Had the pleasure of being in the heartland of Bavarian beer culture – Munich Germany last week. These people take their beer very seriously – it’s an important part of their heritage. In particular they are focused on the Weiss (Wheat beer) which represents about a quarter of all beer consumed there. They are big on the lagers — Helles, Dunkel and Bock being favorites. I was able to try many of them as I could get my hands on (which was a lot) – and while the beer was uniformly fresh and good, after a while I had to admit I was longing for an ale – or just some US West Coast Hoppiness.
But, there are worse (wurst?) things than to be forced to drink lager – and it was important to know that there are some beer rules in Germany that are very different. For example, you can have a Weiss Beer and weiss wurst for breakfast… but you would never order it after the noon bell rings! (See photo below).
The Wurst Breakfast Ever!
And beer is OK to have any/every where – for example the Munich Zoo had three beer gardens on the grounds! I also found it interesting that while the German language beer menu at the famous Hofbrau House listed their tasty (and potent) Maibock, the English menu did not. I guess they think we can’t handle the truth.
More on Bavarian Beer in another post shortly.
Dunkel at Hofbrau House
