Brauerei Josef Schneider - Essing

Geographically the small town of Essing is one of the strangest I have ever seen.  It's wedged between a tall cliff on one side that looms over the village and a tributary of the Danube river on the other side.  What lies in between the two is a very small village with a spectacular brewery, hotel, restaurant/pub, and beer garden complex called Brauereigasthof Schneider.  The location is in the Altmuehltal Nature Park.  This is a fairly large park region with a very unique landscape set in Northern Bavaria.  I believe some of the park crosses over into Southern Franconia and the rest in Bavaria.  Essing itself is off a small tributary of the mighty Danube river.  Only a few kilometers away is the larger town of Kelheim and the city of Regensburg a little further away.  Kelheim's beer fame comes from the fact that it is home to the Schneider brewery (I don't know if there is a relation to the Schneiders of Essing) that brews the famous Schneider Weisse beers.  Also not far away is the monastary Kloster Weltenburg where they brew a half decent Dunkle bier. 

Anyhow, we stayed for a couple of days at the excellent hotel of Brauereigasthof Schneider. 

As soon as you get out of the car the first thing you notice is the cliff looming over the village.

Like a lot of these places in Germany the check in for the hotel is in the pub/restaurant.  I like the way these people think.  Go straight to the pub first!

The brewery appeared to mostly be in an older building out behind the hotel.

On the wall next to my room was a picture of the brewing process (including decoction mashing) used here. 

Okay now what about the beer?  They produce a Dunkle, Helles, Pilsener, Weissebier, and  Helles Bock.  It was a lovely day so I sat out in the beer garden along the stream and had the Dunkle bier first.  It was a terrific Dunkle.  Nutty, a bit chocolately. and smooth as silk.

Nice views from the beer garden as well.  A view of the stream, the nearby bridge, and the cliff.

Well I think you get the point.  It's a really nice place to drink beer.  Especially beer of this caliber.

After a couple of beers we went for a walk to check out the local scenery.  It's really spectacular.  The stream alongside the brewery is full of rainbow trout.  There's an old castle on top of the cliff.   There's a large and kind of strange bridge on the other end of Essing that runs over the main tributary and lots of walking paths about.

On the second day the weather turned lousy and we spent most of the day inside.  We did venture over to Kloster Weltenburg.  Here's a photo of the girls enjoying their Dunkle bier inside.  Another good beer.  Not quite the caliber of Schneiders though.

Overall I would rate Schneider of Essing the best brewery/hotel/restaurant I've visited in Germany.  Everything including the beer, the service, the food, the rooms were top notch. 

Belgian Beer and a Pilsener

I've decided that I want to learn more about Belgian Beers and I learn by drinking .... errr .. I mean doing.  So I stopped by a new beer store in Wareham this afternoon.  First of all it's hard to believe that the town of Wareham, Mass. now has a huge store with over a 1000 beers to choose from.  If there was ever evidence that the craft beer revolution has won this is it.  Believe me, before this Sam Adams was top of the line and hard to find in Wareham.

Anyhow there is a lot of variety in Belgian beers and much to learn but I figured I'd start with a Tripel knowing that I liked these in the past.  The one I had tonight was called Maredsous Tripel and is supposedly based on a recipe from the Maredsous Abbey.  Reading the fine print it says it is brewed and bottled by Duvel.  I liked it just fine.  I'm not one for trying to type fancy tasting notes.  I suck at it and I don't like reading them either.  The beer was decent but not as good as the only other Belgian Tripel I've had (Kasteel).  But it's a start and I'll keep trying them.

Here's the obligatory, pretentious, Belgian beer photo.

Once I polished that off I remembered I still had some Pilsener left in my homebrew keg.  The picture of the Tripel was taken with my wife's fancy camera.  The picture of the Pilsener was with my crappy cellphone.  The Pilsener still tasted better than the Tripel.  It was overshadowed last weekend by Aaron's outstanding Oatmeal Stout but it really is an excellent beer for the style.  But people will prefer a good Oatmeal Stout to a good Pilsener almost always, especially in November.  This one was brewed with Weyerman's Bohemian Pilsener malt and Czech Saaz hops. 

