Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 5

Published on 28th September 2022

Bamberg: Rathaus, Reiter, und Rauchbier

What a day in Bamberg this was! For starters, the bakery I planned to go to for breakfast was closed, so I had to look for another one. Luckily Bäckerei Seel was open, so I had a roll and a croissant there.

Then it was time for the guided tour included in my Bamberg Card. Very enjoyable, educational and entertaining, and Hans the tour guide even knew some Dutch!

By then it was time for lunch, and being in Bamberg, I couldn’t wait any longer, and I went to Schlenkerla. My first choice was of course their very smoky Märzen, and since apparently onions are a big thing in Bamberg, I had the Bamberger Zwiebeln for lunch.

I then went back to the Dom to see the famous Reiter, before spending quite a bit of time in the Historisches Museum.

In a city so full of old breweries, I had to go to the Brauereimuseum as well, of course. They even had a wooden koelschip!

Then it was time to actually taste some beer again, starting at Brauerei Greifenklau. The place was packed, and when I noticed a man sitting alone at a table of eight, I asked if I could join him. He said it was actually the Stammtisch—which one shouldn’t take lightly—but I was welcome to sit there nevertheless. Had a nice chat, and felt really welcome.

After that I went back to the centre, to Zum Sternla, where I actually planned to have dinner, but it was so full, so I moved on to Stöhrenkeller after just one beer. Completely different vibe there—more modern?—but I eventually decided to have dinner—Leberkäse mit Kartoffelsalat—at my last stop, Brüderla.

Final thought of the day: my bladder will be thankful if tomorrow I can have beers smaller than 0,5l again!

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 4

Published on 28th September 2022

Oktoberfest, the OG

After a couple of days in Wien, it was time to move on to Bamberg, but with a very important stop along the way… It’s the end of September, so it isn’t hard to guess where I went: Oktoberfest in München!

I put on my brand new Lederhose—I shrunk out of the pair I bought a couple of years ago—and headed to Wien Hbf for my four hour ÖBB Regiojet trip to München. It was a bit too early to have breakfast before boarding—apart from a croissant in the first class lounge—so I had my last Austrian breakfast on the train.

After arriving in München and storing my bag for the day, I first went for lunch, to line my stomach for what was to come. Although I didn’t really have time to play tourist today, there was one place I had sung about many times before—🎶In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus🎶—so I simply had to visit it! Of course I already had a first Maß—of Dunkles—with my Obazda there.

A quick coffee at Man versus Machine Coffee Roasters, and I was ready for the main event.

As I’m quite a traditionalist—even if it comes to traditions I’m not really a part of—I went straight for the Oide Wiesn, and its Festzelt Tradition. They had a Blaskapelle playing there, and even served the beer—Augustiner Edelstoff—in stoneware Keferloher, instead of glass.

Since I would be on the train for two hours just around dinner time, I decided to have an early dinner—Knuspriger Spanferkelbraten mit Kartoffelknödel und Speckkrautsalat—at the Augustiner-Keller, right next to the station.

On a weekday, a lot of places in Bamberg seem to close quite early, so even before checking into my Ibis Bamberg hotel, I stopped at Brauerei Spezial for a Märzen.

To conclude the day, I went to Stillbruch, one of the rare interesting bars still open late.

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 3

Published on 26th September 2022

A Castle and a Curtain Call

Today I went full-on tourist again! After breakfast, and a first wake-up coffee at Coffee Junkie, I went to Schloss Schönbrunn, on the western outskirts of Vienna. Quite popular and busy, but worth it nevertheless. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take photos from the inside…

For lunch I went back to the centre, to Bier & Bierli, for some Gröstl, a Tiroler specialty.

Since I was a bit ahead of schedule, I went for another coffee, at Kaffeefabrik this time, and some Kaiserschmarrn at Café Museum. It didn’t quite live up to my childhood memories, but at least I could cross it off my list…

By then it was almost time for a guided tour—by an actual person this time—of the Wiener Staatsoper. I just missed out on a performance of Die Zauberflöte, so I’ll have to come back for that another time.

By then it was beer o’ clock, so I went to brewpub 1516 Brewing Company to get me started.

After that I really started to deviate from my plans, since I somehow missed my next stop wasn’t open on Mondays, and the one after that only served beers I already had before. So earlier than expected, I ended up at Statt-Beisl im WUK. The last planned beer stop of the evening was achtundzwanzig, basically the taproom of Brew Age.

Although the Kaiserschmarrn kept me filled up for quite a while, I really needed some sustenance after that last barleywine… So I indulged in another Viennese staple: Wurst. I looked up where I could get a decent one nearby, and ended up at the Wiener Würstelstand. It definitely did the trick…

Getting up early for my train to Munich the next day, so after that, I called it a night.

Razernij 2022

Published on 20th August 2022

Beerdrinkers & Hellraisers

After a crazy Friday like that, the weekend had only just started, and on Saturday I went to the beer and punk/rock/metal music festival Razernij in Rumst.

It luckily didn’t coincide with BXLBeerFest—which it often had in the past—and it was a lot dryer than last year!

Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour

Published on 19th August 2022

For quite some while, I had been pondering getting a tattoo celebrating my love for some of the Brussels breweries. After mailing back and forth with the tattoo artist—Laïs at Koko Tattoo Shop—and a project discussion in person, I finally had it done mid June. After three hours on the table, I had a beautiful tattoo on my left triceps, featuring seven of my favourite breweries in Brussels: Cantillon, Brasserie de la Senne, La Source, L’Ermitage, La Mule, Surréaliste, and—being a pure brewpub, the odd one out—Mazette.

To celebrate my new tattoo, I decided to try to visit and have a beer in all of those breweries in one epic taproom crawl! I puzzled an itinerary together, created a Facebook event to invite some drinking buddies along, and I even had a T-shirt printed for the occasion… A healthy breakfast pizza to line the stomach, a cold brew tonic to fully wake up, and I was ready to start…

Cantillon (planned 15.30, but arrived at 15.20)

I arrived at the first stop, Cantillon, a little ahead of schedule, and ordered a bottle of Menu Pineau (2020) to get started. I asked for two glasses with it, since only one person confirmed her presence from the start. Imagine my surprise when somebody else already turned up first, and just before I actually planned on moving on, two more people I didn’t expect to join that early. So by the end of the second bottle, there were already five of us!

L’Ermitage (planned 16.15, arrived 16.45)

At the second stop, l’Ermitage, a sixth drinker was already waiting for us. To make up for the slow start, we stuck to only one beer at this taproom.

Mazette (planned 17.15, arrived 18.00)

Brasserie de la Senne (planned 18.45, arrived 19.00)

Almost made up for the delay, and just in time, since the Zenne Bar actually closes at 20.00. After saying goodbye to one participant in the previous bar, we welcomed a new on here, so the number stayed at six drinkers.

La Source Beer Co (planned 19.45, arrived 20.00)

At the fifth stop we could start to relax a little, since none of the remaining taprooms close early. So plenty of time for more than one or two beers… We were also joined by a seventh person.

Brasserie de la Mule (planned 21.15, arrived 21.55)

There was a band playing at La Mule, because they were celebrating their birthday. Live music here usually means beer from plastic cups only, but this evening at least then made an exception for one liter Maß glasses…

Brasserie Surréaliste (planned 22.45, arrived 23.15)

The very last stop, number seven! Five brave souls actually made it from the very first until the very last brewery, and they have the stamp cards to prove it!

It was great fun, and actually quite doable, so… maybe I’ll make this an annual thing?

Tag: Martijn