Woodforde's Norfolk Ales

Today, after two and a bit years of writing this blog, I received my first beers to review, courtesy of Woodforde's. Actually, I think it's their PR Agency I've got to thank, as they're the people who, after reading my blog, contacted me and asked if I'd like to review some of Woodforde's beers.

I must admit I'd almost forgotten about the matter, as it was a couple of months ago when the agency first contacted me, and when the beers didn't turn up in the run up to Christmas, as expected, I thought maybe they'd changed their mind. It was therefore a very pleasant surprise when a case turned up today at my place of work.

There's a total of six different beers to sample and write about, ranging from Wherry at 3.8%, through to Headcracker at 7.0%. In between there's such delights as Sundew, Norfolk Nog and Admiral's Reserve. I don't intend to crack the bottles open straight away, and when I do it will probably be a bottle or two a night. Look out though for my thoughts and observations, regarding these beers over the next few weeks.

It goes without saying, of course, that my reviews will be as objective as possible, and I will not let the fact that the beers arrived foc. influence me in any way.

All Quiet on the Beer Front

A bit of a quiet time on the beer front at the moment, with not a lot happening. Mind you, January's always a dull month, and often a lean one as well, after the excesses of Christmas. We've got our Good Beer Guide Selection meeting at the end of the month, which promises to be a lively event. I've still got one more potential candidate to inspect; a real gem of a country pub. I don't want to drive there, for obvious reasons, so a friend and I are planning a walk out to it next weekend.

I've still got the beer I brought back with me from Bamberg to drink, plus a bit left over from my Christmas stache, so am unlikely to go thirsty at home! So until I've got anything more exciting to report or comment on, it's bye for now.

Final Musings about Bamberg

Despite it being the main reason for my visit, I decided to give the beer a bit of a rest during the first half of my second full day in Bamberg. Whilst I hadn't been drinking all that heavily, I was feeling a bit jaded. I don't know whether it was the bitterly cold weather, or a touch of the post-Christmas blues, but whatever the cause I thought a slight break from the booze, combined with a bit of exercise and fresh air, would do me the power of good.

I therefore decided to hike up to the Altenburg Fortress, the impressive former refuge of Bamberg's ruling Prince Bishops. The Altenburg Fortress is situated on the highest of Bamberg's seven hills, and you can read all about my visit, and see some of the photo's, by clicking onto my other blog, Paul's Beer Travels.

It was definitely a worthwhile visit, even if the walk back was a lot easier, and much quicker than the outward journey! I spent the afternoon shopping, including purchasing a mixed case of bottled beers from the famous Schlenkerla Tavern, when I arrived back in Bamberg, before heading back to my hotel. I had some packing, ahead of my departure the following day! Come late afternoon though I was definitely in the mood for a beer or three!

From my hotel, I headed across the Main-Donnau canal via the new bridge that was in the process of being built during our previous visit to the city. I made my way to Spezial, slightly surprised to find the place open as I was given to understand it was closed between Christmas and New Year. It was busy, but I managed to find a seat. This is something I really love about German pubs; the willingness of the locals to make room for newcomers. There is none of the spreading out, coats on benches, "this is my space" type attitudes that are all too common back home. The willingness of people to start chatting to strangers is another thing that really impresses me, and no doubt accounts for why pubs are still so busy and well used in the Federal Republic.

As I sat enjoying my glass of Rauchbier Lager, I was joined at the table by a group of newcomers. I soon got into conversation with one of them who turned out to be a railway worker from one of the surrounding villages. He had called into Spezial for a drop of refreshment whilst his wife went shopping in the city. He spoke no English, but my German was of sufficient standard for us to have a rudimentary conversation. He reckoned that beer was expensive in Bamberg compared to some of the villages, where it could be found for as low as 1.60 Euros a glass!

Later on I decided to give the seasonal Rauchbier Bock a try. It was dark in colour, very tasty and quite moreish, but I resisted the temptation for another. My new found friend's wife and son had arrived, and after they had consumed a quick drink the family departed, but not before the railway worker handed me over a bottle of Rauchbier as a parting gift. This was a really nice gesture and just serves to illustrate my point further about how friendly the local people are in their pubs.

On leaving Spezial I crossed the road to Faessla, another of Bamberg's famous brewery-taps, where again I managed to get a seat despite the large number of people inside. I ordered a Lagerbier to drink, plus a Wiener Schnitzel to eat. The latter seemed to take an awfully long time to arrive, which was very unusual for a German pub where service is normally extremely prompt. I mentioned this to the couple sitting next to me and their reply was that the waitress must have forgotten. They called her over, explained the situation, and a short while later my food appeared. It was worth the wait, and I switched over to the stronger and darker Zwergla.

By this time I was deep in conversation with my new found friends. It turned out they were from Essen, but were holidaying in Bamberg and actually staying at Faessla. After learning about my interest in beer, Olaf recommended the region to the east of Bamberg known as Fraenkische Schweiz (Franconian Switzerland) as a particularly good area for beer and pubs. I promised I would bear it in mind for a future visit to Germany. Before leaving Olaf and his wife treated me to a glass of Schnapps, which again illustrates the friendliness and generosity of the German people.