Good night.  I've got to finish this beer and get some sleep.  NERAX is tommorrow!

To Sparge or not to Sparge

I was reading one of my homebrew magazines the other day and came across an article about the "No Sparge" method of homebrewing.  Naturally I laughed as soon as I saw it but read the article anyhow thinking sarcastically "this ought to be good".  By the time I got done reading the article and thinking about it I thought there might actually be a lot of merit to the idea.  I scanned the internet for other articles most of which peaked my interest even more.

The basic idea is this:  sacrifice mash efficiency in exchange for saving time and potentially upping the quality.

Okay I understood right away the bit about saving time.  After all a good slow sparge adds another hour to an hour and a half not to mention burns up more propone heating up the sparge water.  Then there is the process of lifting or pumping the sparge water to an elevated position above the mash tun.  So yeah there is no question that not sparging will save time and effort.

I wasn't quite sure about the improvement in quality though but the argument goes that if you are using the no sparge method then your entire batch of wort is "first runnings" and you don't have as much of the rinsing of the grains which does cause more of the off flavor particles to run off into the wort such as tannins.  The comments I've read about it are that you get a cleaner and better malt flavor with the no sparge method. 

Okay so how does the "No Sparge" method work?  Firstly, since mash efficiency will drop you have to add more grain to the mash to make up for it.  Most people seem to think around a 1/3rd increase is the magic number.  So 12 pounds of malted grain in a batch that would normally use 9.  Secondly all the mash water is heated and added to the mash straight away.  So instead of the usual 1 - 1.5 quarts of water per pound of malt you infuse with about 2.5 - 3 quarts per pound.  The mash time doesn't change.  You can still reserve and heat some of the water to do a mash out if you want.  You can still do decoction mashing if you prefer.  You are just not heating sparge water since it is all ultimately in the mash before running off into the kettle.  When you're ready you run the wort out of the mash tun straight into the kettle as fast as you want.  Since we're not sparging/rinsing the grain there is no need to go super slow. 

So what's the downside?  I guess the biggest downside is that you have to use more grain.  Thus the batch cost a little bit more.  Altough the counter to that is you're not only saving time but you're also reducing the amount of propane used a bit.  Also, I would argue that as a homebrewer doing small batches my #1 concern is quality over saving $3-4 a batch.  If I can get equal or better quality using a no-sparge method then why wouldn't I do that and make my brew day easier.  Hopefully the quality is better and that remains to be seen.  Another downside is if you don't have a big enough mash tun then this approach will be limited to smaller batches.  You're not going to do 10 gallons with a single mash tun and you're not going to do a Dopplebock that calls for 14 pounds of malt even with a sparge.  Although once could always use two mash tuns to get the job done I suppose.

At any rate, being convinced that it was worth trying I made a no sparge batch this last Saturday.  I added an additional 1/3 to my grain bill as suggested.  I used 2.5 quarts of water per pound.  In hindsight I should have used a bit more.  I did manage to drain off the mash tun 6 gallons of wort at a good pre-boil gravity.  I did add 1 gallon of water to the kettle because my kettle causes a lot of evaporation.  I should have added a 2nd gallon because I ended up about a gallon short after the boil and so added more cold water to the carboy.  However, I was shooting for a 1.060 OG and wound up with 1.065 so I think the efficiency was a bit higher than I thought and I could have easily added another gallon to the mash tun.  It tasted great and is fermenting well in the basement so we'll see in about 1 week how it turns out after primary fermentation. 

I plan on using this batch as the first batch to go into my new cask.

