Good morning from Leuven/Louvain, a mid-size college town on the outskirts of Brussels!
I'm sorry that I haven't updated the blog since leaving for our European study tour last week, but internet has been scarce in our hotels (and costly), so I am waiting to get back to Munich to post updates on all of our travels.
A few quick notes: we had a great first week visiting numerous breweries, maltsters, hop suppliers, and tank makers. We even met the man who is, by most accounts, the most famous and expert blender of Belgian lambics.
Today we head to Belgian Luxembourg as well as the Grand Duchy itself for visits to two breweries. Then, in the next few days we head back east toward Germany and Austria, where we'll have three days before returning to Munich on Thursday night.
Again, sorry for the delay; the updates will be posted later this week; and in the meantime, my photos are all up-to-date on Facebook. Check em out!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
And the topics were...
So the prediction wasn't too far off, though there were far more yeast-related questions than I expected.
As a review, here were the topics I predicted for the seven questions on the final:
1) malt analysis and enyzme activity
2) ''hotside'' brewhouse processes
3) off-flavors and fermentation
4) brewhouse calculations
5) microbiology and beer spoilage
6) quality control with beer flavor, foam, and haze
7) filtration, maturation, storage and cellaring operations
The actual topics were...
1) enzymes
2) mashing techniques
3) brewhouse calculations: hops
4) brewhouse calculations: brewery capacity and malt requirements
5) yeast health
6) yeast propagation and fermentation
7) yeast biochemistry and sugar consumption
So, giving myself a little lenience, topics 1, 2, 3/4, and 6 were all expected, though I only thought there would be one calculation. That there was nothing on off-flavors or microbiology was the biggest surprise, but I felt confident with the questions I answered and am cautiously optimistic that I won't have to sit an oral exam.!
Now, off for a final weekend in München; I have two more pre-European Brew Tour posts in mind and should have the posts up on Sunday night.
As a review, here were the topics I predicted for the seven questions on the final:
1) malt analysis and enyzme activity
2) ''hotside'' brewhouse processes
3) off-flavors and fermentation
4) brewhouse calculations
5) microbiology and beer spoilage
6) quality control with beer flavor, foam, and haze
7) filtration, maturation, storage and cellaring operations
The actual topics were...
1) enzymes
2) mashing techniques
3) brewhouse calculations: hops
4) brewhouse calculations: brewery capacity and malt requirements
5) yeast health
6) yeast propagation and fermentation
7) yeast biochemistry and sugar consumption
So, giving myself a little lenience, topics 1, 2, 3/4, and 6 were all expected, though I only thought there would be one calculation. That there was nothing on off-flavors or microbiology was the biggest surprise, but I felt confident with the questions I answered and am cautiously optimistic that I won't have to sit an oral exam.!
Now, off for a final weekend in München; I have two more pre-European Brew Tour posts in mind and should have the posts up on Sunday night.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The final
Our final exam is tomorrow. This has been a point of moderate stress for the brew crew.
In the past ten weeks, we've covered thousands of pages in textbooks, slide shows, pamphlets, lab manuals, and articles on brewing. We've spent 350 hours in class, and the course has kept a consistent, "if it's Tuesday, we must be studying yeast" kind of clip, which is to say that review and repetition are not highly prized in World Brewing Acadmey pedagogy. And tomorrow, we write our exam: there will be seven essay questions, and you answer five of them. To pass, you are required to get an 85%. Anyone who scores between a 50 and an 84 must take an oral exam--administered by scary German brewing instructors--when we return from our European brewery tour. Score below a 50, and you leave diploma-less.
Despite the temptation of Munich beer life, folks have been pretty studious the last few days, and there seems to be a direct correlation between amount of studying and anxiety around the exam. Rightfully so; every one of us is probably more invested in this exam than any we took in high school or college, and the volume of information that might be on it is intimidating. In the last few days, I've pulled out all my old tricks for studying for a big exam (though, I don't know that I've ever taken one whose breadth is quite so, well, broad). Flash cards, typed outlines, diagrams, tables, oral pop quizzes on the train with friends, study sessions in front of a big blackboard, and reading and re-reading. My final effort, to both solidify my baseline knowledge and to try out a new study format, is this: studying via blogging.
So I've guessed, and answered, the questions that I expect to see on the exam. Once the deed is done (and we've all opened our bottles of Triumphator Doppelbock afterwards), I'll let you know how I fared. Back in middle school, I was pretty good at predicting who the Oscar nominees would be in any given year, so maybe I'll get a couple right. If I don't, I may have an oral exam to study for.
The rest of this entry is for the beer geeks. See how you do on the pseudo-final. The answers are included in the first comme
1. Raw Materials: Malt Analysis
Q: Your brewery receives a shipment of pale malt with the following analysis from the maltster. Discuss the values below, identify whether they are "in spec," and explain how this malt might perform in the brewhouse. What steps might you take later in the brewing process if you were using this malt to brew a pilsner?
moisture content 4.2% pH 5.7 sacc. time 7 min.
apparent deg. attenuation 85% extract 82% friability 94%
Total % Protein 10.5%
F-C 1.5% friability (glass) 2% Kolbach Index 49%
A: In general, this is a high quality, if slightly overmodified malt. The only measurements that are "out of spec" are the friability (acceptable range 80-90%), saccharification time (10-15 minutes), and the Kolbach Index (38-43%). The off values in all three of these areas suggest that the maltster allowed enzyme activity to continue too far during germination. Nonetheless, the malt has an appropriate level of total protein and shows good potential for B-amylase activity given its high extract %. This malt will produce a wort that is highly fermentable, with few residual dextrins (given the high alpha amylase activity); however, it will be imbalanced with regard to different types of proteins. Specifically, it will favor high free amino nitrogen levels, which will make for good fermentation, over higher molecular weight proteins that are essential for foam stability and saturation of carbon dioxide. To brew an excellent pilsner with this beer, a brewer could add dextrin malt (aka "carapils") to the grain bill, skip a protein rest during mashing, and/or use a foam enhancing agent such as alginate.
2. "Hot Side" Brewhouse Operations
Q: List the components of a classic "4 vessel" brewhouse. Discuss the role of each in the production of wort, and give specific examples of ways that each part of the brewhouse process impacts the final character of beer.
A: The four vessels are the mash tun, lautering tun, wort kettle, and whirlpool. In the mash tun, milled malt is mixed with hot water in order to solubilize sugars, proteins, and minerals into a solution that eventually will become hot wort; during this process, complex starches and proteins are broken down into simpler sugars (such as maltose, glucose, sucrose, maltotriose, and unfermentable dextrins) and smaller polypeptides, amino acids, and nitrogen, respectively. Lautering separates the liquid wort from spent grain by using the milled husks of malted barley as a natural filter bed. Later, the lautering process is completed by sparging, in which additional sugars, proteins, minerals, and polyphenols are "rinsed" into wort and the total volume of liquid is increased. This hot wort is then boiled for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes in order to sterilize the liquid, evaporate excess water and distill the dissolved extract, isomerize essential alpha acids from hops, volatilize undesirable compounds, form a hot break of undissolved proteins and polyphenols that are undesirable in finished beer, fix the carbohydrate profile of the wort through the denaturizing of enzymes, and form additional color and flavor compounds via Maillard reactions between sugars and amino acids. Finally, the whirlpool separates the hot wort from the trub of proteins, polyphenols, and hop matter that can interfere fermentation and beer stability. As it leaves the whirlpool, beer is cooled for fermentation and cellaring.
