Centurions Ghost

As I am basically a working tourist here in the UK, I sometimes have to do touristy activities (Ok, I do a lot such as Oktoberfest etc, but lets not get too carried away). Anyhow, my wife has been at me for ages to visit York as historically her family (ok her Grandpa) are from the area and I was only too happy to oblige. I have been keen to check out beers produced by the York brewery for a while now and saw this as the perfect opportunity to do so!

So cutting to the chase I was forced to walk around in the cold following a local guide called George and then stand in the miserable sleet to "admire" the York Minster. Upon moving into the shambles we ditched old George and sought refuge and a cup of tea before exploring the Minster. I am an expert on Churches and my rule is that they are all the same. This one charges you to get inside does not even pay homage to one of the 23 patron saints of brewing! Anyhow, I sat in the corner while the Mrs explored every nook and cranny. Time was wearing thin when I finally managed to drag her into the York Brewery tied house "The Last Drop Inn" for a late lunch and a much needed pint. I went straight for the Centurions Ghost (5.4% abv) which is a rich and velvety porter that really did hit the spot. Served under a sparkler, the head was like shaving foam from an aerosol can but the beer was still lovely. I managed to get two pints in before SWMBO dragged me back to the station for the two hour train ride back to King's Cross. I'd really like to get back at some stage to try the rest of their range and also do the Brewery tour. At least the day finished on a high note! Website

Hambleton Ales' GFA

I have a few friends who suffer from Coeliacs disease. I always feel sorry for these poor blokes as they are pretty limited when it comes to lifestyle and most importantly alcoholic beverage choices! Hambleton Ales have released a beer called GFA - or Gluten Free Ale (4.8% abv) you guest it, is not made from wheat or other gluten containing grains.

Moving onto the beer! Its a rather real tasting beer. its not a particularly malty beer, but it does have a nice hop taste and is remarkably similar to a hop driven regular bitter. Overall its very drinkable.

But I cannot find any information on how the beer is made! Is it made from malted buckwheat, millet or sorghum? Is it made from the unmalted grains and treated with amylase enzymes? Or it produced with various caramels and sugars and then heavily hopped to drive the flavour profile towards a bitter?

The first commercial all malt Gluten free beer is an Australian Beer called 'Aztec Gold', which was closely followed by O'Brian Lager. These beers were the results of experimentation by Australian brewers Jim Levet and Andrew Laverty who both independently devised the process of malting Millet and Sorghum grains. I am curious to know if the GFA stems from the pioneering brewing of the Australians or if it uses a different process?

Can anybody shed any light on the situation?

Website

Meantime London Porter

After reading Darren from Blog'o'Beer report on Meantime London Porter (6.5% abv) the week before last, I thought I might check it out for myself. I managed to stumble across the rather expensive (£3.99) champagne style 750ml bottle in Waitrose on Kensington High Street.

The beer itself is rich and roasty and a big step up from the Midnight Sun I had the night before. I initially had chilled the beer a little bit too much which resulted in a rather acrid burnt roastiness. Letting the beer warm up let the true rich flavours from the underlying dark crystal malts come through. This balanced out the burnt roast flavours nicely and reveled a really complex beer.

The verdict, as with all the Meantime range, I just can't get enough! Although the expensive price tag does put a dampner on the experience a little bit. Website

Midnight Sun - Williams brothers

Yes - A Tesco pickup again! This beer had been sitting in Fridge for the previous two weeks beckoning me to drink it! It was tempting me with the allure and promise of a delicious velvety porter. hmmm

I opened it up and poured the black magic that is Midnight Sun (5.6% abv), it was a fraction too cold and just tasted like charcoal so I let it warm up. But it still tasted like charcoal. Not a nice roast malt flavour I was expecting - charcoal!

Here is what it is supposed to taste like!

"Midnight Sun is a black porter style beer, created from a blend of malted barley, oats, roasted barley and chocolate malt, balanced with a generous handful of hops and a wee bit of fresh root ginger. We really like it and hope you do too!"

Obviously the Scots messed something up along the line!

November is drawing nearer, that means Fullers London Porter is not very far away!

Thwaites Lancaster Bomber

Another "Tesco Pickup" (Yes it sounds like a bad dating scene), Thwaites Lancaster Bomber (4.4% abv) is a tasty special bitter that delivers on what it promises.