Dinkelsbühl

Dinkelsbühl is a picture perfect medieval walled city set in the countryside of southwestern Franconia.  I actually made two visits here in July.  First stop was when we went on a bier tour of the region with some local friends.  This city was the first stop to check out the two breweries there.  Brauerei Hauf and Weib's Brauhaus.  What we found in addition to some really nice beer was a beautiful city.  I liked it so much I took my daughter and her friend back here for the last night of our trip before going home.  The day of our beer tour we happened to be there on the first day of their week long festival commemorating the 30 years war.  The second day there we caught the last day of the festival.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:

First beer at Weib's.  Very refreshing lager, especially on a warm sunny day.

It's a small brewery and fairly new not much unlike a American brewpub.

Just outside one of the gates we stopped for some Hauf Festbier at the Wildemann pub.  The sign almost looks a bit like Thor battling the Midgard serpent.

Lots of folks drinking at the pub were in costume getting ready to recreate the Swedish invasion of the city.

... and the conquest of the city begins:

One week later we came back to find the main square of the town (where out hotel was) roped off to celebrate the end of the festival with lots of live music.  It was a challenge trying to check in but it was worth it to spend the last night of the vacation in such a perfect setting.  I had a few Hauf Festbier from one of the outdoor stands that night in the square while the festivities were going on.

Zoigl

By far one of my favorite alltime beer drinking experiences was my brief trip to the German Oberpfalz towns of Windischeschenbach (Eschawo for short) and Neuhaus.  These towns have proudly preserved a very old tradition of communal brewing and the corresponding Zoigl stubes that serve the Zoigl beer that they brew.  Currently this Zoigl bier culture is preserved in 5 towns in the Oberpfalz region.  This region is a bit south and west of Upper Franconia and about a 1.5 hour drive from the city of Bamberg.  It lies very close to the border of the Czech Republic.  I believe from Eschawo it is about a 20 minute drive to the border.  The 5 towns where Zoigl can be experienced are the aformentioned Eschawo and Neuhaus and also Falkenberg, Mittereich, and Eslarn.  Eschawo and Neuhaus are towns that are next to each separated by a small river and a steep uphill walk.  One can walk from Eschawo to Neuhaus in about 20-30 minutes and work off a bit of the beer on the way up as it is a rather steep walk.

Luckily for beer tourists like myself they have made it very easy and convenient to find the information you need to be in the right place at the right time.  Here are a few websites one can explore to find the Zoigl Stubes and their locations.

http://www.zoigl.de/

http://www.zoiglschanktermine.info.ms/

http://www.zoiglbier.de/

You'll notice if you click on the Kalendar part of the last website that schedules are posted so that you will know what Stube is open on any given weekend.  Typically they are open Friday until Tuesday (with some exceptions) and typically only one Stube per town is open each weekend with the exception of Zoigl festivals in the Fall where they are all open.  So it is handy to know the schedule and the locations given on these websites.

It is my understanding that each town has preserved one Zoigl brewery that is shared by the various braumeisters in producing the beer for their stube.  I also understand from someone that has spent a lot of time in Eschawo that the brew day is very much a community experience.  Brew day involves more than just commercial brewing.  It involves socializing, drinking Zoigl while watching the brewers do their work, food, etc.  I've not experience a Zoigl brew day yet but I have enjoyed first hand the experience of spending hours on end at Zoigl Stubes on their assigned day and I can say that this is also a very community orientated/social experience.  One that I will never forget and hope to enjoy many times more in the years to come.

But first things first.  We have to get there.  First of all I'll give thanks to a fellow German beer fan Jimbo for presenting the opportunity to divert from Franconia for a day and make the excursion out to Zoigland.  It was not originally in my plans but when the opportunity was presented to me I'm glad I jumped on it.  The drive out from Bamberg is really beautiful.  We crossed right through the Franconian Switzerland and made a stop therein at the lovely town of Pottenstein.  Pottenstein is home to two brilliant Franconian breweries.  Brauerei Mager and Brauerei Hufheisen.  I had been here before with Isa and Dorff but Jimbo had not been before so this was a midday stop to try these excellent beers.  I was driving so I took some bottles home with me rather than drink them there. 

