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Hoppy in Bavaria
For
the young and the young-at-heart, this can be a voyage of discovery.
Nothing can beat the passion for beer in this part of Germany
It’s party
time in Bavaria when I reach Munich, warm, vibrant and bustling with
picnicking families, couples, groups of friends and tourists. All work
seems to have been suspended during this brief spell of summer, when
everyone is soaking up as much sun as they can. Life seems no longer
confined to homes, offices and the journey in between.
Instead, people are spilling out on the streets;
sunbathing in the English Gardens, riding bicycles, listening to al fresco
music, surfing in the Isar (strangely because this is a river) or just
enjoying BBQ feasts that define so much of life at this time in Munich, one
of the most beautiful and liveable cities in the world. But one thing is
common amidst all this frenetic summer activity: beer.
Germany may rank second in terms of the per capita
consumption of beer in the world (behind the Czech Republic) but nothing
can quite beat the Bavarian spirit, literally, when it comes to passion for
the beverage. You don’t have to sample the decadence unleashed by Oktoberfest
(when hotel room rates are unbearably high and over-enthu tourists crowd
out local flavours in their zealously donned Bavarian costumes) to
understand that.
Young and Happy
I spend just five days in the region. But they fly away in a beautiful haze
brought about by walking endlessly in the sun and keeping up with the
Bavarians quaffing spellbinding amounts of the brew — for lunch, dinner,
post-dinner, while crossing the road, while soaking in peaceful moments in
the park, checking out BMWs and Porsches that have their manufacturing hubs
here and of course, while watching amateur football!
Berlin may have been consistently voted as one of
the world’s party capitals but if you are young or young at heart, nothing
can quite beat the sense of revelry and discovery in the beer heart of the
country. The thing about German beers is, of course, there is no one style
— even though the pale and simple German Pils dominate the market as much
here as in any part of the world. There are a huge number of styles; ales
and lagers brewed in different regions and even within the same region, the
diversity is immense.
Despite the darker, maltier brews that Bavaria is known for, there are a
bewildering number of light, crisp and hoppy Pilsners sold too. These dominate
60% of the local market. This is one of the youngest beer styles in the
world and was originally brewed in Plzen, the Czech town in as late as
1842. Lightly kilned malted barley, spicy Noble Saaz hops that define the
aroma and flavour, lager yeast and soft water are what is needed for this
beer that can be paired with any food. One way to understand the immense
and confusing German beer scene is to follow the rule of thumb that beers
get maltier as you get from north to south (hoppier in the north). Bavaria,
that I am visiting, is the southern-most state and has the maximum
varieties available. Go to any of the beer gardens and you will realise how
discerning Germans can be when it comes to choosing what they are drinking.
The gardens are carefully chosen depending on what is the favourite here
(or to which brewery they are aligned) as well as what is the occasion, the
mood and so on. So while some beer are easy to drink in big groups,
post-work (helles, for instance), others need to be carefully sipped and
savoured (like Eisbock) akin to wine.
Purity First
But first, the Reinheitsgebot or the purity decree. Frank, my German
guide and beer mentor who oversees my transition from a strictly wine
drinking person to an almost-beer fan, mentions this the first day. Called
the “purity decree” or the “Bavarian Purity Law” that supposedly originated
in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, on April 23, 1516, it states that only water, hops,
barley (and yeast, after its discovery) are the ingredients for any true
beer. Lately, other ingredients and flavouring agents have started to make
an appearance. But for most Bavarians, this is a decree to be held sacred.
Beer gardens/halls, in various bastardised forms,
are now making an appearance in other parts of the world, including, in our
very own Gurgaon, Pune and Bangalore. But this is one Bavarian institution
that you can — and must — sample in the original. The idea is now 200 years
old and goes back to 19th century Munich, to the rein of Max I. The dark
lager popular then had to be brewed only during the winter months by the
order of the king (so that fermentation could occur in optimum cold
temperature). Breweries keen to sell the lager in summer thus built cellars
on the banks of the Isar to store beer.
