The true Bavarian breakfast is a Breze (pretzel, or two), two weisswürste (white sausages with sweet mustard) and a Weissbier. Brotzeit is typically done late in the afternoon or evening, since a large lunch may have been done. The best Brotzeittellers (plates) are with cheeses, pickles, onions, radishes, various dried sausages and good rye or 'Bauern' (farmer's) bread.
3
I had the good fortune to be stationed in Germany as a Photographer in my 20's and traveling was part of the job. Drinking a wide variety of German Beer was also a bonus.
My favorite style is Wheat (Weisse) Beer and the hands down favorite is made in Bayreuth: Maisel's Kristallklare Weissbier
Website in German.
http://www.maisel.com/unsere_biere/maisels_weisse/maisels_weisse_kristal...
The internet shows it is imported into the US. by a company working in the Carolinas. If you can get some- try it.
My favorite style is Wheat (Weisse) Beer and the hands down favorite is made in Bayreuth: Maisel's Kristallklare Weissbier
Website in German.
http://www.maisel.com/unsere_biere/maisels_weisse/maisels_weisse_kristal...
The internet shows it is imported into the US. by a company working in the Carolinas. If you can get some- try it.
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Having once lived for a month on the grounds of Carslberg Brewery in Copenhagen (for work!), it's been nothing short of remarkable to watch the inversion of the beer scenes in Europe and the US. However at times I get the sense that we are going a bit overboard, with people lining up in the wee hours at small craft breweries to get their cult beers before the sell out by noon. That is until I had "Conduct of Life" from Hill Farmstead at a Vermont restaurant. It was a transcendent experience. We truly live in interesting times.
There is really no inversion as, first, America's new beers are all specifically inspired by European models, second, the beer resurgence exists no less in Europe including Denmark.
Carlsberg is far from the last word in beer there. It also makes a range of craft-style beers.
Carlsberg is far from the last word in beer there. It also makes a range of craft-style beers.
I could live on nothing but Ommegang brews and be very happy. Their Glimmerglass saison is almost as satisfying as watching a bikini-clad woman walking down a beach into the sunset. Not the best choice for breakfast, though. That requires Three Philosophers.
This is a good article and Eric knows his stuff, but (sorry) there is no call to drink what I assume are flash-pasteurized German draft exports in California - 10,000 miles from source or whatever it is. There are hundreds of breweries all over the State which offer similar options and the advantage of super-freshness and propinquity.
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Best. Day. Ever.
So many of my favorites are on this menu that I'm inspired to try them all.
So many of my favorites are on this menu that I'm inspired to try them all.
"mild bitter"is kind of an oxymoron. Those are two different styles.
Last weekend I enjoyed a very refreshing double ipa-Kalamazoo Hopsoulution. The mosaic hops give it a nice tropical fruit character.
Last weekend I enjoyed a very refreshing double ipa-Kalamazoo Hopsoulution. The mosaic hops give it a nice tropical fruit character.
1
Wow, I thought I was going to be able to enjoy a beer article without the mention of beer flavored hop juice. People have ruined many a bar by completely crowding out centuries old classics with liquids that would be better suited in a perfume bottle.
3
I am the rare bird that does not care for wine at all. But I love a good ale and enjoy the wide variety of beers that are being produced these days by boutique hand crafting breweries. I just hope the snobbery, and high prices, that seem to be common in wine culture do not take hold in the beer world.
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Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter is on my personal top 10 list, and has been since I discovered it almost 20 years ago. Their Nut Brown Ale is also delicious, and for late nights or winters I can manage quite a few bottles of their Oatmeal Stout.
1
Thanks for bringing attention to the wonderful craft beer scene explosion in Oakland.
1
A Sunday Shiner Bock on tap, Fischer's Jalapeno Summer Sausage and Smoked Muenster Cheese, spread on rough sour dough. Life may be better somewhere else, but you simply do not care.
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I took the author's advice and, after a visit to der Kölner Dom, I drank two glasses of Gaffel at an outdoor café looking over the Rhine. Wunderbar!
