I needed to make my way to Berlin eventually, but had some time so decided to head North through some of the famous beer stops in Germany.  The first stop was Nuremberg due to it’s close proximity to Bamberg which is the home of rauchbier which is German smoke beer.  I remember having a beer from Schlenkerla several years ago and being floored by the flavour.  It was one of the memorable beer moments in my life so I decided to make a trip out to visit this magical place.  Turns out Bamberg is a craft beer hots spot which made me even more excited.

I took the train to Nuremberg and arrived in mid afternoon, which allowed me a little bit of time to explore the walled city before dark.  I honestly only came to Nuremberg because it was a larger city than Bamberg and had a hostel where Nuremberg did not.  However, the fact that it was a walled city was pretty cool and I was able to get out on my run at sunset!

It was very pretty! However, I went on a longer run and ended up running in the wrong direction which added several KMs to my run.  I therefore ended up way further away from town along the river than I thought and ended up running in the dark for a decent ammount of time.  Luckily I brought my phone, so I had some light and a map to help me get home!  It was a good time though!

I returned to the hostel, cleaned up and then headed out to get some food.  There was a kebab place right around the corner from the Hostel, so I stopped in there and just got a cheap donner kebab.  As I was returning to the hostel with my kebab, I saw a familiar figure walking down the street, Florida John.  He was in Nuremberg for the same reason as me and we happened to be staying in the same hostel, just different rooms!  I asked him what he was doing the next day and he was like “Drinking beer in Bamberg with you!” It was awesome to see him again and even more awesome that he had similar plans and I now had a travel companion again!

The next morning I woke up a bit earlier for a short run in town.  I didn’t really do much the night before, so was able to get up early with no issues.  There were limited trains to Bamberg from Nuremberg so we opted to take an mid morning train since nothing really opened until 11am anyways.

There were a lot of Breweries in Bamberg but they were all decently close to one another which made it perfect for a beer day.  First stop was Hopfengarten which upon arrival was a hop garden and greenhouse with small brewery included.  Google said it was open, but nobody was really around and they didn’t really have a tap room of  sorts.  There was a worker in the back and we asked if it was possible to get some beer and he was like, we aren’t really open and we had an event last night but I guess I can pour you some beer.  He was actually very informative and told us all about their operation and history and since it was pretty much a private “Tour” it was pretty awesome!

The beer was interesting and to be honest, many of them were not even allowed to be called beer in Germany because they did not conform to the Reinheitsgebot which states that in order to be called a beer in Germany it can only contain Barley, Hops, Water and Yeast.  They have to call them, flavored malt beverages, although the labels and bottles look like beer so i doubt many people would even notice.

After our visit to the garden, we headed to one of the most famous malters in the world.  I’m sure that almost every brewery in the world has used Weyermann’s malt at some point in their brewing history.  They had a tap room with beer brewed with their malt.  They did offer tours but unfortunately not on the day that we were there.  We saw the outside of the facilities and read the material they had available in the gift shop.  It was pretty cool to be there since I had seen their malt bags all over the place and didn’t really even think about  it.  Even though Banberg is in giant letters on every bag.

We had a few of their beers which highlighted various malts and enjoyed picking out the different flavors created by using the various types of malt.

After chatting with the staff and tasting some beers, we moved on to the next stop on our tour.  Brauerei Spzial which like all of the breweries we were to visit, was right down the street.

We were actually pretty lucky to have been served here because they have a lunch and dinner opening and it was right at the end of the lunch hour.  They served us a beer anyways which we thanked them for allowing us to try.  The brewery is 475 years old and still poured their beers from wooden barrels.  The inside was super traditional and the beer was a typical Dark lager.  Delicious.

The next stop was ANOTHER super old traditional german brewery.  It is crazy how many Breweries there were in this town and most of them are suppper old.  I guess if you have world class malt available out your back door, you might as well brew a lot of beer.

Brauerei Fassla was the next stop and it too was in an old super traditional building.  All of these breweries basically make one type of beer and I did not enjoy this one was much.  It was still good, but pretty plane Jane.

The next stop took a bit of a walk and it took us through the heart of downtown Bamberg.  The city itself was beautiful with old buildings, a river very walk able streets.

It could not have been a better day to drink great beer and wander a beautiful old German town.

The next stop was the most famous brewery in Bamberg.  Schlenkerla is the original smoke beer or Rauchbier and the flavor is created by smoking the malt which transfers the flavor into the beer.  I remember very distinctly when I had this beer for the first time.  It was in University and all I could think of was smoked pork or hickory sticks.  It was very memorable and I was very excited to try the beer directly from the source.  The place was PACKED although it was apparently ok to drink on the street in front of the brewery which is what many people were doing.

There was a window inside that you could order beer from and then you were free to drink it wherever you could find a spot to stand.  We headed outside to drink with the locals on the street, which seemed fine for them but was a novelty for us!

We got some bottles of all of their different offerings and even got a bottle of their helles which is not supposed to be smokey.  However, since the brewing equipment is mostly brewing smoked beers, the Helles still had a hint of smokey flavor in it.

The next stop was called Ambrausianum which was literally right next door to Schlenkerla.

we got a flight and I honestly can’t remember my opinion of these ones.  But i am sure they were good.

Up next was Klosterbräu which is where we decided to eat.  What did I get?  Schnitzel and Spatzel what else?

Thisbrewery was right beside the river and it was really nice place to hang out and let the beer settle a little bit.

The next brewery was a bit of a walk, so we decided to take the scenic route and explore more beautiful architecture.

We were also treated to a beautiful sunset sky color.

Last stop of the trip was Mahr’s Brau which was one of our favorites of the stops we made.

We had some time before the train was scheduled to come because one of the other breweries was closed which gave us the opportunity to try a bunch of different styles.  We were impressed with them all.

We ended up sitting with a few Americans who were beer fans also in town to experience the beer.  The one guy even owned a beer importing business which ended up being a lot of fun.  This was one of our favorite spots for the beer, atmosphere and company and we were actually a bit disappointed to have to leave to catch the train.  We made it to the last train of the night at 10:30pm and headed back to Nuremberg.

The next morning John and I were parting ways for a little bit again as he was going to stick around the area for a bit before heading north.  I was going to meet a friend in Dortmund with a quick stop in Cologne.

But first we needed to drink the beer we got at Schlenkerla which as I said before was not supposed to be smokey but had a slight smoke taste.

Before the train, it was time to check out the brewery in town.

Upon arriving, it was clear that this was a tourist trap and things were confirmed as we sat there and multiple walking tours passed through.  The beer was pretty bad and the whole experiance was just not pleasant.

I caught the bus north but didn’t realize when I booked it that I had only booked it to the airport and not downtown, but that is a story for another post.

Nuremberg and Bamberg were pretty fun and it was awesome that I got to hang out with Florida John again.