Arrived in Dublin

The flight was uneventful,  just long. Of course I couldn't check into my hotel so I wandered around, drinking way too much coffee. After checking in, it was off to the Porterhouse in Temple Bar

This was the home of the original brewery, but they long since moved the brewing to the suburbs where they have much more room.

I started with the Oyster Stout, one of my favorite beers in the world..

As always it was delicious. Like Uerige in Düsseldorf and Schlenkerla in Bamberg, it has amazing restorative powers over jet lag.

They have nine of their own beers on tap (plus two on cask) and as many guest beers (one on cask). Below is half of the draft handles.

I could spend the whole afternoon drinking the Oyster Stout, but that wouldn't make for an interesting blog post, so in the interest of journalism for my next beer I had a 8 Degrees Knockmealdown Porter.

This is my favorite of their regular beers. It must be a cultural thing or something but most Irish breweries brew very nice dark beers.

It turns out the Porterhouse is about to start a Craft Beer Festival

They were just starting to put the beers on and it was tempting to stay and work my way thru them, but I decided to move on. Across the river and up Capel street is the Black Sheep, a pub of the Galway Bay Brewery.

They have four regular beers, the occasional seasonal or two plus a wide range of guest beers.

I went with what they called "Pilot 007" aka "Incognito" a Saison hopped with NZ hops. Quite a bit different from the previous porter and stout but a good and refreshing change.

Thie Black Sheep is a nice corner pub, lot of windows and very cozy.

This is most of the taps but in the second room they have three beer engines and a couple of more casks.

You can even buy shots of BrewDog Sink the Bismark or Tactical Nuclear Penguin. I think I'd rather try the Poitin  (basically Irish Moonshine).

Most of the beers I wanted to try next were too strong for the first day (7%+) so I decided to move on again.  I had heard good reports of a new place just down the street, called The Beerhouse.

It turns out I had been here once before, back in 2011 when it was called O'Byrne's Beverage House.

The Beerhouse has a much better selection. I started off with a beer from a new (for me) brewery, Bo Bristle. I had their IPA

At 5% is a little less strong than American (especially West Coast) IPAs though it was pointed out to me that IPA can also stand for "Irish Pale Ale." It was nice and hoppy though and very tasty.

They also sell a "Beer Pouch" that will hold three (Imperial) pints. It looks to be Mylar and is resizable up to 60 times. The charge €4.95 for the pouch and then you pay for the beer. Much lighter (and less fragile) than a glass growler.

Next up was 8 Degrees new beer, Amber Ella. I had read lots of good reports of this and they were all  true, a very tasty beer. Hops but malt to back it up. At 6% it a bit stronger than a typical beer here.

They have a pretty good selection of beers, most of which I'd try. I passed on the Molson's Canadian, probably to the dismay of my Canadian relatives.

Out side the "Gents" was a warning sign.  Many people I know would compete to see how many boxes they could check off.

It was time for some food, so I walked over to the recently reopened W.J. Kavanagh's.

When I was here last year, this was my favorite new place and I ranked it was one of the best in Dublin. I was very sad to hear that it closed in December. It was not that is was not doing well, but the owners -- who also own L. Mulligan Grocer's -- felt they were spreading themselves to this with two places.

Luckily, I few weeks ago it reopened with new owners. I was curious to see how it had changed.

The beer list was not quite as extensive -- not the least because the four hand pumps were relocated to L. Mulligan Grocer's -- but there were a couple of beers I had not tried before. I started with the Kennegar Brewing Scraggy Bay IPA. I was told they had an American brewer and the beer certain had an American style aggressive hopping. A good choice.

The food menu was not quite as experimental as the previous owners (no Wasabi Mushy Peas or Black Pudding WonTons). I had a couple of appetizers: a smoked salmon plate and an Irish cheese plate. Both were very tasty and I look forward to trying a main course.

The new WJK is not up to the very high standard of the previous version, but it is a nice pub and I can recommend it to anybody visiting Dublin. The new owners are making a good effort and I expect it will improve in time (It has only been open three weeks).

Well, the jet lag caught up to me so I decided to call it a night and went back to my hotel.

Off to Dublin

It's time to do an update to www.DublinBeerGuide.com -- that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

First beer of the trip was at the Alaska Board Room in Terminal 6, LAX. A Hanger 24 Amarillo Pale Ale. Very tasty.

