Beer Report
I recorded the details and notes below primarily for my own use but with the thought that others might like to look at them. I'm an admitted beer geek, and I offer that disclaimer lest you think I'm off the deep end. I don't assume that anyone is that interested in all of these details. But if you've had any of these beers it might be interesting to compare notes.
"And the light shone down onto beer and traveler, and it was good." Taken in Zosch bar in Berlin by Erik from Sweden.
Mitte's Backpacker Hostel, Berlin, Germany:
Erdinger -Weisbier & 2.70 .5L bottle.
She poured it so the whole bottle was upside down into the beer (beneath the top level of the beer in the glass) and slowly drew it out as the beer level rose. Then she put the bottle on the counter and rolled it like a rolling pin a little, and dumped the rest in. Definitely smacks of yeasty bitterness. I don't know that this is supposed to be that great. Looked like the best thing they had at the hostel so I thought I'd try it. Light cloudy yellow beer with a suitable haze. Taste is generally so-so. But she gets an A for the pour.
Quell-Eck, small bar in Berlin where one woman was the bartender, cook, waitress, and anything else she needed to be.
Erdinger 2.60 .5L bottle
I was tricked. The menu just said "Hefeweizen Hell[es]" so I ordered it only to get the same thing I had at the hostel. I didn't like it all that much the first time and certainly would not have ordered it again.
Schultheiss Lager Schwarz 1.70 .3L tap
Nice light brown head. Very smooth, almost creamy. Wonderful taste. Unlike a lot of what I've had with hints of Belgian flavor. Somehow very smooth and "gulpable" unlike Erdinger.
A bar in the Tacheles Art Center, Berlin
Schofferhofer 3.00 .5L bottle
Sweet, better than Erdinger. Pale yellow with slight haze. Yeast flavor is evident but not as strong to be disagreeable. Not too bad.
Radeberger Pils 2.00 .33L bottle
Very clear. Crisp yet somehow sweet. Little more mellow than Pilsner Urquell. Very drinkable. Hop bitterness is present, more than typical macro swill. Enjoyed entire glass.
Zosch, bar in Berlin:
Berlinner Weisse (green) 3.00 .33L bottle
Green? Wow. Sweet, tart, kind of like a lambic. Apple? Very drinkable. Jamie even likes it. :)
Berlinner Weisse (red) 2.50 .33L bottle
About the same. Jamie will drink most of this while I go get...
Berlinner Pils. 3.50 .5L tap
Good enough. Very clear. Slightly bitter. Standard German Pils.
Berlin sidewalk cafe where I ate a sausage:
Berliner Kindl Jubilaums Pils 1.80(?) .33L bottle
Drank from bottle so could not see it. Same as last night? Drinkable. Decent.
Maisel's Weisse (Dunkel) 2.50 .5L bottle
Definite wheat and yeast taste. Listed in menu as Weizenbeir (Hefe, Kristall, Dunkel). Hoped it would be draft but it is from bottle. A little roasted taste. Whatever makes it dark must impart some flavor as well. Caramel sharp tinge? Somewhat enjoyable but almost prefer cleaner taste in a wheat beer. Not the most enjoyable beer I've had so far.
Mitte's Backpacker Hostel, Berlin:
Budweiser Budvar -Czech Premium Lager 2.00 .33L bottle
Don't know if it's because it comes from a green bottle but it tastes a lot like Pilsner Urquell. Am drinking out of bottle so can't see it. Not a bad taste but nothing remarkable. Wanted to try a bottle of it before I get to it on tap in Czech Republic.
Cafe Shabu, Prague, Czech Republic:
Pilsner Urquell 30 czk ($1.05) .33L bottle (drat, no tap here)
Served slightly warmed. On purpose? Also, is slightly different. Tastes a little sweeter and color almost looks darker (it is in a glass). Smooth, almost sweeter and smoother than same bottle is US. Will be interesting to try it on tap. I wanted to eat where I could do that but Jamie wanted the food at this place. I'll be dragging her into places I want soon enough. :)
Unrecorded bar, Prague, Czech Republic:
[note--the beer throughout the Czech Republic, as you will see from my notes, was both superb in taste, and superbly cheap. For 17 ounces (.5 liter) I would typically pay $.50-$.80].
Staropramen- Desitka 15 czk ($.52) .5L tap
Good lord does this stuff go down smooth. I don't think it has quite the flavor as Pilsner Urquell. I think it is more in line with Coors or something as the flavor is pretty light. It's almost gone and I just got it. Not unlikable but not remarkable.
