Klosterbrauerei- Mallersdorf and the Brewing Nuns

I feel it’s good when away on holiday to sometimes take a little excursion somewhere else; a “side-trip” as the Americans would say to a place or location not too far from the vicinity of where one is staying, but equally just far enough as to make the trip worthwhile, and something of an adventure.

My son and I have done this on several occasions; as have I, when I’ve stayed somewhere on my own. My wife, however, was not over keen on the idea of such an excursion, when I put it to her during our stay in Regensburg; particularly as she guessed (rightly) there would not only be beer involved, but a degree of walking as well.

I actually had two trips in mind, but as I had done the first of these (a boat-ride down the Danube, from Kelheim, to Kloster-Weltenburg) on a previous visit to Regensburg, I was keener to undertake the second excursion. This was a visit to another holy place, in the form of the abbey at Mallersdorf; the only remaining nunnery in Europe where the Sisters brew their own beer.

Sister Doris

Two years ago I wrote about Sister Doris, the legendary Brewster at Klosterbrauerei- Mallersdorf. For the past 45 years she has risen well before most of the other sisters on brewing days, in order to start work in the abbey brew-house by 3:30 am. She’s even allowed to skip the obligatory morning prayers in order to perform her tasks in the brewery. Most of the beers Sister Doris brews are for consumption within the convent, and as they are not sold elsewhere, it is necessary to journey to the abbey in order to sample them.

A visit to Kloster-Mallersdorf had been on my wish-list for some time, but it wasn’t until a week or so before our holiday that I realised the abbey was within reasonable travelling distance of where we would be staying. After looking into it further, I discovered it was roughly an hour’s train journey from Regensburg, and then a short walk (18 minutes according to Google Maps), from Mallersdorf station.  

The impressive Kloster-Mallersdorf

The only trouble was the convent is perched on a hill over-looking the village of Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg, and this was the deal breaker as far as my wife was concerned. She did say though, that she had no problem with me going; either on my own, or taking our son along as well. Rather than walking half-way up a mountain, she was perfectly happy to spend the day in Regensburg, just chilling out

So come the next day, I said farewell to my wife and son and wandered down to Regensburg’s main station. Trains were timed at roughly 30 minute intervals, so there was no need to rush. The temperature had been a little on the cool side when I left, but by the time I boarded the train, the mercury had begun to climb and it was necessary to remove the thin fleece I had been wearing.

Mallersdorf station - by request only

I travelled on the 11:14 train south from Regensburg, and my journey involved changing trains at a town called Neufahrn in Niederbayern. From there it was just a 10 minute ride, up the valley, on a branch line train. It was very pleasant travelling through the Bavarian countryside, which was looking particularly good in the late September sunshine, and the fields of ripened sunflowers, waiting to be harvested, formed a memorable sight against the backdrop of the steadily rising hills.

I asked the conductor, when he came to check my ticket, about the branch-line service, as my pre-printed schedule from Deutsche Bahn stated that Mallersdorf was a “request stop”. He told me to advise the driver when boarding the train, but as things happened he was also leaving the train at Neufahrn and very kindly walked over to the other platform with me, and told the driver himself.

Abbey church at Kloster-Mallersdorf

There were one or two passengers boarding at Mallersdorf, so the train stopped anyway, but it was a nice gesture from the conductor, and an example of excellent customer service on behalf of the German Railways. The diesel-powered train left on time, and began its leisurely journey along the single-track line. Ten minutes later, I alighted at Mallersdorf and set off to reach abbey.

There was a street of quite upmarket looking houses close to the station, but at the end of Bahhofstraße I passed into open countryside. I could see the impressive bulk of Kloster-Mallersdorf, high on top of a hill overlooking the village, as I continued my journey. The road leading up to the abbey was quite steep, so I was pleased, in a way that my wife had chosen not to accompany me, as I would not have heard the last of how "I dragged her up a mountain”, for some time!

Klosterbräustüberl

Fortunately, my regular lunchtime walks meant the hill was not too much of a challenge, and as I kept to the shady side of the road, I felt fine by the time I reached the top. Unlike many monastery breweries I have been to, there is no bar or restaurant at the abbey itself for visitors to stop for a drink or bite to eat. Members of the public may buy bottles to take away; as I discovered later, but fortunately the privately-owned and family run Klosterbräustüberl, adjacent to the abbey gates, does provide a friendly welcome to both locals and visitors alike; although it is worth remembering that it is closed all day Monday.

