Bamberg — part three (the end)

By Stuart Whytcross

Brauerei Keesman

Quite similar to the other brauhaus in layout, with a schwemm and several drinking rooms and restaurants on either side, and a small courtyard out the back. The only main difference is the more modern and bright decore, although they have still managed to fit a truckload of deer antlers on the wall.

Keesman’s ‘Schwemm’
 

Keesman’s signature beer is the Herrens Pils (Gentleman’s Pils), which is widely regarded as the best pilsner in Bamberg. They also produce an Ungespundetes (Unfilteres Lager) called Sternla. Keesman is easily the most modern of Bambergs traditional breweries, and they also seem to have the largest advertising budget. Herren and Sternla signs appear all over town.

Herren Pils
Crystal Clear deep yellow with fluffy white persistent head. Very noble, floral hop aroma with slight dusty grain and salty potatoes crisps. Medium body with sweetish malt and a fresh Dry, hoppy finish. Very clean and fresh on palate, low carb and nicely balanced hop flavours into medium low bitterness.

Sternla Lager
Pours a sparkling clear medium copper with dense white head with exceptional lacing. Burnt citrus/orange flavoured chocolate aromas dominate with some caramel malt, nobel hops and slight hints of diacetyl. Sweet Mandarin and soft spicy hops dominate the flavour. Finishes quite clean and dry considering the amount of body and sticky sweetness upfront.

Mahrs Brau

Across the street from Keesman is Mahrs Brau, which was founded in 1670. Mahrs signature beer is their ungespudentes, better known as ‘U’. For some strange reason they don’t serve it until late in the afternoon, however they do have a helles and pils on tap and a HefeWeizen in bottle, which will keep you occupied until its time to serve the ‘U’.

The loading area of Mahrs Brau recently renovated modern brewery.

Mahrs HefeWeizen and ‘U’

Mahrs ‘U’
Pours a hazy, light golden yellow with thin glowing white persistent head with exceptional lacing. Aromas of almond bread, baked/glazed biscuits and molasses and fresh hay, slight phenolic characters also present. Initial flavours are slight dried apricot and biscuit. Slight greenness and an evident fresh spicy hop character with firm bitterness. Finishing quite dry and very crisp.

Brauerei Greifenklau

Founded in 1719 by Count von Griffenclau, this brauhaus had, up until recently, produced solely rauchbier and a lager bier, oddly called ‘Greifenklau Lagerbier’ or Griefenklaubier. All the smoke has since made way for a Weizen and a Pils. The pub is quite similar to most of the others in and around Bamberg, with traditional meals, pine tables and schwemm.

Pronounced ‘Griffin Claw’ this brahaus is situated on the top of Kaulberg Hill, which will enable you to work up quite a thirst trekking there.

Sadly enough, both biers were terribly infected. Which was a shame because I had heard some great things about them, even sadder was the waiter who said there was nothing wrong with them, after smelling and drinking them.

Pubs

With so many great breweries in town you would wonder why it was worth even visiting a pub for a beer in Bamberg. Well firstly the breweries only obviously only sell their own bier, so visiting a pub gives you a good chance to taste a selection of beers alongside each other. Secondly with so many breweries in Franconia, it gives you the opportunity to taste a vast selection of them in a limited amount of time.

Café Abseits

Café abseits is definitely worth a stop, although a little out of town, you will be rewarded for your 15 minute walk by an impressive selection of both draught and bottled beers.

The beer menu is constantly changing however I’m quite certain you will always find something exceptional.

Zum Kachelofen

I discovered this pub, situated right besides Schlenkerla, after planning to spend the afternoon at Schlenkerla on a Tuesday, which I later found out was Schlenkerla’s ruhetag (rest day). All the brauhaus’s in Bamberg have a ruhetag, but luckily for us beer travellers, the breweries have worked together to ensure that they all fall on different days.

Zum Kachelofen is small, but very cosy, and decked out in traditional Bavarian style, with a very ‘country’ feel to the place. One of the things I will always remember from Zum Kachelofen was the young waitress behind the bar (seen in the picture below), who must have been only 15 or 16 and was constantly pouring her own beers and drinking them at a very impressive rate, whilst reading a book.

On tap here are the impressive beers of Buttenhiem’s brewery St. Georgenbrau (20 mins drive from Bamberg) including their Pils, Helles, Dunkel Landbier and Weissbier.

St. Georgenbrau Weissbier
Pours cloudy dark straw with white cappuccino frothy white head. Aromas of restrained banana, citrus and malt. Flavours typical of good weizen, with a very fresh tropical fruit finish. Medium to full bodied with a very evident bitterness, probably one of the more bitter weizens I have experienced.

Recommended Bamberg Travel guides

Bamberg and Franconia-John Cohen

A great up-to-date travel guide with loads of information on Bamberg’s history, pubs, breweries, food and other useful travel information. Also includes plenty of information of surrounding breweries, pubs and day trips.

The beer drinkers guide to Bamberg-Fred Waltman

At only $5 to download, this 24 page document is a great buy. A complete guide to exploring Bamberg’s breweries, with recommended walks, accommodation reviews, easy to follow maps and absolutely anything else you could think of. The $5 also includes unlimited updates. Available from the Online Beer Guide to Bamberg and Franconia.

Bamberg Tourist Information

Bamberg has only recently started to cater for the ever increasing beer tourists who flock to the city each year. The tourist information office has some great free pamphlets, maps and guides to the breweries. There are even several locals getting in on the action with horse drawn cart rides around the breweries of Bamberg and breweries in nearby villages.

The tourist information office is worth a stop, even if its only to purchase a Bamberg Card for 9euro. This card gets you free public transport (which isn’t really needed as everything is walking distance) and also entry to all museums and, better still, several beer vouchers for a few of the breweries. Much of the information can be found on their website, and they are more than happy to send brochures and other travel information to Australia if you email them.

Next month, London Pub Walks