One Last Update

After seeing Bob on his train, I went back to the apartment, put some Beethoven on the iPad, sat on the couch and read book. Very relaxing. There may have even been a nap involved.

When dinner time rolled around I hopped on my bike and road over to Fässla Keller. In previous times it was Maisel Keller and was the taproom for the attached Maisel Bamberg brewery. When the brewery closed Fässla acquired it. The Fässla brewery has a nice, partially covered garden in the back but it is now pretty much occupied by smokers so if you want to drink outside the Fässla Keller is your best bet.

I started off with the Gold Pils, my usual Fässla beer. This was softer, less bitter, more Helles like than I remember their Pils. But it was good.

Dinner was a couple of pieces of fried Pollock (Seelachs) and Kartoffelsalat. The potato salad was cool (not chilled, think “cellar temperature”) and didn’t have any bits of bacon or other foreign matter, just some parsley sprinkled on top, Maybe some region of Germany makes their potato salad with lots of vinegar and bacon and serves it hot, but I don’t remember ever having it. Not sure why in the US we insist that the hot stuff is “True German Potato Salad.”

They actually have four beers on draft, instead of the two at the brewery. I thought about having one of the others, but I was happy with the Pils so a few more were consumed.

Somebody obviously used a white board marker on a real blackboard, requiring the use of duct tape for the price increases.

Wednesday decided to make one last ride down to Pettstadt. It is a very nice ride down the Canal/Regnitz.

The Löwenbräu Buttenheim served at Schrauder Keller is gravity dispense (“Bayerische Anstich”). It was early, so he had a small barrel on but by the time I left he was pouring from a larger one.

I know this beer isn’t on many peoples top 10 lists but drinking it on a nice day at this keller is up there on my list.

The holzdeckel on the top is one that was made for the 555th Anniversary of the Pettstadt Ferry

While there a lady rode up on a horse, dropped the reins and went up and bought an ice cream. I think there was another woman on a bicycle with her who watched the horse for the minute the rider was away. Do horses drink beer?

Not sure why I took this picture — blues skies, leafy trees and good beer.

I was getting too comfortable so I decided to ride back to Bamberg. I had been meaning to visit Sternla to see if there was any info available on their new brewery, which I understand is installed but they are not yet serving their own beer. They were promoting the brewery on their menu and the current estimate is they will release a Bockbier in late October.

Right now Sternla is one of the few places around that has both Spezial and Schlenkerla on draft.  I had the Spezial.

Not a bad beer choice.

It was getting on to dinner time and they had 1/2 Gögerla (chicken) on the menu so I had one. It’s that thing on the wooden platter that sort of looks like a sesame roll. It was very good and they also sell it to go for €4.50 which I’d definitely do it I stayed nearby. By the way, the “Starry Night” thing is my new Kobo Aura One eReader that replaced my Kindle. This is my first trip with it and I am absolutely loving it.

Just under 17km so a short day. Thursday I will be packing the bike as I leave Friday morning for Frankfurt, so this was my last ride except maybe for lunch on Thursday.

Day 15: The last day

Well, Bob’s last day, anyway.  I left it to him to choose and he said he’d heard about the food at Brauerei zur Sonne in Bischberg but we hadn’t eaten when we stopped. He had to pack up his bike that afternoon and he didn’t want to do a long ride.

So we made the short ride to Bischberg and started with their always excellent Helles.

 

Lots of choices on the menu, so we started with Pfifferlinge soup. Delicious!

We both had Käsespätzle and another Helles. Again, delicious.

They had a Dunkles and a Pils and tap as well so we thought we ought to try them as well. There were good but I still like the Helles more.

Then the short ride back to Bamberg where Bob began to disassemble his bike to fit in the suitcase.

We had a 6pm meeting scheduled with my Bamberg friend Frank so soon we headed out (on foot).  It makes me sad every time I pass this...

Sandkerwa was still going full swing but we found some seats in the garden at Schlenkerla.

Pretty soon all tables were pretty much full. No food service either, so we checked inside and it was practically empty. And the beer was cheaper.



 So we went inside,  ordered another beer and of course a Bamberg Onion.

I had tried to order a Kräusen but I guess that ends with Sandkerwa, so another Märzen and then off back to the apartment.

Managed to catch a nice sunset crossing the Ketternbrücke.

I almost don’t want to post the track, the measly 14.5km but in the interests of transparency...

Day 14: Urlaub, Urlaub, Urlaub

Bob wanted to try some of the Binkert beers. On Sunday they don’t open until 3pm so we decided to ride to Rattelsdorf to check out a place called Obere Mühle that I had ride by many times but never been to as it only open Fri thru Sun in the warmer months and is only open early on Sunday. Many people had recommended it so why not — it was only a little bit farther than Binkert in Breitengüßbach. It was also going to be a hot and humid day and I didn’t want to overdo things.

Having learned my lessons in the past I called first. The phone rang for a long time and then was just answered with a “Hallo” — not a good sign. When I asked if they were open today I got a string of rapid dialect that sounded a bit sad then they hung up. It reminded me a bit of a story I heard about somebody calling Fässla to inquire about rooms and first asked “Does anybody there speak English.” The reply was “No” and they hung up. To the point.

Anyway from that sad tone I was guessing they were not open but we rode to Rattlelsdorf anyway. Obere Mühle is at the bottom of a steep-ish hill so I exercised  my prerogative as elder brother to send Bob and his younger knees down to check. He came back saying nothing looked open. 

Plan B was ride to Ebing about 2km away to visit Brauerei Schwanen.

I live hanging lights with the brewery logos over the bar. Problem is they make hard pictures.

The kitchen had already closed for lunch and they didn’t have any cold snacks, so we went straight to the beer. It is not my favorite Franconian Dunkel but it hit the spot.

Google maps suggested a route that took us past the train station for Ebing (which is a couple km out of town). The last time I was at the station it was basically a 100 year old shack on a lonely platform. Deutsche Bahn has been upgrading this line to take the high speed ICE trains (300+ kph) and I guess they redid the station as well as it was very modern. At first we thought we’d have to carry our bikes done some stairs but they had built a bike ramp so we rode underneath the tracks and back on the bike path. Google Maps said “mostly flat” and they were wrong but this time it was only one long hill that wasn’t too bad.

On the ride up we had passed by a couple who were doing loaded touring. We passed each other a couple of times as one of us stopped for something. Anyway, just about thru Breitengüßbach we saw them by the side of the bike path, his bike upside down and he was pumping madly with a tiny hand pump. We stopped and I brought over my Lezyne Micro Drive pump (highly recommend) and said try this. His first words “Nice pump!” In a few minutes he had the tire inflated, we said our good-byes (and I made sure I had my pump!) and rode off.

Around the corner we came to Binkert almost exactly at 3pm and I saw that wonderful sign. They lied. The place was locked up tighter than a drum. There were about a half dozen people there all as frustrated as we were. Oh well.

A short ride away is Kemmern and Brauerei Wagner. Normally, they are only open early on Sunday (9am-noon) but I new this weekend was their Kirchweih (parish festival) so we figured we could get some beer and food. We could. Started of with the Pils, which is my favorite of their beers.

Since we hadn’t had any lunch, we decide to eat. I ordered the Jägerschnitzel, which usually comes with a mushroom cream sauce but this one was mushrooms and peppers in a spicy gravy. Even paprika on the fries. More of a Zigeunerschnitzel but really good.

I decide to try their Lager and it was much darker than I remembered and I still like the Pils better.

 Another Pils and then the band started to play and it was time to leave.

There is a bunch of construction in Hallstadt and we missed the detour on the way out but had no problems on the way back.

Day 13: Mühlendorf

It was going to be a hot day, nearly 90ºF (30º+ C) so we decided not to be too adventurous. Actually, I decided. The hot humid weather reminds Bob of Florida so he was happy with it. Me, the humidity was killing me.

We decided to ride up the Aurach valley. The first stop was Brauerei Müller in Debring.

They had three beers on tap, a Pils, and unfiltered Lager and a Dunkel. We went with the Pils and Lager (hard to tell with the Krug). Both were good but nothing outstanding.

They had a lot of fish on their menu and it was tempting but seemed too big a meal for lunch with a lot of riding ahead. So we went with the standard Bratwurst and Kartoffelsalat.  Hit the spot.

We headed west-ish, along the valley. Some very pretty scenery, including a nice shot of the Altenburg tower in the distance.

We had a choice of two routes from Google Maps. One (which I had ridden before) takes you thru Stegaurach and has stretches along the main road. The other alternative presented was about 1km longer but looked to be bike paths and back roads. Both were labeled “mostly flat” so we took what we thought was quieter route and found out Google lied. It was not “mostly flat” — it was on average flat — meaning you went up a big hill then down a big hill — a couple of times — but your starting and ending elevations were the same. So it was flat, right?

Soon we were at Mühlendorf and Brauerei “Alte Mühle”, a/k/a Mühlenbräu. 

It seemed a bit quiet and the I noticed the evil word “Urlaub”

It was about 2pm and the keller wouldn’t open for another two hours. And we didn’t want to wait around. We continued into the courtyard, hoping for a shade place to sit and drink some water and it turned out they were brewing. The brewer came out, said “hi” and asked it we wanted to buy a couple of beers. Um, yes. He came back with two ice cold bottles that cost €1 each. The best deal of the day.

We had some options if we continued on but the heat and humidity was getting to me so we decided to head back towards Bamberg. On the way back we passed close to Pettstadt so you know what that means.

Yep, Schrauder Keller and Löwenbräu Buttenheim. We had some Zwiebeleskäs to go with our beers and all was right with the world.

There were additional Krug’s of beer, but they all looked like the one above.

Back in Bamberg we ended up trying out the Kleehof restaurant in the nearby Hotel Europa. The draft beer was St. Georgen of Buttenheim, Löwenbräu’s larger (and less interesting) neighbor.

Not only is the beer a bit boring, it is served in a .4L krug. I guess they are doing you a favor but it is still irritating to pay more for less.  Anyway the food was very good but the service was very, very slow. They mostly are a wine restaurant and I guess the slow service gives them time to sell more wine while you gaze into each other’s eyes — but that doesn’t work with my brother and I.

Day Eleven: Wagner Merkendorf

One of Bob’s (and my) favorite places is the Biergarten in back of Brauerei Wagner in Merkendorf. It is shaded by mature trees, the beer is good (very good!) and the people friendly. There were on holiday the first week of our trip and only reopened this past Tuesday. You may remember we where headed there and aborted the trip because of rain.  So today’s plan was to ride to  Wagner Merkendorf, drink beer, ride back. Ganz einfach.

So after 11km or so (and a slight uphill from Drosendorf) we were there.

There is a small sign and a beer mug flag out front telling you the garden was open. I probably sat at those benches drinking a beer not realizing there was a Biergarten in back.

As is typical, the beer is self service. The food though is table service — they come by and take your order and bring the food. Very civilized.

We started with the Ungespundetes Lagerbier. It was good as expected.

 

Next up was the Pils. I think I like this a tad more than the Lager, but ask me on a different day and I might reverse the order.

It was time for lunch and they had a special menu, I gather as their Kirchweih was starting the next day. I had half a Gögerla — took a bit of online research to determine it is a chicken prepared a special way. Our table mates told us the chicken can from a nearby farmer — none of the genetically engineered monstrosities you see in the US. It came with Kloß and Wirsing. Bob had sauerbraten with blaukraut and potato salad instead of Kloß. The Gögerla was amazing. If it wasn’t the best chicken I have ate, it is up there with the best (Juan Pollo of Ontario, CA)

They also had goat sauerbraten. I thought about it but passed. Makes sense as marinating the goat in vinegar for a few days will tenderize the meat.

