Lagunitas Brewing is located in Petaluma.  It’s a fun, quirky kind of place.  I imagine the staff loves to work here and the customers love to drink and eat here.  There is a small store and a great outside area with live music. Tasters are available.  Lagunitas is most famous for their Censored Ale and IPA. They rotate seasonal selections also.  I tasted their Farmhouse Guerze, 7%, which was excellent. Nina tasted four and loved the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ ale at 8.5%, a wheaty hoppy beer.  This is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon.

Russian River Brewing is located in beautiful Santa Rosa just a short walk from our hotel.  The brewer is famous for his Belgian style and barrel aged beers.  Upon entering we noticed behind the bar a large blackboard with all the selections listed and clearly described with style, alcohol %, and IBU’s.  It’s a great help here because the names get confusing, especially after tasting one or two. 

My favorite was Perdition, labeled a Biere de Sonoma, which was a fantastic tasting Bier de Garde style. Erudition a Saison style with Brettanomyces, 7.15%, got the attention of Nina and reminded her of the famous Orval from Belgium. The food menu is primarily pizza.  Russian River beers are hard to find outside the area so we were happy to take some home with us…but which ones?

Sierra Nevada Brewing is a scenic 4.5 hour drive from San Francisco to Chico. We were both very impressed by their beautiful facility and grounds.  It reminded us of a 200-year-old brewery in Germany with the attention to detail and design.  Sierra Nevada has won many awards for its commitment to the environment and grows their own hops and barley on site.  The beers are pretty good too! Kellerweis is a favorite of Nina’s.  It’s light and refreshing yet complex in flavors.  We also tasted a couple of beers from the Beer Camp Series; a fantastic Weizenbock and an interesting Juniper Black. The pub was dressed up with a shiny copper bar top and even the air conditioning ductwork was copper.  The

food menu was detailed to pair with beer.  When we first walked into the pub someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we would like our picture taken.  I turned around and it was Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada.  Celebrating 30 years, he has lots to be proud of as a pioneer in the American craft beer revolution.

North Coast Brewing Co. is located on the coast in Ft. Bragg.  Famous for their Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Red Seal Ale, and Pranqster golden ale, they brew a complete spectrum of styles. The taps were pouring 16 different beers and all were available in a taster size! Red Seal was also available from the cask and was

delicious.  Of course the Old Rasputin was awesome, and Thelonious dark Belgian ale was like coffee and cream. The pub serves great food, such as fresh grilled salmon with avocado.  Our beer to take home and enjoy with friends was an 11th anniversary Old Rasputin that was released only at the pub.

Anderson Valley Brewing is just an hour drive through the Redwoods to beautiful Boonville. Luke, the bartender’s dog, greeted us at the door of the pub.  This was a very friendly and comfortable pub.  No food was served except for some peanuts but the beer choices and banter more than made up for the lack of food.  Their logo is a bear with antlers.  I asked the question "when does a bear have antlers?" and the bartender answered, “When it’s a beer!”  

The bear's name is Barkley and he has his own Facebook page.  The area also has its own dialect and is used in its signage and ads.  For example “bahlhornin” means good drinking and “Boontsteinber” means Boonville beer.  The beers are nothing to joke about though.  From the Summer Solstice Cervasa Crema to the Brother David’s Triple, they have all the styles covered.

We finished the trip with three nights in San Francisco and found two great beer bars.

Monk’s Kettle didn’t look like much on the outside, but it was perfect on the inside.  They had great beer selections, an informative beer menu, knowledgeable service, and a fantastic beer friendly food menu.  And I don’t mean chicken wings here. We tasted a beet salad, a homemade pretzel knot, beef cheeks on polenta, and mussels with frites. There were about 20 beers on tap from the USA and Europe.  I tasted Leipziger Gose, 4.6%, an old beer style that is getting a new life in the brewing world.  Gose is brewed with salt and  

coriander, tastes slightly sour, pale yellow in color,

and is very refreshing.  Nina enjoyed Sweet Grass

American Pale ale, 6%, from Grand Teton brewing in Idaho, which is brewed using 5 different hops and had hints of lavender.  Nina wanted to either take it to the spa with her or go home and roast a chicken herbs de Provence.  A local beer we tasted was from Linden Street Brewing in Oakland, Burning Oak Black lager.  It was toasty, roasty, and delcious in it’s black color.  A finale for the night was Judgement Day, a Quadrupel from Lost Abbey in Southern California.  Wow, this was as good as any Trappist style quad I had ever had.

