Rauchbier (Smoke Beer or Smoked Beer) from Bamberg, Belgian Beer, Trappist Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, and Real Ale from the UK, and other types of Speciality Beer are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website. But what's in a name, the site's name that is? All is revealed on the Home Page! Schneider Weisse, a well-travelled, classic Wheat/White Beer, brewed in Bavaria by Schneider.  Click on the image to go to their website This is a guest page of the White Beer Travels website covering Speciality Beer in Franconia and Munich. It is written by JezzaP
 German Beer (including Rauchbiier (Smoked Beer or Smoke Beer), Belgian Beer (including Trappist Beer), British Real Ale, North American Craft Beer, Specialty Beer and Speciality Beer from around the world, are all covered in this White Beer Travels website This White Beer Travels website has been in operation since March, 2002.  It promotes Speciality/Craft Beer from around the world: Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, Real Ale from the UK, etc
 
Click here  to reach the "White Beer Travels" Home PageClick here for Speciality Beer and Brewery News.  Also check out the "Archives" for "old" news!Click to find details of Beer Hunts that you can joinClick here to get information on Past Beer Hunts organised by White Beer TravelsClick here for information on what to expect on a typical Beer Hunt organised by White Beer TravelsYou are on a page of a White Beer Travels "Pub of the Month".  For the current "Pub of the Month" click hereClick here for John White's Beer CV (Curriculum Vitae, Résumé) Click here for past Pubs of the Month, News, etcClick here for downloadable guides to places, breweries and barsClick here for "Links" to other websites. There are many on the other pages of the site, as well!Click here for full details on how to contact White Beer TravelsClick here for information on how the site was built, including acknowledgement of any help receivedClick here for details of the French to English Translation Service offered by White Beer Travels, & for the contact details of organisations that can provide the reverse
Belgian Beer and other great Speciality/Craft Beers, these including Real Ale from the UK and Craft Beers from the USA and Canada, are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website.  It is a big site, so to get an outline idea of the contents, click here to go to the site's Contents page
  Würzburg, in Germany, is world-renowned for its "Franken" wines. However, White (Wheat) Beers have certainly travelled to the city.  The three different ones shown here are excellent examples. All are brewed in the city's Würzburger Hofbräu Brewery. Click on the glasses to go to the brewery's website, from which the image was pasted

 

Your cursor is on a photo taken in the Mahrs-Bräu Keller, a Beer Garden, in Bamberg, in Franconia (Franken), in Northern Bavaria, Germany. click on it to go to the Keller's website

Your cursor is on a photo taken in Bamberg, in Germany. Click on it to go to the Bamberg Tourist Office website

In the photo on the left, JezzaP is enjoying a superb beer called Gig in the Mahrs-Bräu Keller (www.mahrsbraeu-keller.de), on one of Bamberg's seven hills, the Stephansberg. It was taken by Mrs JezzaP, Theresa, in May, 2006. Note that although Keller literally means Cellar in German, in Bamberg and the rest of Franconia, in the beer world, it refers to a Beer Garden! As you will see from JezzaP's report below, these Beer Gardens in Bamberg are not to be missed, but then there are other don't-misses in his selection of Brew Pubs and Bars!

The photo on the right, which features another of Bamberg's hills, Michelsberg or Michaelsberg (St. Michael's Hill), was also taken at this time. On the top of the hill can be seen a church and a former Monastery. There is an excellent brewery museum within the old Monastery, the Fränkisches Brauereimuseum (Franconian Brewery Museum) (www.brauereimuseum.org).

Click here to see JezzaP's excellent photo album covering the whole of the trip.

 

 

Report on a trip to Franconia (Franken) and Munich, in Germany, by JezzaP

Below is an excellent report by JezzaP on a 2006 visit to Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bamberg, Würzburg and Munich. In the near future, it will be augmented by photos, and appropriate website links. Contact details for the places mentioned in Bamberg and Würzburg can be found in the White Beer Travels guides to Bamberg (also covers Würzburg) and Nuremberg, which are mentioned in JezzaP's report. The guides and appropriate maps are available from the White Beer Travels Downloads page. JezzaP is a regular contributor to the Burgundian Babble Belt message board, which specialises in Belgian Beer, but also covers other Speciality/Craft Beers from around the world. Any queries on this Web page, can be posed on the Babble Belt's message board, which can be directly reached by clicking here.

Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bamberg, Würzburg and Munich: April/May 2006

"Go to Bamberg, you'll love it", they said. In fact they've been saying it for years. Finally I gave in, and despite never having been blown away by German beers, I decided to book a trip to see what all the fuss was about. Would they be right, what would I find, would I like Bamberg, and most importantly, would I find any decent beer? Surely all those people couldn't be wrong, could they?

  Day One

Our trip started with a late Friday night flight from Stansted to Nuremberg. I refuse to call Stansted "London Stansted" because anyone who has travelled out there from the centre of town will soon realise its nowhere near London. Anyway, we made it painlessly enough, and after a short delay we were on our Air Berlin flight for the short hop to Nuremberg. We touched down at 11.05pm local time, were checking into our hotel at 11.45pm, and were in our first pub at 5 minutes to midnight!

Only problem was that it was clear that they were closing up in the Kloster Andechs/Das Wirthaus bar beneath our hotel, the overpriced Hotel Deutscher Keiser, so we crossed the road to Barfüsser (www.barfuesser-nuernberg.de), a brew pub which thankfully stayed open till 1am. Mind you, service varied between non existent and very slow, but we persevered and got the holiday off to a good start with a couple of very tasty Barfüsser Blondes (beer not women!). A great subterranean barn of a place, this was a great tavern for our first beer of the trip.

  Day Two

Next morning it was freezing, damp and miserable, so where better to spend the morning than the Documentazion Centrum, the huge, amazing museum which tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the Nazis, the Nuremberg Rallies, Hitler and the Third Reich. At the end, you come out into the middle of the gigantic, unfinished stadium which still stands and which is absolutely monstrous, especially when you realise they intended to make it about twice the size once completed. Incidentally, the stadium where England play in June, 2006, in the Football World Cup is in the same area that the Nuremberg rallies took place…..

Anyway, I was delighted to discover that Landbierparadies (www.landbierparadies.com) just happened to be a short walk away, so about 10 minutes later, we were walking into the pub. This was the first great pub of many that we'd find thanks to John White during the week. A great place featuring a wide ranging list of Franconian beers, one of which is served from the wood each day. I had a Br. Krug Lagerbier and a Br. Sauer Schulkla Rauchbier. Both were superb. T had the Neder Schwarze Anna, which also went down well. Excellent pub, friendly staff, and a fab selection of beers. We weren't so fussed on the food, the goulash soup being excellent, the pork thing and those bloody awful dumplings called "Kloss" were, well, bloody awful (Ed: I fully agree). Sponge balls which you could play tennis with, those things were NOT edible!

Anyway, moving on, we wandered back to the centre of town and arrived in an Irish pub just in time to see Wayne Rooney bust his foot and United get stuffed, so we didn't need to loiter long before a quick hotel stop. Visited a couple of churches in the centre, then trekked up to the wonderful castle, which has superb views of the city. Then the rain returned but conveniently we were almost next to Hutt'n (www.huettn-nuernberg.de), superb bar number 2. Done up something like a Swiss cabin – believe me, it works – this is another wonderful cosy bar with an excellent beer list. I had an Dom-Bräu's Ammerndorfer Landbier-Dunkel and a Br. Fischer Rauchbier. It was only a quick stagger from here to the Hausbrauerai Altstadthof Nuremberg (www.altstadthof.de), which we really enjoyed. A more modern brew pub, we enjoyed the beers, especially their Schwarzbier, and the tasty Wiener Schnitzel and Frites, the first of many for the week.

Next stop was the Schlenkerla Tavern. Great bar number 3, what a superb place, full of beams, old wood, great character and of course great beer, I just had to have my first Schlenkerla Rauchbier of the week here, again the first of many. On entering, the owner saw me with the John White downloadable guide to Bamberg, which also features Nuremberg. He asked me what it was, I showed him, and he was fascinated. He took it away, copied the pages on his pub, and was all smiles. He gave the copy to some locals, who read it and expressed approval. The owner then came over and offered me some of the Schlenkerla Schnapps, we had a hearty toast and each downed a shot with aplomb! On departing, T was then presented with a small Schlenkerla glass: all for appearing with a John White downloadable guide!

After all this excitement, we headed back to the hotel in time for last orders at the Kloster Andechs pub, where I had the Dunkel and the Doppelbock, which, after all that beer, was not really what I needed, but it was a great way to end a superb day in Nuremberg, which as you can see, has plenty of excellent beer destinations alongside some fascinating historical sights.