The beer is dark amber in colour and is the standard Thwaites cask offering which competes against the likes of London Pride, Doom Bar, Adnams Bitter, ...you get the picture.

The beer is nice, but its a cricketer's beer, so for this reason and this reason alone I am not going to praise it. If its good for Freddy Flintoff, then I don't want to know about it!

A little about the brewery: Thwaites was founded in 1807 and now has over 450 pubs in the North of England. The brewery is gradually shifting away from cask ales into pasteurised keg beers, especially those powered by nitro.

http://www.thwaites.co.uk/

Beartown Brewery Bear Ass

Another work leaving session led me to The Sir Christopher Hatton for an evening on the beer. As luck would have it, my usual tipple there: Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter went off halfway through the evening, leaving me with a limited choice for a substitute. Browsing along the pump clips, I noticed a contender. A beer I had yet to try. This beer was called Bear Ass (4.0% abv)..... WTF????

Being the "Accidental Ticker" that I am, I decided to give it a go. First impressions, this beer is darker than I was expecting and is bordering on brown porter in colour. First taste is dark sweet crystal, followed by a cloying sweetness which smothers any hop bitterness that claims to be there. Not a particularly pleasant beer.

Would I have the beer again?? Hell no, its rubbish and it tastes really under attenuated. If your thirst for knowledge (pun intended) desires, check out the following website.

Also, the recent poll I conducted clearly indicates that you prefer the name ' Beer Diary' over 'The Accidental Ticker' , so the name will remain.

I would also like to thank social commentator Wurst aka Whorst, for recognizing me as a 'know-it-all'. You do not realize that you are just feeding the most egotistical beer blogger of all time. BTW, when you have finished your Landlord clone, put your money where your mouth is and send it my way. I'd love to let the beer-blog-o-sphere know my opinion of it!

Jenning's Golden Host

I picked up a bottle of Jenning's Golden Host (4.3% abv) whilst on my weekly pilgrimage to Tesco. Having enjoyed most of Jenning's beers earlier in the year, I was keen to discover what the fuss with this beer is all about. The beer itself is a golden coloured bitter, which is about all that is remarkable about it... Its clean, its a bitter and its hopped with Goldings. besides this its rather pale.

What is worth noting is that thi sbeer is in fact drinkable, which is more than I can say for any other beer which falls under the Marston's family of companies! On a trivial note, the beer is named after a line in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth. It just so happens that old Willie Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, where the original Jenning's brewery resides. Now, one can't stop and think how the great man would be dissapointed with this beer!

Geez, you would think that there was more to Cumbria than William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter but apparently there is not! Linky

Tesco Select IPA

When the new Tesco beer selection hit the shelves the week before last, one of the new additions was Tesco Select IPA (5% abv). I bought it and gave it a go!

The label does not really carry much information on the beer, so I have no idea who made it, or where it was brewed.

Now the beer, ok it was bitter and had all the tastes an IPA should have, although it did tend to border on a boring interpretation of the style. if it was a great beer I would be raving about it, but when compared to such awesome beers as Brew Dog's Punk IPA, or Sharp's Atlantic IPA it just doesn't stack up. But then again it is better than Tesco Value lager!

Batemans XB Best Bitter

I squeezed into the newly refurbished Old Fire Station on Saturday evening before heading out to dinner with some friends. This is more of a bar than a pub and claims to have the best international beer selection in Hammersmith. I am not going to dispute this, but having megaswill from all corners of the globe is not really what I had in mind! Pre-refurb they used to have Warsteiner (Germany) and Steinlager (Kiwiland) on draught, but now they have Amstel, Heineken, Sagres and Fosters! The only ale they had on was Batemans XB Best Bitter (3.7% abv) which is a fairly standard best bitter that is really nothing to get excited about. I probably should not have ordered the bitter, as a quick look around revealed a predominately cheap lager loving clientèle. But as luck has it, the Polish guy behind the bar had to duck downstairs and put a new barrel on! So at least the beer was fresh and was actually in good condition. The beer is a deep copper colour and is dry, but moderately hoppy. It tastes a little boring, kind of like Young's ordinary did before they moved production. I probably wouldn't order it again, and I probably will not be heading back to the Old Fire Station in a hurry! Website

Josef Schneider Märzen

The last beer that I had that I have not blogged about before is Josef Schneider Märzen (5.5% abv). Now I have to say that I have scoffed down my fair share of this beer style over the last few weeks, but this one was the best by a country mile! It is so thick and chewy, that it really tastes like you are eating dried malt extract. The flavour is that distinct!

