Going to Germany

Hey guys! I'm headed to Germany for two weeks. I'll be all around the country. What are some must try beers? Considering I'm a west coast IPA kinda guy, is there anything in that range?

Thanks!

Germany is not known for IPA type beers. There may be a few small breweries experimenting with that style, but you are unlikely to find any.

Go to Koln and have Kolsch, go to Dusseldorf and have Alt, go to Bamberg and have Rauchbier. If you want hop bombs, I hear San Francisco is good for that.

Definitely Dusseldorf.

If you want a truly unique experience, spend one night in a little town called Zuzenhausen. It's barely on the map, just outside of Hiedelberg. The Daschenfranz Brewery is a B&B. There is an awesome restaurant/butcher shop down the block called The Ox(sic).

Incidentally, Hiedelberg is on of the few German cities that wasn't leveled in WWII, and it has a castle.

Go to Augsburg it will be worth the trip close to Munich plus you can do alot of day trips from there,don't let the trip be about beer !! but Andechs Monastery is close to there so is King Ludwigs castles,there is alot of plus
there is the Weihenstephan brewery is very close to there as well.

I took 27 trips to Germany in 4 years and you won't find much in the way of hoppy beers (per the American pallet). My favorite was Erdinger Dunkel (dark wheat beer) and Kostritzer was good. Duckstein if you can find it is a great red-blonde.

I was stationed just north of Leipzig in the East. The nice thing about Germany is that basically all of their beers are micro-brews, it seems each modest size town has a brewery. So expand your horizons. The only thing they don't do well is fruit beer - their idea of fruit beer is taking beer and adding fruit syrup.

Being from the midwest it was pretty cool to drive down country roads in Germany and see hop farms here and there (that's what got me hooked on growing my own).

arturo7 said:

Incidentally, Hiedelberg is on of the few German cities that wasn't leveled in WWII, and it has a castle.

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My understanding is that Bamberg also wasn't leveled either. There wasn't enough industry in the area to bother. It has a great Olde World feel.

I told my fiancee I will forgo my next 10 birthdays so we can save up to go to Munich. I'd love to visit the Ayinger brewery and stay at their hotel. They are one of my favorite breweries, bar none.

We will be in Augsburg for X-mas my wife is from there and will go to Bamberg again

Kneitinger In Regensburg has my absolute favorite bock beer. They also have great Schweins Hax'n. Regensburg is a beautiful city and has 5 breweries in the area including Weltenburg which is the oldest monastery brewery in the world. Regensburg is about an hour by train from Munich.

+1 for Kostritzer. Their Black lager is amazing.

Spartan1979 said:

My understanding is that Bamberg also wasn't leveled either. There wasn't enough industry in the area to bother. It has a great Olde World feel.

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Yes, Bamberg is well preserved, and quite beautiful. I was too hungover to have a rauchbier when I was there, so don't make that mistake.

If you are in that part of the country, you can take part in what I think is the greatest beer experience ever, the Aufseß Beer Trail. I am sure there are other similar trails, but here is the Aufseß version(link in German, sorry, but you can use Google Translate to get the gist). You basically hike a 8 mile loop down a beautiful country path that happens to connect four different small breweries, where you stop for refreshment. They are technically in the same town, so they claim the world record for most breweries per capita. Streams, cows, giant crucifixes along the way, it is easy to imagine yourself in a classic vampire movie. It was the most amazing hike I have ever been on, and you get to taste beer that you will never find in the states, or even outside of Franconia, probably. Well worth a day. Here is another blog post, again in German, sorry, to get you salivating.

If you happen to make it to Freiburg im Breisgau (extreme southwest corner of the country), Hausbrauerei Feierling brews an unusual unfiltered Helles lager called Inselhopf.

Mb2658 said:

Kneitinger In Regensburg has my absolute favorite bock beer. They also have great Schweins Hax'n. Regensburg is a beautiful city and has 5 breweries in the area including Weltenburg which is the oldest monastery brewery in the world. Regensburg is about an hour by train from Munich.

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Another vote for Regensburg. I was stationed about 20 minutes from there for four years and its my absolute favorite city in Germany. Also be on the lookout for fests as you pass through some of the smaller towns. The beer will be local and it's always a good time.

I've only been to Frankfurt and Berlin, but as a west coast hop head my advice is: try every beer you can. If its new, try it.