  Day Three

Feeling rough – I blame the Schnapps – or was it a dirty glass? – we got a train just before midday and made quick work of the 40 minute train journey to Bamberg. After a cab to the hotel, we were just in time for a late lunch then a look round town before meeting Fred  Waltman (FredW) (www.franconiabeerguide.com) at Stilbruch (www.stilbruch-bamberg.de) at 5pm. This is a regular haunt of Fred's on a Sunday, for the Br.Hübner Landbier, which is indeed very tasty. Just the one beer here before heading on a small crawl with Fred, firstly for our first visit to the Schlenkerla Tavern – an unbelievable place (www.schlenkerla.de and www.smokebeer.com (English-language pages), White Beer Travels Web page); then Spezial (www.brauerei-spezial.de), another unbelievable old tavern with immense atmosphere, and pretty good Deer Goulash to go with the superb Lagerbier and Märzen, and finally Klosterbräu (www.klosterbraeu.de), which was right next to our excellent hotel in the river, the Hotel Sankt Nepomuk (www.hotel-nepomuk.de). At Klosterbräu, we were able to sample the gorgeous Maibock, along with the Braunbier and the also excellent Schwärzla. All sampling of course done in the superb surroundings of this wonderful old brewery tavern.

Our initial impression of Bamberg ? Wow!

  Day Four

After a cold and wet weekend, on Monday it finally started to warm up. After a walk up to the extremely impressive Cathedral, we checked out the Neue Residence, one of the many superb old palaces we found during the week. Once done with the tourist stuff, it was time for a beer, so on the way down the hill we decided to have lunch at Ambräusianum (www.ambraeusianum.de). Rather oddly, as it was only half full, we were told that there would be a wait of up to an hour for lunch, so we were advised not to eat here. Not sure what the problem was, but I appreciated their honesty, and so instead I had the sampler of three of the brewery's beers – all of which I found to be pretty good. Not world beaters, but tasty and enjoyable, especially the Helles and the Weizen.

After lunch, at an Italian place, it was back to the tourist trail, checking out "Little Venice" – which had more of the little and less of the Venice than I expected. A quick pit stop at the Schlenkerla was followed by a visit to St Stephan's Church, before we set off on the 15 or 20 minute walk across town to Brauerei Keesmann (www.keesmann-braeu.de) and Mahrs-Bräu (www.mahrs-braeu.de). At Keesmann, we sat outside in the very pleasant courtyard out the back, and I sampled the fabulous Herren Pils, which was by some distance the best Pils of the week. At Mahrs-Bräu, we had timed our visit for the daily cask of U. I found this good, but not quite as amazing as I had expected. The place itself, though, is a world beater of quite magnificent proportions: wood panelling, a fantastic old green tiled fire, beams and oozing great atmosphere.

From here we walked round the back of the station to Café Abseits (www.abseits-bamberg.de), where we once again met up with Fred. We all really liked this place, quite the antidote to all the old taverns, with its more modern feel and a great beer list. We shared Mönchsambacher Lager and Maibock, Huppendorder Zwickel from Br. Grasser, and Hartmann Erbschank 1550 Schwarzbier, and I was well fed with another Wiener Schnitzel. Once again we were amazed at how cheap everything was: the three of us ate very well, and had a load of beers for less than 25 Euros. Bamberg is not a place that stretches your budget…

Schlenkerla was calling out for another visit when we got back to the centre of town, and it would have been rude not to oblige.

  Day Five

My birthday. Waking up to warm sunshine, coming out of our hotel block (we were staying in the peaceful annexe – the Molitorhaus) round to the main hotel for breakfast, we passed an incredibly beautiful view up the river each morning. Today it was perfect. After coffee by the wonderful Alte Rathaus, it was up to the Dom for a poke around the Alte Hofhaltung, then a walk up to Kloster St Michael, on Michaelsberg, see the photo at the top of this page, another one of the hills which has yet more magnificent views over this great mediaeval city. Very reminiscent of Prague and the climb up to, and the view from, the Strahov Monastery. The views of Bamberg from the front of the old church were stunning.