To keep these cellars cool, they covered the banks
in gravel and planted chestnut trees for shade. Soon, simple benches came
to be kept under the trees and beer gardens came into existence. Another
royal decree forbade these gardens to serve any food. So people started bringing
their own. To this day, in Bavaria, a “real” beer garden is one where you
can bring your own picnic to the table. And that is exactly what many of
the locals do.
Munich alone is home to a dozen brewers of various
sizes and some of these brands are well known. If you are a beer fanatic,
you may have heard of Spaten, Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu,
Paulaner, and Hofbräu. All these breweries are worth visiting should you be
in the region. They also run traditional beer halls (which are covered,
unlike the gardens, as the name suggests).
Brewing with History
One of the first beer pilgrimages Frank takes me on is to The
Hofbräuhaus (court brewhouse) in Munich. It is the oldest and perhaps the
most famous beer halls not just in Germany but all over the world. History
is easy to breathe in here, as is the sense of revelry amidst hundreds of
beer patrons. The institution traces its origin to Wilhelm V, the Duke of
Bavaria (1579-1597), who was dissatisfied with the locally brewed beer. He
would import from the town of Einbeck , till someone suggested to him the
idea of setting up his own brewery.
Thus a brewer went into operations here at “Alter
Hof” ( Old Court) in 1592. Only brown ale was initially brewed here and the
historic beer hall on the first floor of the building is supposed to have
been just the site. Today, the old premises can seat up to 1,300 guests.
Look closely and amidst the old memorabilia, arches, stone floor and
crosses, you will see initials and dates inscribed into the walls dating
back to 1897. There is live music on most nights and a livelier small
garden outside which is very pleasant indeed in the European summer.
But what takes me aback here and later at all beer
gardens is a “mass”. All beer is served in one litre (“a mass”) glasses.
That is the standard pour. Forget glugging it all down, the first time I
encounter that big a glass, I can barely hold it up. Only “Weissbier”
(wheat beer) is bought in the much more manageable half-litre glasses.
Beer Tour
Munich has hundreds of beer gardens. It is possible thus to be on a
legit beer tour and not get bored. Of the places that are highly
recommended, you could try Augustiner Keller, a beer garden since 1812,
where beer is stored in large wooden barrels and each mass can be
accompanied by traditional Bavarian cuisine.
The English Garden has a large one, also known for its live music, there is
one at the Olympic Park, with beautiful views of the stadium and the park.
And then there are the likes of Paulaner Keller, at a site where monks
brewed a strong dark beer for their fasting periods in the 17th century.
This beer garden specialises in Nockherberger, a cloudy, unfiltered beer
that is only available here.
Move outside the city and there are more. Germany may not have any of those
fabled Trappist beers that snobs talk about but you can visit the Kloster
Andechs Biergarten, located within the Andechs monastery, 40 km away from
Munich. The beer garden accompanies Kloster Andechs, a brewery that traces
its origins to the monks. In Dusseldorf, on the other hand, Zum Uerige is a
brewpub said to brew the finest Altbier of all in Germany. And in Cologne,
you can try the local special, Kolsch beer at any of the small brewhouses.
Each city, indeed each village has its own specials. But what travellers
may also not know is that there are different beer festivals for each
region. Oktoberfest may be the most commercialised — we are, after all, now
even celebrating it in Delhi — but you can go to places like Fasching that
hosts a lively carnival in February, to Munich in March for Starkbierfest,
often known as “Munich’s secret beer festival”, and to Hanover in July not
to mention to the industrial hub of Stuttgart in October .
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Bavarian Beer Styles
PILSNER: Are the most common and versatile of beers you will
encounter anywhere, including in Bavaria. They are crisp, refreshing, and
hoppy.
HEFEWEISSBIER: Are Bavarian wheat beers. They are cloudy and the unique
flavour and aroma comes from a special yeast used to ferment blended barley
and wheat.
BOCK: One of the oldest beers. Einbeck is famous for this
dark, malty style. Doppel bocks, on the other hand, are darker and richer.
OKTOBERFEST BEERS:
Traditionally brewed in March and served in autumn. But some like
Spaten’s are only available from August until October or November.
KÖLSCH: Few of these beers are seen outside Cologne. This is a
unique beer made with ale yeast but aged like a lager.
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Anoothi Vishal ETM130915
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