1516 that limits the ingredients of beer to water, barley, hops and yeast. It was officially repealed in 1987 following a ruling by the European Court of Justice, although even today few German breweries dare to produce beer that doesn't comply with it. Critics argue that it stifles variety and that it is not a problem to brew bad beer within the confines of the law, and vice-versa.

Brew your own Beer

If you want to make this really interesting experience of brewing beer in Germany you find an expert under www.ladidel.de
He is offering day or week-end courses, sometimes also in special locations.
You can also book for your whole group which will be a really funny experience.

Here some links of how to brew beer:
http://www.byo.com/
http://www.eartheasy.com/eat_homebrew.htm

The Brewing process

For the whole explanation go here:
Deutsch: Der Brauprozess
English: The brewing process

 

 

Beer Breweries, Beer Events and Beer Cellars

Here you find a huge summary of Beer Cellars of the whole area including a lots of information like Beer of the Year, Making of and much more: http://www.bierkeller.de/

The Beer Breweries around Eelangen: http://www.bierkeller.de/index.php?regid=6

An English version of the Franconian Beer guide: http://www.franconiabeerguide.com/

The Beer Event Calender: http://www.bierkeller.de/index.php?text=bierkalender.html

The Beer Museum in Bamberg: http://www.brauereimuseum.de/usa.html

 

By the way – that’s my favorite beer: Hetzelsdorfer 

 

Beers - Tours

There are a lot of really good booklets avaliable – for Bikes and Hikes.

Here some nice ones you find also in the Net

 

Brauereirunde mit dem Fahrrad in die Fränkische Schweiz: Tour #46629:

Bierwanderung um Aufseß: http://www.planetoutdoor.de/de/touren/detail.htm?tour=40556&region=79

      Biertour mit Fahrrad im Bierland Franken: http://www.saddelfest.de/wir_ueber_uns.htm

      Fünf-Seidla-Steig: Eine genussvoller Brauereienwanderweg in der Fränkischen Schweiz

      Bierquellen-Wanderweg: typische Erkundungstour zu fränkischen Kleinbrauereien

      Waischenfelder Brauereiwanderung : Geführte, ganztägige Tour über 6 Brauereien über 16 km

 

Only one beer for the Road

 

Beer Links

Bierland Oberfranken

Bier Welt 24 - alles über Bier

Die Bayrische Bierstrasse

C64 the Beer PC Game as freeware download

Die Kunst, mit Bier zu kochen

 

Local Beer Types

In Franconia the standard German offering of draught Export or Pils is usually replaced by one or more of the traditional beers produced by local brewers:


1. Vollbier, can vary from light gold to almost black in colour. Malty with a dry finish, it bears no resemblance to mass-produced lagers found in the UK.
2. "Ungespundet" Lagerbier or Kellerbier, often brewed as an alternative to vollbier. It is unfiltered and is often dispensed straight from the barrel into stone mugs in Franconia’s beergardens (Keller). With a low CO2 content, it is less malty and more hoppy than Vollbier.
3. Bockbier. Bockbier is a seasonal beer, similar to Vollbier, but significantly stronger. The Bamberg Bockbiers appear around Mid-October and lasts until Christmas.
4. Pils. Don't expect the local versions, fine as they are, to match the characteristic dryish, hoppy flavour of North German and Czech pilseners.
5. Weissbier/Weizenbier (wheat beer), from Southern Bavaria is finding its way into the portfolios of many breweries in Franconia. Top-fermented, it's usually available in bottles rather than on draught, unfiltered and sedimented.
6. Rauchbier (smoke beer), is a speciality of the Bamberg area, its characteristic taste is achieved by kilning the malt over a beechwood fire.
7. Märzen. The name derives from the month of March (März in German), the last opportunity to brew beer before the hot summer weather set in and made the brewing process risky. In Franconia the Festbiers, stronger than average beer brewed for Christmas or other church festivals, are Märzen-type beers but the term is also used for a stronger than average beer which is available at all times e.g. Schlenkerla Rauchbier.
8. Schwarzbier (Black beer). Bamberg always had its own “little black beer” in Klosterbräu’s Schwärzla, but "black" beer is becoming popular nationally and others are now following the style. The darkest malts are used but the beer is dark brown rather than black!
Other beers will be found which do not fall into the above categories; they often represent attempts to resurrect beer styles of the nineteen twenties or earlier, before paler coloured beers began to predominate. Names such as Bauernbier (Farmers' beer), Landbier (Country beer), Braunbier (Brown beer) and Alt Fränkisch (Old Franconian) are used to lend authenticity.