Late morning and it was time for a birthday lunch, and as it was my shout, we headed across town to Br. Spezial. On the way, we saw Fred as he emerged from his morning's German class. Fred being a sensible chap, he didn't need too much arm twisting to join us for lunch at one of his favourite breweries. So, a few minutes later and we were celebrating with Spezial Rauchbiers, and I had another excellent Goulash, this time with Pork. Sitting in the warm sun in the little courtyard out the back, we once again really enjoyed Spezial. Fred had some work to do, so he left us as we crossed the road for our first visit to Fässla (www.faessla.de). I had heard it was a smoky old place, so was pleased to see that it also had an outside area, where needless to say, we sat while sampling my first Fässla beers. The Lagerbier and the Zwergla were both very good.

Later we had our first Bamberg Keller experience, when we made it up the hill to Wilde Rose Keller (www.wilde-rose-keller.de). A huge, leafy garden with literally hundreds of seats, the Maibock from Bamberg's Maisel brewery (www.maisel-braeu-bamberg.de) went down a treat in the afternoon heat. As it was a workday early in the week, it was suitably quiet and very laid back in this lovely leafy haven.

Carefully navigating some very expensive looking backstreets, about 15 minutes later we were at Br. Greifenklau (www.greifenklau.de). As it was now officially summer, the only part of the complex that was open was its garden, which suited us fine, especially as we got the prime table right by the fence, which gave superlative views over to Altenburg castle, on another of Bamberg 's hills. It was now HOT as well as sunny, and it was proving to be a great way to spend a birthday.

From here we headed downhill and soon arrived at the famous Tapas Bar (www.tapas-bamberg.de). Once again we sat outside overlooking another jaw dropping view – Bamberg is seemingly full of such great vistas. This view was over to the back of the Dom. Though it has a good range of beers, this is not the best Tapas bar we've ever been in, and though the food was passable, and very, very cheap, I wouldn't rush to eat here again. The beer I chose here was another Mönchsambacher Lager, which pleased once again.

After dinner, we met up again with Fred for another pub crawl, this time starting at Torschuster (Obere Karolinenstrass 10, www.torschuster.de, stopped working in June, 2006), which is one of Bamberg's best pubs, small but with creeping breweriana, and a good selection from 7 of the town's breweries (Ed: Torschuster is a new one for me, thanks for the info). I had another Keesmann Pils and another Fässla Zwergla here, before we headed for our first experience of Pizzini. Wow, what an absolute gem. Anyone who appreciates old brown cafés would love Pizzini: it's an old brown café par excellence! Wood panelling all round, great old photos, cosy nooks, and live music in the form of locals playing the piano, plus tonight one of them on the trumpet, this place is run by an unsung hero of the beer world, an old woman with the great name of Wally Muck, whose passion this place obviously is. A great, great, bar with an ambience to die for, under no circumstances should any visitor to Bamberg miss this bar.

Fred left us after a couple of Spezial Rauchbiers, as he had his German class the next morning, but we felt like a nightcap, so I dragged T up the hill to the amazing Stöhrenkeller, another superb little bar, more modern but with the obligatory scrubbed tables, and another small but perfectly formed beer list. A gorgeous laid back pub with a Schlenkerla Rauchbier was the perfect way to round off a very memorable Bamberg birthday.

  Day Six

Somewhat knackered after a heavy day, what better activity than a trip out of town to some local breweries. Using Fred's advice, we took the number 7 bus to Memmelsdorf at  11.25am, stopping off one stop before reaching our destination to check out the Schloss Seehof (www.schlossseehof.de), which has a bus stop of that name. This is a remarkable castle in a lovely park, just on the outskirts of town. If you show up just before midday you also get a free fountain display when they turn on all the water jets around their elaborate fountains, which is quite spectacular.

Back on the bus it's only a few minutes to Memmelsdorf, and it was now time for lunch, which we had at Br. Drei Kronen (www.drei-kronen.de). This was one of the best meals of the trip, we both had excellent Schnitzels in a superb beery gravy sauce with mushrooms. The beers are available in sampler portions: the Stöffla Smoke Beer was interesting without being exceptional.

Back across the road to the bus stop after lunch we were sitting waiting for the number 17 to Merkendorf when two cyclists pulled over calling my name. It was one of those slightly surreal moments, when you are in the middle of nowhere, and someone who you've never met before finds you and stops to say hello. It was Nick B and his wife Becky, who we knew may also be heading for Merkendorf that afternoon. Anyway, they went on ahead on their bikes and we soon caught up with them at the brewery.