In terms of flavor or "character" impacts, each step in the process is critical. During the mash, a brewer controls time, temperature, thickness, and pH in order to stimulate enzyme activity that may create a lghter- or heavier-bodied beer. Similarly, certain rests during the mash can impact yeast behavior during fermentation. The classic example of this is using an extended protein rest to increase ferulic acid production during fermentation, which helps contribute a distinct clove flavor to certain German and Belgian-style ales. Lautering requires special precision on the part of the brewer: temperatures that are too high in the lautering tun will leach undesirable, astringent tannins into the final beer, and temperatures that are too low will create a beer that is highly viscous, difficult to filter, and hazy. During the boil, a brewer controls the "hop character" of beer by determinging when to add additions: a brewer who desires significant hop aromas without accompanying bitterness may wait to add her additions until late in the boil. A vigorous boil also helps remove DMS (dimethyl sulfide) from the wort--DMS can impart an undesirable cabbage, vegetal, or corny flavor to beer. Finally, proper whirlpooling removes compounds that can negatively impact yeast performance. Poor fermentation can lead to high levels of diacetyl, acetaldehyde, haze, and oxidation.
3. Fermentation Off-Flavors
Q: What is acetaldehyde? Why is it produced during fermentation? How can a brewer "fix" a beer with acetaldehyde?
A: Acetaldehyde is a specific aldehyde that is produced as an intermediate byproduct of fermentation. All healthy fermentation produces acetaldehyde; however, its presence in finished beer is consider a negative characteristic. Typically, it is associated with flavors of green apple or grape skin. I personally find that it has the aroma of raw pumpkin.
Yeast produce acetaldehyde as part of the complex process that converts glucose into ethanol. In order to produce biologically useful energy (ATP), glycolysis occurs inside yeast cells. During glycolysis, glucose uses NAD and ADP to create ATP, hydrogen, and pyruvic acid (converted to pyruvate to maintain internal pH of the yeast). The yeast then "wants" to get more NAD in order to continue to produce energy and grow. This is why fermentation occurs, and it is where acetaldehyde enters the equation. Pyruvate undergoes an oxidative decarboxylation, a fancy way of saying that it loses carbon dioxide, and is converted into acetaldehyde. The "natural" next step undertaken by healthy yeast, with a sufficient amount of zinc, is to turn that acetaldehyde into ethanol and NAD. In other words, acetaldehyde is the compound produced en route to "getting NAD back" during fermentation.
Acetaldehyde correlates directly to yeast stress: that is, any criteria that negatively impacts yeast health and vigorous fermentation increases levels of acetaldehyde. This includes high yeast pitching rates, high pressure inside a fermenter, and low free amino nitrogen in wort. High fermentation temperatures increase acetaldehyde production and speed its conversion into ethanol. Typically, beer with high levels of acetaldehyde require a longer fermentation, krausening, or a fresh dose of yeast, all of which are acceptable techniques to "fix" this off-flavor.
4. Brewery Microbiology
Q: You lead the microbiology lab at a large lager brewery. You detect a bacterial contamination from pediococcus in your beer. List the steps that you have taken in the lab to identify pediococcus as the culprit of beer spoilage, including "sensory" tests.
A: There are three basic tests that breweries use to identify microorganisms: the gram stain (or KOH test), the catalase test, and basic microscopy. All bacteria can be categorized as either gram negative or gram positive. This means that when stained, the outer membrane of the bacteria appears bright under the microscope and is an indicator of the basic structure of the bacteria. Typically, more resilient bacteria are gram positive, including the primary class of beer spoilers: lactic acid bacteria. As an alternative to the gram stain, many brewing scientists prefer the KOH test. In a lab a cultured microorganism is mixed with a little bit of KOH. If the resultant mixture is "ropey," the organism is KOH positive. The KOH and gram tests are inversely correlated.
The Catalase test determines whether a microorganism is aerobic or not. Hydrogen peroxide is dropped onto a microogranism on a lab plate; if there is a bubbling reaction, the organism is respiring and thus aerobic. Pediococcus is catalase negative, whereas other micrococci that are not beer spoilers are usually catalase positive. A beer spoiler that is gram positive (KOH negative) and catalase negative is either pediococcus or a type of lactobacillus. The final identification can be done by microscopy: using a simple microscope to identify the organisms shape. Cocci are round whereas bacilli are rod-shaped. A pediococcus infection can be identified organaleptically as well due to its distinct "rancid butter" aroma and flavor in beer.
Other common beer spoilers include lactobacillus, acetobacter/gluconobacter, enterobacteriaceae, megasphera, pectinatus, and zymomonas.
5. Brewhouse Calculations: Grains, Hops, and Efficiency
Q: Calculate the malt and hop requirements for a 500 liter (cast out wort) batch of American pale ale with an original gravity of 15 degrees Plato (by weight) and 55 IBUs. Select appropriate American hop varieties, and give plausible alpha acid percentages for each addition. Your brewhouse has an overall efficiency of 82%, and you typically have a 26% utilization on hops.
A: 1. Malt calculation
Malt (kg) = {volume of wort (hl) x .96 x gravity (g/100 ml)} / brewhouse efficiency (%)
= (5 hl x .96 x 15.89 g/ml) / 82
= 93.01 kg
2. Total Alpha Acids Required
AA (kg) = {volume of wort (liters) x target IBU (g/ml)} / hop utilization (%)
=(500 x 55) / .26
=105.77 g of AA
3. Distribution of AA for Each Addition
1st Addition: CTZ (bittering) 16%AA 50% =52.885 g AA
2nd Addition: Cascade 6% AA 20% =21.154 g AA
3rd Addition: Cascade 6% AA 30% =31.731 g AA
4. Actual Hops Required
hops (kg) = kg AA / % AA
1) CTZ = 52.885/16% =330.53 g
2) Cascade = 21.154/6% =352.57 g
3) Cadcade = 31.731/6% =528.85 g
So those are the five questions, I plan on answering. How did you do? Dark horse topics that might show up: fermentation regimes; quality control around beer haze, gushing, foam, or flavor; filtration; and water chemistry. Stay tuned to see if I score as well at predicting the test as I do on it.
Bis dann...
In the past ten weeks, we've covered thousands of pages in textbooks, slide shows, pamphlets, lab manuals, and articles on brewing. We've spent 350 hours in class, and the course has kept a consistent, "if it's Tuesday, we must be studying yeast" kind of clip, which is to say that review and repetition are not highly prized in World Brewing Acadmey pedagogy. And tomorrow, we write our exam: there will be seven essay questions, and you answer five of them. To pass, you are required to get an 85%. Anyone who scores between a 50 and an 84 must take an oral exam--administered by scary German brewing instructors--when we return from our European brewery tour. Score below a 50, and you leave diploma-less.
