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.

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