Br. Hummel in Merkendorf (www.brauerei-hummel.de) was a highlight of the trip. First off it's a great place, with a large outdoor seating area at the back of the brewery, and some cosy rooms inside. However, as it was baking hot it was outside for us all. Unusually for these parts, they serve a range of different sizes of beer, making it possible to sample more beers, so I tasted the Kellerbier, the Märzen, the Räucherla, the Heller Maibock and finally another Kellerbier. All were superb, with the Kellerbier being one of the beers of the trip. After an hour and a half chatting with Nick and Becky – who moved to Franconia from the US 18 months ago - and tasting the beers, it was time to get the bus back to Bamberg: it was probably just as well given that I could easily have spent the rest of the week at Hummel – what a wonderful place. I will definitely be back….

After a quick hotel pit stop it was time to check out the Spezial Keller up the Stephansberg hill. We had been told that the view was pretty "spezial", and once again they were right – the view is amazing, surely one of the best in town. The huge beer garden overlooks three of Bamberg 's great churches, including the Cathedral and Kloster St Michael. And of course the beer is extremely acceptable too.

Dinner was some of the "Thai influenced" fare at Der Pelikan, which was OK but with way too much coconut milk, too many odd vegetables that don't belong there, and not enough spice. Apart from that it was perfect, and the Pelikan is notable for one of the beers of the week, the Huppendorfer Vollbier, which was really superb.

  Day Seven

Time for our day trip to Würzburg, a larger city than Bamberg which is about an hour west on the train. We had heard it was a bit special with notable architecture, great wine and a scenic river running through the city centre. It had all that and more – what a great city Würzburg is.

First stop was the home of the Prince Bishops, the almighty Residenz, one of the most amazing old palaces I have ever seen. The Spiegel Kabinett is the highlight, a sumptuous mirror and gold clad room, the restoration of which was only completed in 1987 after wartime bombing. You really have to see it to believe the intricacy of the work. Next door is the Hofkirche and the Hofgarten, a church and the gardens which complete the estate: again, both are stunning.

After spending the morning at the Residenz, it was time for lunch. Again this was to prove a highlight of the trip, as we dined at one of the top wine places in this famous centre of German wine, the Weinstuben Juliusspital (www.juliusspital.de). By some distance the best meal we had all week, we both had the Pork Medallions in a rich gravy with mushrooms and perfectly fried potatoes. We also demolished a couple of samples of various of their wines, plus a bottle of one of their finest Rieslings, which helped our enjoyment considerably. The setting was also wonderful, as we sat in the intense heat in the lovely courtyard out the back. The interior of the place was also superb, with several rooms with beams, pictures, tiled floor and wood panelled walls. We will go out of our way to return to this fantastic restaurant.

We managed to drag ourselves away to see more of the city, and after three extremely impressive churches, including the Dom, we hit the Alte Mainbrücke, the old bridge over the river which is slightly reminiscent of the Charles Bridge in Prague. As soon as you turn the corner onto the bridge, you see the gargantuan Festung Marienburg – the old castle complex – hulking dominantly above the town. A stiff climb of about 20 minutes – hard work on a hot sunny day – took us to the top for yet more wonderful views of the city.

Würzburg was a stunning success, but it was soon time to return to Bamberg. Reaching town in time for a drink before dinner, we had a quick one at the Maisel outlet, the Bamberger Weissbierhaus, which was OK but not on the same high level as many of the other taverns, then another quick one at another Maisel pub, Zum Sternla (www.sternla.de) – the oldest pub in Bamberg, apparently - followed by dinner at another wine place for T, the Würzburger Weinstuben (www.restaurant-wuerzburger-weinstuben.de), which was above average price for Bamberg, though sadly not above average quality…

Way above average quality was the Schlenkerla tavern, where we diverted for a smoky night cap as an antidote to all that wine, followed by our return visit to the Klosterbräu for another night cap, where we closed the bar at the very late hour of just 10 minutes to 11pm!

  Day Eight

With the wonderful weather still very much with us, we decided that it would be a good day to wander down the Regnitz river south east to the small suburb of Bug. Here we would have lunch at the splendidly named "Buger Hof" (www.buger-hof.de), which as well as having a name amusing to Brits, also serves some fine grub. Another Wiener Schnitzel was the order of the day for me, washed down with a reasonable but rather ordinary Reckendorfer Vollbier. With plenty of time on our hands, we decided to walk back to Bamberg instead of taking the bus, and 45 minutes later we were back in town. This is a lovely walk down the river which is highly recommended.

