Beer - plenty of it.

Having had my dose of time in the hills, I decided I would spend the final week of my time in Europe in Germany. I hadn't actually spent much time there previously, and with my, ah, appetite, for beer, I thought it would be a good place to spend some time in.

First stop was Munich. I arrived off a night train, so after dropping my bag off and getting a coffee, I found myself at the Augustiner Keller before noon. To hell with it. I was sick of sights, and I was in Germany just to wind down and try plenty of beer. So, a litre of lager and half a pork knuckle thanks. The beer was fantastic, the knuckle was sufficiently fatty and crackly, and the garden was a beautiful area.

The hostel I was in was pretty big and impersonal, so I joined a beer tour that night to be amongst company. First stop was the Schneide Weisse house, where I had an Aventinus, in my opinion one of the best (I guess that means 'my favourite') beers in the World. We did a quick tour of the Paulaner micro-brewery (as opposed to their mega-brewery) next. There's a variety of quirky laws in Munich (perhaps Bavaria) and even more long-held traditions that apply to beer. The micro-breweries that exist in the city of Munich itself (there are only three) are only allowed to sell their product on premises. Another quirk is that when the word 'brauhaus' has an umlaut (two dots) over the a, it is a brewery as opposed to somewhere that just serves beer.

The tour finished at the infamous Hofbrau haus. Literally the royal beer hall, in these democratic days it is state owned. Three beers are available: a light (in colour) and dark lager, and wheat beer. The lagers are served by the litre, which is called a 'mass'. The wheat beer in the typical tall 500mI glass. If you ask for your beer in a smaller vessel you'll probably be asked to leave, or given rude looks at best. I had the word 'stein' in my head, which translates as stone: mass is in fact the most common name for that size of beer, usually served in a glass. At festivals they typically serve all liters of beer in a stein. One thing I love about the Hofbrau haus is that something so historical is still being used in such a jovial way. Every night (I'm led to believe) the tables are populated with jolly beer drinkers, yet it's history and traditions continue, too. Above many tables is hanging a symbol, for example the German Post emblem. No table can be reserved, but when local drinkers belonging to that particular group come in, they can kick anyone off their table. They typically drink out of their own lidded stein, which has been passed down the generations and is kept on the premises in a locker type system. This costs the owner a few Euro a year, but to keep their place they need to drink there a minimum number of days a week! I love this, it's like even though the feudal system is long gone, a form of drinking royalty continues.

I ticked off another grand tradition the following morning (no, not in the same session as the night before), when I had a weisswurst and weiss beer. This has to be consumed before midday. I had it in the altmarkt in the centre of town, a really nice (albeit touristy and expensive) market area. They have a series of tables set up here, which go by the same traditions as those in the beer gardens. One is that you can bring your own food if you want, as long as you are drinking something from the nearby stalls. Also all tables are communal, so you just ask politely if you can join a group, and they give you a nod and you join them. It sounds so simple, but we could learn so much from this. In Australia, a beer garden seems to me to be merely where the smokers go to drink. The Bavarians even have a law for their beer gardens, stating that all gardens must be shaded by chestnut trees. Nice. Another really nice beer garden I visited was the Hofbrau Keller.

From Munich I caught a train to Freising, only about 20km north. From there, it's a short stroll up to Weihenstephan - home to the World's oldest brewery (1040). Aside from that title, they just happen to be one of my favourite breweries - their wheat beers are fantastic. I got to join their tour for free, as it was in German, but it was great just to see such a historic place. The technology they employ now, of course, is state of the art.

Next stop was Bamberg, which I was also visiting primarily on account of their beer culture. The city itself is a beautiful place - the entire old town is UNESCO world heritage listed. It was much more peaceful here than Munich, and I happily spent four nights.

Bamberg is a beer centre on many accounts. Most hops and malt put in Munich beers (and probably most of German brews) come from the region. It is home to one of the most famous malteries in the World, Weyermann Specialty Malts. Just in town there are EIGHT breweries. Two of these produce a beer that Bamberg is famous for - rauch (smoke) beer. A smokiness is imparted from the barley being malted over a fire of beechwood.

It certainly wasn't a party town, but for the beer lover it's a real pleasure to be able to walk between breweries and drink some beer which has travelled all of 20m from where it was brewed. Along with some hearty German fare, of course. Most of he breweries are quite old and thus housed in beautiful historic buildings, but when the weather is nice, several of them also have nice gardens.

One day there I got a train out to 'Anna fest', a festival in nearby Forcheim, with a couple of Brits. Unfortunately it was raining, but it was nice to see the locals in their element. It was a fun afternoon, but i'm against drinking beer by the litre. Its dangerous. I was much more a fan of appreciating all the different Bamberg beers at my own pace in their beautiful brew houses.