The other beers they had on draft were their Weizen and Jubiläumsbier (originally brewed for the towns 850th anniversary and is a bit stronger at 5.5%). Bob went with the “Jubi” while I had another Lager, fresh from a new barrel. 

The Jubiläumsbier I find to be a bit on the sweet side but Bob liked it and had another, while I went back the to Pils.



There was another round of Pils (maybe two) when we decided we’d better head back before it got too much. As we passed Brauerei Hummel it was clear their Kirchweih celebration was already underway. We almost stopped to listed to a brass band play, but that might have lead to beer drinking and things would have gotten worse from there (I was going to say “downhill” but down the hill was were we actually wanted to go)

A very mild 23km and 6 really good beers meant it was a great day.

Day Ten: BIg Day to Mürsbach

Our destination for the day was Mürsbach, home of Sonnebräu, roughly 20km or so north of Bamberg. On the way back were opportunities for visiting a number of breweries.

Just before you come to Kemmern, there is a bench and the sign below. Behind the bench is a babbling brook and if it isn’t too windy out it is very calming to sit and listen to the “River music.” (If there is wind you mostly hear the rustling of leaves in the trees). I made a recording with my phone but the microphone isn’t really good enough for this and it mostly sounded like static.

Brauerei Wagner in Kemmern doesn’t open until 3pm so we saved it for the return trip and continued on to Breitengüßbach, home of Brauhaus Binkert.

They have ten beers on tap, most of them under the Binkert name but they also do contract brewing for a number of German “Craft” brewers and will occasionally have some of those beers on tap as well. I went with the Kellerbier, which is reportedly just an unfiltered version of the Pils. In any case it was good.

As you can see, quick a varied list of beers. Worth a longer stay be we still had a ways to go.

The route I usually take was plotted from an old paper map prior to the days of smartphones. I just happened to check options on Google Maps and found there was a bicycle route from Rattlesdorf almost to Mürsbach rather than the country roads I usually took. So we tried it and it was a good choice, one of the best surfaces I’ve ridden in these parts — smooth, not bumps, gradual ups and downs, no sudden sharp drops or steep climbs. Also tree shaded and away from the highway it was a very enjoyable ride.

Soon we were at Mürsbach and Sonnenbräu. 

They have two standard beers (Kellerbier and Weizen)  and a rotating seasonal, this time the “Hopfenblümla” which they describe as a 3.5% Session IPA but that designation really doesn’t do it justice. Lots of late hopping and flavor and you don’t really notice the lower alcohol.

For lunch they we had Flammkuchen, a sort of flatbread pizza-ish thing. Delicious!



One thing I like about Sonnenbräu is they have a board with details about the current beers — when they were brewed, packaged, etc. You can see the Hopfenblümla was lagered for about half the time of the Kellerbier.

We decided to get back on the nice bike path and rode down to Freudeneck, home of Brauerei Fischer.

Their beer as had their ups and downs over the years. Ten-twelve years ago with was really good. Then there was a spell were it was still OK but not as good as earlier.  I enjoyed it when I was here last year and it was good today as well. From reactions on Twitter they win the prize for favorite krug.

A bit down the road (and up a sharp climb at the end) is the village of Höfen and Brauerei Endres, also know as “Goldener Adler”

At times their beer has been very good and has a bit of a cult following. I have also had some less than stellar examples and sadly today’s was in the latter category. About the first quarter was fine but there was a little off flavor in the middle and that bad flavor just continued to build. By the time I was halfway thru I really didn’t want to finish it. If there had been a convenient large plant nearby (and no witnesses) I might have just dumped it. But we finished it. 




Continuing on we passed Binkert again but decided to press on to Kemmern a Wagner Bräu. Hopefully well make another go at Binkert this weekend.

They do a number of good beers here but the Pils is my favorite and it did not disappoint.

It was getting close to dinner time so we decided to have a Schnitzel, which also did not disappoint. Another Pils to wash it down then it was time for the ride back to Bamberg.

Because of construction and some detours the route was a little longer than planned but with the weather and the beer it was a glorious day. Just a tad over 50km