Staropramen- Granat 18 czk ($.63) .4L tap
Amber red color. A lager? Clear. Smooth. Creamy head. Tastes kind of like a red ale with a slight nuttiness.
Restaurace U Pava, Prague, Czech Republic:
Pilsner Urquell 25 czk ($.87) .5L tap (above picture)
Finally! A creamy almost nitro-like head. Lace clings to glass. Colder than some of the beers I've had. Man oh man is it good. Extremely quaffable. goes down in gulps. Not as hoppy in finish as bottled version. Few minutes after pour, still has thin creamy head. I could see drinking liters of this. More malt presence (like the bottle I had) than in US. Also, .33L of water here costs 30 czk. :)
Velkopopovicky Kozel 25 czk ($.87) .5L tap
Dark brown ruby head. Poured with 1.5" head. Kind of a brown ale with an attitude (is it a lager?) Caramel, roasty, hint of coffee too, actually. More full flavor than most of the beers around here. Rather good but almost feel like I could go for more clean lager Pils. Later, getting more of the lager flavor, like a very light bock.
Jidelni (?) Naif Club, Prague, Czech Republic:
Pilsner Urquell 35 czk ($1.22) .5L tap
Little more $ but nicer place. Near Square, outdoor cafe. Tastes about same as earlier. Before I know it, half of the half liter is gone.
our hotel, Prague, Czech Republic:
Czech Beer Bud -16% Super Strong 50 czk ($1.75) .33L bottle
This is 7.2% alcohol, so I'm not sure what the 16% means unless it is the gravity reading in Plato. [It was common to see beer sold as 10 or 12, which I'm guess must be the Plato gravity reading]. Bought this at a 24 hour store near our pension (called a "non-stop"). Never heard of it. I thought the guy was going to charge me 16% more if I drank it there because he kept saying "it's 16% more." It tastes like a normal Budvar at first. And the color is only a little darker than the original. The taste is remarkably light, like a light lager. But in finishes with a surprising alcohol warmth at the back of the throat. Pretty interesting stuff to have stumbled on. I wanted a bottle of beer for a night cap and this did nicely.
Some bistro in Jicin, Czech Republic:
Staropramen 15 czk ($.52) .5L tap
hotel room, Prague, Czech Republic:
Krusovice -Kralovsky Pivovar -Svetle 114 czk ($.49) .5L bottle
Bought this and the next one at a grocery store because it is one I've seen around a lot but not yet tried. Color is similar to other basic lagers and so is taste. It is not remarkable. It feels a little weak in the taste. It is not sweet or nicely hoppy. There is a trace of teh bitter Pils hop finish but overall presentation is somewhat lacking.
Krusovice -Kralovsky Pivovar -Gerne (SSchwarz bier) 14 czk ($.49) .5L bottle
Hmm. Roasted grain aroma. Also has that flavor. Tastes like a thin porter. Head pours creamy but dissipates quickly. The finish is clean with no real aftertaste. Not bad.
U Spirku, Prague, Czech Republic:
Had the semi-confusing plaque on the wall "Those who don't say hello are not our guests. If we don't have guests we don't work."
Krusovice 19 czk ($.66) .5L tap
Worlds different from above bottle version. Smoother, sweeter, little more body, no unbalanced hop flavor. Similar to P.U. on tap -goes down in gulps. Like many Czech beers on tap it earns the designation "very quaffable."
And now my pilgrimage to one of beer's meccas, the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen, Czech Republic. Above you see the impressive front gate. The tour cost 120 czk ($4.19) and lasted an hour. I should give a shout out to my wife for allowing us this little side trip on our way from Prague to Cesky Krumlov.
Pilsner Urquell 22 czk ($.77) .5L tap
The irony is that this is not the most enjoyable P.U. on tap I have had. There is more pronounced bitterness in the finish which actually tastes more like the bottled US Version. Perhaps that element of the flavor fades quickly when shipped in kegs from the brewery.
The pink building behind me is the start of the main brewing area. The labyrinth of cellars and tunnels are below it.
My new car coincidentally arrived while I was there. Actually, there were 3 or 4 of these trucks filled with these cars arriving while we sat in the cafe.
Is this a sight to behold or what? In 1980 they stopped fermenting and aging their full production in barrels like this, and it was not until around 1994 that they discontinued it entirely. What you see here is the beer that the brewers brew the old-fashioned way to put it up against the beer brewed the modern way. They are constantly testing and comparing to make sure that the beer brewed the modern way is up to snuff.