Despite the temptation of Munich beer life, folks have been pretty studious the last few days, and there seems to be a direct correlation between amount of studying and anxiety around the exam. Rightfully so; every one of us is probably more invested in this exam than any we took in high school or college, and the volume of information that might be on it is intimidating. In the last few days, I've pulled out all my old tricks for studying for a big exam (though, I don't know that I've ever taken one whose breadth is quite so, well, broad). Flash cards, typed outlines, diagrams, tables, oral pop quizzes on the train with friends, study sessions in front of a big blackboard, and reading and re-reading. My final effort, to both solidify my baseline knowledge and to try out a new study format, is this: studying via blogging.
So I've guessed, and answered, the questions that I expect to see on the exam. Once the deed is done (and we've all opened our bottles of Triumphator Doppelbock afterwards), I'll let you know how I fared. Back in middle school, I was pretty good at predicting who the Oscar nominees would be in any given year, so maybe I'll get a couple right. If I don't, I may have an oral exam to study for.
The rest of this entry is for the beer geeks. See how you do on the pseudo-final. The answers are included in the first comme
1. Raw Materials: Malt Analysis
Q: Your brewery receives a shipment of pale malt with the following analysis from the maltster. Discuss the values below, identify whether they are "in spec," and explain how this malt might perform in the brewhouse. What steps might you take later in the brewing process if you were using this malt to brew a pilsner?
moisture content 4.2% pH 5.7 sacc. time 7 min.
apparent deg. attenuation 85% extract 82% friability 94%
Total % Protein 10.5%
F-C 1.5% friability (glass) 2% Kolbach Index 49%
A: In general, this is a high quality, if slightly overmodified malt. The only measurements that are "out of spec" are the friability (acceptable range 80-90%), saccharification time (10-15 minutes), and the Kolbach Index (38-43%). The off values in all three of these areas suggest that the maltster allowed enzyme activity to continue too far during germination. Nonetheless, the malt has an appropriate level of total protein and shows good potential for B-amylase activity given its high extract %. This malt will produce a wort that is highly fermentable, with few residual dextrins (given the high alpha amylase activity); however, it will be imbalanced with regard to different types of proteins. Specifically, it will favor high free amino nitrogen levels, which will make for good fermentation, over higher molecular weight proteins that are essential for foam stability and saturation of carbon dioxide. To brew an excellent pilsner with this beer, a brewer could add dextrin malt (aka "carapils") to the grain bill, skip a protein rest during mashing, and/or use a foam enhancing agent such as alginate.
2. "Hot Side" Brewhouse Operations
Q: List the components of a classic "4 vessel" brewhouse. Discuss the role of each in the production of wort, and give specific examples of ways that each part of the brewhouse process impacts the final character of beer.
A: The four vessels are the mash tun, lautering tun, wort kettle, and whirlpool. In the mash tun, milled malt is mixed with hot water in order to solubilize sugars, proteins, and minerals into a solution that eventually will become hot wort; during this process, complex starches and proteins are broken down into simpler sugars (such as maltose, glucose, sucrose, maltotriose, and unfermentable dextrins) and smaller polypeptides, amino acids, and nitrogen, respectively. Lautering separates the liquid wort from spent grain by using the milled husks of malted barley as a natural filter bed. Later, the lautering process is completed by sparging, in which additional sugars, proteins, minerals, and polyphenols are "rinsed" into wort and the total volume of liquid is increased. This hot wort is then boiled for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes in order to sterilize the liquid, evaporate excess water and distill the dissolved extract, isomerize essential alpha acids from hops, volatilize undesirable compounds, form a hot break of undissolved proteins and polyphenols that are undesirable in finished beer, fix the carbohydrate profile of the wort through the denaturizing of enzymes, and form additional color and flavor compounds via Maillard reactions between sugars and amino acids. Finally, the whirlpool separates the hot wort from the trub of proteins, polyphenols, and hop matter that can interfere fermentation and beer stability. As it leaves the whirlpool, beer is cooled for fermentation and cellaring.
In terms of flavor or "character" impacts, each step in the process is critical. During the mash, a brewer controls time, temperature, thickness, and pH in order to stimulate enzyme activity that may create a lghter- or heavier-bodied beer. Similarly, certain rests during the mash can impact yeast behavior during fermentation. The classic example of this is using an extended protein rest to increase ferulic acid production during fermentation, which helps contribute a distinct clove flavor to certain German and Belgian-style ales. Lautering requires special precision on the part of the brewer: temperatures that are too high in the lautering tun will leach undesirable, astringent tannins into the final beer, and temperatures that are too low will create a beer that is highly viscous, difficult to filter, and hazy. During the boil, a brewer controls the "hop character" of beer by determinging when to add additions: a brewer who desires significant hop aromas without accompanying bitterness may wait to add her additions until late in the boil. A vigorous boil also helps remove DMS (dimethyl sulfide) from the wort--DMS can impart an undesirable cabbage, vegetal, or corny flavor to beer. Finally, proper whirlpooling removes compounds that can negatively impact yeast performance. Poor fermentation can lead to high levels of diacetyl, acetaldehyde, haze, and oxidation.
3. Fermentation Off-Flavors
Q: What is acetaldehyde? Why is it produced during fermentation? How can a brewer "fix" a beer with acetaldehyde?
A: Acetaldehyde is a specific aldehyde that is produced as an intermediate byproduct of fermentation. All healthy fermentation produces acetaldehyde; however, its presence in finished beer is consider a negative characteristic. Typically, it is associated with flavors of green apple or grape skin. I personally find that it has the aroma of raw pumpkin.
Yeast produce acetaldehyde as part of the complex process that converts glucose into ethanol. In order to produce biologically useful energy (ATP), glycolysis occurs inside yeast cells. During glycolysis, glucose uses NAD and ADP to create ATP, hydrogen, and pyruvic acid (converted to pyruvate to maintain internal pH of the yeast). The yeast then "wants" to get more NAD in order to continue to produce energy and grow. This is why fermentation occurs, and it is where acetaldehyde enters the equation. Pyruvate undergoes an oxidative decarboxylation, a fancy way of saying that it loses carbon dioxide, and is converted into acetaldehyde. The "natural" next step undertaken by healthy yeast, with a sufficient amount of zinc, is to turn that acetaldehyde into ethanol and NAD. In other words, acetaldehyde is the compound produced en route to "getting NAD back" during fermentation.
Acetaldehyde correlates directly to yeast stress: that is, any criteria that negatively impacts yeast health and vigorous fermentation increases levels of acetaldehyde. This includes high yeast pitching rates, high pressure inside a fermenter, and low free amino nitrogen in wort. High fermentation temperatures increase acetaldehyde production and speed its conversion into ethanol. Typically, beer with high levels of acetaldehyde require a longer fermentation, krausening, or a fresh dose of yeast, all of which are acceptable techniques to "fix" this off-flavor.