The following day was time for me to leave Bamberg. After a last look around I lunched at Schlenkerla where, once again, I spent much of the time conversing, in German, with someone who was a regular visitor to the pub. After some soup and a couple of Rauchbiers, it was off to the station for the train back to Nuremberg Airport and my flight home. It had been a good few days seeing Bamberg at a totally different time of year, and it was especially good to have the chance of sampling some of the seasonal beers.

As I've said before, all beer lovers should make a point of visiting this beautifully unspoilt city to experience its delightful and beery charms for themselves!

Lidl's in the Dock

It looks like our local Lidl's could be in danger of losing its alcohol license, if reports in the local press are true. According to this week's edition of the Kent & Sussex Courier (our local newspaper), the store is charged with two counts of selling alcohol to persons under the age of 18. Now the supermarket's alcohol license is up for review, and could be revoked.

This would be a great shame for many of the town's drinkers, especially those on low incomes, who enjoy picking up the odd bargain from the German company's store. I am often tempted myself by some of the bargains they have on offer from time to time, and it would be a pity if local shoppers are forced to lock elsewhere for their cheap booze.

As is usually the case, the store was caught following test purchases made during "sting " operations carried out by local Trading Standards Officers. No doubt they deliberately picked tall, mature-looking "volunteers" to carry out the test purchases in order to catch staff off-guard and not to arouse suspicion. Whilst no-one would condone under-age drinking, the use of "agent provocateurs" to entrap businesses in this fashion, really needs to be called into question.

Learning the Language!

Next Monday evening, after a lay-off over the Christmas period, it's back to my evening class where I'm learning German. The class I attend is for Level Four students, which is equivalent to GCSE "O" level. There's a small, mixed bunch of seven of us in the group, ranging from a couple of retired ladies to a young female student from Kazakhstan. In between there's a car-salesman, a middle-manager who's wife is German (he's got a definite advantage!), and of course, me!

I've actually got "O" level German, obtained during my schooldays back in the early 1970's. However, despite this and frequent trips to the Federal Republic where I always do my best to converse in German, I felt an evening course would be a good idea, especially to get some of the grammar sorted out properly.

The course is very good and a lot of fun. It's ably presided over by our tutor, Gabrielle who, whilst German herself, lives locally and is married to an Englishman. It's something to look forward to each week, especially on dark winter Monday evenings.

Of course, my main reason for attending the course is to improve my German language skills, something I feel is important given the fact I take regular holidays in the country. Another way to learn a language though is through books and tapes, or a combination of both. There are also plenty of on-line resources available to help with the process.

German at about.com is particularly useful, and what's more it's free! There are also numerous pay-to-learn sites, most of which offer quite intensive courses, designed to get you up to speed in as quick a time as possible. For further information on one of these, click here!

First Full Day in Bamberg

Apart from the obvious places, such as Mahrs Braeu and Schlenkerla, I hadn't made any definite plans as to where else to visit during my stay in Bamberg, but as the first full day of my trip dawned cold and bright, a ride out to one of the surrounding villages seemed a good idea. My hotel was literally a stone's throw from the Central Bus Station, so after breakfast I availed myself of an all day ticket and jumped on a bus out to Memmelsdorf.

The latter is a large village, a few kilometres to the east of Bamberg. It is home to two brew-pubs, which of course was the main reason for my visit. I only really had time to visit one pub, so I chose the largest and the one with the widest range of beers. Drei Kronen was a very pleasant, solid-looking, yellow-painted establishment, with a number of rooms leading off from the central entrance hall. I entered the one straight ahead, and although all the tables were laid out for diners, the waitress was quite happy to serve me a beer. I selected the Stoeffla, which although described as a Kellerrauchbier, didn't taste all that smoky to me. It was pleasant enough though, but whilst tempted to stay for another, I needed to get back to Bamberg for my planned luchtime visit to Mahrs Braeu.

Two bus rides therefore saw me alighting in the suburb of Wunderburg, from where it was a short walk along to Mahrs. This excellent brewery tap is a firm favourite with visitors from Britain, and stepping inside it's not difficult to understand why. I made my way to the right hand room, complete with its low beamed ceilings and dark-stained wood panelled walls. There is also a traditional tiled stove, although the latter did not appear to be lit. To top this, the beer is served direct from a barrel perched behind the serving area.

On our previous visit, back in the summer, we had sat out in the small, shady beer garden, only venturing inside to use the toilets, so being able to soak up the traditional atmosphere inside the pub was a real treat. I was joined at my table by two visitors from outside the city. They spoke very little English, but I was able to converse with them in their native tongue without too much difficulty. To drink I enjoyed an Ungespundetes, plus the stronger Heller Bock (6.5%); both were in bottled form. For my lunch I had the local version of Leberkaes, which is called Fleischkaesse, with Spiegel Ei and Kartoffelsalat, and it was my enquiring about this dish that had brought me into conversation with the locals.

Before leaving the brewery I bought a selection of bottles from the brewery office and then caught the bus back into town. Later that evening I made the stiff climb up the Kaulberg to Greifenklau, which is the smallest of Bamberg's breweries.Greifenklau was the nearest brewery tap to the apartment we stayed in last summer, and on several occasions we ate there, in the shady beer garden at the rear of the pub. Unfortunately the room I chose this time turned out to be the wrong one. There were two quite noisy family groups inside, both of whom had fractious and badly behaved children with them. This was something new to me, as most German children I'd come across in the past seemed to exhibit exemplary behaviour. I therefore decided just to have the one drink there and eat somewhere else. The unfiltered Zwicklbier was very tasty though, so it was a shame to have to leave.

I made my way back down into the Altstadt and found my way through the narrow streets to Klosterbraeu. This is probably the most picturesque of Bamberg's breweries, although I have to agree with such illustrious writers as Ron Pattison and Gazza Prescott that the beers leave a lot to be desired. This aside I was hungry by now, so managed to grab myself a seat in the cosy restaurant. I ordered Schweinebraten (roast pork) with Kloss (dumpling) and Wirsing (purred cabbage). To wash my meal down I had a glass of Schwaerzla, a dark beer with an unpleasant phenolic taste, which reinforces the comments I've written above. I therefore just had the one, paid my bill and left.

On the way back I popped into Schlenkerla where I was able to sample the strong Christmas Doppelbock called Eiche. This dark 8.0% beer is brewed using malt smoked over oak wood, rather than the usual beechwood. It was very moreish, but at this strength I thought it unwise to have more than one! So ended my first full, and somewhat beery day in Bamberg.

Return to Bamberg - Day One

I returned early this morning from Bamberg, where I spent four extremely pleasant, but very cold days enjoying the beery delights of this beautiful Franconian city. In contrast to our visit earlier in the year, where we enjoyed temperatures in the mid-30's, the mercury this time was well below freezing and there was a covering of snow, at least a foot deep. Still Germany is a country used to cold winters, and everything was functioning as normal. My inbound flight was delayed slightly by around 40 minutes, but that was all, and although it was snowing heavily when the plane touched down at Nuernberg Airport, the runway was clear as, I observed, were the pavements when I later arrived in Bamberg.

After checking into my hotel, and donning some extra layers of clothing, I walked the short distance into the Altstadt, or old town. My first port of call was Ambraeusianum, a brew pub situated just a few doors along from the famous Schlenkerla tavern. Back in July my son and I sat outside, but one would have needed to be an Eskimo to survive the kinds of low temperatures the city was experiencing this time around!

Ambraeusianum is pleasantly decorated with tiled floors and lots of light-coloured wood-work. Like all of the city's pubs it was looking suitably festive, as befitted the time of year. I ordered a tall mug of the pub's house-brewed Helles, which I remembered from the previous visit as being particularly enjoyable. Some beer writers have, unkindly in my view, described it as disappointing and lacking in balance, but I found it to have a good, full-bodied, underlying maltiness.

Even so, one beer was enough before moving on the short distance to Schlenkerla, but not before a quick reconnaissance along Untere Sandstrasse where I wanted to check out a few other drinking establishments for later on. As it turned out, none of these places opened until the evening, so not wishing to stay out in the cold any longer I headed back to Bamberg's most famous pub.

I should add that for guidance, as well as jolly good read, I had brought along a copy of John Connen's excellent Guide to Bamberg & Franconia. Now in its second edition, the guide has been completely revised and updated, with lots of colour photo's, as well as vital information about what can rightly be described as "Germany's Brewing Heartland".

Schenkerla was packed, as it seemed to be on every day of my trip, but I managed to find a seat, and settled down to enjoy a glass of the famous, almost coal-black, Rauchbier. It was every bit as good as I remembered, and I followed it with a glass of the stronger, seasonal Ur Bock. At 6.5% this is like a stronger version of the brewery's normal strength beer, but is sufficiently well-hopped to balance the additional body supplied by the malt. At 500ml a time though, it is definitely not a session beer so with this thought in mind, and the fact I was feeling peckish, I headed across the road to the Alt-Ringlein.

This former brew-pub is now a slightly up-market hotel, but its downstairs rooms still retain their traditional ambiance. I also remembered it as serving some extremely good roast pork! Unlike its neighbour across the road, Alt-Ringlein wasn't full to bursting point and I had no trouble in getting a table to myself. I ordered a glass of Spezial Lagerbier which although nowhere near as smoky as Schlenkerla's version, still has a pleasant, subtle smokiness lurking in the background. I decided to leave the Schweinebraten (roast pork) for another time, ordering instead a Schnitzel and chips. Once the Spezial was finished, I decided to move onto one of the hotel's other beers; this time Ungespundetes from Mahrs Braeu.

Dark amber in colour, with sufficient maltiness to match, Ungespundetes was a good beer to finish on. It had been a long day and I had been up since the early hours for the drive to the airport. I settled my account and wandered the relatively short distance, through the snow-covered streets, back to my hotel and a welcome night's sleep.