Oh baby. Here is one of the beer highlights of the whole trip for me. The beer brewed the old fashioned way is done so for the brewers, and also for people taking the tour. You get a nice 8 ounce sample or so. More on the sample below.
Just some of the copper boilers.
Here are some of my notes from the tour:
-the sample from the barrel in the cellar is the best part. In was unfiltered and unpasteurized. When I got into the light of day I could see it was somewhat hazy. I noticed more hop aroma as well as a lager, malt aroma. Not sure how to describe the latter but there is kind of an aroma that lagers have. The taste was really wonderful - sweet, smooth (natural carbonation), nice mouthfeel. It reminded me of, I kid you not, a really good homebrew! Too bad it is not for sale in that form. It was like a little bit of liquid heaven. ;)
- seeing a few sets of the mash tuns and boiling coppers was fun. They have 16 sets total and are adding more.
- being in the cellar was something. They have 9 km (!) of tunnels and we of course were only able to see a tiny bit. We saw a map of it and it is massive. Would have been something to go down there pre 1980's.
- saw some of open fermentation in barrels for those test batches with nice krausen on top.
- they do their own malting and it would be nice to see that. Would be nice to see more of actual production of beer and the bottling/kegging areas. The tour itself was not exceptionally great but being there was satisfying.
A shot from the main market in the tiny town of Hallstatt. It's not the largest selection ever, but it IS a ton of beer that I have never tried and some of it never even heard of.
Train station in Cesky Budejovice, Czech Republic:
Gambrinus 16 czk ($.56) .5L bottle
Drank around the train station. It is not a problem to walk the streets or sit in public parks or buildings while drinking a beer. I walked into a little square and watched police arrest a few people who must have been misbehaving in a bar. Real live drama that I watched with a Czech man. He smoked while I sipped. The beer was indistinguishable from Krusovice. I found out that Gambrinus is made at Pilsner Urquell brewery so I thought I would try it. Not bad, not great. Probably better on tap. It was cheap and suitable for a hot summer day.
Don Julius restaurant, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic:
Eggenberg (made in Cesky Krumlov) 30 czk ($1.05) .5L tap (water was 30 czk for .25L)
Very light amber color, noticeably darker than most Pils. Smooth, sweet, liquid gold man, liquid gold. Again, "extremely quaffable."
Hopspudkau Josefa restaurant, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic:
Budweiser Budvar - 12 degree 23 czk ($.80) .5L tap
Lighter yellow color, very clear. Foamy head disappeared quickly. More hop bitterness in finish. Cleaner, crisper tate than some of other sweeter Pils on tap (Krusovice, P.U.). Almost more like American Bud. Not as much malt. Clean Pils with hop finish. Maybe how it should be but not my favorite.
Pilsner Urquell 25 czk ($.87) .5L tap
Great. Like previous times.
*At this restaurant we had 2 dinner-sized meals, 2 beers, 1 mineral water, and the bill was 291 czk ($10.16).
Merlin Hostel, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic:
Eggenberg - Svetly Lezak >10-13 czk ($.35-$.45) .5L bottle from grocery store. 5% alc.
Light straw color. Clear with lots of bubbles continually rising from bottom. Taste is all right. Just a little bit of malt taste to balance out hop bitterness which lingers on back of throat. Slight alcohol flavor as well. I suppose 5% alcohol in a lighter beer will come through. Dare I say that as it warms I get a touch of oak and vanilla?
Eggenberg - Tmavy Lezak 10-13 czzk ($.35-$.45) .5L bottle from grocery store. 4.2% alc.
Pours with creamy, foamy head. Leaves thick lace on glass as it is drunk. Nice rich amber color, clear. Malt nose. Sweet, creamy taste. Wow, tastes like it is on tap with no sharp carbonation. Reminds me of a homebrew with natural carbonation. Caramel, toffee hints. Very nice beer.
Velkopopovicky Kozel Premium 10-13 czk ($.35-$.45) .5L bottle from grocery store. 5% alc.
Gold foil top. Similar color to other pale lagers but not too pale. Foamy head not disappearing all that quickly. Taste is decent. Same hop bitterness at finish. But get a taste of spice too. A nice beer. Better than some of the other Pils.
Cafe across from the train station, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic:
Eggenberg 15 czk ($.52) .5L tap
Same as before. Great stuff.