4. Brewery Microbiology
Q: You lead the microbiology lab at a large lager brewery. You detect a bacterial contamination from pediococcus in your beer. List the steps that you have taken in the lab to identify pediococcus as the culprit of beer spoilage, including "sensory" tests.
A: There are three basic tests that breweries use to identify microorganisms: the gram stain (or KOH test), the catalase test, and basic microscopy. All bacteria can be categorized as either gram negative or gram positive. This means that when stained, the outer membrane of the bacteria appears bright under the microscope and is an indicator of the basic structure of the bacteria. Typically, more resilient bacteria are gram positive, including the primary class of beer spoilers: lactic acid bacteria. As an alternative to the gram stain, many brewing scientists prefer the KOH test. In a lab a cultured microorganism is mixed with a little bit of KOH. If the resultant mixture is "ropey," the organism is KOH positive. The KOH and gram tests are inversely correlated.
The Catalase test determines whether a microorganism is aerobic or not. Hydrogen peroxide is dropped onto a microogranism on a lab plate; if there is a bubbling reaction, the organism is respiring and thus aerobic. Pediococcus is catalase negative, whereas other micrococci that are not beer spoilers are usually catalase positive. A beer spoiler that is gram positive (KOH negative) and catalase negative is either pediococcus or a type of lactobacillus. The final identification can be done by microscopy: using a simple microscope to identify the organisms shape. Cocci are round whereas bacilli are rod-shaped. A pediococcus infection can be identified organaleptically as well due to its distinct "rancid butter" aroma and flavor in beer.
Other common beer spoilers include lactobacillus, acetobacter/gluconobacter, enterobacteriaceae, megasphera, pectinatus, and zymomonas.
5. Brewhouse Calculations: Grains, Hops, and Efficiency
Q: Calculate the malt and hop requirements for a 500 liter (cast out wort) batch of American pale ale with an original gravity of 15 degrees Plato (by weight) and 55 IBUs. Select appropriate American hop varieties, and give plausible alpha acid percentages for each addition. Your brewhouse has an overall efficiency of 82%, and you typically have a 26% utilization on hops.
A: 1. Malt calculation
Malt (kg) = {volume of wort (hl) x .96 x gravity (g/100 ml)} / brewhouse efficiency (%)
= (5 hl x .96 x 15.89 g/ml) / 82
= 93.01 kg
2. Total Alpha Acids Required
AA (kg) = {volume of wort (liters) x target IBU (g/ml)} / hop utilization (%)
=(500 x 55) / .26
=105.77 g of AA
3. Distribution of AA for Each Addition
1st Addition: CTZ (bittering) 16%AA 50% =52.885 g AA
2nd Addition: Cascade 6% AA 20% =21.154 g AA
3rd Addition: Cascade 6% AA 30% =31.731 g AA
4. Actual Hops Required
hops (kg) = kg AA / % AA
1) CTZ = 52.885/16% =330.53 g
2) Cascade = 21.154/6% =352.57 g
3) Cadcade = 31.731/6% =528.85 g
So those are the five questions, I plan on answering. How did you do? Dark horse topics that might show up: fermentation regimes; quality control around beer haze, gushing, foam, or flavor; filtration; and water chemistry. Stay tuned to see if I score as well at predicting the test as I do on it.
Bis dann...
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Guest Column!
This just in courtesy of our man in Praha, Joey Bosworth...a full report on our adventures last weekend. Like I wrote in my brief 'we're in Prague' blurb last Saturday, Joey loves the city and had planned an extensive tour for us so that we might see some of the gems of the Czech beer scene. While the beer had its ups and downs, the spirit of adventure was always high, and everyone had a wonderful time. Not only is Joey a gracious host, he's a solid chronicler of beer travels. Czech it out:
''After dropping off gear and parking the car, the first order of business was to visit an anchor of the Prague microbrew community. A restaurant and taproom called Pivovarskey Klub, it is one of the only places in Prague to have multiple Czech microbrews on tap. The Klub also happens to be the premier Czech bottleshop, with a huge selection of international brews. Everything went well and along with getting their first taste of gulash, the brewers worked their way through most of the draught selection. The standout was the Stepan lager brewed across town at the Klub’s sister brewery, Pivovarsky Dum. To me it is an excellent example of a basic Czech pilsner, clean, bright with decent hop presence. After our stomachs were lined with a protective layer of thick Czech gulash, we moved on to the wide selection available at our next stop.
Several weeks ago I went to a Belgian beer festival hosted by a luxury hotel here in Prague. I was nervous at first as I was the only person in the room speaking English, but tasty beer turned out to be universal. I made some friends, and after the festival they took me Zly Casy, which translates as ‘Mean Times’. I get a kick out of exclusivity, so I appreciated the lack of advertisement outside and out-of-the-way location. The offerings inside were even better. Zly Casy has sixteen beers on tap, all microbrews from the Czech Republic, with an emphasis on newly opened breweries and innovative beers. The brew crew once again worked through the more promising offerings on the draught list. Every beer passed around the table brought a new discussion of phenols, polyphenols, esters, and other aspects of beer composition known only to the initiated. While most of the conversation was far above my head, it was exciting to hear a combination of both passion for brewing and knowledge of the process. Eventually the night moved to a hazy exploration of the Czech Republic's native liqueurs, including Slivovice a rather harsh plum brandy, and Becherovka, an herbal digestif.
Despite having misplaced several members of the party the night before, Saturday morning we got on a train to Beroun, the next stop on my ad-hoc Tour de Pivo. A short ride away from downtown Prague, Beroun has little to recommend itself as a tourist destination. Stepping off the train feels like a going back in time twenty years as the entire town gives off a distinctly Soviet industrial feel. Despite the gloomy atmosphere, Beroun does have a fascinating brewpub called Berounsky Pivovar. It is one of my favorite pubs to visit with friends because of its location, which is a scrapyard full of Soviet era military hardware. The décor aside, the pub itself is exceptionally friendly. For a place that doesn’t see very many strangers, the wait staff always seems happy to see new customers, even if they speak terrible Czech. Unfortunately, the beer was a disappointment. According to the polyphenol posse, the flaws were most likely caused by heavy metals in the water used by the brewery, as well as oxidation and dying yeast. The day was not over however, and we returned back to Prague to continue the tour.
After visiting Prague Castle and several other medieval attractions we continued on to U Medvidku, a microbrewery hidden behind a larger Budvar pub. U Medvidku, whose brewmaster was honored several days ago at the Czech Beer Awards, inspired disbelief among the Siebel crew. Apparently the quaint wooden fermenting tanks and open air cooling device were not up to the strict hygiene standards so ingrained by their study. The beer, which is usually one of my favorites, showed signs of sitting in the lines, and we once again left in disappointment. After stopping to pick up the previously lost members of the group, we went on to the third brewery of the day, a touristy but essential stop on the Prague brewery circuit called Novomestsky Pivovar. This stop was the quickest of all, the two small tasters we ordered had the same heavy metal taste that we encountered in Beroun. Despairing at my apparent betrayal by Czech beer I proposed we move on to my personal stock of Belgian IPAs. All was made well as we shared an excellent Houblon Chouffe while overlooking a beautiful oldtown Prague.