The other choices were Alaskan Amber and Gordon Biersch Czech Pils (and Schlitz). Not a bad selection for an airline lounge. Delta used to have one decent beer in most of their lounges but they have reduced that to Bud/Bud light.

I'm doing a short stopover in Atlanta (23 hours -- anything less than 24 is considered a "connection" and doesn't cost extra) so I hope to have a couple beers at a Taco Mac on the way to the airport.

Well, This Really Sucked...

I realized I had never finished the trip.

It got worse -- I really didn't do anything Friday and Saturday except go downstairs for meals. I wasn't having any flu-like symptoms, I was just tired all the time and probably slept 15 hours a day.

Saturday was a big deal, because Spezial closes at 2pm -- so I had to walk all the way across the street to Fässla for dinner. I even missed the annual meeting of the Franconian Brewery Museum.

Luckily, I felt better Sunday and managed to make it to Mahrs for another Der Weisse Bock (much better from the bottle) and spent the rest of the afternoon in the Schwemme at Schlenkerla. Then back to Spezial for dinner.

Friday I had a 3pm train to Frankfurt. I stashed my suitcase in a locker at that train station and then had a nice lunch at Cafe Abseits.

In Frankfurt I had dinner at the same Malaysian restaurant where I ate in October. Then I was coming off 2 days in Salzburg and 3 days in Munich and the Bittburger with dinner tasted pretty good. I had the same dish this time and the Bittburger was pretty meh. It all goes to show Einstein was right -- things are relative.

Rest Day

Thursday found me not much better. I managed to surface enough to head to Schlenkerla for lunch and couple of Fastenbier.

I also took some more pictures of the ceiling in the Dominikaner Klause.

Then a stop a the drug store for medicinal supplies and back to the room for a rest. 

The nice thing about staying at brewery is you don't have far to go for a beer. Just downstairs for dinner and a beer or four. I hadn't had the Spezial Märzen yet so I started with that.

It is not smoked and has a nice toffee aroma and a good malty flavor. A nice beer, but I still like the Lager and U better. The limiting factor in the brewery at Spezial is the production of Rauchmalz, which is why of their regular beers only the Lager is smoked.

The waitress (Helga) was too efficient and brought be another Märzen before I could order a Lager. Definitely a first world problem...

I played around with my new camera and took some pictures of the main room.

Uh Oh.

Wednesday morning found me waking up with a sore throat and a cough. Not a good sign. But there was beer to be drunk so I soldiered on.

First up was the Mahrs Weizenbock Anstich.

Surprisingly, it was served on draft (from a keg not a barrel) and I think it suffered from this. It was a bit too cold and it was a bit under carbonated compared to the bottled version. Still, it was good and fairly deadly. Supposedly 7.2% but they say that every year and every year I think it is a bit stronger than that.

Then it was along to Schlenkerla for the Fastenbier...

It is a less smokey than the Märzen, sweeter and richer -- as you'd expect for a beer you drink while you were fasting for Lent -- more food value. It is also unfiltered as the yeast would also add food value.

A note to future visitors: Drink the Fastenbier first, then switch it the Märzen -- if you do it the other way around you will find the Fastenbier to be too sweet.

By now I was starting to feel my bug, so it was back to the room for a nap. I did surface enough to have dinner and a few beers downstairs.

Faschingdiestag ("Fat Tuesday") in Bamberg.

Tuesday was a bit of a milestone for me -- I visited only two breweries and neither of them was Spezial or Schlenkerla (both were closed).

People were all taking about the Fasching parade. I guess it has become a big deal since I was last here during Fasching (2003, I think). It started at Max Platz, when thru the Grüner Markt, down Langestrasse then up over the Luitpold Brücke and then up Obere Königstrasse then over the Ketternbrücke and back to Max Platz.



I spent the afternoon at Fässla, watching the crowd -- lots of people where in costume and most of the rest at least had funny hats. I sort of lost track of beers, but I think I had seven Pils. Plus or minus.

For a change of pace and some fresh air, we headed up the hill to Greifenklau

They didn't have any special beers on, just the Lager (and Weizen, which is brewed elsewhere). In recent years the Lager is much improved and it was in good form.

They have a bock beer coming out April 3. We managed to score a sample. It is a bit darker than the Lager. If you are in the area then, be sure and stop by for one (or more) as it will be very good.

Greifenklau Bock from the lager tank.

We had some food and a few more beers.  Only two breweries and neither of the Spezial or Schlenkerla. Whouda thunk it.