Next on the busy schedule was my brewery tour at Br. Schlenkerla. I met Matthias the brewer at 3pm as arranged, and we were soon heading round the great old brewery, which reminded me in parts of both St. Bernardus (www.sintbernardus.be) and Orval (www.orval.be, White Beer Travels Web page), in Belgium. The one thing that neither of those breweries has, of course, is caves, and as well as the on site maltings, that was the part of the tour that was of most interest. Once in the caves, I was treated to samples of both the Lager Bier and the amazing Urbock, straight from the tanks. Both were sublime. We didn't loiter long in the caves, though, as it was only 4 degrees Celsius down there, quite a drop from the mid 20s temperature outside! Anyway, it's a fascinating brewery, Matthias is a generous and convivial host, and I really appreciated his taking the time to show me around at the end of another busy week for him.

T didn't want to see yet another brewery – even a special one – so I had left her in the Spezi Keller up the road, so on collecting her I felt that I really should have a beer, which was a good opportunity to compare one of Bamberg's Smoke Beers with another. I have to say that much as I love the Schlenkerla beers, the Spezial Rauchbier is really wonderful too.

From here we went to the third of the three Kellers on the Stephansberg, the Mahrs-Bräu, see the photo at the top of this page, which turned out to be my favourite (though I loved them all). The main reason I loved it was due to the fantastic "Gig" beer that they had on tap there, which wasn't available at the brewery tap. This dark beer was easily in my top five beers of the week, full flavoured and very more-ish. So, we had some more… Tearing ourselves away from here was hard, but we eventually headed back into town for dinner at the Bolero (www.bolero-bamberg.de), a much more authentic Tapas bar on the site of the old Polar Bear (Polarbär) brewery. This was a very good meal, much better than our previous Tapas experience. However, beers here are ordinary and I passed.

It was then time for our final visit of the week to Schlenkerla tavern, where we once again met up with Fred, and this time also Lorenzo, who had arrived in town that afternoon with a group of Italian beer nuts. Given that I've drunk beer with Fred and Lorenzo in London and Belgium on many previous occasions, it was good to add Germany to the list! Lorenzo headed back to the hotel as he was tired out after a long day, so Fred, T and I finished our drinks and headed for a return visit to the wondrous Pizzini. Walking in we were only slightly surprised to see Lorenzo had actually meant "Pizzini" when he said "bed"!

Anyway, Pizzini was superb once more, and I really enjoyed my final two beers of the week in Bamberg, Fässla Pils and Andescher Dunkel. The piano was being played, the ambience was superb, and it was a fitting end to a fine week. We said our goodbyes to Fred, who had been great company all week, and looked forward both to our return to Bamberg and our next beers with Fred.

  Day Nine

Flight times back to London from Nuremberg weren't too convenient, so we had arranged to fly home from Munich, which gave us a handy excuse for a flying visit. Arriving just in time for a late lunch, we soon headed out to explore the old town centre on a walking tour we got from our book. The tour took us past a whole host of superb sights, including many great churches, monuments, and, surprisingly, several good pubs and beer halls.

The first of these was Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom (www.bratwurst-gloeckl.de), which served up the most amazing Nürnberg sausages with tasty fried potatoes, to go with the Augustiner beers, the Helles being served from the wood. We really loved the Augustiner Grossgastätten Bierhall (www.augustiner-restaurant.com), and were lucky to find the Maibock on draught here, as well as the Edelstoff. After a return visit for more sausages at the Nürnberger place, our final beery stop was the Ayingers Speis & Trank, a very smart, laid back and normal place opposite the Hofbräuhaus zoo. Here we had one of the beers of the week, the Ayingers Kellerbier, which went down a treat and rounded off an excellent half day in Munich.

  Day Ten

Off to the airport for the easyjet flight back to sunny Stansted, and we were home in a jiffy.

  Summary

So, were they right? You bet: Bamberg is superb, both in terms of being a great city with great sights, and of course in terms of its beery pedigree. It has some of the best taverns in the world, serving some of the world's great beer. I had been slightly concerned that I may not like the beer so much, but I really enjoyed a different beer experience after all those trips to Belgium.

So I can now safely finish my article with those immortal words: "Go to Bamberg, you WILL love it!"

  My (JezzaP) Top Tens

Burgundian Babble Belt Regulars will know that I love a good list, so here's a summary of how I saw things in Bamberg:

Brewery taverns or brewery taps: my order of preference and therefore my rating of "must visit-ness":

1.

