König Ludwig Dunkel

On Christmas day, in a effort to escape the cold, and snow, I headed to a nice small bar terrace located on the roof of the Stein Hotel, Salzburg. From an uninspiring beer menu I ordered a bottle of König Ludwig Dunkel which appeared to be the only non mega swill available.

Anyhow, König Ludwig Dunkel is a delicious, dark bottom-fermented lager. It's Bavarian, hence Reinheitsgebot-brewed. I have actually had this gem in Munich before and could not really remember much about it. The beer has a deep chestnut colour and a slightly-sweetish, a burnt wheat flavour, and a nice clean finish.

Oh, and did I mention that I had a white Christmas... A first for this Aussie.

Hofbrau Dunkel

Hmm, I am back at work today after a hectic two weeks living out of my backpack. I know I promised a revised format, but for now you will have to wait till I have time to implement my transformation! For the next few days however I will cover the events of the last couple weeks.
Some time after my last post, I met up with the in-laws and headed out for Munich - land of beer, pork knuckle, sausages and German people. Can't win them all and three out of four ain't bad! (that was a joke for any German readers who may or may not have a sense of humour, actually they don't hence this strike through). Anyhow, in an effort to help the in-laws overcome jet lag I decided to take them out in Munich in the freezing cold. We first headed to the Christmas markets for some Gluewein before heading into the much clichéd Hofbrau haus for a feast. As per usual, I ordered the gastronomic treat that is pork knuckle, which I am pleased to announce is now served with extra crispy crackling and opted for ein Krugen of the Dunkel.

It went down rather well and my only disappointment is that jet lag finally overpowered the old volks and I was forced to leave after only one beer. Boo hoo.

Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel

The first Dunkel of the festival was Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel (5.5% abv). This beer was a dark amber/brown colour with really delicate aroma. Its malty, but the hop character is sharp with a mild caramel flavour coming through. there was a slight chlorophenol tang to it, but it didnt taste like I was sucking in a band aid! Overall it was a good tasty, roasty, chocolaty beer with a pleasing clean and dry finish. A beer I probably won't stumble upon again....

Weihenstephan Tradition

Berlin has its fair share of beer halls and gardens, and in my walk around town I stumbled upon the Weinhenstephan Brauhaus. Weinhenstephan is a Bavarian brewery (which is actually owned by the state of Bavaria)which produces iconic wheat beer (especially their hefeweissen), a Pils and various other beers. I was hoping to grab some dinner here, but the menu was a little limited so I settled down for a krug of their Tradition (5.2% abv), a dark, malty, bock style lager. I am not sure that bock is the correct beer style, as the beer does have some leanings towards Dusseldorfer Alt biers and is similar in colour and malt profile. Needless to say the beer was a lot more tasty/tasteful that the East German (DDR)communist architecture! You can find more our at the official website here.