Cafe Votivpark, Vienna, Austria:
Krugel 3.00 (back to normal prices...) .5L tap
Very light. It's fair, but nothing great. It pales in comparison to most tap beers I've had so far. Would hate to try it in a bottle. Is it Austrian? I'll hope for better.
Schweizer Pension, Vienna, Austria:
Eggenberg Kristian Svelte Vycepni Pivo 10-13 czk ($.35-$.45) .5L bottle from grocery store. 3.7% alc.
Last bottle from Cesky Krumlov market that I carried on 4 trains today to get here in Vienna. Lightest Eggenberg beer yet. Almost a bright yellow with tons o' carbonation. Flavor is pretty weak, body thin, with bitter hop finish. Not my favorite once again.
Shanghai City, Vienna, Austria (above picture):
Ottakringer "seit 1837" 2.50 .5L tap
Decent 1/2" creamy head. Too cold, but much smoother than last night's beer. Similar light color. Clear. Semi quaffable. Out of the two beers in Austria so far, this one is better.
Cafe near Linz train station, Austria:
Zipfer 2.60 .5L tap
Creamy and foamy head. Clear but a darker yellow, tinge of amber. That color perhaps come from a little more malt, or at least it has more sweetness than some. Wonder what style it is, as I almost taste a little more alcohol than usual. It's pretty good though, but maybe not as good as Ottakringer.
Gasthaus Grun Anger, Hallstatt, Austria:
Maisel's Weisse -Aus Bayreuth 2.70 .5L tap
Picture perfect glass. Semi rocky foamy head. Great rich cloudy copper dark orange color. Actually looks like caramel. Yeast aroma. Taste is yeast sharpness with wheat beer taste. A little tangy and I could use a touch of sweetness to go with it. The head lasted the entire glass and I ate my meal in the mean time.
At a pizzeria in Hallstatt, Austria. (We could only eat so much consecutive German, Czech, and Austrian food. ha):
Edelweiss Weissbier Hofbrau Kaltenhausen 2.80(?) .5L tap
Poured with 3" massive foam head that exceeded top of glass. Murky hazy light copper color. Flavor has yeast bitter sharpness with hint of tartness, almost like a wit. Faint touch of citrus? Reminds me it might go well served with a lemon (which none of my beers have been) Overall a pleasant beer.
Unrecorded Gasthaus, Hallstatt, Austria:
Stiegl Salzburger Bier 2.70 .5L
"Seit 1492." I love it. When Columbus was setting sail, this brewery was brewing its first beer.
Lighter than my recent wheat yeast beer. Leaning towards the light end of color scale. That lager/maltish aroma, if anything. A good flavor - clean, crisp, slightly sweet. Not a tremendously bitter finish or impression. Probably one of the nicest light beers I've had in Austria. This and Zipfer I think.
Atzinger Cafe, Munich, Germany:
Lowenbrau Munchner Hell 1.45 .25L tap
Small little glass and I wanted to taste this stuff. Light, clear, goes down easy. Nothing too pleasing or offensive. I guess that makes it somewhat tasteless but at the end of a long day it tastes fine to me.
Diebels Alt 2.25 .3L tap (pictured above in narrow glass)
Light brown with hint of ruby read. Foamy head disappearing as I write. First taste reminds me of a light dry stout. Roasted grains but thin mouthfeel and not much sweetness. Reminds me a lot of Summit Great Northern Porter, actually. Not much sweetness but a nice dry finish. Good beer.
Augustiner Biergarten, Munich, Germany:
Radler 5.80 1 L tap
[these notes were written before I knew what a Radler is and that people often drink them during the day because they have less alcohol]
He put some Sprite(?) at the bottom before pouring beer. In fact, this hardly tastes like beer. I bet the overall alcohol is about 2%. It's enjoyable, but it is not a liter of Pils or Helles. I get more sugary pop sweetness than I do beer flavor, and maybe that and the low alcohol are how people can quaff this all night. But now I am wondering what I ordered. I bet I accidentally ordered a sweetened drink. Maybe I'll find out somehow, but this is not normal beer. They had a big sign for this stuff and the price and I thought that was the main thing being served. I'll have to do better tomorrow...
Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany:
Hofbrauhaus Original 6.20 1 L tap 11:35 am. Well, it's Noon somewhere...