Here is Andy's commercial description;
"This amber coloured filtered bottom fermented beer comes from the smallest brewery in the Altmühltal region in Essing in the Oberpfalz near Regensburg in Bavaria. Märzen beer, literally means March and was historically brewed in March/towards the end of the brewing season on St Georges Day (23 April) to last the summer until brewing could resume on St Micahel‘s Day (29 September). You may now be seeing some historical similarities with the Saison, Biere de Garde and Lambic beer styles....."

Just a bit of background on the brewery Josef Schneider (not to be confused with the wheat beer mob) is a small microbrewery located in Franconia, Germany. They produce a number of malty beer styles such as a Pilsner, Maibock, Marzen and Dunkel. The beer is available from the brewery direct only, or in the attached pub. There is no distribution or marketing amazing!

Schafferhof Zoigl

Next up at the Zeitgeist Berman beer festival was another elusive style. This time Schafferhof Zoigl was on offer.

This beer is unique its got a yeast haze, similar to a hefe-weizen but golden in colour. And the taste is unique, its very tart but not overly sour.

Andy's commercial description is as follows;
"This is another illusive beer now only really found in the Oberpfälz Wald (Palatinate Forest) in Bavaria near the border with Czech Republic. It is essentially a Keller or Zwickel beer, however it uses a different yeast whereby primary fermentation is only around 5 days and lagering is only some 3 weeks at the relativley high temperature of 7-8°C! It is called Zoigl (Bavarian slang) from the German word Zeichen meaning a signal or sign, when the beer was ready to drink, the family/brewer hangs a sign (the brewers star) outside their house, much like women in the middle ages in England would put a broomstick outside her house to signify beer was ready! Nowadays there is a list on the internet showing when each Zoigl ‚hosue‘ has its beer ready!"

A bit of research shows that this beer is a communal beer, and is where the 'star of David' originally came from! An inter sting style, that most beer lovers will never come across. I feel privileged! website

Zwiesel Dampfbier

Once again Andy and the crew from Bier-Mania have got together with Zeitgeist at The Jolley Gardner's and put on another great German Beer festival. This time in order not to disappoint, Andy sourced over 1000 Liters of beer from some of Germanies best microbreweries.

Way back in 2006, BYO (Brew Your Own) magazine ran an article on a little known style called Dampfbier, which translates literally to "Steam Beer". The beer intrigued me, and was described as being very similar to a Hefe-Weizen, but with an all barley grist. Upon arriving at the beer festival, the dampfbier was the highest priority on my radar!Andy's commercial description is as follows;
"This illusive unfiltered top fermented amber coloured beer is from Zwiesel in the Oberpfalz/Bavarian Forest on the border with the Czech Republic. Dampf is colloquial Bavarian for yeast and essentially describes the primary fermention when the beer has a layer of yeast smothering it, hence ‚Dampf‘. The region has historically also been the poorest region in Germany."

The beer was a lot darker and sweeter than I expected, and didn't really have a lot in common with the flavour profile of a weizen except a banana aroma. However, this beer was awesome and a style I definitely want to check out some more. http://www.dampfbier.de/

Duvel

You can hardly call yourself a beer geek if you don't know or have not had Duvel (8.5% abv). For those uninitiated, Duvel is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale and is available just about everywhere in the world, including my local Tesco!

So Duvel joins Leffe as the mega swill of the Belgian world (Stella excluded), but is it any good? Well in a way yes, its very good. I am the first to admit, that I am not really in love with Belgian beers. They are usually too strong for a session, and too funky for my taste buds, and its for this reason why I have a slight apprehension.

The beer itself is very malty and has a persistent head which leaves lacing down the glass after every sip. The initial taste is like a cheap lager, but as you work your way through the glass it develops into a funky apricot flavour with a high alcohol character.I won't go on as I'm not really a big fan, but for those of you who love your Belgians, you can find out more at the website http://www.duvel.be/.

