Second Day in Bamberg.

The first order of business Saturday was to see about renting a bicycle. I headed over to Fahrradhaus Griesmann on Obere Königstrasse and was soon outfitted with a "trekking" bike. It has big, fat, squishy tires and weighs a ton, but I will only be using it around town (and maybe a ride to Merkendorf) so it will do. The fat squish tires do make the cobblestone streets a little less rattling.

Then it was time for lunch and Spezial is right there.

 

One of the daily specials was herring in a sour creme and bärlauch sauce. I had to google bärlauch -- it is "bear garlic" or "wild garlic." In any case, it made a nice sauce.

Then back to the rooms for a short nap. Later that afternoon my landlord -- Frank -- asked if I wanted to go with him go Greifenklau. He said they had a bock beer a few weeks ago that was very good and he wanted to try it again. So we hiked up the hill.

I started with the Lagerbier and it was in its usual good form. Many years ago they were having some constancy issues which made it a bit of risk -- walk up the hill and end up with a marginal beer. Luckily, those days seem to be past and the quality has been excellent the past few years.

Suitably refreshed and rehydrated it was time for the "Braunerbock"

It was a decent beer, nice and malty, but Frank was disappointed -- he said the one he had before was much hoppier. So we switched back to the Lagerbier, which came in a krug ("stein") this time.

Frank had an appointment elsewhere, so I decided so long as I had climbed the hill, I might as well take advantage of the elevation. So I headed over to Stephansberg and Stöhrenkeller. Along the way were some pretty trees in bloom. I assume it is some sort of fruit tree -- I'll leave that to the experts.

When I got to Stöhrenkeller it was packed -- being Saturday it was Thai food night. I found a place at the (tiny) bar and ordered a Vollbier from Brauerei Witzgall (Schlammersdorf). This is a tiny brewery near Forchheim and it is rare to find outside of the brewery. So I had a couple.

I headed back towards town and my room. I had to pass Schlenkerla and had thought about stopping for a nightcap but it was packed and I didn't want to stand in the street and drink, so I kept going.

Soon I came to Roten Schild and decided to check out what they had going. The normally only have bottled beers but Friday and Saturday they often have a barrel of something good. Tonight it was Metzgerbräu from Uetzing. This is a fairly new brewery that was started by a butcher ("Metzger").

Soon after I got my beer they brought out a fresh keg, so I knew that a second beer was in my future. It would have been rude not to have.

This is not a traditional gasthaus or even really a beer place. The bartender was busy making all sorts of fancy cocktails and they were doing a land office business with Tucher Cola-Weizen.

This is, I think, a waste of Cola.

Then came my downfall. A second barrel was brought out, this time of Mönchsambacher Lager. This is one of my favorites and from a gravity barrel it is delightful. So of course I had one.

They went thru the 20L barrel in about 45 minutes, just as I finished mine, so of course I had to have one from the fresh barrel. I would have been rude....

It was tempting to stay for a 3rd or 4th but sanity reigned and I headed for home. I had had a "Kinderschnitzel" at Greifenklau but that was a while ago, so I had some street food -- a pork sandwich, Bamberg style. The roll was certainly better than those in Düsseldorf (Bamberg is famous for it's bakeries as well as breweries) and the pork was just as good.