After traveling to Germany, and Prague, I developed a taste that I never had for well made lagers, and non hoppy beers.

Central Europeans know a thing or two about making beer; after all, they've been doing it longer than almost anyone else. AND they were the first to isolate lager yeast.

VinceF said:

Also be on the lookout for fests as you pass through some of the smaller towns. The beer will be local and it's always a good time.

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This is going to be the truly rewarding beer experience in Germany. There are world famous breweries, but be sure that you get out into the country and find a keller where they serve their own beer that you can't find outside of that town. We beer geeks talk a lot about Belgian farmhouse and rustic ales. The "farmhouse lager" (my term) culture in southern Germany is probably just as deserving of our attention.

I'm getting excited about the trip the more I read My "home base" will be in Stuttgart but we plan on making our way to Prague, Plzn (Pilsner Urquell brewery), Heidelberg, etc...

Here is what our tour guide (my father in law) sent me for a rough intinerary (this is a trip my wife bought me for my 40th )

Oct. 5 - arrival
Oct. 6 - Heidelberg
Oct. 7 - Wilhelma (Stuttgart Zoo & Botanical & maybe Cannstatter Volkfest
Oct. 8 - Stuttgart city environs, maybe Mercedes Museum, maybe Cannstatter Volkvest
Oct. 9 - rest / local errands
Oct. 10 - early morning drive to Garmisch, usually at least a 3 hr drive. If we arrive early enough, go to Zugspitz (tallest mountain in Germany) and Eibsee (a huge lake about 3000 feet above sea level)
Oct. 11 - Neuschwanstein Castle?
Oct. 12 - Munich city tour (Hofbrauhaus included)
Oct. 13 - Eagle's Nest/Bergtesgaden?
Oct. 14 - drive to Plzen, CZ, tour brewery, drive to Prague
Oct. 14/15 - Prague
Oct. 16 - Prague? / Dresden?
Oct. 17 - Return to Stuttgart?
Oct. 18 - Day before departure
Oct. 19 - departure

While I have no idea where most of these places are yet, it seems to hit a lot of the country. really looking forward to this!

Prague is amazing. The city was largely spared during World War 2 and is IMO one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It is more expensive than it was 10 years ago but I would still highly recommend it. This sounds bad but if you are out wandering around, especially after dark, be mindful of your surroundings and where your wallet is. There are pick pockets who will try to distract you to rip you off.

Prague is my second favorite city in the world. I saw history dating back to the 1200's, amazing beers, amazing food, beautiful architecture, hella easy to get around. And the women. Oh god, the women.

Go to the Strahov Monastery. This is a must. 100% authentic well crafted Czech food, and they're their own brewery. Literally, the best lagers I have ever had.

Go to a bar called Usudo. It's not far from Winsislov(spelling?) square(the downtown part) . It's a really cool bar that is placed in a basement dating to the 1700 hundreds.

And the sausage stands! Amazing kielbasa, with authentic Budvar/Pilsner Urquell on tap. But count your change, they're notorious for ripping tourists off.


If you PM me I'd be happy to tell you everything I know about Prague. I stayed there for a month, and my twin brother was lucky enough to live there.

I agree with most other post try everything. Garmisch is awesome, make sure to take the cog train up zugspitze (sp?). Also I know this is a beer forum, but west Germany has some pretty amazing white wine, Riesling to be specific. Have a great trip, our trip to Germany has been our favorite.

+1 for trying everything possible.

My favorite part of traveling through Germany and the Czech Republic is always trying the large number of beers specific to a city or region. Even the different neighborhoods of Berlin and Munich will have totally different selections, though Berliner Pilsner and Becks seem ubiquitous. And because you can drink in public and on trains, within reason of course, there's plenty of opportunity to try as many as possible.

Prague has a booming microbrew/craft beer scene right now if you seek it out. Don't expect any West Coast IPAs yet, but I'm always blown away by the depth and complexity they can coax out of lagers.

Happy travels!

Never been to Germany, But if i were to go I think I would try to not drink any American styles for a couple of weeks to kind of cleanse my pallet. Hopefully you can go and appreciate the beers( and culture) without comparing them to American styles. I'm jealous man, I hope you have a great time.

I was just in Germany this summer. If you find yourself in Munich, check out Andechs Monastery. You can take the Munich S-bahn to a little town outside of Munich, and from there it is about a 40 minute hike up to the monastery where they brew their own beer. Probably the best beer I had during my whole stay in Germany, in terms of both flavor and the pure experience.