3
Came to the USA in the mid 90s from Cologne,Germany and loved the beers back in Germany. Alaskan is making a Koelsch style release but I didn't care for it. But I have to admit that the rise of the microbreweries on the west coast has produced exceptional beers that I actually prefer to the beers back in Germany...Ninkasi, Lagunitas,Fall River, Eel River, Lost Coast are all great. The only problem I have are the high alcohol contents and I wish they could achieve the flavors with alcohol levels between 5-6% instead of 8-10%
3
Many are now making "session ipa's" with abv ~4-5%. Try founders "all day ipa", for example.
Trumer Pils is a hoppy pilsner that is utterly refreshing. I first tasted it in Salzburg, Austria. A year later, in a cafe in San Francisco, I realized I was drinking it again.... Trumer Pils has a second brewery in Oakland. It's become more available up and down California, don't know beyond the state.
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Trumer's other brewery is in Berkeley, not Oakland, but close enough.
1
You completely lost me when you recomended drinking out of the container. I can think of no quality beer that does not demand to be poured out and allowed to breath. Maybe an Old Style can be enjoyed this way but that's about it.
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Heady Topper, the cultiest of all cult dIPAs, actually does demand you drink it out of the can. But no telling beer snobs nothing.
3
I find swirling beer in its original container (after having a sip or two) can achieve pour-like effects. Anything I lose from not pouring is preferred over pouring in a less-than-beer-clean glass (e.g., when the bubbles just cling to the side of the glass = ruined subtle flavors). I used to have beer-glass-specific brush and soap. Now I have a two-year-old and use the above technique.
1
I tend to drink beer infrequently (give me chilled Rioja or grenache in the heat of summer), but the ones that appeal to me are the grapefruity American IPAs that are so refreshing in the heat, and La Fin du Monde, from the Canadian brewer Unibroue (this, however, is NOT a session beer, being 9% ABV ...).
Where's the love for American beer? This author mentions three U.S. pilsners and then denigrates American IPAs with their "ungainly" hops.
There are tons of American breweries making wonderful kolsches and stouts. Beers don't have to be European to be good. (And Guinness is objectively terrible.)
There are tons of American breweries making wonderful kolsches and stouts. Beers don't have to be European to be good. (And Guinness is objectively terrible.)
5
Ungainly is spot on. Cheers to good taste.
Awesome read! Makes me feel good - looking forward to Memoral Day out on the water. Now I've got some ideas for beverages to bring with me.
There was no mention of rye beer here.
Why wait until 10:30 or 11 AM to start? Have you ever tried beer on your Cheerios?
1
A friend of mine toured the distilleries in Scotland. At one, he was invited to taste "a nice breakfast scotch."
Beer before noon, especially on a Sunday at a Stammtisch, is a Fruehschoppen.
3
I recently toured Eastern Europe and anticipated an exceptional beer tasting experience. Sadly, I found that Europe in general is fixated on classic beers that have been in production for centuries. They were very drinkable, but several of the beer drinkers on the trip felt that the best beer that they have tasted was from the U.S. Microbrewery industry.
Just as the world was surprised when California wines took the prizes in the Paris competitions, the world is now awakening to the fact that the U.S. Microbrewers are producing the top tasting beers around.
My next beer tours are going to be in Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington state.
Just as the world was surprised when California wines took the prizes in the Paris competitions, the world is now awakening to the fact that the U.S. Microbrewers are producing the top tasting beers around.
My next beer tours are going to be in Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington state.
5
visit Iowa for toppling goliath
as well Minnesota has some excellent beers including the impressive Surly beers (with a fine fine beer hall and restaurant) and castle danger from two harbors - north of duluth.
as well Minnesota has some excellent beers including the impressive Surly beers (with a fine fine beer hall and restaurant) and castle danger from two harbors - north of duluth.
2
I totally agree - I live in Bavaria and although the local beers are excellent, there just isn't much variety. I really miss a nice IPA sometimes. The beer styles mentioned in the article can all be found in Durham, NC for example, but only a few are available in Munich!!
1
There is nothing superior about brewing a 2nd class beer and masking its inferior taste with perfume.
I know this sounds pretentious, but I honestly believe that Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic is a different, better beer than what we get in America.