The second beer pub that we visited in San Francisco was named La Trappe.  This pub had

PARIS 9/08-9/12

Five fantastic days in Paris.  How do we choose "the favorites"? We didn't.  These pics show some great beer moments.

After a day of walking and seeing the sites we get pretty thirsty.  We found Notre Dame, but where's the beer?

Our first beer stop is successful.  Taverne de Cluny is just steps from our hotel. Pelforth Brune is brewed in France and good tasting, not too sweet, malty, and 6.5%.   A good selection of Belgians also. 

We quickly learned that Biere Pression translates to beer on tap and J' aime la biere! is I love beer! Well, something like that...

Half way through our Paris Walking Tour we detoured to the Right Bank. With a sign like this you have to stop in! This is a good beer place...a fine selection of French bier de garde.  We enjoyed beers from Jenlain, Choulette, CH'TI, L' Angelus and la Goudale.

There were so many more F&B and touristy highlights like Willi's Wine Bar, Joel Roubichon's L'Ateliere, Siene river cruise and just experiencing this great big City! Now, off to Epernay and Reims.

Sante'!

We did the Fat Tire Bike Tour to Versailles; a huge highlight for Nina! This ten-hour day was filled with active adventures from Paris to Versailles and back. En route we stopped at the open market for wine, fish, meats, French unpastuerized cheeses, and a flower for Nina. We continued our bike journey through the Palace Gardens and shared a picnic lunch basking in the sun overlooking the fountains and swans!

During the ride we learned that one of our fellow riders had been to Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick!

We got thirsty by days' end. Our tour guide recommended a 'classic French pub' Diernier Metro, translation: the last metro stop!

Abbaye Orval, Belgium 9/16-9/17

Once a year the Abbaye opens its doors to the public for a tour of the brewing facility.  Last Spring we were fortunate enough to win the lottery and get a time slot for the tour.

We rented a car in Reims, France and drove about two hours to the SouthEast corner of Belgium.  The weather was perfect for the visit and beer tasting.

After the tour the public was welcomed to taste the heavenly brew.  They offered us to sample the ale at either "normal" temperature or refrigerated temperature.  The normal temperature was about 50 degrees which enables the flavors to really come out. Our beers were accompanied with a large cup of diced cubes of Orval cheese. Can you say YUM!

Nina and I met the Abbot of the Abbaye, Father Abbot, who was excited to meet the public and also sample the beer.  The monks drink a "petite orval" during the week, which is about 3.4%.  On Sundays and feast days they drink the regular ale which is 6.8%. He was very social, friendly and spent a generous amount of time with us. He is Flemish and prior to running the entire Abbaye he was in charge of the brewery. The oldest monk is now 93 and entered Orval at 18! There are 15 Monks at Orval.

The beer pours with a firm white foamy head atop the orange hued ale.  At our local hotel it was basically the only beer sold and was enjoyed by everyone. What a special and fun time to meet people, look around and see men, women, young and old drinking big challices of Orval with long lasting heads and delicious Orval cheese - oh, the mac 'n cheese was so good we had it three different meals! Time for a long run.

From here we are heading to explore the rest of the Ardennes Forest and the many small historic towns and beers in the region.

For now, Sante'! and a time of solitude and peace to you from us.

The Ardennes Forest 9/18-9/21/10

The car trip continues in South Belguim and we enter the city of Bastogne, famous for World War II Battle of the Bulge.  There are many monuments to honor the American soldiers, and Generals McAuliffe and Patton.  The residents are very thankful not only to those who gave their lives, but to all Americans for supporting their liberation during those three cold weeks in December/January 1944-45. It was historical and emotionally impactful to see the specific military 'company' names, war tools, and Band of Brothers remembered!

