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. 

Day 2 - Oberfranken - A quiet afternoon until fate intervened.

Having gotten to bed fairly early and slept like a jet lagged rock I woke up feeling pretty good but a bit sluggish.  So after breakfast I went to have a late morning, restorative Schlenkerla Rauchbier.  I think it has magical properties when poured right from the barrel at it's home tavern.  I was soon feeling tip top.  I thought it was a perfect day for a nice quiet walk through the countryside to visit some small village breweries north of Bamberg.  I chose to start at Schwanen Brau in Ebing mainly because it is easy to get to being a short 15-20 minute train ride from Bamberg and the walk from the train stop in Ebing is a pleasant approx. 1 mile.  I had a bit of time to kill before the train departed so as I walked to the Bamberg station I veered left on Ober Konigstrasse to have a Pilsener at old standby Brauerei Faessla.  That hit the spot and made for a nice train ride.  Ticket was cheap maybe 3-4 euros and the ride was short. 

The Ebing train station was really country.  I got off with a bunch of school kids presumably coming home from school in the city.  The walk was nice and soon I was in the small village and quickly found the brewery.

The place is a real Franconian classic.  You enter through a big, barn like doorway (as is not uncommon for breweries in this region) and there is a large hallway with picnic tables for those that want to sit out side or if you happen to bring your dog.

 

 

The funny thing though as I walked up to the building I noticed a large tour bus parked outside.  Now going back to my previous post, for those of you who read it, you'll recall I mentioned running into some Swedes on a beer holiday the night before in Bamberg.  Well of course my first thought was that might be them.  Then again the odds were a bit long.  After all there are 100 or so breweries not far from Bamberg so the chance of them being at this exact one at this exact time are pretty astronomical. 

Well I entered and the place was indeed plenty full of beer drinkers.  I didn't immediately recognize any of them so I sat down to have a beer.  A lovely, malty, nutty Vollbier.  Just a delightful beer that I could have rested upon for the entire afternoon.

Then after tearing my attention from this classic Franconian beer I looked up and recognized Jan-Erik sitting at one of the tables so I got up to say hello and have a laugh about the odds of meeting again so randomly.  He asked what I was doing the rest of the afternoon and if I'd like to join them on the rest of their tour.  Who am I to argue with fate?  Besides it looked like it would be too much fun not to join in.  So after finishing my beer I left with them and hopped on the bus.

They were all very welcoming and friendly and Jan-Erik even went through the trouble of announcing that their new American friend Mark Andersen would be joining them for the rest of the day.  I was pretty impressed with the bus and the organization of the tour.  They even had some traditional German music on the speaker system as we drove to the various places.

There were three breweries left on their tour for the day.  The next one was a place I would also visit on the forthcoming Sunday in Lohndorf called Brauerei Holzlein. 

This particular place is now a favorite of mine.  Not just for the outstanding lager beer but also for the very traditional, homey character of the place.  They've got a very old school serving area where the beer is poured right from the barrel.

... and served in a nice looking krug.

It's very much a family operation.  The father and son were working there that day and I know from talking to Gerhard of Café Abseits that the son trained at another nearby brewery before returning to help his dad out at Holzlein.  This is a fairly common practice in the region I hear.  Anyhow it was cool to see the photo of the grandfather on the wall with his master brewers certificate next to those of his son and grandson.  I love to see tradition like this passed down through generations.

Well it was a nice stop.  This last photo of Holzlein is from a picture site of one of my Swedish travel companions that I have nicked since I'm in it.  Hope they don't mind. Oh and if anyone is wondering why I look so red in some of these pictures it is not only the number of beers drank it is also a lot of time spent walking around in the sunshine without sunscreen.

Next stop was a newer brewery pub that I was anxious to visit and jumping on this tour afforded the opportunity.  It is the Zoigl Stube Strassgeich.  It used to be a brewery called Drei Kronen that had shut down but was reopened as a pub serving he beer brewed not far away in Schnaid.

We sampled both the Kellerbier and the Zoigl.  It's not really a Zoigl in that it's not brewed in a real Zoigl town.  I'm not sure why it is called that other than maybe the recipe is similar.  At any rate I though both beers were pretty good but we didn't stay long so I reckon I may revisit some year for a more lengthy sampling. 

Last stop on the tour was Brauerei Griess in Geisfeld.  A place I had been to twice before and would revisit on the coming Sunday as well.  It's a favorite of mine.  I love the hoppy kellerbier they brew and would discover on Sunday I love it even more out of the barrel at the keller down the road.  It was a amusing stop in that the locals who were drinking there already were not expecting a bus load of 20-25 foreigners to stroll in and fill the place up. 

