The Beers of Dortmund

Dortmunder Aktien Brauerei
                                                 


The city of Dortmund is historically a city of coal and steel, located in the Rhineland area. Many years ago, I spent a night there while hitting more memorable cities in the region like Cologne and Duesseldorf, and I remember very little of it. It is hardly on the tourist map.

Yet Dortmund is famous for beer. The two main beers are Dortmunder Aktien Brauerei (DAB) and Dortmunder Union, both of which export to the US. Dortmunder Union, however, is  now produced by Dortmunder Aktien

In 2009, The Beer Geek wrote an article on Dortmund and reported that as in other parts of Germany, larger breweries have been buying up the smaller ones resulting in what my German friends call, "industrial beer". This is also the case in Dortmunder. Of course, there are restauarnts which brew their own minibrews, increasingly popular in Germany.

http://thebeergeek.com/tag/dortmund/

Where Is Franconia's Most Beautiful Biergarten?

Hat tip Erlanger Nachrichten/Nord Bayern




The Franconian region of northern Bavaria is one of Germany's biggest beer-drinking areas. Aside from Nuremberg, the region has countless small towns that hold great beer fests throughout the summer months.

The Erlangen Nachrichten/Nord Bayern (newspaper) is holding a context to identify the region's best biergartens. The ten winners receive a book on the best Franconian beer gardens and beer cellars. The below article is in German.

http://www.nordbayern.de/region/jetzt-mitmachen-wir-suchen-frankens-besten-biergarten-1.6266095

Erlangen's Beer Fest in Full Swing

As I write, Erlangen (near Nuremberg) is enjoying its annual Bergkirchweih. It is Germany's oldest beer fest and Bavaria's biggest (after Munich). From the Erlanger Nachrichten, here are some photos.

http://www.nordbayern.de/region/erlangen/live-feierabend-auf-ins-bergkirchweih-wochenende-1.6186614




The Bergkirchweih runs for 12 days during Whitsuntide. The two local brews, Kitzmann and Steinbach, have their own s sitting areas, as well as Nuremberg's Tucher. I prefer Kitzmann myself. In addition, they also dust off the original recipes for two of the defunct breweries, Erichbrau and Hennigerbrau. Everyday, a complete ox is roasted.

If the wildness, expense, and over-commercialization of the Oktoberfest is not for you, I suggest Erlangen.

The Beers of Düsseldorf

I first became acquainted with Düsseldorf  back in the late 1960s when I was a young American soldier stationed in Germany. One of the attractions of the Rhine area was that it was outside the zones where American soldiers were stationed. Not that I wanted to get away from my fellow soldiers and Americans; it was rather a chance to escape the prejudice that many Germans at the time had against GIs. In Düsseldorf, the city not only had great nightlife (the Altstadt-Old Town), but I was regarded only as a foreigner from the States, nothing more or nothing less.

One of the things I quickly picked up on was the popularity of dark beer (Altbier) in Düsseldorf. It seemed at the time that it was the standard beer. I recall breweries like Diebels (actually brewed in Issum) and Schlösser Alt, and I still have  Diebels and Schlösser glasses in my collection.

It's been 1970 since I have been back to Düsseldorf  , and at my age, the allure of the nightlife has worn off. Indeed, I have been told that the Altstadt has gone pretty much to seed. In addition, I have to rely on other sites to bring us up to date on the beer of Düsseldorf  The European Beer Guide.net has a page on Düsseldorf .

https://www.europeanbeerguide.net/dussbrew.htm



Here is an interesting article from The Independent on the city and its beer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-wunderbars-of-d-sseldorf-8482194.html

Still Stuck in US Trying to Find True German Beer

I haven't been back to Germany since 2013, and it doesn't look good for this year either. That leaves me with a dilemma. The only place I can drink what I consider to be true German beer without all the changes is the Las vegas Hofbrauhaus, which ships the beer in by kegs from Munich. The taste is authentic. Everything else is like drinking micro-brew.

Recently, I have visited the Phoenix Club in Anaheim a couple of times. It is a German social club that puts on a beer fest during the Oktoberfest season. They have a nice little Stube where you can order several German beers on tap. I have been pleasantly surprised the these last couple of times. Here is what they have right now on tap:

Dinkelacker Oktober Fesr
Schwabenbrau Keller Bier (Like Dinkelacker, a Stuttgart brwery.)
Munchner Hofbrau
Kostritzer, an east German dark beer that has caught on in the US for several years.
Bitburger, which they call their "house beer".
Veltins

I have tried the Dinkelacker and the Munchner Hofbrau, which I like though the latter is nothing like what you get in Munich or Las Vegas. The Schwabenbrau is OK, but not as good (to me) as the former two beers.

Please excuse the lack of diacritical marks on the beers.

Trumer Pils: When Not in Germany

It's been over three years since I've been able to get back to Germany, so let's take a look at a micro beer that comes close to the real thing.

Introducing Trumer Pils, a small brewery in Berkeley (of all places) that is based on an Austrian recipe,

http://www.trumer-international.com/

I've been buying Trumer Pils at the local Bevmo, and I think it's an excellent American beer. It has a nice smooth taste that reminds you of a European beer-not watery.

I still maintain that the only place in the US with authentic German beer is the Hofbrauhaus in Las Vegas. That's because the kegs are shipped directly to Las Vegas from the HB in Munich with no pasteurization etc.

If you are not in Germany or Las Vegas, however, you have to look for alternatives like Trumer Pils.