This time around I opted to stay in a hotel within walking distance of the keller so I didn't have to rush to get back to Bamberg at the end of the day and pay for a taxi fare like I have in the past. I wanted to just relax and spend all day at Roppelt's and the three kellers on the Kreuzberg hill. Josh and Cat Heath came with me on this excursion and also stayed at the hotel.
Hotel Rittmayer in nearby Willersdorf is a nice little hotel in a small village. It used to be a brewery as you can see from the picture below. Now they don't brew anymore but the rooms are decent and cheap and they've got a beer garden and pub/restaurant that serve beer from nearby Brauerei Rittmayer in Hallerndorf. I assume there is a some relation between the Rittmayer's in Willersdorf and the ones in Hallerndorf.
I will definately stay in this hotel again as it really was convenient to the nearby kellers. We enjoyed a nightcap keller bier in the hotel garden after we got back from the kellers. There were a few other people at a nearby table and one of the guys at that table couldn't stop hiccuping loudly. It was all we could stand not to burst out laughing with each hiccup. Fuck sake hold your breath dude!
After checking in and getting settled we began our walk towards Roppelt's Keller in Stieberlimbach. It was about a 3km walk along a country road.
It wasn't long before Stiebarlimbach came into view.
As we entered the village and turned right towards the keller we passed Roppelt's Brauerei.
It was busy even though it was just a Tuesday afternoon. The weather was perfect. It was probably the nicest day of the trip. Here you can see the beer line at the keller.
Mmmmm Roppelt's Kellerbier. One of my alltime favorites:
After a few beers and some food I noticed a local that frequents the Franconian Beer Guide message board sitting a few tables away with some other locals. Not being known for my shyness I walked right over and introduced myself. A little while later we were invited to join them at the table and had a couple more beers and very enjoyable chat with the older couple at the table and Nick. The woman was proud to show us her liter krug and the wooden bier deckel complete with cloth carry pouch to keep the bugs out of it. Now there is a woman that is a bier keller veteran and truly loves to spend her afternoons there. I wish I had gotten a picture of these folks as they were really funny and delightful to drink beer with.
We did, however, manage to get a picture of Josh and Nick right before we headed up the hill to the Kreuzberg Kellers.
It's really difficult to describe to someone that hasn't been there the sheer beauty of the Franconian bier keller scene. The idea of just being able to go through a stroll through the woods and bier kellers magically appear before you at some point really has to be experienced to appreciate. Nevertheless I took some pictures of our walk up the hill. This walk begins behind Roppel's keller with a small wood foot bridge over a stream:
Then the ascent begins on a clearly marked and wide path through the forest. I'm not exactly sure how long it is. I think about a 1/4 to no more than 1/2 mile all steadily uphill:
Then like magic you 3 bier kellers appear in front of you. Starting with Rittmayer's Keller:
Rittmayer's have a few different beers from their brewery in Hallerndorf nearby. The one I enjoy the most is their Kellerbier but they also have a Rauchbier for those inclined to have a smoked beer. I believe I had one of those as well:
Just like Roppelt's the kellers up on the hill were also very busy.
The most packed was the Lieberth Keller next to Rittmayer. It's the smallest keller and we only found a couple of tables still open. First time I visited Lieberth I was a bit dissapointed with the beer. But for some reason I enjoyed it a lot more this time around. It was quite nice actually and I understand they pour it right from the barrel here whereas the other Kreuzberg kellers are keg driven.
The more beers I had the worse my picture taking became. I guess I lost interest. I only snapped on photo of the final keller of the day called Friedel's Keller but now I guess they go by the name Brauhaus Am Kreuzberg. It used to be a brewery in a small, nearby village of Schnaid and this was their keller but they have since sold the brewery in Schnaid and moved it up here on the hill. It's a much bigger complex now and they brew a lot of different beers on top of the Zwickl bier that they traditionally served here. It resembles more of a modern, almost American style brewpub nowadays than a traditional bier keller. Still even if some of the beers the brew are not great it's still fun to hang out here and try them. I tend to stick mostly with the Zwickl when I come here because it is the best beer they serve but I did try a few others.
At any rate, perhaps we were enjoying ourselves too much because it seems we lost track of time and suddenly it became dark. It also became overcast which helped the darkness progress faster. Luckily the trail back to Stiebarlimbach was easy to follow even in the dark. We were assisted by the lightning in the distance that lit up the trail every now and then to confirm we were on the right path. Well it wasn't hard, it's straight down after all and soon enough you could see the light from Roppelt's keller letting us know we were almost there. The walk back in a thunderstorm was a bit hairy. Walking along an open road while lightning strikes not far away was not on my to do list for this trip but we made it to the hotel okay. One thing I noted as we walked past fields of barley in the rain was the smell coming off the wet barley. It was slightly similar to that smell you get when you mash grains when homebrewing. Nice! It was just another day in beer paradise.
Next up an excursion to Zoigland.
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