Upcoming Beer Reviews

Here is a wee teaser for you, a selection of beers bought and gifted to me which I shall be reviewing over the next couple of weeks. Note the high frequency of various Weißbier from Schneider-Weisse, I bought a taster box that includes mix from their range. Being generally someone who does not drink Weißbier, this will be interesting indeed for me to judge each on its individual merits.

Meilenhofen Hop-farming in the Hallertau

This weekend I enjoyed an afternoon spent at one of Agriculture's most wonderful of gifts to human social advancement: A hop farm!

The farm is located in the mega-famous Hallertau Region, which is the area that lies between the Rivers Isar and the Danube, in central Bavaria. Landshut, where I live, is located just south of this region, so getting there is a small matter of a few minutes in the car. Specifically, this hop-farm was located just outside the village of Meilenhofen, near Mainburg.

We were hosted by the very knowledgeable and affable Hans who operates the hop farm.

Photo: Hans, our guide around the farm

Hans cultivates/grows (at least) two main types of hop, the early flowering "Hallertauer Perle" and the more common "Magnum". We had the opportunity to see these varieties side-by-side. The Perle already in Bud and the Magnum still flowering.

Photo: Perle variety with buds

A friend who has just completed his Masters in Biology, Stox, a man who appreciates all things a-growing, was with me for the visit (as well as our two girlfriends). Fortunately, Stox was able to ask all the questions being both a native speaker and a biologist, whilst I flittered about taking photos and enjoying the general glorious ambiance of the place - exhibiting my general ignorance of the rural life, looking like a proper townie and tourist at the same time. 

Photo: Stox asking all the right questions of Hans

Hops from this immediate area find their way into both the local smaller beers such as the Hohentanner brews (I recently tried an excellent beer from the Hallertauer which I reviewed here,). The local hops also find their way into some of the main Bavarian Beers for consumption in the cities, or sometimes in tacky Bavarian-beer themed pubs abroad. The Hallertau is considered to have the greatest concentration of Hops grown per Km2 in the world, however I have no method of verifying this claim.

Without rambling on too much, I decided to complete this blog with a series of photos taken during the visit. If you are ever in the Hallertau area, try to get yourself an invitation to visit a hop farm. On a sunny weekend it it well worth your time.

Bavarian Summer Heat- Beer recommendations

This week is hot. Scorching hot. Cracker-day-dad-let's-go-fishing Hot.

In the UK, folks are cramming themselves into tiny hatchbacks and crawling along the M2 to dip their toes in the turbid waters of the Channel at Ramsgate. Here in Bayern, a much more elegant solution has been developed. The Biergarten.

Below are my top three tips for beer drinking beneath the shade of a mature chestnut tree in full and glorious leaf. One of these I have reviewed already, and the other two are yet to be, but I thought it worthwhile to note them down now, whilst the weather is agreeable.

In no particular order:

1. Weissbierbrauer Kuchlbauer - Sportsfreund
This  beer is a delightful low-alchohol Weizen. Weißbier says summer like a couple of jerseys say "makeshift goalposts", that it, it says it well. Kuchlbauer have managed to keep this Weizen from going all sugary and heay, which just won't do in weather like this. The lower alchohol volume also significantly recudes the chances of dehydration induced headaches. It's a win-win situation.


2. Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf - Hallertauer Hopfen-Cuvée
A Champagne of beers. Chill this one down and pour it into a tall half-litre glass. Wait for the moiture to condense on the glass exterior then dream your way through the contents; I have recently reviewed this beer very favourably here.

3. Lösch-Zwerg Pils
This little champion is a great summer beer for taking out. It comes in a tiny bottle, a few of which can easily be squeezed into a small bag. It's ideal for taking on the bicycle or in a small coolie-bin. The small bottle means that you also don't end up with 20% of the beer going warm in the sun before you finish.