Ciao Bamberg, Hello Portland!
I have booked a plane ticket and am coming home! May 18th is only a few weeks away, and it would be an understatement to say I am looking forward to it.I am taking a break from bike riding, to give me knees some recovery time. But I've already been scouting out on GoogleEarth long rides I want to do in NW Oregon.
The above picture of barley, onion and raps was taken on my last long ride, two weeks ago. The fields smell so good; that is probably what I will miss most about Germany: riding with my nose.
I shot the sunset on the Main-Donau canal on my way back from Buttenheim. A 20km ride south of Bamberg, the St. Georgen brewery produces a world famous Kellerbier, one of my favorites. It is addictive enough that I rode all the way down there just for a beer, on more than one occasion. Kellerbier is an unfiltered, low CO2-content lager, and St. Georgenbrau makes one that is impossibly tasty while at the same time very simple and refreshing. I wish I was in Buttenheim right now...Another top choice is Ayinger Jahrhundertbier. One's first sip of this beer drains half of the Stein, and from the second comes the thought "I could drink twenty of these." No kidding. Now, I have only drank this beer from Ayinger's pub in Munich, served flat and warmish from wooden kegs. Wait a minute, I'm in Munich right now... sounds like I have my research lined up for the evening, cheers!
posted by Hans Paul Gauger at 7:12 AM
4 Comments:
Hans! Herzlich Willkommen nach Portland!
I unexpectedly found your website while hunting online photographs of the Allgaeu, where wife and I plan to ski next year, if all works out right.
If you're still keeping an eye on your blog, here's a question, if you've time:
I live in the central section of the U.S. (Arkansas), and absolutely love German beer. In fact, I love your brew so much that I'm presently on a diet in an attempt to reduce my weight from 232 to 190 (pounds)--sixteen of which I've already managed to shed. Simple mathematics will tell you that I'm currently at 216 and counting. Question: Which of the German imports to the U.S. do you most recommend? I'm a huge fan of Weihenstephaner and Ayinger (when and where I can find them near my home), and am open to further suggestions.
I see that you're a master-brewer and that you were living in Bayern before heading for Portland. Another question of mine would be, why indeed would you leave Germany and what is without doubt the greatest beer on earth? Wouldn't that be like holding down a premium job in heaven, and then suddenly opting to come to earth simply for a change of pace?
My grandfather was born over in Burladingen, in Baden-Wuerttemberg, in the Schwaebische Alb. I've long thought that he must have been a little crazy to leave Germany!
All the best, my friend!
--Leibold
Leibold
Thank you for your questions; I hope your trip to Germany inspires you like all travel should.
Many German beers are very dear to me, but of course only a few are imported. I will forever love the beers of Bamberg, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier and Spezial Lager are easy to find in a good beer store, as is many of Mahr's Brau excellent brews.
Weihenstephaner and Ayinger are top flight breweries, well done for enjoying their exports.
Here are a few more:
Aktien
Innstadt
Kulmbacher
Schwelmer
Weltenburger
Bayrishe Bahnhof Gose
As to your second question: I was an apprentice in Germany, and returned home to marry my sweet wife and impart my brewing wizardry upon the maturing US craft brewing industry.
As to the greatest beer on Earth, I believe it is our honor to have such a variety of styles to enjoy in our lifetime, and comparing or ranking lagers vs. ales and Belgian sours is comparing apples and oranges.
Cheers!
Hans
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