The tour ended at Griess and the bus returned to Bamberg just outside Brauerei Spezial.  I went and had dinner at Faessla with three of the others on the tour.  They were avid homebrewers like many of the other folks on the tour so much of the conversation that went on through the night was all things beer.  After dinner we went across the street to Spezial for a few rounds.  Sat at a table with an older gentleman and his two daughters.  One of his daughters lamented to me about how she met an American soldier from New Hampshire but lost all his contact info when she was caught in the Tsunami in Thailand.  She actually gave me her email address in the hopes that I would find him for her and email her his info.  Yeah that's really going to happen!  Hah!  I can see the look on the blokes face now when if I were to show up at his door where he probably now lives with his wife and X number of kids.  Yeah good luck with that.  Anyhow it gave me and my drinking buddies for the evening just another thing to laugh about while we spent the rest of the night drinking rauchbier at Schlenkerla right up to closing time. 

What a great afternoon and evening spent with some very knowledgeable beer enthusiasts and homebrewers from Sweden.  They asked if I'd like to join them the next day as well but knowing that I wouldn't feel to spry at 9am when their tour began I declined.  Besides I had another plan up my sleeve that would turn out to be a very entertaining evening.

Bamberg Again

I suppose the feeling I get when I first arrive in Bamberg for the first time in two years is even better than a little kid going to Disney World.  It doesn't matter how bad the jet lag is it is impossible for me to sleep.  I did try though.  After getting to my hotel in the afternoon I tried like hell to take a nap.  No chance.  My brain wouldn't stop thinking about that first beer and the second and on and on.  What breweries would I visit today?  I wonder if there are any new beers and so on.

I like the hotel I chose a lot.  I stayed at the Tandem Hotel on Untere Sandstrasse right next to the bridge and river.  Great location as it was in the shadow of Upper Altstadt and close to many pubs and of course the Schlenkerla Tavern.

 



So the decision as to what brewpub to visit first wasn't really a tough one.  Schlenkerla was closest and so a nice restorative Rauchbier to help me over the jet lag was just the thing.

 

Fred Waltman of the Franconian Beer Guide has oft mentioned the restorative powers of Schlenkerla.  I thought I would put that to the test.  It worked!  No I mean it really worked.  I felt so much better after knocking back a half liter of this stuff while standing at a table in the schwemme.  But as I reached the bottom of the glass I realized I was hungry.  My first thought was to go to the Spezial Keller but for some strange reason it was closed even though it was a fairly nice day and late afternoon.  So since I was already uphill I thought why not go a little further up and visit a brewery I haven't often visited.  Next stop Greifenklau. 

The place was very quiet.  It was just me and a few people at another table but I could see that they had a new beer on tap called "Laurenzi" that they described as a dunkel Kellerbier.  I felt obligated to give it a try.  I quite liked it and wound up having three before I left.  I also had a delicious plate of chicken with a side of white asparagus.  May is asparagus season over there and this is a very good thing.  May is also Maibock season and this is an even better thing as I would discover throughout the trip.  I think from now on I will visit in May. 

The "Laurenzi":

As I was finishing my second seidla of the dunkel kellerbier a group of beer tourists from Hamburg sat at the table with me.  So I stayed for another glass and had a nice conversation with them about Franconian beer and also about Hamburg.

But it was time to go for a long walk to work off the food and beer .... so I could have more beer of course.  So I chose to visit the neighborhood of Wunderburg all the way on the other side of town.  Finding Wunderburg is actually quite easy.  You can see the church spire rising over all the residential buildings around it.  So as long as you're heading towards that spire you will get there.  Then name is appropriate as there are two world class breweries across the street from each other in Wunderburg.

I always make it a point to hit Keesman first.  In my opinion, the home of perhaps the best German pilsener found anywhere.  It never ceases to surprise me in how good and drinkable it is.  I also love the entrance hallway (Schwemme) of Brauerei Keesman with it's stone floor, user friendly beer ordering window, and tables to stand at.  Classic!

My thought was to just have one Pils before heading over to Mahrs but there was no way to stop at one.  I had to have two before going to Mahrs.  Now I've been to Mahrs a few times but never just stood in the hallway and ordered from the window where the barrel was.  It's a very good beer anytime/anyplace but out of the barrel it is spectacular.  I don't know how long I stood there leaning up against the railway drinking Mahrs U.  I was enjoying listening to the locals converse and just taking in this beautiful pub. 