We stumbled into a fantastic food & beverage find! Nina noticed the colorul pink pig sign sticking out of the storefront and just had to go in. The Musee du Cochon, a third-generation butcher shop specializing in cured pork - displaying many from the ceiling and the basement below - ahh, the cured hams covered with spices, salt, and chestnuts. Luckily, they also had a quaint tiny bar in the back serving local beer and wines. We decided to have one beer. Then, came a plate of proscuitto and sausages. So another beer, which brought another plate. Our beers included Rulles and La Corne, which was served in a horn shaped glass. It kept coming and coming! Finally, we waived the white flag (napkin). We appreciated the friendly event!

We drove a few miles North to brewery Achouffe.  It is located in a farmland setting with various outdoor activities, primarily biking.

They have a great taverne located behind the small brewery. Famous for their Mc Chouffe, a brown unfiltered ale, and La Chouffe, a golden unfiltered ale, the beers were fresh and delicious.

I started with the Houblon Chouffe, a 9% IPA, brewed with three different hops.  So very delicious I stayed with it throughout lunch. Nina was driving so she stuck with the two-ounce samples of both La and Mc Chouffe in a self-labeled "have to have this adorable little elf glass!"

A neon sign in the brewery read "La Chouffe or Mc Chouffe, that is the question... Shakesbiere ".  No wrong answers here, all three beers on tap were awesome and satisfying.

Our sunny day got even warmer and sunnier. Stop and enjoy one the next time you see it on the menu. And remember to ask the question above . . .

TODAY, OUR GOAL IS REACHED! 

Nina and I have arrived at Abbaye St. Remy in Rochefort.  Located about 5 miles outside of town, it is the last of the seven Trappist Abbayes for us to visit. We found a couple of signs on the rode along the way, but no monks once we arrived at the Abbaye.

The area was calm, peaceful and at the end of a long beautiful tree-lined road. The grounds were pristine and the chapel very simple and clean. No beer or cheese to buy or sample.

We played tourists for the day in Rochefort and found La Gourmandaise for dinner; a restaurant known for cooking with local produce and Trappistes beer.

Amazed and happy with the $3 price of THIS beer, it's time to get to work!

Rochefort 6, 8, and 10:

6 was terrific, dark amber with 7% ABV. 

8 the sweetest, dark brown with 9%ABV.

10 wins! 11% and dark brown with hints of chocolate, definitely our favorite, it is smooth and drinkable. Accompanied with filet of beef, Rochefort sauce and Rochefort cheese. Good service, friendly patrons, delicious! They lived up to their reputation.

Driving to La Roche en Ardenne we were on many small country roads and this scene is not too uncommon to them. Nina however is beside herself with joy and photos of cows and rolling hills.

Driving down the road we see a US tank disabled in 1944 parked next to a church along side a cemetery.  The people are always mindful of the past and what the Americans did for them.

On a change of pace, or on the other hand, the scene of the photo on the left is not that uncommon either.  Reminding us to live life and enjoy the pleasures and success Belguim has to offer.  If you see this sign on the sidewalk it will likely get your attention.

Even in the very small villages of Belgium beer gets great respect and is enjoyed by people of all ages. The knowledge, pride and joy the locals are happy to share is abundant and, as travelers for beer we welcome the adventure!

For now, we end our Belgian journey and sojourn back to Germany for a brief stay in another historical town. Who knows what wonders we will discover there before heading to Scandanavia.

Sante'! Cheers! Prost!

We arrived in Copenhagen and got back on land in our same train. When we arrived in the main center we found that it is a bustling city where bicycle riders outnumber autos.  It's a city with a long history and plenty of action to keep us busy for a few days.

Nina said it reminded her of a cross between Vienna, Prague, and Amsterdam; homes and restaurants on canals, shopping and walking down multiple winding streets, and enormous buildings too big to capture on film!

We enjoyed lunch and of course a beer at Nyhaven Havfruen, this cafe roughly translates to the New Port Mermaid. 

Our Danish beer at lunch was Bryghuset Swaneke Mork Guld, 5% brewed on an island which matched perfectly with our dish of two different types of fresh herring, raw onions, and capers and of course the superb dark bread.