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Right you are, Gabe. Most Czech beers I've had are much better than their US counterparts. Or do you mean that the export Pilsner Urquell is different from the one you get in Prague?
2
Many years ago I was lucky enough to go to London when the Campaign for Real Ale had gotten started and pubs were featuring its shield on their windows. I also had a guide book of pubs that served real ale. I organized my tour around the pubs. The publicans were charmed by the American who wanted real ale and I got lots of tastes and talk. Quite wonderful. Most were literally pumped up from the basement by the action of the pump handle. A few lucky ones had the casks in the upper story and could use gravity. No CO2 was harmed in the delivery of the ale.
3
when are we supposed to squeeze in a visit to the konditorei for pastry in the morning????
4
While in Oakland, Eric should try Trumer Pils, brewed in Berkely and perhaps the finest pilsener made in the US. Sadly, unavailable on the east coast.
lagunitas pils is a must-try
ah - I didn't know brotzeit ('bread time') implied morning tea or second breakfast - it's a long time since I stayed in Munich
but a sunny session at the Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten by the Isar is always a reason for a hefeweizen wheat beer - my favourite SchneiderWeisse - when fresh - should have hints of cloves and banana methinks
but a sunny session at the Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten by the Isar is always a reason for a hefeweizen wheat beer - my favourite SchneiderWeisse - when fresh - should have hints of cloves and banana methinks
1
On the other end of the Englishergarten was the Osterwald Biergarten. What a wonderful experience living, eating, and drinking damn fine tadting beer.
2
I think it is really important to include the proper glassware in a beery picnic basket, for the exact same reason you need glasses for wine: when imbibing out of the narrow opening of a bottle or can, you miss the aroma. Tasting beer with only the tongue is missing 80% of the experience.
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Andechs doppelbock dunkel is the one you want.
Agreed that the ballpark on a sunny summer afternoon is a wonderful setting to enjoy a cold beer. I remember back to when my pals and I could carry a cooler into yankee stadium. Back then (early 70's) we would fill the cooler with icy rolling rock "green grenades" pony bottles for which to enjoy the game by. No longer though. Now one must patronize the concessions which, by the way do serve some nice beers albeit at $12 per glass. That was the cost of a case of green grenades way back when.....
5
Mr. Asimov could do a variation of this article for every city and town having a range of brewpubs to crawl or growlers to bring home. Love the appreciation of certain German beers and ales, nonetheless.
4
Nothing like a good Dunkleweizen and the best is from the Schneider Brauerie in Munich. Amen to the notion of a lower-alcohol beer; too much alcohol overwhelms the taste. Firestone Walker makes a great 4.5% alcohol IPA. Brotzeit is ein kleiner Imbis zwischen Malzeiten. A great name for a beer garden.
2
The author should be aware that throughout England the local pub and local beer is becoming exceedingly rare. The large brewers are buying them up and making them distribution point for, primarily, their beers. You'll Young's, Fuller's, Newcastle, Tadcaster and of course Guinness owned Pubs are all over the UK. It's a shame too, but on the bright side the explosion of craft beer, local brewers, farmstead breweries are making the exploration of beer in the U.S. a regularly changing adventure. The Carey Institute in tiny Rensselaerville has opened a demonstration brewery to showcase locally grown ingredients. Hop yards are springing up all over upstate now. It's an awesome time to be a beer lover in America. Oh, let's not forget farmstead distillers too in the Hudson and Schoharie Valleys - but they're another story.
3
I have to question the pallet of anyone who can have an imported PIlsner, Weizenbier or - most especially - Koelsch and say that they taste fresh. Those sweet honey-like notes in Pilsner Urquell = oxidation, as does the lack of malt flavor in the Weizen and the carboard notes in the Koelsch. Especialy Reissdorf! That Koelsch tastes so consistently stale here in the US it can be used to teach people the flavor of trans-2-nonenal.
Why won't this comment board let me type an umlaut?
And the commentor correcting the notion that draft beer has the CO2 injected into the kegs is right.
Why won't this comment board let me type an umlaut?
And the commentor correcting the notion that draft beer has the CO2 injected into the kegs is right.