Schlenkerla: one of the finest taverns in the world; totally wonderful place, when in town, try to get here every day as it's a work of unparalleled genius.

2.

Spezial: another amazing old tavern, again its an absolutely don't miss.

3.

Mahrs-Bräu: another in a very similar mould, another world beater.

4.

Klosterbräu: right by our hotel so it was easy to visit a couple of times, we loved it and would recommend not missing this one.

5.

Greifenklau: well worth the trek up to this one; very good view from their beer garden so go in the day time on a hot sunny day.

6.

Fässla: smoky inside but nice courtyard out the back which we sat in. Beer pretty good too.

7.

Keesmann: slightly more modern and again with good outdoor seating area out the back. Fantastic Pils, which is unmissable, but you can find it elsewhere in town too. However, I would also advise not missing this one, especially as it's so close to Mahrs-Bräu.

8.

Ambräusianum: went once, very modern in comparison with the older taverns above. I thought the beers were pretty good, but there was too much else to do to prioritise a return visit. If you have to miss one or more of the breweries, this is one that you can afford to miss, but as it's right by Schlenkerla, you may as well pop in at some stage. They also do samplers of the beers, which is convenient.

9.

Bamberger Weissbierhaus: we went here for our Maisel fix rather than the actual brewery tap. It's OK but missable if you are pushed for time.

Its worth saying that while I've ranked the above from 1 – 9, all of numbers 1 – 7 are very highly recommended and I will definitely go back to them all. Coming in 7 th on the above list does not in any way infer that the place is not good – its just that there is extremely tough competition – you should definitely aim to get to all of those 7. I didn't bother with Maisel brewery tap as it wasn't convenient, and I wasn't interested in going to Kaiserdom.

  Bier Kellers (Beer Gardens):

All of them were open on our visit, and we had very hot weather most of the week, so the Kellers were perfect. I would suggest going to visit all 3, and these three in Bamberg are all very close together, so if you go to one you may as well do them all. But FWIW, my rating is as follows:

1.

Mahrs-Bräu, see photo at the top of this Web page : as above, we had a stand out beer here, the wonderful "Gig".

2.

Spezial:absolutely stunning view, don't miss it. Beer is pretty tasty too!

3.

Wilde Rose: loved this one, its very leafy, huge, with some good Maisel brewed beers.

  Pubs:

Wow, some beauties here.

1.

Pizzini: quite simply one of the best bars I have ever been to. Definitely under no circumstances miss this one – it's a brown café par excellence, with understated sophistication, great beer, and an ambience to die for. The woman in charge is an unsung hero of the cafe scene, IMO.

2.

Café Abseits: entirely different from Pizzini and the brewery taverns, but a very good café, much more modern, with a good selection of beers. We only got there once as it's a bit of a hike, but definitely visit.

3.

Stöhrenkeller: another don't miss, an absolute beauty that you can do on the way down the hill from the kellers. Great late night place with interesting selection of beer.

4.

Torschuster: small but well worth a visit, as it's a lovely little pub and they serve beers from 7  Bamberg breweries.

5.

Tapas Bar: another stunning view from the terrace. Some fine beers here too – would recommend going for the beer but not the Tapas, which was not great.

6.

Stilbruch: only went the once, to have the Otto Hübner bier on the Sunday with Fred. Good bar but if pushed for time I wouldn't prioritise it above numbers 1 – 5 above.

7.

Pelikan: this one should probably be higher on the list in terms of beer selection, but we were put off by the odd Thai food and the fact that we sat in the garden which was busy and I wasn't comfortable there, so we should have moved inside – which is lovely - but we didn't. So our visit here wasn't the best but I will return – for beer only – and next time I'm sitting inside!

8.

Buger Hof: notable for that gorgeous 45 min walk down the river, which is well worth doing if you like to see the river and the trees.

9.

Zum Sternla: very old bar, worth a look, but the Maisel beer didn't blow me away. Very central and easy to pop into while passing sometime, but for me not a huge priority

10.

Würzburger Weinstube: good for wine if you need a break from the beer!

I would say that numbers 1 – 4 on the above list are in the unmissable category, but try to get to 5, 6 and 7 too if you can.

  Nearby brewpubs:

1.

