I’m close to the finish of my journey — beer #179 was brewed byWeltenburg … the oldest Kloster Brewery in the world.  This beer is their Asam Bock.  You probably know what a Bock beer is, but do you know what an Asam is?  LOL!  The church at this Kloster is a Baroque Church … and the Asam brothers designed it.  It was only appropriate that a German beer be named after them.

Beer Mentor

Today I had another Weltenburger Beer: the Anno 1050.  This beer won a Silver medal at the World Beer Cup … and you can tell why.  It was an excellent lager (a Marzen) and I enjoyed relaxing with it after a great weekend.  Worth the effort to track one down … just savor it!

As a reminder, this brewery was established in 1050 … so this beer commemorates the beginning of the brewery!

Beer Mentor

Tonight I definitely needed a little break … I’ve just relaxed and enjoyed a nice Alpirsbacher Starkbier.  This is an excellent lager — good flavor, nice finish — really enjoyable … what a helles bock should be!   It was all I needed to finish up a quiet evening.

Beer Mentor

This is one of the beers I picked up at the Weihenstephan Brauerei.

The Korbinian is a wonderful doppelbock.  I have certainly had some awesome brews since I’ve been here in Germany, and this one is no exception.  The color, the nose, and the taste come right at you — you think, wow, I really like these bock beers — and then, bam, you think — I really like doppelbocks!   You sit and relax with it and find yourself wishing you were back at the brewery’s “Beer Stuebl” having a wurst.

Beer Mentor

Today I moved away from the wheat beers of the last three days but stayed with one of the same Kloster breweries: Alpirsbach.

I poured myself a Kloster Pils to finish off my evening.  It’s strange how you have that sense in your head that this beer is going to be “hoppy” but it still surprises you when you taste it!  Some folks would probably say this is too bitter … but if you like those noble hops, this beer will satisfy you!

Of course, it’s the aroma of the noble hops that really stand out.  Oh, and this brewery is not very far from Tettnang … so I’m sure their hops are very fresh upon arrival!

I recommend it.

Beer Mentor

I’ve continued the Hefe-Weizen trend…although this one is not a Hell.  This is a standard Hefe-Weizen from the Weihenstephaner brauerei.

This is one of the top rated Hefe Weizens (see ratebeer and beeradvocate).

I have to say that I agree with them … when I pick up a wheat beer and I get that nice banana / clove smell in the nose … and then that peculiar flavor! Wow!  I would say that the Weihenstephaner Hefe and the Schneider Weisse Aventinus are my favorite German Wheat Beers.

Beer Mentor

I have a mini-trend going here!  I reached back in my fridge tonight and pulled out another Hefe-Weizen Hell.  This one from Alpirsbach Brewery.

I have to say that I liked this one better than the Weltenburger from last night … it had a little more pronounced Weizen flavor…almost a sweeter flavor.  It just stood out on the tongue and was pleasant for the nose too! LOL!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Tonight I was taking it easy, catching up on a few things, getting ready for my journey back to the Washington, DC area.  I popped open the fridge and pulled out another Weltenburger beer: the Hefe-Weissbier Hell.  Unfortunately, I’ve shipped all of my Weizen glasses back home, so I was drinking it out of a Pilsener glass … oh well.  It was still a very nice Weiss bier.

Beer Mentor

Today we finished up our weekend trip to see several Baroque Churches.  If you read yesterday’s post, you know we stayed over night in Buttenheim.  The cool thing about it is that we stayed in the Loewen Braeu Gaststaette.  Oh, they have excellent beer too — we had some of their beers yesterday!

Literally across the street was a Baroque Church.  Here are a couple of pictures.

From Buttenheim, we drove to Ebrach and visited the Kloster church there — this is quite possibly my favorite Baroque church in Germany … and that is saying a lot!  The pictures don’t do it justice … check out this site for more.

Two things that really inspired me in this church: 1) the integration of the beautiful rose window with the Pipe Organ and 2) the depiction of the Day of Pentecost on one of the side alters…

Oh, yeah, and I had my brew for the day here in Ebrach — the old Kloster Brewery-inspired beer … Ebrach Dunkel.

I never really found out who made this beer, but it was quite good.  We thoroughly enjoyed it!

If this wasn’t enough, the next stop on our journey was Neresheim Abbey — Balthasar Neumann’s masterpiece (also featured on the previous 50 Deutsche Mark bill).   (The Frescoes are amazing…)

The final tally for the weekend?  5 Baroque Churches, 1 “Romanesque” Basilica (with Renaissance/Baroque features), and 4 different “breweries.”

Oh, and a couple of wood carvings, but we won’t go into that!

Beer Mentor

Today’s trip culminated with a stop and a beer from the St Georgen Brauerei.

This is actually a weekend trip to visit several more Baroque Churches and then celebrate the anniversary of the German Reinheitsgebot (the anniversary is actually the 23rd) but we planned on celebrating it this weekend!

So far today, we’ve seen three different Churches (two in the Baroque-style and the third is a combination Romanesque, Renaissance, and Baroque).

The three were: Kloster Banz, Vierzehnheiligen Abtei, and Dom in Bamberg.  Here are representative pictures …

These churches were amazing.  However, in between seeing Banz and Vierzehnheiligen (across the valley from each other) AND going to Bamberg to see the Dom, we climbed the Staffelberg.

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This is where we first experienced the St Georgen Keller Bier at the Bier Garten on the top …

This was a precursor of great things to come!  After we spent some time in Bamberg at the Dom (Cathedral), we drove to Buttenheim and checked into our hotel.  From there we walked over to the St Georgen Brauerei and realized they had a Fest going on!  Wooo hooo!   We checked out the set up (which was in the warehouse — cool!), had another St Georgen Bier (this time the Schwarze), and partied into the night … sorry no photos of the great dancing we were we doing! LOL!

All of the beers from this brewery were excellent (yes, our hotel was in walking distance … ha ha!)  We tried the Keller bier, the Weizen, the Schwarze, and the Fest Vollbier.  All excellent — worth a try if you can find them!

Beer Mentor