4
Try Pilsner Urquell from the can if you are able. It's a different creature than it is in the bottle and much closer (albeit of course not exact by any means) to the flavor that one remembers from the source.
1
Kölsh is the local beer of Köln. Germany.
1
While the definition of a session beer is correct, it is a general beer term, not just a line from Full Sail. By my understanding, it was a few of the smaller craft brewers here on the West Coast (where we love our hops) that wanted to create an IPA that you could drink all day, it started hitting the local public maybe 3 years ago. Hence, now the session IPA is a regular at many bars here, its flavor profile generally best described as a mild IPA, but with an ABV around 4.5% instead of the usual 6.5%.
Maybe sure some west coast brewmaster will be sent a link to this article and tell the real story.
Maybe sure some west coast brewmaster will be sent a link to this article and tell the real story.
3
Your definition of a "session ipa" is pretty much an American pale ale. Silly oxymoron names are merely marketing hype. The letters "i-p-a" sell, so brewers are just racing to put them on every beer they can. Pretty dull. The moniker "Dark IPA" is particularly stupid.
6
Keg beers are not carbonated by injecting CO2 into kegs, they are merely poured using its pressure. They are carbonated in tanks, sometimes with CO2 injected in them and at others by bunging and keeping co2 produced during fermentation.
Guinness is not disregarded merely because of ubiquity. Its just a mediocre stout with a lot of adjuncts added to it. If it wasnt nitrogenated it would have no body and taste empty and rough. So many amazing stouts made by small brewers now that don't need a crutch of nitrogen.
In general, the author seems to have limited his beer picks to fairly boring choices. Times should do better than that, no?
Guinness is not disregarded merely because of ubiquity. Its just a mediocre stout with a lot of adjuncts added to it. If it wasnt nitrogenated it would have no body and taste empty and rough. So many amazing stouts made by small brewers now that don't need a crutch of nitrogen.
In general, the author seems to have limited his beer picks to fairly boring choices. Times should do better than that, no?
20
I enjoy a Guinness every once in a while. It's a well-made dry stout, arguably the standard for the style. Lots of flavor, yet light in body.
Having lived near Milwaukee WI - to me it is beer city USA. They have many very good brew pubs located on the Milwaukee River. The best IMHO is the Milwaukee Ale House. They brew many different types of ale and beer including wheat and my favorite Belgian Ale. For their select brews, they keep it in the cellar and pump it our with a long handled beer marker that is the pump. Just like in London City. They even use old wine barrels to make/store some of their ale in while serving.
I am a wine drinker and sadly the brew pub revolution and the lack of a water front brew pup have made me go back to wine.
Sitting on the outside of the Ale house and watching the antics of the inebriated boaters was a hoot.
I am a wine drinker and sadly the brew pub revolution and the lack of a water front brew pup have made me go back to wine.
Sitting on the outside of the Ale house and watching the antics of the inebriated boaters was a hoot.
3
I was laughing and thinking man he has this timed just right!
Nothing beats a good afternoon like a good pills, something cooking on the grill, and good friends.
Nothing beats a good afternoon like a good pills, something cooking on the grill, and good friends.
5
I had the good fortune of living in Bamberg, Germany for four years in the early 1980s. At the time, it seemed every town had their own brewery. My favorite was the Drei Kronen in Memmelsdorf. They only brewed three beers but damn they were good. A shame they aren't available in the states. I also developed a taste for Rauchbier, Smoked Beer, which is great in the winter.
5
Love this piece! I've just pulled a beer out of the fridge to accompany my ploughman's lunch.
9
Pretty sure "brotzeit" means "bread time". "Second breakfast" would be something like "zweite fruhstuck".
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Brotzeit does mean "bread time"in German , but it's more of a break for bread and cheese, maybe some sausage. Usually accompanied by coffee , but could be beer. In northern Germany, special Ostfriesland tea is served with a snack. In Austria, the morning bread break is called Jause (pronounced Yow-Sah) with the same idea. Being an enthusiatic consumer of German beer and any all of the food, you can get plenty of variety. In Austria, stick to the wine at the Heurigen.
1
That would be a very literal translation, yes, but it actually refers to a light meal between breakfast and lunch as the writer says.
3
"Zweites Frühstück"
2