Brew Dog Punk IPA

Yes, another 'Tesco pick up', the cool looking graphics and alternative anti-marketing on the label of this beer sealed teh deal and it made its way past the disapproving gaze of my wife and into the trolley.

For the uninitiated, Brew Dog are a relatively new brewery located in Fraserburgh on the north east coast of Scotland. They have a few simple rules and basically they brew for taste and flavour rather than to what the market wants, a bold game but one that seems to be paying dividends for them.

Their simple rules;

- To only use the finest fresh natural ingredients.
- To put no preservatives, additives or any other junk in your beer!
- To always make amazing quality premium beers and promote them in a way which makes people smile!
- Not to try and pass off gift tags as ‘special mini Christmas cards’

Punk IPA (6% abv) seems to be their most 'standard' offering. Its pretty much a stock standard American pale ale with strong tropical hop flavours and an intense and lingering bitterness. I really rate this beer so if you come across it in your local Tesco, do yourself a favour and check it out. Even better if you find it on cask!

An awesome beer: website

Bernard Dark

After living turbulent for a while, I am finally back to living my normal routined life again. The irregular posting over the last month or so should have been a give away, but then again its a quiet time of the year in the beer blogosphere and most blogs are a little quieter than usual.

I have some good news to report, my local Tesco has recharged it shelves with a bunch of new beers for me to try when I can't make it down to my usual stomping ground, The Parr's Head for a pint. The first offering from St Arnold that I picked up was Bernard Dark (5.1% abv), which is a Czech Schwarzbier style which is more along the lines of a malty dunkel or bock. This beer is thick and tasty with solid roasty malt flavours all the way through the glass. It feels like you are drinking a delicious oil! No really, its that good and it comes in a cool swing top bottle. Overall this is an excellent beer that I will probably grab a few bottles of as we head into the colder months. http://www.bernard.cz/

Also, you may have noticed I have a poll up on the sidebar. A few people have emailed me and accused me of being an undercover ticker. I can see where they are coming from, but i tend to disagree. To settle the argument once and for all, if enough people think I'm a ticker then I'll change the blog name to "The Accidental Ticker". So vote up and have your say.

Falling Leaves (Batemans)

I was sent down to Brighton for a few days so i could attend a training course. The course was rather intensive and did not really leave me with much time to get out and about, although one night I did refuse to have room service for dinner and get out and have a beer.

I went to a pub called The Pump House, which is a lovely well preserved Regency period hotel located in the lanes. This place is literally a step back in time, with studs still lining the original leather lining on the doors and a ye olde worlde fireplace to bring warmth back into the bones on a cold evening.

The bar has a number of real ales on regular rotation, with the usual suspects on display being TT Landlord, local favourites by Harvey's and Dark Star as well as Doom Bar and London Pride. The guest ale was a seasonal by Bateman's called Falling Leaves (4.2% abv). The beer is pretty much a standrad bitter in style, similar to Pride or Doom Bar and it went down a treat with my Steak and Ale pie! I can't seem to find much more information on the beer online, so I am assuming that it was a speacial release by Batemans? Anyhow, unusual finds are part and parcel of being a beer geek.

Dinkel Acker Pils

We finally made it through security at the airport in our inebriated manner and found the bar. Due to the fact that BA cannot seem to operate to any form of schedule we had time to fit in another beer, this time Dinkel Acker Pils (4.9% abv) which again didn't really measure up compared to all the fest marzens we had been quaffing all week. Still in our state we didn't care. I ended up necking mine as we got called for boarding. Even though we were visibly impaired by alcohol, the trolley dolly's on BA still fed us a few cans of London Pride on the flight. Bonus! Website

Stuttgarter Hofbräu Volksfestbier

We managed to sleep in on the Sat morning, which was also the last day of our tour. We eventually made it into town, by walking through the nice park that traverses all the way through the city. Upon reaching the other end of the park we found a sausage shop in the station. Rich opted for currywurst - he is fascinated by the slice and spice machine that cuts up and seasons the sausage, apparently its a sign of quality, who am I to argue?? I opted for a random sausage called a rindwurst or something similar, it went down ok. We then wandered through the main centre of the town and finally headed back to Canstatter wassn to grab some lunch at the fest. This time we chose the Stuttgarter Hoffbrau tent owned by a dude called Hans-Peter Grandl. It was about 11 am and full to the brim already, we settled on a table that was reserved from 4pm. We still had to pack up out tent and get to the airport for our 6.30 flight so we thought we would be long gone by then. The beer in this tent was similar to the Schwarbenbrau, and I couldn't tell the difference although they did serve in glass kruges (its 5.5% abv as well). I also smashed down half a chicken which definitely hit the spot! We got chatting to some German guys next to us, who were friendly. They couldn't understand me, as I have an Australian accent! I found this rather strange, as it has definitely flattened out after living in the UK for a number of years. Anyway to cut the story short, 5 Kruges later we were still there and it was quarter past four and we were asked to vacate the table. realising that we had lost track of time, we sped back to the campsite and pulled the tent down, packed our bags and bid Stuttgart good bye as we headed to the airport. Being pissed and in a rush is a bad idea, as we made a schoolboy error and took the wrong U-bahn which cost us some more time. Luckily enough on arrival at the airport our flight had been delayed and we proceeded to the departure lounge. http://www.stuttgarter-hofbraeu.de/The kegs are delivered every mornibg by horse and cart!

Schwaben Bräu Volksfestbier

We finally made it to Stuttgart and caught the U-bahn across to Mercedestasse to try and find the camping ground. we soon found out that the camping ground backed on to the festival grounds - ripper. Upon locating reception we were informed that by a big burley German dude that if we didn't have a reservation then their was no place there for us. At this stage we were a little peeved - there is no mention of reservation on the camping ground website, and the Stuttgart tourism website mentions that the camping ground does not take reservations! After a little bit of chatting, we were permitted to stay one night due to the small is size of our tent and the fact that we had no chance of finding any other lodgings in Stuttgart that late in the evening, especially during the volksfest. Anyhow, we set our tent up quick smart and set out to explore the party!

For those of you who are unaware of the Cannstatter Volksfest, it an annual two week festival in Stuttgart, that starts a week after Oktoberfest. Although the Volkfest is not strictly speaking a beer festival, it is considered by many to be the second largest beer festival in the world after the Munich Oktoberfest. It attracts about 5 million people each year of which next to none are tourists. So basically its nearly as big as Oktoberfest, but you don't get hoards of backpackers, Aussies, Kiwis and college boys from the USA. For more detailed information, you can check out the Wikipedia entry.

After refueling on some currywurst, we hit the tents! The first couple of tents we tried to enter we were turned away from. I am not sure if this is because;

(a) We are not German?

(b) We were half cut after drinking all day?

(c) They were reservation only, and it was the opening evening of the fest?

Anyhow we were finally let into the Schwaben Bräu tent, and a nice local family let us sit at their reserved table. The first thing we noticed was that the beers were being served in porcelain kruges here, which are way heavier and keep the beer way colder than glass.The second was that it was a lot more rowdy that Oktoberfest! Everyone was getting into it. The beer was pretty similar in style to Oktoberfest beers, but only 5.5%, but was still malty in a Marzen style.

We made a few friends throughout he evening and stayed until stumps. I ended up acquiring a T-shirt that loosely translates to "What's your name" in drunk style slurred German on it.. classic. Being quite tanked up, we refueled on a meter long bratwurst baguette and headed back to our tent. At least Stuttgart was not as cold as Munich!

Crazy going on within the Schwarbenbrau tent! http://www.schwabenbraeu.de/

Hacker-Pschorr Hell

The time came to finally say goodbye to Munich and the Oktoberfest and head for greener pastures in Stuttgart - just in time to catch the opening of the Canstatter Volksfest. Before we headed on our way we decided to pick up some roadies/travellers for the two hour train ride. The station newsagents had an offer on Hacker-Pschoor Helles, which was too much of a temptation to resist and I bought a few bottles. Again this beer failed to live up to the awesome fest beers we had been quaffing over the last few days, but still was very respectable by any standards. I guess when in an environment that is packed with really good beers, you start to take things for granted! Anyhow the train ride didn't last long and we even made friends with a few German Squaddies on the way. Oh, also worth mentioning, the bottles were cool swing tops!