We finished our beer inside the bar. Not surprisingly, named after a mermaid, inside and over the bar we found a life size, beautiful hand-carved wooden beauty which reminded us of home at SYF with our own little Rutgers Mermaid, Isabella - now we have met "Isabella's Danish Cousin - Havfruen"!

Before we left, Nina worked her charm on the bartender who willingly gave up a small glass for our collection. A nice surprise gift for me.

Mikkeller Bar was a target destination for us while in Copenhagen.  The brewer is gaining popularity and his brews have received great acceptance.  He is sort of a "gypsy" brewer with no brewery of his own. To find one Mikkeller beer on tap in the US would be a great find. This small bar had 15 of his own on tap along with five guest beers on tap. Where does a "gypsy" beer taster start? 

The selections covered a wide spectrum of styles so I started with the Pils style and worked my way up. A highlight for us was the George, a Russian Imperial Stout at 12% abv.

The bartender Tore, another Danish brewer, invited Nina to see the storage cooler, photograph the various Mikkeller series' of Weiss Beers and Black Hole, and then finished off with some fun pouring a round. By days' end, we shared a bottle of wine-casked Black Hole - this beer is great to cellar if you get the chance to find one!

The Danes take their beer brewing seriously. You'll find Carlsberg and Tuborg everywhere, and fortunately the craft brewers are making a strong move. We may even see a collaboration with some US brewers . . .

Oslo, Norway 09/28-10/01

We boarded an overnight cruise ship for our journey to Oslo. It's a fifteen hour trip. This gave us plenty of time for a beer tasting! We have a perfect window table to enjoy five generous tastings from the Skands brewery in Denmark. The beers were each different with good individual flavor. Most of them were low alcohol volume and paired well with the assorted international cheeses, salami, and fruits. We especially liked one beer in particular, Bla Chimpanse, their version of Chimay Blue. Seconds please!?

After our excurion to the Viking Ship Museum, where by-the-way we saw a 900 year old excavated beer barrel, we made our first beer stop in Oslo, the Beer Palace.  They have a lot of international bottled selections with several from Norway.  Ringnes and Frydenlunk are the big brewers but Bill begins with the Nogne O IPA, and then the Two Captains Double IPA from the tap.

Nina loved her first Norwegian brew, HaandBryggeriet Blond, a south Belgian style which reminded her of a delicious Duvel.

A customer and new traveling beer friend, Christian gives us a good background on the brewers of Norway and helps us with our pronunciations. He also suggests we visit a local restaurant named Handverker Stuene. 

Handverker Stuene has a terrific beer menu to match their good food. In fact, the first ten pages are dedicated to beer, and the last page lists the wines - now that's a big switch.

We quickly met Amund the manager who personally selects all the beers. Fantastik! As they say in this region. Nogne O, Aegir, and HaandBryggeriet were local beers on tap. Bill enjoyed a dark, smooth and slightly smoked beer from HaandBryggeriet named Norwegian Wood, a traditional farmers brew at 6%. (More about that one later.)

Amund suggested we visit a brewery while in Oslo and personally phoned HaandBryggeriet to make an appointment for us. We're in! Tomorrow's agenda: train ride to the South.

HaandBryggeriet's Odin's Tipple is a Dark Norse Ale, 11%, made with chocolate malt which gives it great flavor with a hint of coffee.

This restaurant is quite special and historical. Recently renovated, the owner told us about sayings and paintings revealed during construction which they kept and enhanced. Looking in the background of this photo there is writing on the wall.  Loosely translated, this one says the color of your glass enhances the attitude of your mood.

The next day we took Amunds suggestion and got a train ticket for Drammen, Norway.  About 20 minutes SW of Oslo, it's a quaint little town on the water, surrounded by mountains.  It reminded us of a Norman Rockwell picture.

After a quick walk we located the tiny home brewery. We walked through the door, up the stairs, and found the only two employees, owner/brewer Jens and brewer Andreas. 

Jens was doing the paperwork and Andreas was in the middle of brewing the Norwegian Wood which uses juniper branches hand picked by Jens and his wife the evening before in the local forest. Now that's fresh ingredients!

Jens was a great host offering us several interesting beers.  He also informed us there was a brew pub opening in Oslo later that night.  This opening is the first in Oslo in twenty years. 

