German Beer

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The Germans brew good beer, but the brands we are used to in Canada are brands such as Becks or Heineken (Although Heineken is Dutch not German). This is a nice quality style brew, but not really exciting. I have discovered that if you dig a little below the surface, there are some quite interesting German beers. Since I have written about the beers I discover as I travel, I thought I’d let you know about some of the excellent beers I have discovered so far.

Bamberg Smoky Beer Pub

In Cologne, one of the optional tours was a “Pub Crawl” to sample some of Cologne’s unique Kolsch style beer. This is a top fermented brew only produced in the city of Cologne. It is served in pubs all through the city, but a pub is only allowed to serve one brand of Kolsch. It is always served in small thin glasses unique to the beer. People often are deceived by the small glasses and think they can drink more than they should.

The pub crawl was interesting. You normally associate “pub crawling” with a younger crowd, but our gathering was a group of slightly older beer drinkers and we attracted a few stares as our group of 10 noisy seniors entered their pubs.

The beer itself was very good, and although we all agreed that each brand was unique, and tasted slightly different, everyone enjoyed them. I had a bit of a problem however, because since Regis is not really a beer drinker, I had to help her, so I ended up having double the beer. Oh well, everyone has their crosses to bare.  . . .

Another nice German Beer

In Bamburg, we discovered yet another quite interesting German beer. In this city they brew a unique beer with a smoky taste. This beer is made with a barley that is smoked, and we were warned that it is not to everyone’s tastes, and we might think it tasted a bit like bacon. When we arrived at the pub where the beer was brewed, it was immediately obvious that it was very popular with the locals, not only was the pub itself packed but the street out front was also packed with people enjoying pints of the brew. I wondered how they maintained their inventory of beer glasses with them all wandering the streets, but discovered that if you want to take the beer outside you pick it up at a window where you pay a deposit on the glass.

I would hardly call it a bacon flavored beer, but certainly the first mouthful had a smoky taste. After that it was just a very nice beer. I’m looking forward to sampling some more beer along the way.