I made my way round to the small garden area, overlooking the abbey, at the side of the pub, as that seemed where most of the customers had gravitated to. On a glorious late September day, who could blame them, so I decided to follow suite, and after finding an empty table, waited for the waitress to come and take my order. 

The abbey brewery produces two beers; a Vollbier Helles and a Zoigl. Both are 5.0% ABV. I ordered a half litre of the former, but as it appeared quite hazy, I wondered whether I had been served the unfiltered Zoigl by mistake.

When the time came for a second beer, I asked the waitress if there had been a mix-up with my order. She assured me that there hadn’t, and brought me a glass of Zoigl which, if anything, was even hazier.

Now I have to be honest by saying that neither of these beers were stunning, or even classics; but they were good solid, workaday beers of the sort anyone living close to the abbey would be more than happy to drink For my part, I was just pleased to be there, sunning myself in the garden whilst enjoying this small idyllic corner of Bavaria.

The small beer garden - Klosterbräustüberl

It seemed the locals were happy to be there too, for as well as a couple of tables for diners, there was that most German of pub traditions, a Stammtisch, or “regulars table”. Now over the years I have become reasonably fluent in German, and like most people learning a foreign language find I can understand more of what is being said than I can actually speak, but I struggled to understand a word of what the mainly male group sat around the Stammtisch, were saying. They were obviously conversing in the local Bavarian dialect; something people from other parts of Germany find almost unintelligible – so what chance had I?

View from the beer garden

The menu at Klosterbräustüberl Mallersdorf looked filling and keenly priced (the beer was good value too at one Euro less than what we had been paying in Regensburg), but I was conscious that for the past few days I had been eating quite filling meals, along with the rest of my family. I had made a decision beforehand, not to eat at the pub, as I knew we would be having a heavy meal in  the evening, so the cheese and tomato roll, I’d bought in Regensburg would do just right; although I waited until I got back to the station before eating it.

Before leaving, I asked the waitress if the pub sold bottled beer to take away. She told me they didn’t, but pointed me in the direction of the abbey, just across the way, where she informed me I could buy carry-outs.

A glimpse of the brewery through the window

I settled my bill, and following her instructions walked through the archway entrance and into the main courtyard of the abbey. There was an incline leading down to the right, and there at the bottom of the slope I could see a parked car with its boot opened, with a nun supervising the loading of a crate of beer into the back of the vehicle. I made my way down towards this scene of activity, but not before a quick peep through the windows of what was obviously the brew-house, on the other side of the courtyard.

In my best German I asked the Holy Sister, who was serving the customers, if it was possible to buy single bottles of beer, rather than a whole crate. She told me it was and, asked how many would I like. I settled for two, but not before enquiring if they had more than Klosterbrauerei- Mallersdorf beer, one type of beer on sale. Unfortunately they hadn’t, but I came away with two handsome-looking, swing top bottles of complete with a smiling photo of Sister Doris herself, on the label; and all for the princely sum of € 2.50.

Where the locals come for their take-outs

Pleased with my purchases I made my way back down towards the station and caught a train shortly before 3pm. I had a bit of a wait at Neufahrn for my connection, so to kill some time I walked towards the town centre, primarily to buy a bottle of water. It was still very warm out, and despite the beer I’d drunk, I was feeling thirsty.

On the way back, I paused to reflect for a few minutes at a memorial garden dedicated to the dead of two World Wars. Reading just a few of the many names of servicemen killed between 1939 & 1945, brought home to me the terrible price paid by the German people for that horrific conflict; the seeds of which were sown in 1933, with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Reichs Chancellor, and which ended in 1945, following the deaths of almost 50 million people, and the utter destruction of the German nation.

Memorial garden for the war dead of Neufahrn

My train back to Regensburg was packed with students, returning to university in the city after the long summer break. I managed to get a seat in one of the old-style compartment coaches, and was rocked gently off to sleep by the swaying of the train and the warm air blowing in through the window.

