Alsace/Schwarzwald

Brendan Halpin a écrit :

Freiburg :

Three brewpubs. Feierling, Martinsbräu and Kleines freiburger Brauhaus. The latter may or may not be brewing currently, whichis a shame since their amber rye beer is a welcome change from teh usual. Feierling and martinsbräu offer the usual range of unfiltered pale lager and weizens, with the odd seasonal special that is not always convincing. I've found on my few visits Feierling's beer to be usually slightly better, if only because MB's beers tend to be a touch green when sold.

Yet your best bet beerwise in Freiburg may well be the Ganter brewery tap (Brauereiausschank), a blue house on the right-hand side of the cathedral (Dom) square. They've usually got the whole range of this regional family brewery on offer, in pretty good condition. Do ask if they've got any Wodan available on tap (the winter seasonal, IMHO one of the best doppelbocks ever, because of its well-attenuated dark/dried fruit, rather hoppy profile, instead of the usual syrupy / sweet one), for they might and you might be in for a treat. And do give the Urtrunk a try, ie, the unfiltered "primeur" lager, which is very subtle, complex, with just a hint of the dark/dred fruit that dominates Wodan's profie (I guess it's the house yeast). The rest of the range is pretty good, if posibly less spectacular. Both the dark and pale Hefeweizens are pretty nice efforts in the style. The food at the brewery tap is excellent, typical local hearty fayre, with a french touch here and there (such as the very decent salad dressing, for example), and a few dishes cooked with beer. Huge portions at moderate prices, especially if you consider the place's prime location. (=>

By the way, one of the ubiquitous beers of the region, Rothaus Pils, with its desperately garish 1960s label design, is a pretty nice example of german pils, especially the draught version (I'm told it's unpasteurised) which is really crisp and hoppy, an a staple you can rely on in the region. Rothaus is a Staatsbrauerei, i.e. it belongs to the State of Baden-Würtemberg. Which may explain why their pils still is decent when so many german ones aren't anymore.

Hope this helps.

Cheers !

Laurent

It's got my mouth watering. The annual family holiday in France is going to be a little different this year, at least from a cerevisiophile perspective!

Brendan

Brendan Halpin a écrit :

I didn't explore much beery Alsace, but among the easily available beers there, Météor Pils (especially the draught, 5l party kegs and 1 litre bottles, which are unpasteurised) is a surprisingly decent pilsner, soft, crisp and flowery, definitely a few notches up from the likes of Kronenbourg, 1664 or Fischer.

Cheers !

Laurent

Alpirsbacher. Soehnstetter Hirsch Pils.