The next day the mash tun mob set off again for Munich, having experienced the ups and downs of Czech beer and undoubtedly determined to perfect their own pilsner recipes.''
Where Joey's story ends, I'll start up: we spent Sunday afternoon touring the famous Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen, about an hour west of Prague. Pilsner Urquell is the home of the pilsner beer style, and we had a great time admiring the mix of hypermodern and far antique technologies that they use to produce the beer. The highlight, universally agreed upon by the Siebel crew, was a visit to the extensive tunnel network underneath the current brewery, where thousands upon thousands of wooden barrels for fermentation and maturation. Some of those barrels are still used today, and we were lucky to taste this ''keller'' version of the pils, which had the complex mix of woody, musty, and spicy hops that great German kellerbiers have. It was the best beer we tasted in the Czech Republic.
We made it back to Munich safe and sound on Sunday night, ready to buckle down and work hard in our final week of class.
PS Photos to follow shortly!
''After dropping off gear and parking the car, the first order of business was to visit an anchor of the Prague microbrew community. A restaurant and taproom called Pivovarskey Klub, it is one of the only places in Prague to have multiple Czech microbrews on tap. The Klub also happens to be the premier Czech bottleshop, with a huge selection of international brews. Everything went well and along with getting their first taste of gulash, the brewers worked their way through most of the draught selection. The standout was the Stepan lager brewed across town at the Klub’s sister brewery, Pivovarsky Dum. To me it is an excellent example of a basic Czech pilsner, clean, bright with decent hop presence. After our stomachs were lined with a protective layer of thick Czech gulash, we moved on to the wide selection available at our next stop.
Several weeks ago I went to a Belgian beer festival hosted by a luxury hotel here in Prague. I was nervous at first as I was the only person in the room speaking English, but tasty beer turned out to be universal. I made some friends, and after the festival they took me Zly Casy, which translates as ‘Mean Times’. I get a kick out of exclusivity, so I appreciated the lack of advertisement outside and out-of-the-way location. The offerings inside were even better. Zly Casy has sixteen beers on tap, all microbrews from the Czech Republic, with an emphasis on newly opened breweries and innovative beers. The brew crew once again worked through the more promising offerings on the draught list. Every beer passed around the table brought a new discussion of phenols, polyphenols, esters, and other aspects of beer composition known only to the initiated. While most of the conversation was far above my head, it was exciting to hear a combination of both passion for brewing and knowledge of the process. Eventually the night moved to a hazy exploration of the Czech Republic's native liqueurs, including Slivovice a rather harsh plum brandy, and Becherovka, an herbal digestif.
Despite having misplaced several members of the party the night before, Saturday morning we got on a train to Beroun, the next stop on my ad-hoc Tour de Pivo. A short ride away from downtown Prague, Beroun has little to recommend itself as a tourist destination. Stepping off the train feels like a going back in time twenty years as the entire town gives off a distinctly Soviet industrial feel. Despite the gloomy atmosphere, Beroun does have a fascinating brewpub called Berounsky Pivovar. It is one of my favorite pubs to visit with friends because of its location, which is a scrapyard full of Soviet era military hardware. The décor aside, the pub itself is exceptionally friendly. For a place that doesn’t see very many strangers, the wait staff always seems happy to see new customers, even if they speak terrible Czech. Unfortunately, the beer was a disappointment. According to the polyphenol posse, the flaws were most likely caused by heavy metals in the water used by the brewery, as well as oxidation and dying yeast. The day was not over however, and we returned back to Prague to continue the tour.
After visiting Prague Castle and several other medieval attractions we continued on to U Medvidku, a microbrewery hidden behind a larger Budvar pub. U Medvidku, whose brewmaster was honored several days ago at the Czech Beer Awards, inspired disbelief among the Siebel crew. Apparently the quaint wooden fermenting tanks and open air cooling device were not up to the strict hygiene standards so ingrained by their study. The beer, which is usually one of my favorites, showed signs of sitting in the lines, and we once again left in disappointment. After stopping to pick up the previously lost members of the group, we went on to the third brewery of the day, a touristy but essential stop on the Prague brewery circuit called Novomestsky Pivovar. This stop was the quickest of all, the two small tasters we ordered had the same heavy metal taste that we encountered in Beroun. Despairing at my apparent betrayal by Czech beer I proposed we move on to my personal stock of Belgian IPAs. All was made well as we shared an excellent Houblon Chouffe while overlooking a beautiful oldtown Prague.
The next day the mash tun mob set off again for Munich, having experienced the ups and downs of Czech beer and undoubtedly determined to perfect their own pilsner recipes.''
Where Joey's story ends, I'll start up: we spent Sunday afternoon touring the famous Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen, about an hour west of Prague. Pilsner Urquell is the home of the pilsner beer style, and we had a great time admiring the mix of hypermodern and far antique technologies that they use to produce the beer. The highlight, universally agreed upon by the Siebel crew, was a visit to the extensive tunnel network underneath the current brewery, where thousands upon thousands of wooden barrels for fermentation and maturation. Some of those barrels are still used today, and we were lucky to taste this ''keller'' version of the pils, which had the complex mix of woody, musty, and spicy hops that great German kellerbiers have. It was the best beer we tasted in the Czech Republic.
We made it back to Munich safe and sound on Sunday night, ready to buckle down and work hard in our final week of class.
PS Photos to follow shortly!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Na zdravi a kamarad
A quick entry until a full report can be filed...
The brew school crew has headed to Prague this weekend and is under the guidance of local, beer expert Joey Bosworth.
A few of us rented a car yesterday morning and left Grafelfing quickly after our chemical analyses class. Navigating the Autobahn proved easier than we expected, though we did find ourselves driving significantly slower than German drivers--especially as we cruised through Hallertau--the largest hop growing region in the world where hop farms and trellises abut the expressway.
We made it to Prague by late afternoon, and Joey's already taken us to two of his favorite Prague beer bars--one so obscure that there's not even a sign on the door. He's planned another full day of touring Czech breweries and pivovars for us today. In fact, we're off to catch a train now to Beroun to visit a brewpub located in a Soviet-era scrapyard.
More details to follow, including a guest entry from our Czech beer guide himself.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Extinct Beer Projekt
Since we began at Doemens last week, our classes have included daily lectures on traditional German beer styles. As I mentioned in a previous post, München and
What is more, German beer--much more so than English, Belgian, or American—is incredibly regional in nature. There northern and southern versions of every style: Northern German beers tend to be slightly darker and hoppier versions of Southern styles, so a pils from the south might taste like a northern helles. But even beyond such rudimentary geographic divides, there are numerous, distinctive styles that are associated with a particular city. Most beer geeks are well versed in some of these city-style associations: 
wn ale), Köln to Kölsch—a light ale with notes of sulphur and fruit, and
In our most recent styles lecture, however, Sacher delved far into the depths of local beer styles and shared his knowledge of extinct and little-known beer types that I had never heard of. My interest in them has been piqued to say the least, and while I don’t expect there will ever be a substantial market in some of the styles for a commercial craft brewery, I do want do more research, trace their history, learn the way that they were produced, and try to imitate some of them as homebrews once I’m back in the Northwest.
