Ticking serves up an ace

I’ve got a bit of a confession to make, and it’s one that might surprise some of you. You see I’m a bit of a closet “ticker” at heart; not a serious beer-bore type ticker, turning up at beer festivals with a dog-eared notebook full of hastily crossed off lists of obscure, “one-off” poorly crafted and badly brewed cask ales, produced exclusively for the "ticker market."

No, instead I’m someone who just likes to keep tabs on the beers I have drunk over the years, especially those bottles and cans I’ve enjoyed in the comfort of my own home. So, it’s not exactly “ticking” in the established sense of the word, especially as I don’t go out of my way to track down new or unusual beers.

Although I’d always made a habit of writing out a list of the various beers I enjoyed on holiday, the serious list-keeping started at the tail end of 2015, when I decided to make a note of all new beers I’ve consumed at home, along with brief tasting notes for each one. This record keeping is restricted exclusively for beers drank within the house, and whilst there’s no more than a couple of brief paragraphs for each beer, my list now runs into over 40 pages.

If I knew how to create decent Excel spread sheets, I could tell you at a glance how many beers in total have passed my lips, but as my list is a “Word” document, I'm certainly not going to scroll through 40 pages and count them all. The total is obviously quite a few and, as mentioned above, many of these beers are souvenirs brought back from trips abroad – remember them? Others though, are bottles or cans picked up in supermarkets or off-licences, and supplemented now, in these days of state-enforced confinement, by home delivery, from locations up and down this fair land of ours.

Every so often during my sampling, a beer really hits the spot and on rare occasions I come across one that I consider to be an absolute classic. I found one on Saturday evening, and strangely enough it was a beer that had been lying around at the bottom of a stack of crates for the past two and a half years.

The beer in question was Spital - Strong Ale 9.9%, from Spitalbrauerei, who are based in the lovely old city of Regensburg, in central Bavaria. They are the oldest brewery in the city, with a history dating back to 1226, and their aptly named Strong Ale turned out to be a barley-wine style beer, packed full of toffee malt flavours, but balanced by just the right degree of hopping.

Dark in colour, smooth and warming to the taste, the beer was still in perfect condition after nearly three years, gathering dust at home. It was definitely one of the best beers I have drank in a long time. So, what is a seemingly conservative, Bavarian brewery like Spitalbrauerei doing turning out an English-style ale?

Well despite the conservative image that goes with being the oldest brewery in Regensburg, Spitalbrauerei are very much a go-ahead modern company. I discovered this whilst doing a spot of research, as one does, prior to a visit to Regensburg back in 2016. I found out they had started brewing a range of English-style beers, which included a Pale Ale, an IPA and a Chocolate Stout, so during that visit, nearly four years ago, I decided to check some of these beers out and see what they were like.

On a gloriously hot September afternoon, after enjoying a spot of lunch, along with a few beers, in Spital’s idyllic beer-garden overlooking the River Danube, I asked one of the waitresses where I could buy some of these new beers. She directed me to a shop, at the back of the brewery so, after leaving Mrs PBT’s and son Matthew, to go off and get an ice-cream, I wandered round to the rear of the brewery in an attempt to buy some of these more unusual beers. 

With no obvious signs of a shop, I strolled into the brewery yard, where a group of workers were busy loading a dray, to enquire further. It turned out the “shop” was sited in a warehouse at the back of the yard and was little more than a desk plus a couple of computer screens.  Having located the shop my German language skills were soon put to the test, as the two members of staff there spoke no English. 

Most local customers, of course, would turn up by car and buy their beers by the 20-bottle caseload, but the staff were quite happy to sell me a selection of individual bottles, placing them in a handy cardboard carrier. The beers were packaged in attractive-looking, long-necked 330ml bottles with a definite “craft” look to them, and are sold under the Regensburger Spital Manufaktur brand. 

There are six of these beers in total; but the Pils and the seasonal Märzen are also packaged in this style of bottle. I returned with a Pils, a Pale Ale, an India Pale Ale, a Summer Ale, plus the Strong Ale, mentioned above.  Being seasonal beers, the Maibock, Märzen, and the Chocolate Stout were not available.

I carefully packed the beers inside my suitcase, and am pleased to say they all survived the journey back to England. I drank them over a period of several months, making notes as to what each one tasted like. The following year, Mrs PBT’s again chose Regensburg for our holiday destination, as she was really smitten by the city’s old-world charms. 

This allowed me to bring a few more bottles back, the last of which was the Strong Ale I enjoyed the other night. Now this is where my tasting notes come in handy, as I can now reveal what some of the other beers were like, so without further ado, here are my thoughts on some of the other Regensburger Spital Manufaktur beers. (All the beers are packaged in stylish, long-neck bottles which glug nicely as the beer is poured.)

Spitalbrauerei – Pils 5.5%. A very pale beer, slightly sweet and possibly more like a Helles than a Pils. There is a slight hop-bite lurking in the background, refreshing in character, this beer is one to be enjoyed under the shade of the chestnut trees in Spital’s lovely beer garden, next to the River Danube, in Regensburg.

Spitalbrauerei –India Pale Ale 8.0%. A beer which is very much in the English style of an IPA, rather than the more modern American interpretation. It’s an attractive amber colour and pours with a nice frothy head which remains in the glass. It’s also a very malt driven beer, with a nice hoppy aroma and enough bitterness to counter some of the sweetness derived from the malt.

Spitalbrauerei –Pale Ale 6.5%. Similar to the IPA described above, but much more quaffable. Again, an attractive amber coloured beer with a nice frothy head which remains in the glass. Plenty of malt, and some nice hoppy bitterness to balance.

I left this beer a little too long before opening, as with a BBE date of January 2018, and me not opening it until June of that year, it had become a little hazy. Bittered with finest Hallertau and Mandarin Bavaria hops, it was still a very enjoyable beer. Goes well with cheese, according to the label.

Spitalbrauerei – Summer Ale 2.8% - I picked the bottle up on our 2017 trip to Regensburg and have to say that it is one of the best low-gravity beers I have drank. A refreshing beer, packed full of flavour. Pale golden in colour, thirst quenching and very enjoyable. It’s a real shame this beer isn’t available here in the UK.

Finally, special mention should be made of Spitalbrauerei – Helles 5.5%. Now this is one of the company’s regular beers, rather than one of the more modern ones and it’s a typical south German-style Helles. Slightly sweet in taste from the residual malt sugars, I’ve enjoyed umpteen glasses of this excellent beer, on draught; in Spital’s lovely beer garden, next to the River Danube. 


Just thinking of it is enough to bring back happy memories of some good times in the lovely old city of Regensburg. If you get the chance, once this crazy lock-down situation is over, then do visit the city and make your way to Spital’s gloriously sited beer garden. You will not be disappointed!