I think it got dark around 9pm and the jet lag really kicked in so I bought a slice of pizza on the walk back and headed for the hotel.  However along the way, as I was walking past Schlenkerla, I saw someone that I recognized from my Facebook.  It was Jan-Erik Svensson who is a fairly well know (at least to us Franconian beer lovers) beer guru from Sweden.  He was standing outside with some other Swedes travelling with him so I stopped and introduced myself and said hello.  We had a quick chat and a laugh about two fellow beer lovers and Facebook friends living a few thousand miles apart and who had never met before randomly meeting on the streets of Bamberg.  The power of Facebook and beer at work.  So I said good night and that I hoped to see them at a pub tomorrow night and went to bed .... not having any clue what would be in store for me tomorrow. 

Plockton and The Plockton Brewery

The first time I visited Scotland about 10 years ago there didn't seem to be a lot of choice in beer.  Mostly it was the standard keg offerings with the occasional cask of Deuchars IPA or Isle of Skye Red Cuillan.  Since then there has been quite the increase in independant breweries similar to what we've seen here in New England the past decade.  There definately was no brewery in Plockton in 2003 when we visited.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that now there is a brewer in this lovely lochside village and even more pleasantly surprised to find how delicous the beers are.

Firstly I have to say the ride up from Loch Ness northwest to Plockton (near Isle of Skye) is one of them most jaw dropping scenic roads I've ever travelled.  I vaguely remembered it from our trip years ago but as usual with scenery like this it is always more beautiful in person than you remember.  So I feel it's worthwhile to post some pictures of the ride up to Plockton first to set the backdrop.

These scenes pretty much typify what the entire ride was like.  Trying to decide where to stop to take photos was a tough decision because in reality you could stop every two or three miles.

Right before the side road to Plockton you come to one of the most touristy yet most scenic views in all of Scotland called Eilean Donan Castle. 

Shortly after this point, right before you reach Kyle of Locailsh and the bridge to Skye you find the single track side road that leads to Plockton.  It's a strange road as you start to wonder if you are actually heading towards any kind of civilization or the end of the world.  But then Plockton Bay on Loch Carron unfolds before you.

 

It's a really lovely little village with palm trees, fishing boats, a couple of nice inns and pubs with real ale and of course the views all around are stunning:

We stayed at a place called the Plockton Inn as the place is well known for it's seafood, cask ales, great little pub, and occassional live traditional Scottish music sessions.

The view from out in front of the Inn facing Plockton Bay wasn't too shabby either.

So what about the beer?  Well on the first day they had Starboard pale ale from The Plockton Brewery on cask as well as Fuller's London Pride.  Now I love London Pride and getting it on cask is a real treat but I have to admit I liked the Starboard better.  It's a great session ale and we did indeed have a long session that night getting aquainted with it.  I chose to stay here first on a Thursday night because there is a regular music session there on Thursday's.

It was a great night at the Plockton Inn.  We also ate dinner there and I thought the smoked salmon (from their own smokehouse in the back yard) and the langoustines were exceptional.

In fairness there is another nice hotel in the village called the Plockton Hotel (although I'm definately partial towards the Plockton Inn) and they also carry a couple of cask ales although oddly enough they didn't have one from the local brewery.  I suspect this may be due to lack of capactiy at the brewery as it is really small but I didn't ask.  The ales were good here but still a tick behind the Plockton beers IMO.

We got a long rest the next morning.  I don't think I got out of bed until noon.  We had been travelling around a lot and I was weary.  So we had a day to just walk around the village and visit the brewery.  It's not much more than a garage.

We were hoping to meet the brewer and just as we were about to leave he comes walking down the street with flowers in his hand that he picked up for his wife.  We introduced ourselves and he was nice enough to show us around and give us a few bottles to take home.  I got a photo of Andy the brewer with Ingmar in the brewery.

The Inn had changed over the cask that morning from the Starboard to the amber colored ale called Plockton Bay.  Andy mentioned that he found that the beers sold better to tourists when he started putting the work Plockton in the title.  Anyhow I thought the Plockton Bay even better than the Starboard.  I managed to bring a few bottles home.  All but the stout I left with my friend Barry in Ireland before heading home.  We drank the bottle of stout the Friday after we got home and it was excellent.  I would have loved to get some of that on cask.  Ah well and excuse to visit again someday.

Yeah it was a good time in Plockton as you can see.  I leave this post with this picture of Ingmar and Isa.  It says it all: