What happens in Merkendorf stays in Merkendorf!

So after a beer tour and lengthy pub crawl with the Swedes I needed a long sleep and that is exactly what I did.  No breakfast just sleep until about noontime.  So what would today bring?  I kind of had in the back of my mind that I would like to go to a small festival called Bierabend held at a brewery in the nearby village of Merkendorf but wasn't quite sure I'd be up for it.  So I decided the thing to do was go to Cafe Abseits and contemplate the issue.  While having a few beers of course.  This is easy to do at Café Abseits because they might very well have the best beer selection in all of Germany.  At least from what I've seen so far.  It's a great place to visit if you want to try a range of different Franconian beers without having to travel all over Bamberg and the surrounding area to do it.  It's also a nice culinary break from the "traditional" Franconian cuisine.  In other words, you can get something spicy like the chili.  I love the chili at Abseits BTW.  It's fairly good stretch of the legs from the Altstadt being on the other side of the train station.  Altogether about 1.5 kilometer walk. 

It was busy in the Altstadt and a bit rainy as I started my walk past Schlenkerla.  It's one of the few times I walked by Schlenkerla on this trip without stopping for a pick me up Rauchbier.

First beer at Abseits was a no brainer.  The Monschsambacher Maibock from Brauerei Zehender.  It was fantastic.  My spirits lifted with each quaff of this brilliant, malty brew.

I ate a nice lunch (including chili) and sampled a few other beers while talking to the proprietor Gerhard Schoolman about all things local beer.  Gerhard is always very hospitable to us beer tourists and a fountain a knowledge about the local brewing scene.  One of the beers I got to try was a pale ale (of all things in Franconia!) brewed at a fairly new local brewery in Breitengussbach.  Not too shabby for a lager brewing region.

Well I probably don't need to tell you that by the time I got through lunch I was feeling quite lively and the venture out into the countryside to Bierabend in Merkendorf was definitely going to happen.  I've always wanted to visit Merkendorf, festival or not, since it has two excellent breweries each with quite a selection of different beers.  So I walked to the train station and hired a taxi to take me there.  It took about 15-20 minutes and was a nice ride out to the countryside and finally to the small village of Merkendorf.  I knew from the ride that if worse came to worse I could walk back to Bamberg from there but as it turned out getting a cab later was no problem. 

The Bierabend festival didn't start until 5pm so I had some time to kill.  So first stop was Brauerei Wagner. 

My first inclination was to go into the pub and have a seat inside but it was packed!  Not only was it packed but I was by far the youngest person in the room other than the staff.  So I went back into the entrance hallway and ordered a beer from the window and enjoyed it at a small table.  After growing bored with that I went outside and sat at one of the tables. I was the only one as it was somewhat chilly.  But I was on vacation and quite content to sit there quietly and enjoy this nice kellerbier.

From there I opted to walk around the village a bit and take some photos.  Lovely place and just imagine living in such a small village yet have two world class breweries just a hop, skip, and a jump from your doorstep.  Lucky people.

Okay so having had enough of the mini-photo tour of Merkendorf it was time to head to Brauerei Hummel and take this Bierabend festival head on.

Not being totally sure where the festival was actually taking place I took a seat in the courtyard beer garden behind the front building situated perfectly between the pub and the brewery.  First beer ... a Maibock of course!  It was phenomenal.  Better than the Monschsambach Maibock IMO. 

Second sample was the kellerbier that they were gravity pouring right from the barrel for the festival.  I don't know if that's a regular thing or not.

I've had the kellerbier from a bottle before but that was nothing compared to this superb version gravity poured from a barrel.  So I just sat quietly for a while watching a few people pass through the courtyard and just enjoying the idyllic atmosphere.

I snuck a photo of a nearby, elderly gent sitting at the Stammtisch quietly enjoying his kellerbier.  I took this photo because to me this typifies Franconia.  An elderly local sitting peacefully enjoying beer from his local that is as good as it can be made on earth.  This is heaven.

Before long some folks from Bamberg that decided to come to the festival sat down at the table with me and between my broken German and their broken English we had a nice chat about local beer and breweries.  I finally realized the barn door across the courtyard where people where coming in and out of must be where the festival is being held.  So I got up to check it out.  It was.  I opened the door and this is what I saw.

How the hell could I not hear this going on from the courtyard 50 yards away!?  Anyhow it was a Franconian version of a hootenanny!  Or is that a hoedown?  It was a good fucking time I can tell you that.  Above was the view to one side.  This was the view when you turn around 180 degrees.

 

Lovely kellerbier being gravity poured form the barrel.  Jackpot!!

I spent the better part of the evening switching between Maibock and Kellerbier, eating brats, taking pictures, and talking to locals.  It got a little out of hand taking pictures as these two birds didn't seem to thrilled with a stranger taking their photo.  "Get the fuck out of here!" she seems to be saying.  So I left that one alone for the night.

They started playing some weird drinking games that I watched in bemusement.

There were three fellow beer lovers arriving to Bamberg that day from Jersey, Scotland, and England so I gave the Jerseyman an call and told him how great a time I was having a Bierabend and that they should get a taxi to Merkendorf ASAP.  They did and met me for the first time completely shattered on Maibock and Kellerbier.  We all had a great time and thanks to them I got a taxi ride back to Bamberg.  Had they not arrived I might have had to crawl back.  One photo that I really loved was another elderly gent relaxing at Bierabend over a kellerbier.  This could be me in 30 years.  I hope!

I hope to make it to Bierabend again next year.