Paulaner Hell

After our second night in Munich, we packed up our tent and headed into town to find some food before our trip across to Stuttgart. After wandering aimlessly through the worlds best markets (basically selling meet, cheese and beer), just across from Marienplatz we found our way to a small Paulaner tied bierhalle and hoofed our way into some pork knuckle (pun intended). To wash down such a splendid meal, I opted for Paulaner Hell (4.9% abv), the breweries premium offering. This beer, like all the hell beers I tried, tasted really ordinary in contrast to the oktoberfest beers, but was still a good quaffer. Rich being different opted for the dunkelweizen, which is a strange style in itself as it does not taste discernibly different from the pale variety!

Löwenbräu Original

After the tents closed we powered back to the campsite, but joined the back packing masses around the Löwenbräu vending machines for a beer to dull the cold and help us get to sleep - not that we were not tanked up to the hilt anyway! Löwenbräu Original (5.2% abv) is a helles style lager that tasted pretty ordinary in light of the malty 'fest beers we had been drinking all evening. But I know from past experince that it is an excellent beer. I have always considered Löwenbräu as the lesser of Munich's breweries, mainly as they have beer halls in many capital cities and teh beer is distributed/brewed under licence around the world by SABmiller. But compared to your average megaswill, its a winner. http://www.lowenbraubeer.com/

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest

The rain finally subsided and we ran into some friendly locals in the beer garden for the Hacker-Pschorr tent. The security guards at this tent were like little commandos with berets on. I don't think they realized just how camp they looked,. but that didn't matter as they were letting people into the tent freely, but it seemed that all the action was happening outside.

The Hacker-Pschorr Brewery traces its ancestry back to 1417 in Munich, Germany, a whole 99 years before the enactment of the Reinheitsgebot Purity Law of 1516.
In the late 18th century, Joseph Pschorr bought the Hacker brewery from his father-in-law. He subsequently founded a separate brewery under his own name. His two sons divided his estate by each taking control of one of the two separate breweries. In 1972, Hacker and Pschorr merged to form Hacker-Pschorr, but the beers were sold as separate brands well after 1975. Even with a history that makes takeover artists like InBev and SABmiller look tame, the brewing process has remained virtually unchanged for over 580 years. The brewery is most well renown for its Weisse, but the Oktoberfest was pretty good as well. Come to think of it, all the tent beers in Munich where exceptional - a very rare occurrence in the life of this accidental ticker! http://www.hacker-pschorr.de/

Augustiner Oktoberfest

After an afternoon nap, I felt sorted and ready to head back to the main 'fest grounds. being highly impressed with the Augustiner beers earlier in the day we made a bee line for the main Augustiner tent - but not before stopping off and eating a 1/2 meter bratwurst on the way! As per usual, the tent was not letting anyone in unless you had a confirmation of reservation receipt, so we opted for a heated section in the beer garden. The Oktoberfest (6% abv) was excellent, not as creamy as the beers we had enjoyed the day before, but bursting with malt flavour with a nice grassy hop edge. As we were finishing our round, the heavens opened up and we had to retreat to shelter, which happened to be near a fish smoking pit! Website

After the rain subsided, we went in search of more beer, but on the way we stumbled across pork knuckle heaven. Check this joint out!

Augustiner Hell

The next day waking up a little worse for wear, we headed back into Munich to do our bit for the local tourism. After walking around for an hour or so trying to get some heat back into our partially frozen bodies, we ended up in the Augustiner beer hall (the one across the road from the Hofbrau Haus). Both Rich and I ordered a pork dish each, of which I barely touched and I ordred a German Pils (as a radler, I was struggling) and Rich opted for the Dunkel. I can't comment on the beer too much due to my declined and hungover status forcing me into the world of mixed drinks, but Rich reports his Dunkel was awesome. I was on struggle street big time, barely eating my lunch and having difficulty drinking my diluted beer. A sleep was in order, so I headed back to the camping grounds for a couple of hours shut eye. I needed to sort myself out if I was to have a big night again! Website