We plotted the map and found our way to the brewery. It was a nice walk and it is always fascinating to see the sites on foot while getting deeper into the locals life and away from the tourist spots.

What a great surprise. Schous Bryggeri, a grand building with the statue of a brewer atop was visible from down the street!

The entrance looked like a speakeasy and led us deep below to an all brick cellar where the copper brewing kettles were nestled into many corners.  The dimly lit interior was filled with Friday night beer lovers. 

Jens and his wife Helen introduced us to several people, enjoyed some beer before we headed out for dinner.  One of the owner/brewers use to brew with Jens at HaandBryggeriet before going out on his own.

We find the beer in Scandinavia to be expensive.  We heard that the Norwegians drink in Sweden to save money, the Swedes go to Denmark; and the Danes go to Germany. Go figure!

Stockholm, Sweden 10/02-10/05

Stockholm is a major city made up of several small islands connected with waterways, roadways, and pedestrian ways. It's a robust people city with plenty of easily accessible parks. One park is named Hofgarten Park. The park was built with a focus on growing hops so that the labourers who built Stockholm could have their daily two liter supply of beer!

The Royal Palace is located in the Old Town, an area called Stella Gami, which seems like the center of all the islands.  There are boats everywhere, similar to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Our first stop after our long trek was Monk's, a solid beer place.  We bellied up to the bar, met our bartender from Atlanta, and asked for a list of Swedish brewed beers.  "None here" was the reply.  Monk's had a fantastic collection of world beers, including the USA.  I enjoyed a Goose Island Bourbon County stout which I can't buy at home. Okay, maybe we'll find some Swedish beers tomorrow. 

Using the Hop On...Hop Off Tourist Bus to get ourselves oriented, we noticed many taverns were either Irish, German, English or Belgium design.  One stop was Wirstroms Pub which has been around for several hundred years. They had a good list of English and Irish beers, but only a mass produced Swede beer. 

Walking home one night, still a little thirsty and hungry, our 'travel brains' wanted Swedish, our tastebuds screamed for flavor ..., so, we went for the Belgians. 

We remembered one from our list we hadn't gone to yet, The Duvel Cafe.  Bring on the Duvel and the Maredsous and mussells.  Oh, to see their fantasticly displayed beer cellar at the heart of the restaurant ~ any collector would be envious.  Most impressive. Those Swedes really appreciate their Belgian beers!

Kelheim, Germany 10/06-10/09

We flew from Stockholm to Munich and then rode a train to Kelheim. It's a small city with a grand history located near Regensburg, and surrounded by hops fields!  It is situated at a most scenic section of the Danube River, which is the narrowest and steepest, with 400 foot high cliffs carved of limestone.  The Liberation Hall, built by King Ludwig, sits high above the city to commemorate the defeat of Napolean in 1815.  On a clear day you can see the entire region from this glorious monument.

The Baroque church is outstanding and the grounds pristine.  The brewery is within the Kloster and has an attached restaurant.  The Weltenburger Dunkel and the Asam Bock are on tap.  Both are very dark in color and absolutely delicious, the Bock has an extra zing of flavor to it.

The weather was perfect and so was the location.  Situated in the heart of the Kloster, brewery, & church, we sat in the biergarten under the chestnut trees and savoured these long-awaited dark beers. Add a pretzel and wurst salad, and the beers go down too quick and easy. . .

oh, and watch out for falling chestnuts!

George Schneider bought his brewing rights from King Ludwig in 1875 and soon began brewing in Munich.  Since 1927 Schneider & Son's has been brewing in central Kelheim.  There is an attached pub and biergarten serving their Original Weisse style from the tap.  It pours with a sturdy white head and tastes crisp and fresh.  The abv is only 5.4% so you can refresh yourself all day. 

Also available is the Aventinus Weizenbock about 8.2% abv with a dark mahogany color. We were disappointed that this was available only in the bottle, but figured it would be difficult to store and serve from the keg.  A third and more rare offering was the Aventinus Eisbock...coming in at 12% which was a step up in depth of flavors and darker in color. Time to be careful, tomorrow is a travel day!