What are some of the styles?
Berliner Weisse Bock is a stronger version of the classic sour beer of Berlin. A regular Berliner weisse, which is still brewed today, take a relatively mild wheat beer and sours it by adding lactic acid bacteria. Napoleon was such a fan of Berliner weisse that he named it ‘champagne of the North,’ and it is a very refreshing beer with a sharp acidity and tartness added from the bacterial ‘spoiling.’ Berliner Weisse Bock takes the same idea but runs lactic acid bacteria onto a much stronger base beer; I imagine that this leads to an even sharper tartness (the additional sugars in a bock wort make great food for bacteria) mixed with the sweet malt and bready flavours of a classic bock. In the US, strong sour ales are gaining hold with breweries like Cascade and
Speltbier is a ‘wheat beer’ made from spelt, which, as opposed to traditional wheat, comes across as a little harsher and bitter in the palate. A speltbier fermented with a traditional weizen yeast would take the traditional banana and clove flavours of Bavarian wheat beers and cross them with a slightly more complex base grain flavour. Deschutes Pub in
Göse, a specialtz from
Sunday, November 8, 2009
90% Labor, 10% Creativity
It only took us two days of class to start getting our hands dirty at Doemens. As we got oriented to our new school on Monday, Michael Eder, our lead instructor, gave us our schedules for the next few weeks.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the class would be split into two groups, and half would get to brew on Tuesday while the other half did lab work with beer-contaminating microorganisms in the microbiology lab. On Wednesday, we would flip. Michael wanted to get us brewing as soon as possible so that we would have time to make some bottle conditioned wheat beers, ready to crate and bring along with us on our "round trip" (not sure that the Germans fully understand that one) in a few weeks.
My group did lab work first on Tuesday, and we spent a lot of time looking at the various microorganisms that we had learned about during our modules on fermentation in Chicago. We were given agars of cultured yeasts, wild yeasts, and various spoiling bacteria and taught how to plate and identify them. We learned how to use a KOH test, a Catalase test, an oxidase test, morphology, and the Gram test to identify any and all contaminants that can ruin an otherwise good beer. And our instructor, echoing sentiments that other teachers had hinted at earlier in the term, explained that even a very small brewery can accomplish sophisticated microbiological analysis with just a few simple tools. I don't plan on going back to school to get an MS in microbiology anytime soon, but it was easily the most practical and interesting day that I'd ever spent in a lab.
And Wednesday, finally, was brew day. We had waited weeks and stayed the course through numerous lectures on theory in anticipation of a chance to brew on the Doemens system. In the coming weeks, we'll get to do it a few more times, so Wednesday's go-round was Eder's chance to show us how the system worked. We would be brewing 525 litres, or roughly 10 kegs of dunkelweizen--a dark German wheat beer with aromas of bubblegum and clove and a lots of banana on the palate. To teach us the intricacies of the system, he required that we do a three-step decoction mash, an antiquated brewing technique that serves today more for pedagogy than brewhouse practice. And, while the system was predominantly automated, there were some crucial transfers (and lots of manual cleaning!) that we would have to do.
Though it took us nine hours, we successfully mashed, sparged, hopped, whirlpooled, and cooled our wort and pitched in some proofed weiss beer yeast, which produces all the esters and phenols (ie banana and clove) that give dunkelweizen its flavor profile. Andrew Hood, one of my classmates and an assistant brewer at Black Diamond BC in California led the charge in our hop selection, and we found a nice variety of Hallertau to make an early addition to the kettle. The day went smoothly: we had time to take the 150 or so kilos of spent grain to the cows at a nearby farm, since the nutrient rich mix makes for great cattle feed; we also siphoned off an entire keg of unfermented wort to use as "speise" (a kind of sugar water that serves as yeast food) when we do a secondary fermentation in the bottles.
Now, the brew is, mostly, out of our hands. One of the unique features of the Doemens system is that the fermenters are open-top, rectangular vessels--as opposed to the cylindroconical tanks preferred by most brewers--so we can actually watch the fermentation take place. As of Thursday afternoon, our yeast looked healthy, if not happy (fermentation, after all, is basically tricking yeast into basically asphyxiating itself), and we expect that our first class brew should be ready to bottle next week.
Next time we brew, Michael has assured us that he'll be absent the entire time or will read a newspaper in the corner. The choice of style will be ours, with one predictable constraint: it must be a traditional German style. Any suggestions?
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the class would be split into two groups, and half would get to brew on Tuesday while the other half did lab work with beer-contaminating microorganisms in the microbiology lab. On Wednesday, we would flip. Michael wanted to get us brewing as soon as possible so that we would have time to make some bottle conditioned wheat beers, ready to crate and bring along with us on our "round trip" (not sure that the Germans fully understand that one) in a few weeks.
My group did lab work first on Tuesday, and we spent a lot of time looking at the various microorganisms that we had learned about during our modules on fermentation in Chicago. We were given agars of cultured yeasts, wild yeasts, and various spoiling bacteria and taught how to plate and identify them. We learned how to use a KOH test, a Catalase test, an oxidase test, morphology, and the Gram test to identify any and all contaminants that can ruin an otherwise good beer. And our instructor, echoing sentiments that other teachers had hinted at earlier in the term, explained that even a very small brewery can accomplish sophisticated microbiological analysis with just a few simple tools. I don't plan on going back to school to get an MS in microbiology anytime soon, but it was easily the most practical and interesting day that I'd ever spent in a lab.
And Wednesday, finally, was brew day. We had waited weeks and stayed the course through numerous lectures on theory in anticipation of a chance to brew on the Doemens system. In the coming weeks, we'll get to do it a few more times, so Wednesday's go-round was Eder's chance to show us how the system worked. We would be brewing 525 litres, or roughly 10 kegs of dunkelweizen--a dark German wheat beer with aromas of bubblegum and clove and a lots of banana on the palate. To teach us the intricacies of the system, he required that we do a three-step decoction mash, an antiquated brewing technique that serves today more for pedagogy than brewhouse practice. And, while the system was predominantly automated, there were some crucial transfers (and lots of manual cleaning!) that we would have to do.
Though it took us nine hours, we successfully mashed, sparged, hopped, whirlpooled, and cooled our wort and pitched in some proofed weiss beer yeast, which produces all the esters and phenols (ie banana and clove) that give dunkelweizen its flavor profile. Andrew Hood, one of my classmates and an assistant brewer at Black Diamond BC in California led the charge in our hop selection, and we found a nice variety of Hallertau to make an early addition to the kettle. The day went smoothly: we had time to take the 150 or so kilos of spent grain to the cows at a nearby farm, since the nutrient rich mix makes for great cattle feed; we also siphoned off an entire keg of unfermented wort to use as "speise" (a kind of sugar water that serves as yeast food) when we do a secondary fermentation in the bottles.