Hofbräu-Festzelt Oktoberfest

We went searching for dryness and warmth and we found it, in the Hofbräu-Festzelt. The Hofbräu-Festzelt is the biggest tent at Oktoberfest and the only one that has a dedicated standing area. As such it is polluted with thousands upon thousands of Australian/Kiwi and American backpackers who are more interested in getting drunk and shagging members of the opposite sex than enjoying the beer. Not that I am against these activities, I was young once myself, but why travel all the way to Munich to do something that you can do in any club/pub in Sydney or any Walkabout in London? Anyhow, we had a couple more krugs and then apparently we left. I can't recall much about the beer except the website linked below claims its 6% abv. I say apparently we left, because I can't recall the specific details but Rich informs me that we did stop for Pizza on the way back to the camp site. All in all we had a good evening, even if I did spend part of the night with my head hanging out the tent door! http://www.hb-festzelt.de/en/festzelt.html

Spaten Oktoberfest

After a couple of tasty Krug's in the Paulaner beer garden, the evening started to draw in and we headed for the heated beer garden offered by Spaten. My memory started going a little hazy at this point, but I remember slipping over and landing on my ass as the ground was wet with beer, and I also remember that the beer (Spaten Oktoberfest 5.9% abv) was good, more bready with a string melanoiden taste than the Paulaner, but less hoppy as well. I think we were here for quite a while, but ultimately we headed off in search of somewhere dry as it started to rain. http://www.spatenusa.com/

Paulaner Oktoberfest

After outstaying our welcome in the Weiss tent, (ok, when the folks who had reserved the table we had claimed arrived) we headed outside for a feed. Being simple folks we chose to refuel on Currywurst, one of my favourite traditional German dishes. For those who are unfamiliar with this delicacy, its basically two bratwurst sausages covered with tomato sauce and curry powder. We were lucky this time and scored a free side of frittes (potato chips) on the side. Then it was time to try our luck in the Paulaner tent! A quick wander through quickly revealed that we had no chance of scoring onto a table, so we pleb'ed it in the beer garden for a while. The Paulaner Oktoberfestbier (6.0% abv) this year is better than it has been for a while, and was probably the best beer of the 'fest. Rich and malty with a noticeable hallateur hop kick it went down all too easy and went to our heads quite fast! After two steins we decided to move on, in search of more amber goodness. Website

Paulaner Weissbier

After alighting the train in Munich, we negotiated the drunks and freaks at the station and on the U-bahn and made it to Thalkirchen camping ground. After a few schoolboy errors, we had our tent erected and we were ready to hit the town. Before heading out though, we took a photo of our manor so we could find it when we came back three sheets to the wind! Upon arriving at the Oktoberfest grounds we scuppered into the first tent we found which happened to be a Paulaner Weissbier (5.5% abv) tent. This tent was quite small, and was already full. After traveling for 12 hours to get there, we didn't care and got stuck into the beer. The Paulaner Weiss is at the banana and lemon zest ester end of the wheat spectrum and was tart and refreshing. We felt a bit sorry for the old guy next to us though, as he looked like he was dead. the only bit of him that moved was his eyes! I think his beer evaporated as I didn't see his hand come to his mouth once and it was full when we got there, and empty when we left. Website

Gold Fassl Pils

The next few posts are going to document my recent beer drinking pilgrimage from Salzburg to Stuttgart. It all started on a Tuesday night where I met my beer drinking buddy Richard at The Ordinance tavern in Swiss Cottage, conveniently located near his girlfriends house and a 24 hour Stanstead Airbus stop. Deciding to get into the 'fest spirit early we knocked back a few pints of Alpine Lager (The Ordinance is a Sam Smith's house), low and behold time ran short and the lovely Kate came looking for us! Anyhow long story, short we ended up bedding down at 1.00 am looking forward to a 3.00 am start for the bus to get our £4 Ryanair flight at 6.00 am. The flight went without a hitch and we arrived in Salzburg mid morning with our crappy Argos tent in tow (Actually we were quite pleased that we didn't have to pay any extra to check the bag in - Booze hounds - 1, Ryanair - 0). After negotiating the bus ride into town, avoiding some random tramps and dodging the steamroller like device which was washing the train platform, our train finally pulled in and started to haul our asses across the border into Bavaria, destination Munich. Being the thirsty lads that we are, Rich heads down the dining car and grabs a few bottles of Gold Fassl Pils. This beer is ok, it's Austrian and as you may know there are no Kangaroos in Austria! No Jokes aside the beer was ok, a grassy, bitter pilsner style which wet the whistle nicely and primed the day for an epic session. Website