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic 10/9-10/14

Karlovy Vary is located in the northwest corner of the Czech Republic, west of Prague and north of Pilsen. It is situated in the valley of the River Tepla surrounded by tree-covered hills.  The ornate buildings of the city seem to be perfectly placed between the river and the hills.

People have been coming to the city for a thousand years because of it’s numerous natural hot water springs which run 2000 feet below the earth's surface.  Throughout Karlovy Vary there are 13 "officially recognized" natural springs with water rising from the earth at temperatures between 90 and 170 degrees. In one location the building was architecturally designed of glass towers to accommodate the frequent earth-splurting hot water fountains up to 150 feet, while other locations maintain a slow faucet drip!

It's proclaimed that the water’s minerals have healing abilities consequently, people dip their special porcelain flask-shaped cups with a spout and visiting the many spas throughout the city.

Forget the healing waters…where’s the beer?

Pilsner Urquell is a very common and popular drink throughout the Czech Republic.  Brewed just fifty miles away in Plzen it remains the world’s best and first pilsner.  It is deep amber gold in color, 4.4% abv, and fully satisfying, especially on a warm autumn day sitting at a street-side cafe.

The surrounding hills are perfect for hiking, trails on all sides of the river for every level of adventure. We spent one morning making our way to the top on a switchback road with various peaks for fantastic visions of grandeur. As mid-day arrived we came across a hidden gem. A one hundred year old family owned hotel restaurant was open for lunch and beckoned a visit and well-deserved break from our hike. MYSLIVNA, featured Lobkowicz beer, or "pivo" as they say in Czech.  It was very smooth, creamy, and refreshing in the mouth with an easy hint of hop bitterness.  A great welcome lunch break basking in the sunshine, listening to falling chestnuts, and appreciating Czech Republic pivo! Excellent.

Now we're nourished and motivated to complete the summit to the hilltop Diana.

Within a short stroll from our hotel we found U Svejka, a restaurant with some great atmosphere. It was easy to almost miss it because it was up an alley. Fortunately, they had a life-sized stuffed, wounded soldier sitting at a table outside. We knew we had to check it out!

They served local Czech dishes with lightning speed along with Pilsner Urquell and another local favorite Velkopopavecky Kozel, a dark dunkel. A beer far easier to drink than pronounce, the Kozel matched perfectly with the roasted pork and red cabbage as well as the smoked trout.

Karlovy Vary is a famous internationally renowned spa city, and we took advantage of that with a Pivni Koupel, in other words, A Beery Bath!  Yes, a beer bath. Hops, malt extracts, and vitamin B are added to the famous city mineral waters.  It calms and regenerates your skin on the outside while you sip on a beer to relax your insides. 

You get twenty minutes alone with your thoughts and hops before the Bath Maiden comes in and wraps you in a cool sheet and warm woolen blanket for a short snooze on a dry massage bed.

Krusovice pivo is the local favorite dark beer.  It is black in color, and only 3.8% abv, but very malty in flavor.  It pours with a nice tan head and goes down easy.

We made sure to enjoy a few of these along with a rooftop view of the many spa hotels before heading into Bavaria.

Herrsching, Germany 10/15- 10/19

Herrshing is a small lakeside village located about 40 miles southwest of Munich.  From here we were surrounded with an incredible view of the Alps protruding in the South. The village is set alongside Lake Ammersee which is about 10 miles long and three miles wide. You can conveniently get to Munich via the S-bahn train in about 45 minutes. Boating and swimming fanatics pack this place in the warmer weather. For now, it's just brisk enough for a good 5k hike to the hilltop . . .    

Besides the panaoramic views, Kloster Andechs beer is a perfect reason for coming here.  They have been brewing for almost 500 years. This Abbey sits high above the city on "The Holy Mountain" located three miles from the village. To get there, you can take a local bus for about $3 and ten minutes, or hike one of the scenic wooded trails which may take you two hours.  Either way, we think you will be very happy you came. 

There are several rooms and patios to eat and drink, both inside and outside.  Outside the views of the surrounding countryside are fantastic.  Inside is a great example of a German beer hall. 