When you are in Munich, absolutely visit the Hofbräuhaus (you really can't go to Munich and not), but also be sure to seek out the Augustinerbräu biergarten. It's the locals' beer and simply amazing. Augustiner Helles is my desert island beer.

Munich Dunkels and Weizens while in Bavaria! Get something brewed local and fresh and you will understand why people rave about German beer!

Anyone know a city with a great Rogen, I can't seem to find the "home" of the rogens?

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Lots to think about!

I wasn't about to go looking for American style beers but I did want to mention my taste in case that helped in guiding me in the right direction

badhabit said:

Anyone know a city with a great Rogen, I can't seem to find the "home" of the rogens?

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Thurn and Taxis Roggen is very good - its actually brewed by Paulaner in Munich.

foles said:

Thurn and Taxis Roggen is very good - its actually brewed by Paulaner in Munich.

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You are the first person I have heard of that has actually recommended Thurn und Taxis. Now admittedly, I haven't tried their Roggen but the rest of their beers suck. The fact that Paulaner brews their Roggen probably explains why it doesn't suck although Brau Holding AG owns both Thurn and Paulaner so other TT beers are probably brewed in Paulaner facilities. There are far better breweries in Regensburg than Thurn und Taxis. Thurn und Taxis is the BMC of Regensburg. Any establishment that serves them is either owned by the family or was dumb enough to sign a long exclusive contract to get some free equipment to open their bar.

Mb2658 said:

You are the first person I have heard of that has actually recommended Thurn und Taxis. Now admittedly, I haven't tried their Roggen but the rest of their beers suck. The fact that Paulaner brews their Roggen probably explains why it doesn't suck although Brau Holding AG owns both Thurn and Paulaner so other TT beers are probably brewed in Paulaner facilities. There are far better breweries in Regensburg than Thurn und Taxis. Thurn und Taxis is the BMC of Regensburg. Any establishment that serves them is either owned by the family or was dumb enough to sign a long exclusive contract to get some free equipment to open their bar.

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Yeah it's the only one of their beers I've had, while I was in Regensberg. But it was good on its own merit.

If you are passing through Bavaria at all, I used to be stationed in Wurzburg, and this place is the best: http://http://www.wuerzburger-hofbraeu.de/de/whb/home/

NochEineMassBitte said:

If you happen to make it to Freiburg im Breisgau (extreme southwest corner of the country), Hausbrauerei Feierling brews an unusual unfiltered Helles lager called Inselhopf.

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I'll be in Freiburg 10/23-10/30 and cannot wait to get back to Feierling (have been there previously) for the Inselhopf! Hoping they have something else on tap too -- I remember a great Weizen from when I studied there.

Pilsner Urquell!

Been a crazy week so far but I thought I'd share these pics. Poured right off the barrel... The old fashioned way. It doesn't get much fresher than this. It was unfiltered, more aromatic and simply better.

Sooooooo jealous!

erockomania said:

Pilsner Urquell!

Been a crazy week so far but I thought I'd share these pics. Poured right off the barrel... The old fashioned way. It doesn't get much fresher than this. It was unfiltered, more aromatic and simply better.

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hey now, Pilsner Urquell isn't German!

Went to the Czech republic for a couple days too

erockomania said:

Went to the Chech republic for a couple days too :h

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I enjoyed Czech beer more than the German stuff myself.

erockomania said:

Pilsner Urquell!

Been a crazy week so far but I thought I'd share these pics. Poured right off the barrel... The old fashioned way. It doesn't get much fresher than this. It was unfiltered, more aromatic and simply better.

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I was there a couple weeks ago and had a blast..I started in Prague, Pilzn and ended up in Munich for Oktoberfest. Second time in three years..Hopefully going back in a few years. I highly recommend it. Did you get to Munich?

Holy crap, a brewing forum, spending 2 weeks in Bavaria, and no stop in Bamberg?!?! Wtf??

Wifey and I just spent 10 days in Bavaria, ending with Oktoberfest, and Bamberg was the highlight. Awesome beer culture there and amazing rauchbier.

When I lived in Wurzburg, I had one of my best weekends ever in Prague. This was in '99, so everything was dirt cheap. Top restaurants with amazing pilz, and I was paying the equivalent of $0.30 a beer. I never thought about Budweizer the same again.