Another Day Wondering Around Bamberg

Started off the day with a Gold Pils from Fässla -- just across the street. I do think I like it better than the Keesmann Herrn Pils, though both are good.

Window from the Schwemme into one the inside rooms.

I wondered around for a while taking pictures with the new camera...

Put I soon was thirsty and hungry and so stopped a Schlenkerla for lunch and a beer -- which somehow turned in to four beers. It was just so pleasant sitting there.

Lunch was a Bamberg Onion -- an onion stuffed with ground meat and a sauce many with the Schlenkerla Märzen.

There is this little ledge with 3 or 4 tables in the Dominkaner Klause -- it is a great place to just sit and while away the afternoon.

The ceiling has this wonderful detail -- which until fairly recently was hidden under 80 years of cigarette smoke.

Wondering down Sandstrasse I came across a California flag. It was flying in front the the Greissgarten pub/biergarten -- I guess they have a Mexican restaurant now. Not ready to try Bamberg tacos or burritos just yet.

So you come to Der Pelikan. The really only have one interesting beer on tap -- Huppendorfer Vollbier but they have a couple on the bottle list work drinking. Plus I find it a comfy place and they have decent Thai food when you are all Schnitzeled out.

So I had a Huppendorf Vollbier. It has a nice raisin-y note that I like.

I was waiting for some local friends to show up, so I had a Mönchsambacher Export. Usually a brewery's "Export" is stronger than their "normal" beer but with Mönchsambacher it is the other way around -- the Export has slightly less alcohol.

I met with the friends and we headed to Ahörnla (Bamberg dialect for Einhorn or Unicorn). This was once a brewery and then for years was various different pubs, none of which was too successful. About 3-4 years ago a new owner starting doing renovations but nothing seemed to happen until late last year.

They have done a very good job. The inside is quite nice, light colored wood everywhere. They have one beer that is brewed for them by Mahrs -- supposedly an old Einhorn recipe. It is quite nice and unlike any other the other Mahrs dark beers I've had.

Next it was off to Rotenschild, upstairs in the same building as Stihlbruch. During the week they only have bottled beer. I shared a one liter bottle of Metzgerbräu with Frank Wetzel. However it was a bad bottle -- very, very sour. With no fuss the replaced and and the replacement was delicious.




Not wanting to risk another sour bottle, I switched to Mönchsambacher Lager for the remainder of the evening. This weekend they will have barrels of both of these beers.

Walking around Bamberg, Drinking Not So Much Beer

I pushed things a little too much for a first day in Bamberg and paid the price on Sunday.

 I headed to Sternla on Lange Strasse for lunch. They claim to be the oldest pub in Bamberg and I have no reason to dispute them. They were a Maisel house before they stopped brewing. Now they have a variety of beers from Bamberg and the area around.

The sign out front advertised Huppendorfer Fastennacht Weizen, so I had one with lunch.

I was good, but a little too much on the banana side of things for me to drink another.

The rest of the afternoon I just walked around Bamberg playing with me new camera. I won't bore you with too many non beer pictures -- I do have a reputation to uphold...

I decide to check out Moe's -- a relatively new place that I've often walked by but never been in -- mostly because they don't open until 6pm on weekdays (3pm on weekends). But the menu out front lists some interesting beers.




The first thing I saw when I walked in was the chalkboard listing Hölzlein Lager as the beer of the month. I immediately ordered one but was told they ran out because of (understandably) high demand.  I had a Lager from Brauerei Krug in Geisfeld -- a beer you don't see that often outside of the brewery tap.

It was in good shape and went down way to quickly. The replacement was a Pils from Brauerei Kaiser in Grassmansdorf.

It was crisp and hoppy and very drinkable. Then Benedikt, the owner?/manager? came by and told me he had put on a keg of Lager from Brauerei Sauer in Rossdorf am Forst. I'm sure he didn't put the keg on for me, but I thought it would be rude if I didn't have one, so I did.

Another nice beer and in very fresh. The krug in the background contains Weiherer Lager from Brauerei Kundmüller in Weiher. It belongs to my friend Georg from Coburg who happened to be passing thru Bamberg. Another good and interesting beer.

As I was leaving, Benedikt gave me a bottle from Brauerei Kraus in Hirschaid -- Hirschen-Trunk. He described it as a new dark beer from Kraus but when I poured it back in my room it was a nice amber/copper color.

At 5.5% it is a little stronger than the typical beer but was very refreshing and just a hit or roast in the finish. I'd have another one.