The food here is traditional Bavarian served in very generous, delicious, portions and not that expensive.  The beer buddy pretzel is available in two sizes.  Get the big one...you'll love it. Both hot and cold dishes are available and it reminded me of ordering in a cafeteria.  You can select from dried sausages, various wurst, potatoe salad, cheeses, sauerkraut, leberkase (meatloaf) and the local favorite Haxenbrust, which is a roasted pig knuckle. 

You can also get all the sweet-tooth satisfaction and energy to get back down the hill.  They serve five different schnaaps, donuts, sweet icing pretzels, cakes, pies, and Bavarian apfel strudel. Of course, they all pair well with the bock beer!  You can have coffee at home.

The beer comes from the tap of a wooden barrel! Come on, how fantastic is that?  You can select from a helles, which is a light gold color, a weisse, or a dark dunkel.  Small, requested as "klein" is a half liter and the mass is a full liter.  The beer is cheap, and for me the quality rates way up high in the charts. 

Meanwhile, Nina found a new job here working the tap. (She's experienced; she was back there our first visit in 2003!)

With thousands of seats in different areas, on warmer days and nights this place fills up and the band plays to get the festivities going.  On this mountain everyone is encouraged to take their eating and drinking pretty seriously.  I found this sink in the restroom.  It's a place where cleanup and recovery can take place in a respectable way.

Now get back out there!

We took a day trip to Weihenstephan Brewery in Freising, Germany.  Weihenstephan is the oldest brewery in the world, since 1040.  Freising is located about 40 minutes north of Munich. The Reinheitsgebot Law of 1516 was proclaimed closeby to here. It states the German Beer Purity Laws for brewing beer.  Water, hops, malted barley and yeast. That's it. Nothing else added to the brew.   It's still the law.  They take it very seriously here. 

This summer we featured Weihenstephan dark wheat beer on draft at Stuff Yer Face.  It's a delicious chestnut colored beer with hints of banana and in Nina's opinion it reminds her of the Bazooka bubble gum smell.

On the brewery property there is a University where beer and brewing is studied.  You can even earn your Ph.D. studying here!

We were given a tour of the brewing facility by a recent graduate, and doctorate student of the brewing school. During the tour we looked into the brewing kettle and saw this scene.  The wort is being mixed with the hops. This volcanic action is known as "stromboli". Our brewing graduate guide asked us if we were familiar with stromboli and knew that stromboli was the name of a volcano in Italy.  Hellllloooo!  Yes!

[Later in our trip we found out that Franz Inselkammer of Ayinger Brewing also attended the Brewers University here at Weihenstephan.]

The attached brau-stuberl, or pub, serves most of the brews on tap with great food, a biergarten and also with fine dining.

After our tour we were thirsty and ready to get to work.  We ordered our first round, got a pretzel, ordered lunch and settled in for a short afternoon.

We sampled many and I can not get over the freshness and livelyness of the beers.  I enjoy these beers at home, but being here in this place, it's at a whole 'nuther level that just has a different dimension. 

Last time we were here, our favorite was the Korbinian doppelbock, dark brown, sweet malt flavors and 7% alochol.  This time? Vitus! A weizenbock, gold in color, hazy, about 7% in fantastic glassware. It is Suupa delicious!

Aying, Germany 10/21-10/24

Aying is the quintessential Bavarian village located just 40 miles southeast of Munich.  It is easily reached using the S-Bahn.  There are only 1600 permanent residents. They are all lucky to have Ayinger Brauerei as part of their town. Ayinger is a three generation small brewery that continues to win awards for it's beers. Within walking distance to the brewery is a highly rated hotel and restaurant.  This is our second visit to Aying.  We just knew that this would be the perfect place to stay, unwind, settle in, and ultimately end our two-month, eight-country, Travels for Beer journey.

We were right!

Two of our favorites were beers that are not available to us at home.  A natural Kellerbier which is unfiltered and slightly hazy.  It's not high in alcohol so this is fantastic any day.  The second was Kirta-Halbe a seasonal brew for Ayinger, 4.5%. This beer is made annually in celebration of a Church Feast. The third Sunday of every October in Bavaria, a predominantly Catholic region, celebrates with a traditional cooked goose and all the regional trimmings.  The marketing poster for this beer shows a chef running out of the Ayinger House, cleaver held high, chasing down the famous path after this goose holding his beer! 