Fortunately I awoke in plenty of time to depart the train, and then made my way back through the city, to our hotel. I plonked the bottles of Klosterbrauerei- Mallersdorf beer down in front of my wife, as I’m not sure she had quite believed me at first about the brewing nuns! It turned out her and Matt had spent an interesting day as well, exploring Regensburg.

Proof of my visit

Later that evening, we celebrated by going for a typical Bavarian meal at Weltenburg am Dom; a traditional restaurant in the shadow of the cathedral, with a small beer garden attached, run on behalf of the Holy Fathers at Kloster Weltenburg. After brewing nuns, it seemed only right we should try a beer or two produced by some brewing monks!

Footnote: the article attached to this link, includes an interview with Sister Doris, where she describes how she first became a brewer at Kloster- Mallersdorf, and how each of the nearly 500 nuns at the abbey contribute in their own special way to both life in the convent, and the outside world.

Closed for Business

I’m sure we’ve all experienced this at some stage in our drinking careers, and I know that certain bloggers have written about it as well; including retiredmartin who described the problems he encountered on Exmoor, back in the summer.

For my part it wasn’t too much of a problem; licensees after all are entitled to a holiday, like the rest of us and when I got home I did find the pub had given due notice of the closure on its website.

I was out for a bike ride - the first time I’ve been in the saddle since my visit to Brabant, back in August. There was no reason why I would have checked the Plough’s website before setting off, especially as the pub normally attracts quite a crowd on a Sunday. If truth be known, I wasn’t exactly sure as to where I was heading when I left home, but having ended up near the pub, I fancied a drink and the chance to rest my legs for a short while.

I cycled back into Tonbridge and whilst I did toy with the idea of popping into the  local Spoon’s, the moment had passed and I really couldn’t be bothered to chain up my bike and join the Sunday lunchtime crowd, three or four people deep at the bar. Instead I continued home and had a nice cup of tea instead.

An Evening in Kentish Town

A Trade Show brought me to London’s Docklands on Friday afternoon, and whilst the exhibition wasn’t particularly up to much, my visit did at least afford the opportunity to meet up with an old friend and work colleague in the evening.

My wife and I worked with Andrew, back in the early 1980’s when we were all employed by one of Tonbridge’s largest companies. We went our separate ways, work- wise, when the major part of the firm's business was sold off in 1985. Andrew gravitated up to London and we lost touch; until last year, when we arranged a reunion back in Tonbridge.

It seemed a good idea for me to meet up with him, on his home-patch this time; particularly as he was always a totally committed pub and beer man, so on Friday evening we met at Kentish Town tube station, close to Andrew’s home. Just across from the station is a large, handsome looking pub called the Assembly House, and it was there that we headed to first.

The Assembly House is Grade II listed, and according to WhatPub, it was built in 1896. With its large and prominent French chateau style tower, it is quite a landmark locally.  The interior is large, having been opened out in recent years, and is naturally lit by clear windows. There is a large bar counter which extends from the front room, round the side and into the back room, but the most striking feature is the etched glass to the right hand side of the large single room. There is also a skylight in what was once the billiard room, at the back of the pub.

We found a table close to the door, after first grabbing ourselves a couple of pints. There was a selection of interesting beer on sale, including offerings from Old Dairy, Truman’s and Windsor & Eton. We both opted for the latter in the form of the brewery’s light and refreshing Parklife. Coming in at just 3.2% ABV, this pale light ale manages to pack plenty of flavour for its low strength, and in view of this it was a good beer to start on. What’s more, it was served in a dimpled jug.

Andrew had already told me about the Assembly House’s popularity, and on a Friday evening, the pub was bound to be busy. With this in mind, we decided to leave, but primarily to ensure we got a seat at the next pub. This was a short bus ride away and was the legendary Southampton Arms; a pub I had read a lot about and had always wanted to visit.

I wasn’t disappointed when we walked through the doors of this small, traditional London boozer with its long thin bar and pew style seating. Anyone who has been there will be aware of the pub’s policy of only stocking beers from small independent breweries, along with a range of 8 traditional ciders. There are also two lagers from the Meantime Brewery of Greenwich.