Now, the brew is, mostly, out of our hands. One of the unique features of the Doemens system is that the fermenters are open-top, rectangular vessels--as opposed to the cylindroconical tanks preferred by most brewers--so we can actually watch the fermentation take place. As of Thursday afternoon, our yeast looked healthy, if not happy (fermentation, after all, is basically tricking yeast into basically asphyxiating itself), and we expect that our first class brew should be ready to bottle next week.
Next time we brew, Michael has assured us that he'll be absent the entire time or will read a newspaper in the corner. The choice of style will be ours, with one predictable constraint: it must be a traditional German style. Any suggestions?
Filmriss
Servus! The first week of Beer School in Germany has flown by and only now am I getting time--with some help--to continue the blog. As I write this, the first two brews our class put together are sitting in the fermentation tanks, and I've had a good bit of time to explore the (beer of) Munich. Or, München, as I will refer to it from here on out.
To make up for the lack of postings, I've decided to create a series of "shorter" blogs to catch folks up on the last few days. I've also enlisted the aid of three München experts to fill in the gaps in my knowledge and memory. Vielen dank to Chris MacLeod, Lizie Loehr, and Sam Barber.
Chris suggests that I start by filling you all in on some of München's brewing history:
München is the capital of Bavaria, and together the city and state lay claim to originating more different beer styles than pretty much anywhere else in the world. The city itself is home to six breweries, five brewpubs, and god-knows-how-many biergartens, tied beer halls, and bierstuberln. Extend the limit to a few kilometers outside of the city limits, and there are plenty more to include. München's "Big Six" breweries are famous in the US as some of the major exporters of German beer to the States--Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, Lowenbrau, Hofbrau, and Augustiner. They have a longer tradition of brewing than anywhere in the world (the world's oldest brewery sits just oustide the city limits), and beer culture here has some peculiarities that are immediately apparent. In a show of stubborn pride and adherence to tradition, German brewers continue to brew exclusively styles that originate in Bavaria: helles and dunkel (literally, light and dark beer), dunkel and helles wheat beers, festbier (aka Oktoberfest), and kellerbier, which is actually more of a technique than a style. What this means is that almost every bar and every brewery has at least one example of each style on tap. And choosing beer in the city is really about getting to know which brewery produces your favorite of each style. Do you prefer Schneider Weiss, Ayinger Weiss, Augustiner Weiss, or Hacker-Pschorr? The Paulaner or the Haufbräuhaus Helles?
We arrived in Germany on Sunday morning, and classes were set to start the next day at 9 sharp. Given that we only have three weeks here, we knew that time was of great value, and so that first free afternoon was not going to go unused. After a quick turn around in our new apartment (quite comfortable and affordable!), we headed out onto the streets of München, ready to face the challenge of beer tourism in a country as yet unknown and in a language that I still can barely speak.
Fortunately, despite the challenges ahead, I had made plans to meet up with Chris, Andrew and Sam (more about them to follow in a later post; if you don't know who they are, suffice it to say, they're pretty great) at Hofbrauhaus, the most famous bier hall in München that afternoon.
(Blogger's note: to those who have read my blog faithfully, you'll know that the filmriss that Chris and Sam describe in the coming paragraphs is rare. Perhaps it was the excitement of being in a new city; perhaps it was the lack of sleep and dehydration; perhaps it was the joy of seeing good friends again. In any case, we had a good pisser that night, and in the interest of intellectual honesty, I figured that it ought to be included in the blog. How often do you get to see some of your best friends in Germany after all? Oh wait, a lot.)
Part II, In which Chris recounts the details of our meeting:
Arriving at Hofbrauhaus, Ben greeted Sam, Andrew, and me with a big 'ol hug and a few gifts from the States, including M&M's, Emergen-C, Snus, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Unfortunately, but fortunately enough, two of the cans had broken during the flight, so four still remained for each to drink his own. We were enjoying our drinks and felt as though we were surrounded by super tourists--Ben and his friends gave themselves away immediately, including one who accidentally ordered two liters of beer and then attempted to pay with his credit card (a no-no in German beer hall culture). Later, a second--and still louder--round of Ben's friends joined us. It was time to take Ben away from the tourist mobs of Hofbrauhaus.
After we finished our beers, Ben asked us if we would like to go and savor the PBRs he had brought in a nearby park. Andrew, aka Rattlesnake, insisted that we shotgun the beers. While Ben, Sam and Andrew were exicted to shotgun, I felt apart, wondering what I was about to do, and felt the bruises and cuts on my face that had resulted from my near-death shotgunning experience earlier in the week (For more information on this injury, Google, swallow synchope). Nevertheless, I felt compelled to participate in the festivities and trusted that they would catch me if I were to feint again.
The thin aluminum layer against my mouth, I counted ounces as I slurped them down, one after another. Ah, the sweet sweet taste of PBR on a palate that has had too much helles and one too many Gambernis. Throwing the can to the ground, I felt rejuvenated--able once again to shotgun beer and affirmed in my belief that PBR is the greatest cheap bier in the world.
We proceded on. Our next destination was the Ayinger Pub across from the platz. Were it not for Ben, and his need to drink at every beercentric establishment that he comes across, I would never have stopped here. Compared to Hofbrauhaus, Ayinger is a little more ritzy--more Bayern and less fratboy, more restaurant and less bierstube. Ayinger served trad
itional Bayrisch food and drink, but it felt a little too classy for this crowd. As we saddled up at the bar, we noticed a large wooden barrel behind it, an unfiltered and uncarbonated version of their helles inside. We enjoyed a few rounds there, tasting many of their beers and were especially impressed with their kellerbier.
Part III, In which Sam recounts, in sloppy Oregon drawl, the evening's final chapter
So next, we went to Augustiner Bierkeller in order to enjoy our favorite pilsner in all of Munich, in fact in all of Deutschland, in fact in all of the world. Ben enjoyed the pilsner--so much so that he ordered a second round before he was even a quarter of the way through his first. As we paid the bill, we waited for Ben to finish his beer, after which, Ben attempted to pay the bill a second time. He was not successful.
By this point--after a few rounds of amazing beers, we were in desperate need of some H20. Unlike your typical American brewpub, water doesn't get served with beers in Germany, and a glass of water will cost you twice as much as a glass of beer--plus it's always carbonated. We stopped at a small kebap shop and bought some water.