The beer is made in small batches and ideally will last throughout all of October.  However, as they said, once it's gone, it's gone! Nina made sure to have her fair portion, just in case.

The village of Aying has plenty of places for an afternoon walk.  Besides the grounds of the hotel and brewery there is still plenty of farming in this area.  You can literally get into nature. During our walk Nina ditched off into a corn field twice her height.

On our way back from this walk, the corn field was completely gone! The farmers had come and cleared the crop.  It is after all Harvest Time, a sunny brisk day and excellent for getting important things done.

As for us, we worked up our thirst and hunger.  We were ready to head back to Liebhard's for a lunch and a seasonal beer.

When we arrived, we saw a local we met earlier.  Gretchen works for Ayinger exporting their delicious brews.  She  invited us to join her.  And, what a surprise this afternoon became.  She was hosting a group of North American beer distributors for the weekend and they arrived just after us. The Inselkammer Family came to greet them, Franz,  wife Angela, and their son Franz Junior.  It was a special and unique experience to be included with the distributors.

Eventually, Nina and I were sitting on our own, and not to my surprise, when I returned from the men's room Franz Inselkammer, the Patriarch and 75 year old owner of Ayinger Brewing, was sitting with Nina and chatting.  We enjoyed his company, stories and discussing the past and future of the beer business, along with some of his personal history.  He has met some famous international people such as Vladmir Putin and

he was also so excited to have met the German soccor superstar. He told us about his family, the war as a child, and learning to brew beer.  He was surprised we had visited Weihenstephan, his alma mater.  What a nice gentleman and a pleasant afternoon.  A perfect grand finale to our multi-country Travels for Beer adventure.

Our trip of a life-time has come to a close.  Sitting at home now the last seven weeks seemed to have passed in a blink of an eye.  We're certain that as we go back and review our photos, journal, postcards, and train tickets we'll be surprised at the many wonderful things we already forgot in the blurr of it all.  We are so fortunate.  We're fortunate to have had the time and ability to make the journey and most grateful to have met some pretty fantastic people along the way. 

Thinking back on our favorite beers, champagnes, meals, historical sites, and sceneries it is hard to select favorites.  We realized after unpacking nearly two dozen souvenier glasses, and only having one broken, that that is just tooo many to consider any one of them "a" favorite. But, looking back we'll never forget how delicious the Orval tasted at the source, and how impressive it was that all thirty people in a restaurant were drinking it.  Which goes with the memory of the macaroni cheese made with Orval cheese...enjoyed 3 times in 2 days! The freshness and the simplicity of the German beers are hard to beat.  Ayinger, Weltenburg, Andechs, and Weihenstephan...yummmy. In Norway we'll always remember the reindeer stew with a berry puree, similar to a raspberry.  Awesome match. Looking forward to stocking new beers at Stuff Yer Face...Mikkeller of Denmark and Haandbrygeriet of Norway.

As we sat near the Munich airport on our final evening we still managed to find two more beers we have never had, and a meal that sent Nina's sensory nerves into blissful joy.  We also found a must visit brewery/hotel we did not know about. I guess that settles it... the origins and inspiration for our next Travels for Beer!

We hope you are inspired to enjoy a new beer, pair it with a new food, explore another culture and enjoy your own adventures.  See you at Stuff Yer Face and keep your eyes open for some new beers listed on our menu.

Get stuffed and stay thirsty!

Bill Boli and Nina

Bill and Nina (Monks for the day)

at the Jupiter Beer Festival in Florida. 

Pictured here with Garrett Oliver,

Brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewing since 1993,

and author of the Brewmaster's Table.

July 21, 2010

Nina & Bill are pictured here with our friends from Bon Beer Voyage and Alliance Francophone of Palm Beaches. Twenty six participants got together to celebrate Belgian National Holiday, independence day for Belgium from the Dutch on this day in 1831. 

A review of Bill's book Travels for Beer was given and a beer tasting followed.  Six different Belgian beer styles were sampled including St. Bernardus wit, Saison Dupont, Duvel golden ale, Chimay Bleue, Westmalle Tripel, and St. Louis Framboise.