The ales are dispensed from a line of hand-pumps on the bar, whilst the ciders come from a further set of hand-pulls along the back wall. The latter is covered with some original white tiles, and to complete the Southampton’s authenticity there are two fine old pub mirrors; one advertising beers from Lacon’s of Yarmouth and the other, that former great ale of old England, Draught Bass.The pub also offers a limited range of bar-snack type food, in the form of pork pies, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, roast pork in baps plus various vegetarian options.

We were lucky to find a seat on the end of one of the benches, and having secured this, decided to stay put for the rest of the evening. We drank our way through three of the beers; or rather I did, as my friend stuck with the first one, which was Howling Hops Pale XX 5.0% ABV. I also tried the same brewery’s 3.8 % Pale Ale, and an interesting 5% dark, seasonal beer from Salopian, called POGO.

There was a good crowd in the pub, with the small garden area at the rear providing a welcome overspill. We couldn’t help noticing that we were by far the oldest two people there; not that it mattered and I have to say the service from the knowledgeable bar staff was friendly and exemplary, allowing us to try the beers before deciding which to have.

We were, of course, had lots of catching up to do, and the time was slipping away, so shortly before 10pm I resisted the temptation of a final pint, and we departed. We crossed the road and caught the bus back to Kentish Town station, where Andrew and I parted company. I took the tube to Charing Cross and then the train home to Tonbridge. Despite falling asleep a number of times I managed not to miss my stop.

We have arranged a further night’s sampling in Kentish Town, where my friend has promised to take me to his local; a pub with the strange name of Tapping the Admiral. As far as Friday’s session was concerned, the beers in both pubs were good, and I scored them at either 3.5 or 4 NBSS on the WhatPub site. My only slight grouse was that London prices take a bit of getting used to; with £4 a pint at the Assembly House and a slightly more reasonable £3.80 at the Southampton Arms.

Photos: I didn’t have my camera with me and, given the poor light conditions on Friday evening, the few photos I took with my Smartphone were grainy and out of focus. The photos accompanying this post therefore appear courtesy of WhatPub.

Spitalgarten Regensburg

With its setting just off the end of the centuries old Steinernen Brücke (Stone Bridge), on an island in the River Danube, Spitalgarten ranks as one of my favourite German beer gardens. I can think of few better ways of spending a summer’s evening than sitting at one of  Spitalgarten’s  tables next to the river, and enjoying the view of old town Regensburg and its imposing cathedral. With a half litre mug of Spital Helles, fresh from the brewery behind the beer hall and restaurant, a hearty Bavarian dish of roast pork and the company of friends or family, then it’s safe to say, life doesn’t get much better than this.

  

I first visited Spitalgarten in 2008, when my son and I took a week’s holiday in Regensburg. Matthew was only 16 at the time, but under Germany’s liberal licensing laws was legally allowed to drink beer. We made several visits there, including one memorable evening when Germany were playing Turkey in the semi-finals of the Euro's Football Championship. A large screen TV had been erected at one end of the garden, and the place was absolutely rammed. We enjoyed chatting with the German fans and joined in their delight as their team went through to the finals. (They  subsequently lost to Spain, but that’s a different story!).

Spitalgarten viewed from the Stone Bridge

 I was determined to re-visit Spitalgarten on our recent holiday, so on a baking hot late September day, my wife, son and I walked over the ancient stone bridge across the Danube, and found ourselves a nice shady table with views back across the city. This was Eileen’s first experience of a German beer garden and she got into the spirit by ordering half litre mug of Spital’s alcohol-free beer. Matt and I had a couple of mugs each of the brewery’s tasty Helles, and we all enjoyed some equally tasty and filling local dishes.

 

The garden was quite empty when we first arrived, but soon began to fill up; mainly with pensioners, it 

has to be said. This was in contrast to what I remembered from our previous evening visits, when the clientele had been mainly students and other young people. With reasonably priced food, good beer and a pleasant outlook, it is easy to understand Spitalgarten’s attraction for both age groups.

None of us had room for any more beer after our meal, so we paid the bill and wandered off. Eileen was impressed by the way the waitress remembered exactly what we’d had to eat and drink, and also by the way she totalled it up on a slip of paper.

