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.

Roppelt's and Kreuzberg Disneyland

It's inevitable that when I visit Franconia I have to spend a day at Roppelt's keller.  It's still my favorite bier keller.  Mind you, I'm still searching for one I like better.  I haven't quite found it yet.  The one in Wettelsheim (will be in a future blot post) came pretty damn close though.  Still for me the atmosphere and the hoppy keller bier of Roppelts is yet to be beat.

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.

Beer Hiking - Part 2 - Geisfeld

After a night spent out in Aufsess I moved my beer hiking base a bit closer to Bamberg to a village called Geisfeld.  Geisfeld itself is home to two breweries but the area sorrounding it has numerous bier kellers and bier gartens to visit within a reasonable walking distance.  Not to mention Brauerei Sauer of the nearby village of Rossdorf Am Forst.  Unfortunately the weather was quite a bit cooler than normal for July so most of the bier kellers were closed.  To me it was a perfect beer drinking day.  It was about 68 degrees, mostly sunny, and breezy.  But to a local anything below the low 70's means drink inside and so the kellers stay closed.  Nevertheless, I was determined to go for a nice long walk and stop at the different breweries and whatever bier gartens I could find open. 

Firstly I found a nice hotel in Geisfeld.  Inexpensive too.  I think it cost 38 euros for the night.  Nice place and friendly staff and a perfect base for a beer hike. 

The place is called Gasthof Büttel.

After walking through the quiet streets of Geisfeld I would soon come out into farmland.

My first target was the village of Rossdorf Am Forst to visit Brauerei Sauer.  I figured Sauer's bier keller would be closed but the brewpub would be open and I was really hungry.

It was actually quite a nice walk, passing through barley fields:

Some nice countryside:

Then onto a tractor path leading down towards Rossdorf Am Forst:

The camera actually doesn't do the view much justice.  It was a very nice walk so far:

With a very nice prize at the end in the form of a Sauer Braunbier (one of my favorites):

I was famished so I enjoyed a nice half chicken plate with my braunbier then I went to sit in the Sauer bier garten for a while to enjoy some of their lager beer and read a book.  I was just about the only one there so there was not much else to do but relax:

After 2 or 3 of the lager beers I decided to move on.  I knew the keller wouldn't be open but figured it was worth checking out anyhow for future reference and see what it looked like.  It looked like a great place to drink beer.  What a shame it was closed:

From there I found a nice bike path and followed that over to Amlingstadt:

Then continued on through Wernsdorf and onto Leesten:

And finally I came across an open bier garten worth stopping at.  After walking a few miles I really needed a beer.  This was Lowenbrau of Buttenheims beer and the bier garten is called Waldstübla:

Now it might of been that I was relaxed after a long walk but at the moment this place seemed really nice.  It was a bit different for a bier garten as well in that there was a small petting zoo there.  There was also a fairly good size playground as well (not unusual for a Franconian bier keller).  It was quiet there on this day but I can imagine a lot of families spending hours on end her on a weekend.

Feeling refreshed after Waldstübla, I decided it was time to head back to Geisfeld to have one of the best beers of the whole trip, the Griess Kellerbier.  The renowned Griess Keller was sadly closed but they have a small bier garten at the brewery and there I enjoyed some of this great keller bier.  It's a bit hoppier than you typically find in this region:

This was a hard beer to put down.  But after 3 of them I suddenly felt motivated to take a cab into Bamberg.  It wasn't far.  Only about 7 kilometers or so but I really wanted to be at Spezial Keller when the sun went down and so that is what I did.  There was hardly anyone there so I got a prime seat by the fence overlooking the city. 

That evening I managed to visit Spezial Keller, Brauerei Greifenklau, and Stohrenkeller before meeting some fellow beer lovers over at Cafe Abseits who were tasting a variety of different beers.  This picture of Abseits is later in the week during daytime.  While at Cafe Abseits the owner Gerhard Schoolman, who is a terrific gentleman and quite hospitable to us beer travellers, offered me a Monschambacher Christmas Bock.  It was a fantastic bock bier but sneaky strong and put me under.  So I called it a night and Gerhard called me a cab.

Next up on the blog, a revisit to Roppelt's Keller and the Kreuzberg Kellers.