First stop was Brauerei Mager:

Mager is an old fashioned kind of place with one of the best Helles beers I've ever tasted.  They also brew an excellent Dunkle bier and a bock during bock season.

It has the classic style Ausschank:

Helles bier:

Right on the same street about 100 yards or less away is Brauerei Hufheisen.

Hufheisen has a more modern brewpub look and feel to it on the inside with the brewing equipment in plain view inside the Gastatte.  They've also got a nice mural in the entrance hallway.

We sat out in the bier garden in back that had a view up a hill of some very old building

Anyhow after our stop in Pottenstein we made the rest of the excursion to Eschawo crossing through mostly forest, hill, and farmland along the way.  Neither Eschawo nor Neuhaus are very large towns but there is enough there for good accomodations.  We stayed at the Oberpfalzer Hof hotel.  It was good value for the money and they serve Zoigl beer as well.  We didn't bother to have one there but instead headed right out to the first Zoigl Stube of the visit.  Right outside the hotel was a huge maypole in the town square.  I couldn't even get the entire thing inside the photo:

Just a few blocks from the hotel is the Schlosshof Zoigl Stube.

Here is the street approaching the Stube.  You can see the sign hanging over the top of the building:

The first thing you see upon entering is the bier garden where we sat.

The weather actually turned quite nice and the bier garden filled up.  To the left is the Stube and it was quite full inside and there were some musicians playing live Oompah music.  I almost wished we sat inside for the locals sounded as if they were having a really good time singing along and making toasts.  But we enjoyed listening to them from the garden and very soon the first Zoigl bier arrived:

My first ever Zoigl beer.  All I can say is Wow!  It tastes every bit as good as it looks.  I was really impressed.  Well the beer was a home run so how about the food.  I order the Ribchen plate (pork ribs basically):

Once again.  Wow!!  I do not exagerrate when I say this was the best plate of ribs I've ever tasted.  These people have got an expert handle on beer and pork.  We spent hours at this place.  Four hours according to Jimbo's account.  It really was hard to leave.  I must have had 7 or 8 of those beers and could have easily kept going but we really wanted also to check out the Zoigl in Neuhaus so we managed to tear ouselves away and make the uphill walk to Neuhaus.

Above is a photo of one of the other Zoigle Stube that was not open on this particular weekend.

We managed to make it up to Neuhaus right at sundown.  It's a pretty little town with 5 Zoigl Stube's in it's own right.  We would visit Kack'n. 

Kack'n also has a bier garden in their courtyard but this time we elected to sit inside.  The atmosphere was very much like sitting inside a family's rather large kitchen. 

It is a family operation for sure.  Beer and food are served by the grandfather, daughter, grandson, etc.  This picture is the grandson getting a tray from mom to deliver.  At one point we watched the grandfather (also shown with back turned) showing his grandson how to pour a beer correctly.  The beer here was a bit different but also very good.

I think we arrived here at about 8:30pm.  We didn't leave until 3am!!  It was impossible to leave with the friendliness and hospitality of the locals and the family members that sat with us throughout the night.  The grandfather sat down with us for a bit and we learned that he is a braumeister of 38 years experience!  By the end of the night we were sitting with a few locals, the son, I think the daughter at one point, and the town sherriff!  Around midnight we order what we thought would be our final beer and asked for a Schnitt (a half measure that they wind up filling 3/4 full anyhow).  But as soon as we finished that we were offered a free shot of locally distilled schnapps and another Schnitt on the house.  Well at that point we gave up trying to leave and just stayed for a couple more hours.  Luckily the son was kind enough to give us a ride back to our hotel so that we didn't have to roll down the hill to Eschawo at 3am in the morning.

What a night!  What a great experience.  I can't wait to visit again.