Looking back towards the city

On the way back I made a detour to the brewery, to pick up some bottles, whilst wife and son went and got an ice-cream each. For the oldest brewery by far, in Regensburg, with a history dating back to 1226, Spitalbrauerei are very much a go-ahead modern company. They have started brewing English-style beers, such as Pale Ale, IPA and Stout.

As far as I am aware, these are only available in bottle form, and it was to purchase some of them that I headed to the brewery shop. There will be more about the shop and the beers in a later post.

Can the Can

Before I write further about my recent trip to eastern Bavaria, I want to pick up on a beer-related story which is much closer to home, and one which broke the day we flew out of the country.

In case you haven’t guessed already, I am referring to the Campaign for Real Ale’s decision to declare that canned beers, produced by Bristol-based Moor Beer Company qualify as “real ale”. This accreditation comes about following tests carried out at the recent Great British Beer Festival which apparently demonstrated that the beer in the Moor cans still contained live yeast. Additional tests also showed that the carbonation in the beer was created by natural secondary fermentation. CAMRA thereby concluded that the beer in these cans qualified as “real ale” under the Campaign’s own definition.

Before attempting to refute these claims I want to say that like many other drinkers I have been aware that several of the new wave of “craft brewers” have been selling unfiltered beer in cans for some time. Beavertown are one company which springs to mind, as are the London Beer Factory; but I am sure there are many others. Just what these breweries are trying to achieve is beyond me as, if we are honest, no-one really likes cloudy beer irrespective of whether it meets CAMRA’s definition of "real ale" or not.

As an illustration of this, during our recent holiday I drank several bottles of Zoigl – an unfiltered “natural”  beer, brewed by Regensburg’s largest brewery, Bischofshof. This was the sole beer brand stocked in the bar of our hotel, and whilst it was pleasant enough, it was cloudy, rather than just slightly “hazy”. The end result was an underlying note of yeast which, although not totally dominating the overall taste of the beer, was still there in the background masking the much more desirable flavours expected from the malts and the hops.

Contrast this with the much more subtle flavours of the Original 1649 and Urhell, from the same brewery, and available in many of Regensburg’s pubs and bars and you will get some idea of what I am talking about. Both these beers are filtered, and are much "cleaner" in taste than the Zoigl, with aromas and flavours derived primarily from malt and hops.

It may be heresy to some, but I can’t help thinking that canned beers from the likes of Beavertown, Fourpure, London Beer Factory et al, would be better without all that suspended crud in them. (I can’t really comment on the Moor Beer Company’s cans, because I haven’t yet drunk any of them). Surely this is just a trend started by a handful of “craft breweries”, which many others are now blindly following?

So why exactly, has CAMRA decided to get in on the act and endorse the canned products of one, relatively small micro-brewer as “real ale”? And why did they select Moor Beer Company from amongst all the rest?

Returning to the results of the tests carried out by CAMRA at their “quality control laboratory” at GBBF for a moment, I would like to know how they distinguished between the carbonation produced by the claimed “natural secondary fermentation”, and that already present in the beer from the main primary fermentation. I fully understand how the presence of live, viable yeast cells could be demonstrated, in the beer, but attempting to claim these cells were capable of producing anything more than a minimal amount of additional carbonation in the finished beer really is pushing the envelope and smacks to me of desperation.

As a scientist, I would challenge CAMRA to publish the results of their tests in the form of a proper scientific paper, rather than just attempting to hoodwink the drinking public with this amateurish, and rather laughable piece of “pseudo-science”.

I was going to go on and list some of the drawbacks of trying to pour a clear beer from an opaque can, but the Pub Curmudgeon has done an excellent job on this on his own post, which can be read here. I am certain that we are both in agreement that CAMRA’s backing of so-called Real Ale in a Bottle (RAIBs), or "bottle-conditioned beers", to the exclusion of many otherwise excellent "brewery-conditioned" bottled beer, has been a prime example of dogma triumphing over common sense and best brewing practice; something which gives little credence to the Campaign and confuses the hell out of the average beer drinker.

To apply the same sort of crooked thinking to cloudy, unfiltered canned beer takes things to a whole new level; one which will only cause yet more confusion amongst the public at large, and one which could even backfire against CAMRA.