We randomly walked by this place and I was for sure going to drink a liter sometime this afternoon before my tour, so now is as good a time as any. It's just like the movies. Giant mug, healthy head, goes down smooth. Actually, a pretty nice beer. Detectable malt presence and sufficient hop flavor and finish. Color in mug is just darker than many recent lighter beers, but maybe that's because glass is so wide.
Other available beers here:
Hofbrau Dunkel 1L 6.20
Munchner Kindl Weissbier .5L 3.30
Russ'n (w/lemonade) 1 L 6.20
Radler Helles (w/zitronenlimonade) 1 L 6.20
Dunkles Radler (w/zitronenlimonade) 1 L 6.20
This is when I started to catch on to what a Radler is. It just seems to mean that it's beer mixed with something, either Sprite or lemonade or something sweet. And that is what I had at Augustiner Biergarten last night.
"Do you want to be in this picture of the stein lockers at the Hofbrauhaus?"
"Sure..." Above you see the result of said conversation. Thrilled to be dragged into the famous biergartens of Munich, Jamie does her best Price-is-Right-showgirl impression to point out where locals can lock up their own personal steins and keep them on site.
I took a walking beer tour of Munich that lasted a couple hours. It was a little bit of a joke, but it DID help me try two great beers that I would have otherwise not sought out.
Schneider (restaurant?), Munich, Germany:
Schneider Weisse (hefe weizenbier) 3.00 .5L tap
Darker color for wheat beer. Said to be premier example of style. Good, full taste. Bitterness of yeast but nice sweetness is just under surface too.
Unionsbrau Haidhausen:
Unionsbrau Helles 2.80 .5L tap
This is an actual brewpub in Munich. They only serve the beer on premise, and it is good. It is not filtered. Good hop taste actually. Because it's fresh? Light caramel, copper color. A little hazy. Hop flavor comes through more as I drink it. Reminds me of cask Itasca from Rock Bottom in Minneapolis. Malt taste is there, and a very good hop flavor. A nice craft beer from Germany. Glad the tour took us here.
Taken at the Augustiner Biergarten when I finally ordered a real beer. And no, I wasn't drunk. Really.
Augustiner Biergarten, Munich, Germany:
We had a few hours to kill before our overnight train to Venice was leaving, so we spent some time sitting outside in this lovely, huge biergarten.
Augustiner Edelshoff(?) 5.80 1L
What can I say? I have a liter of beer-flavored beer, I'm in Munich, I'm outside on a beautiful evening in a quite-full, lovely biergarten -- life is good. I don't know exactly the kind of beer but I'd guess it is a Pils. It's a fairly light colored, crisp flavor, nice hop finish but not too bitter. It's a quaffable good biergarten beer.
[After it, I had another liter, which made a grand total of 4 liters of beer in this one day. Of course, it started at 11:30 am and was spread throughout the day. It was probably the most I had in one day on this trip and I thought Munich a fitting place for such a feat. :) ]
Jamie recorded some of our conversation during the long evening at Augustiner. I thought you might enjoy it. We were watching whole fish being roasted on sticks. A guy was checking it out, and then walked away.
Jamie: what are you dreams?
Don: to drink beer in Munich. Ah ho! I'm living the dream! I'm going to have to take a pisser. He's back! He's back! He has procured the mackerel! He has the whole fish. How are you supposed to eat that? (laughing) Oh for God's sake (looking at Jamie writing this in the journal). You can't recorded my vocabulary. My speech is like the wind. It exists. It is here for a fleeting moment. It is art and then, also like the wind, it is gone. [Jamie's note- Don is a bit buzzed] Oh ho ho. You... you rascal...
Hotel Enza, Florence, Italy:
Birra Moretti 1.60 .66L (24 ounces?) big bottle
I drink almost exclusively wine in Italy, but thought I'd try this. Its' been a hot day and later I'm fixin' to buy some Chianti but I wanted a cold beer, dammit! Color is yellow to light copper. Taste is fair, crisp, a little malt, a little hop. I might have had this in the states once. I'm not even going to drink it out of this plastic cup, but swill it out of the bottle European sidewalk style!
Bussola di Hermes hotel, Anacapri, Italy:
Peroni 1.10 .33L bottle
From vending machine. Machine also has wine, Bacardi breezers, and some lemon liquor. Drinking it out of bottle. Nothing special but not bad. How many times have I said that on this trip? This reminds me of Moretti I guess. Tastes fine to me after hiking so many miles in this punishing sun and heat.
I collected coasters where I could. If you come over, you can see all of them that I brought back. Above are the coasters from some of my more favorite beers from the trip.