Our next, and final stop for the evening, was Schnei Schnei--the local name for the Schneider Bierkeller. Chris, Ben, and I sat down and ordered three of the best hefeweizens in the world--even Ben was blown away! We all ate pretzels with suss senf (German sweet mustard). While we enjoyed our weissbiers, we noticed a dark brew in an odd-shaped goblet on a nearby table. Its owner was nowhere to be seen. Chris asked "I wonder what that is." Ben stood up, walked over to the other table and took a sniff; he immediately shouted, "this is really great." After a moment or two in which Ben seemed to consider and then decide against stealing the rest of the beer, he returned to the table, consulted the menu, and determined that it must have been an Aventinus. We ordered the weizenbock--a strong wheat beer was clearly what all of us needed at that point in the evening--and savored the rich banana, malt, and clove flavors. We finished the beers and paid the bill (Ben tried to pay a second time here as well).
We headed outside, gave each other hugs, crossed our fingers that Ben would make it home, and anticipated all of the good times we had ahead in München.
To make up for the lack of postings, I've decided to create a series of "shorter" blogs to catch folks up on the last few days. I've also enlisted the aid of three München experts to fill in the gaps in my knowledge and memory. Vielen dank to Chris MacLeod, Lizie Loehr, and Sam Barber.
Chris suggests that I start by filling you all in on some of München's brewing history:
München is the capital of Bavaria, and together the city and state lay claim to originating more different beer styles than pretty much anywhere else in the world. The city itself is home to six breweries, five brewpubs, and god-knows-how-many biergartens, tied beer halls, and bierstuberln. Extend the limit to a few kilometers outside of the city limits, and there are plenty more to include. München's "Big Six" breweries are famous in the US as some of the major exporters of German beer to the States--Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, Lowenbrau, Hofbrau, and Augustiner. They have a longer tradition of brewing than anywhere in the world (the world's oldest brewery sits just oustide the city limits), and beer culture here has some peculiarities that are immediately apparent. In a show of stubborn pride and adherence to tradition, German brewers continue to brew exclusively styles that originate in Bavaria: helles and dunkel (literally, light and dark beer), dunkel and helles wheat beers, festbier (aka Oktoberfest), and kellerbier, which is actually more of a technique than a style. What this means is that almost every bar and every brewery has at least one example of each style on tap. And choosing beer in the city is really about getting to know which brewery produces your favorite of each style. Do you prefer Schneider Weiss, Ayinger Weiss, Augustiner Weiss, or Hacker-Pschorr? The Paulaner or the Haufbräuhaus Helles?
We arrived in Germany on Sunday morning, and classes were set to start the next day at 9 sharp. Given that we only have three weeks here, we knew that time was of great value, and so that first free afternoon was not going to go unused. After a quick turn around in our new apartment (quite comfortable and affordable!), we headed out onto the streets of München, ready to face the challenge of beer tourism in a country as yet unknown and in a language that I still can barely speak.
Fortunately, despite the challenges ahead, I had made plans to meet up with Chris, Andrew and Sam (more about them to follow in a later post; if you don't know who they are, suffice it to say, they're pretty great) at Hofbrauhaus, the most famous bier hall in München that afternoon.
(Blogger's note: to those who have read my blog faithfully, you'll know that the filmriss that Chris and Sam describe in the coming paragraphs is rare. Perhaps it was the excitement of being in a new city; perhaps it was the lack of sleep and dehydration; perhaps it was the joy of seeing good friends again. In any case, we had a good pisser that night, and in the interest of intellectual honesty, I figured that it ought to be included in the blog. How often do you get to see some of your best friends in Germany after all? Oh wait, a lot.)
Part II, In which Chris recounts the details of our meeting:
Arriving at Hofbrauhaus, Ben greeted Sam, Andrew, and me with a big 'ol hug and a few gifts from the States, including M&M's, Emergen-C, Snus, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Unfortunately, but fortunately enough, two of the cans had broken during the flight, so four still remained for each to drink his own. We were enjoying our drinks and felt as though we were surrounded by super tourists--Ben and his friends gave themselves away immediately, including one who accidentally ordered two liters of beer and then attempted to pay with his credit card (a no-no in German beer hall culture). Later, a second--and still louder--round of Ben's friends joined us. It was time to take Ben away from the tourist mobs of Hofbrauhaus.
After we finished our beers, Ben asked us if we would like to go and savor the PBRs he had brought in a nearby park. Andrew, aka Rattlesnake, insisted that we shotgun the beers. While Ben, Sam and Andrew were exicted to shotgun, I felt apart, wondering what I was about to do, and felt the bruises and cuts on my face that had resulted from my near-death shotgunning experience earlier in the week (For more information on this injury, Google, swallow synchope). Nevertheless, I felt compelled to participate in the festivities and trusted that they would catch me if I were to feint again.
The thin aluminum layer against my mouth, I counted ounces as I slurped them down, one after another. Ah, the sweet sweet taste of PBR on a palate that has had too much helles and one too many Gambernis. Throwing the can to the ground, I felt rejuvenated--able once again to shotgun beer and affirmed in my belief that PBR is the greatest cheap bier in the world.
We proceded on. Our next destination was the Ayinger Pub across from the platz. Were it not for Ben, and his need to drink at every beercentric establishment that he comes across, I would never have stopped here. Compared to Hofbrauhaus, Ayinger is a little more ritzy--more Bayern and less fratboy, more restaurant and less bierstube. Ayinger served trad
itional Bayrisch food and drink, but it felt a little too classy for this crowd. As we saddled up at the bar, we noticed a large wooden barrel behind it, an unfiltered and uncarbonated version of their helles inside. We enjoyed a few rounds there, tasting many of their beers and were especially impressed with their kellerbier.Part III, In which Sam recounts, in sloppy Oregon drawl, the evening's final chapter
So next, we went to Augustiner Bierkeller in order to enjoy our favorite pilsner in all of Munich, in fact in all of Deutschland, in fact in all of the world. Ben enjoyed the pilsner--so much so that he ordered a second round before he was even a quarter of the way through his first. As we paid the bill, we waited for Ben to finish his beer, after which, Ben attempted to pay the bill a second time. He was not successful.
By this point--after a few rounds of amazing beers, we were in desperate need of some H20. Unlike your typical American brewpub, water doesn't get served with beers in Germany, and a glass of water will cost you twice as much as a glass of beer--plus it's always carbonated. We stopped at a small kebap shop and bought some water.
Our next, and final stop for the evening, was Schnei Schnei--the local name for the Schneider Bierkeller. Chris, Ben, and I sat down and ordered three of the best hefeweizens in the world--even Ben was blown away! We all ate pretzels with suss senf (German sweet mustard). While we enjoyed our weissbiers, we noticed a dark brew in an odd-shaped goblet on a nearby table. Its owner was nowhere to be seen. Chris asked "I wonder what that is." Ben stood up, walked over to the other table and took a sniff; he immediately shouted, "this is really great." After a moment or two in which Ben seemed to consider and then decide against stealing the rest of the beer, he returned to the table, consulted the menu, and determined that it must have been an Aventinus. We ordered the weizenbock--a strong wheat beer was clearly what all of us needed at that point in the evening--and savored the rich banana, malt, and clove flavors. We finished the beers and paid the bill (Ben tried to pay a second time here as well).
We headed outside, gave each other hugs, crossed our fingers that Ben would make it home, and anticipated all of the good times we had ahead in München.
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