Regensburg 2016

The family and I arrived home in the early hours of Monday morning, following a very pleasant four day break in Regensburg. We were extremely lucky with the weather, with temperatures in the low to mid twenties, and wall to wall sunshine for virtually the whole of our stay, and this really enabled us to see this lovely old city in its best light and to experience a little of the “café culture” for which Regensburg is famed.

I chose our hotel carefully; picking a location right in the heart of the old city, or Alt Stadt. As virtually the whole of this area is pedestrianised, it was easy getting around on foot, especially as the heart of Regensburg is fairly compact anyway. Before going any further, I want to stress we were there for a family holiday, which of course meant fitting in with everyone’s needs, so despite enjoying quite a few local, and not so local beers, it was not an endless pub-crawl. 

I will be writing about our time in Regensburg, in more detail, over the next few days, but as one might expect for a town which is the fourth largest city in Bavaria, good beer and decent pubs were not hard to come by. In addition there was also a nice sprinkling of more cosmopolitan establishments, with Italian restaurants and ice-cream parlours leading the way.

During our stay, the city was thronged with tourists, but the fact that Regensburg is out on a bit of a limb, on the edge of the Bavarian Forest, does mean it is necessary to  make a special journey there in order to experience its charms; but this only adds to its appeal. I believe that during our stay there we only heard two other English accents, and they were from a couple we passed in the street, but in contrast we noticed quite a few American visitors; including several who were staying in our hotel.

Regensburg is situated on a sharp bend of the River Danube, at the most northerly point of what is the second-longest river in Europe. The historic Steinerne Brücke (Old Stone Bridge), across the Danube, is one the oldest in Germany, and from its ramparts, one is rewarded by spectacular views of the old town which, unlike many German cities, suffered very little damage during the Second World War. Regensburg is capital of the Oberfalz region of Bavaria; even though it only became part of the latter state in 1812. Prior to this it was an Imperial Free City, with its own rulers.

We flew into Nuremberg, using Ryanair, who now operate the only direct flights from the UK. The city's airport is a nice compact affair, and from here a short journey by Underground, takes travellers into the heart of the Nuremberg. From the Hauptbahnhof, there is an hourly train service to Regensburg, with the fast Regio - Regional Express service alternating with the sleek, non-stop ICE - Inter City Express trains. Journey times vary from an hour to an hour and twenty minutes. We treated ourselves to a ride on the ICE train for our homeward journey.

If all this hasn’t whetted your appetite, then perhaps some of the photos used in this post might, and even if you are not keen on beer, I can still recommend Regensburg as a great place for chilling out and spending a relaxing few days.

A Short Break

Looking back over the past month, I appear to have been rather busy bashing out posts on a wide range of subjects. With two brewery visits to write about, a pub threatened with closure, but granted a reprieve, fish products in beer, green hops, trying to take the perfect photo of that perfect pint and the desire to enjoy that pint in peace and quiet; September’s certainly been a busy month!

It’s time for a short break now, as this week I’m heading off to foreign parts; to the city of Regensburg, in eastern Bavaria, to be precise, for some rest and relaxation with the family and the chance to chill out for a while.

My son and I have been to Regensburg before; back in 2008. It’s a lovely old city in its setting on the River Danube which, unlike many German cities, suffered very little damage during the Second World War. Today it’s a thriving university city, and is also home to substantial plants operated by both BMW and Siemens.

More importantly, for the beer lover, Regensburgis also home to three long-established brewing companies in the form of Bischofshof, Kneitinger and St Katherinen (Spital Brauerei). The latter has a beer hall and lovely shady garden, overlooking the Danube, which must rank as one of the best settings imaginable to enjoy a few beers. It is also possible to enjoy beers from the nearby Kloster Weltenburg in the city, as well as Hofbräu and Kloster Andechs from Munich.

As often seems to happen, there are a couple of events happening locally, which I will miss. The first is a “tap-takeover” by Tiny Rebel Brewery, of Fuggles Beer Café in Tunbridge Wells, whilst the second is a similar event at the Old Fire Station in Tonbridge, with Old Dairy Brewery, providing the beer.

Never mind; you can’t win them all, as the saying goes, and some tasty Bavarian beer, served and enjoyed in an historic city, should more than make up for me missing these events at home. So, no posting for a while, but no doubt there will be plenty to write about when I return.