Hummel, Merkendorf: stunning place, stunning beer, wow, don't miss this one! Keller was open at the time of our visit, too but we didn't go – which I think was a mistake.

2.

Drei Kronen, Memmelsdorf: we stopped here on the way to Hummel – food very good, beer is OK but missable. Save yourself for the Hummel beers! However, Drie Kronen is a very nice old brewpub and the food is fab, so its well worth visiting and the bus links that Fred has worked out all work well.

 Putting all the above together, all things considered, my Bamberg top 5 beer places are:

  1. Schlenkerla tavern
  2. Pizzini
  3. Hummel brewery tap
  4. Spezial brewery tap
  5. Mahrs-Bräu brewery tap
  6. Mahrs-Bräu Keller

And my next five:

  1. Abseits
  2. Klosterbräu
  3. Stöhrenkeller
  4. Torschuster
  5. Spezi Keller
  6. Wilde Rose Keller

  Beers:

Top 10 beers I had all week, not in any particular order:

  • Schlenkerla Urbock
  • Schlenkerla Rauchbier
  • Mahrs-Bräu Gig
  • Spezial Rauchbier
  • Keesmann Pils
  • Huppendorfer Vollbier
  • Hummel - Kellerbier
  • Hummel - everything else!
  • Mönchsambacher Lager
  • Klosterbräu Schwarzla
  • Klosterbräu Maibock
  • Ayinger unfiltered Kellerbier

  Various useful tips:

  • 27 euros for a Bayern ticket on the trains; all day from  9am to  3am next morning, go anywhere in Bavaria as long as you don't use the high speed (ICE) trains. Ticket valid for up to 5 people for the whole day! You can buy in Schiele travel agents on Lange Strasse to save you having to go to the station, and you can buy in advance on the Internet for 2 Euro less.
  • 20 euros for the Bamberg beer Rucksack: gets you 5 free beers, a great Rucksack, free glass and one beer mat/coaster from each brewery, plus very good booklet on the beers and breweries, plus map. Buy in the tourist office.
  • 8 euro bus and museum card; valid 3 days, gets you to a few museums (none unmissable though) and free bus travel, including to surrounding villages including Merkendorf and Memmelsdorf; saves the hassle of buying tickets. Get this card and timetable info in the Tourist office.
  • Avoid the dumplings aka Kloss (replace the ‘ss' with one of those funny Eszett things and you get the real word). Grossest "food" I have seen in years. We referred to them as sponge balls, and Fred teased us about them all week!

  Thanks:

Thanks are due to John White, of White Beer Travels, whose promptings finally persuaded me to go to Bamberg, and whose Guide was an invaluable, very accurate and extremely comprehensive source of information which I used many times daily.

I also need to thank Fred Waltman very much, whose own Guide I also used every day alongside John's. Between these two guides, you really do have every conceivable angle on the great beer spots in Bamberg and around. Fred was also superb company during the week, and we enjoyed the many beers we had during several different sessions during the week. It was beyond the call of duty for Fred to actually turn up and help guide us round the city during our visit. Fred has also put JezzaP's report on his website; it can be reached by clicking here.

Thanks also to Ron Pattinson for his Munich Pub Guide (www.europeanbeerguide.net/munipubs.htm (part of his essential European Beer Guide, www.europeanbeerguide.net)), which more than did the job for our flying visit there.

Thanks to Dan and Joelle for their notes on their recent trip, which also gave us another valued opinion.

And thanks to everyone else who kept on at me to go to Franconia. I am grateful to you all.

Cheers!

Jeremy/JezzaP

Comments/queries on this Web page can be directed to JezzaP on the Burgundian Babble Belt message board, see above.

John White (1945-), Your cursor is on an image of John White's e-mail address. Click on it to send an e-mail to John, May, 2006.

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Rauchbier (Smoke Beer or Smoked Beer) from Bamberg, in Germany, a particularly famous style of Speciality Beer (Craft Beer), is promoted on this website, along with great beer from all over the world, for example Belgian Beer, such as Trappist Beer, which is just about the world's most well-known Speciality/Craft Beer
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Schneider Weisse, a well-travelled, classic Wheat/White Beer, brewed in Bavaria by Schneider.  Click on the glass to go to their website Click on this bottle of Schneider Weisse, to see that this White Beer has travelled to Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands.  The photo, by Joyce White, features John White and White Beer Travels Beer Hunt regular, Dr Eric Clow, in the Mesón Andalucia, in May, 2004