Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Oktoberfest 2007-Tour 2 (MB-070925)

This tour again had a 'pre-tour' when we had the night in Forchheim before the tour getting over to the Kellerwald again and of course seeing me mate Andy's beer-garden/pub, the fabled Rappenkeller look around the cellars and a couple wets then it was off back to the Schweizergrom hotel for a few more beers before beddie time!

Welcome to Bavaria!

Day 1. So, Tuesday 25 September, the second Bier-Mania! Oktoberfest tour. Pick up the Aussies in Nürnberg airport then it was onto Regensburg, some lunch then Schneider Weisse brewery to see how Weizen beer is made the real way! Then it was Burg Randeck for some great views and our cosy brewery guest house, Josef Schneider.

Click this link for photos from the tour.

Day 2. Wednesday 26 September, 1400 hours (2pm), Hacker Festzelt, Mass Kruges and Hend'l, yum yum.



Day 3. Walkabout. Augustiner, some great beer, Hofbräuhaus, some great music. 'Afternoon-cap' at Schneider, some serious beer!



Ein Prosit.

Oktoberfest 2007-Tour 1 (MB-070921)


The Oktoberfest tours kicked off on Thursday 20 September when we drove down to Bayern, of course via Forchheim!

We actually had the night in Forchheim before the tour getting over to the Kellerwald and of course me mate Andy's beer-garden/pub, the fabled Rappenkeller look around the cellars and a couple wets then it was off down town to the Eichorn brewery pub then met up with Banz and his mate for a few more jars.
Welcome to Bavaria!

Day 1. So, Friday 21 September, the first Bier-Mania! Oktoberfest tour. Pick up in Nürnberg airport then it was onto Regensburg, some lunch then schneider Weisse brewery to see how Weizen beer is made the real way! The it was Burg Randeck for some great views and our cosy brewery guest house, Josef Schneider.

Click this link for photos from the tour.

Day 2. Saturday 22 September, 1200 hours (midday), the sounds of the canons fired to mark the start of the biggest Volksfest (people's festival) in the world.

We wait for our American friends, we worry, we meet, they set a world record, 50 metres in 1 hour. We hit Munich.
Hofbräuhaus was kicking, when I got in that is, no flipflops son!



Day3. 1100. Hofbräu Festzelt. We are all excited. It will be a very long day.



Cheers.

Bier-Mania! Update

Welcome back to Bier-Mania!.

Been away awhile but yep, I'm still alive, just!

Back last Thursday after nearly a month on the road, 5 x back-to-back Oktoberfest tours and a 4-day research trip to the Czech Republic later I am sort of slowly recovering! My thirst for beer however is still there although I do count 4 'beers' these days as 4 litres. Oh dear!

All Oktoberfest tours were 4-day/3 night tours starting in Nürnberg airport and spending 1 night in Josef Schneider's (and of course Ute, Joesef's missus) brewery guest house on the Altmühltal river near Kelheim, very nice place indeed and of course great food and beer! Most tours also included a brewery visit to Schneider Weisse brewery in Kelheim where everyone managed to bottle their own beer, those who missed kindergarten when they were younger showed their definite lack of skills! Regensburg was also visited with our lunch stops normally in Spital brewery beer garden or restaurant, great place, old hot dog stand and of course nice cathedral!

The other 2 nights of the tours were spent in München with 1 day at the Wies'n soaking up the Oktoberfest atmosphere (Oktoberfest grounds) and 1 day seeing the rest that München has to offer such as the beer gardens Augustiner (Arnulfstrasse) and the Englischer Garten over to the NE of the centre of town. Of course the historic Altstadt was also visited such as the Rathaus and square, the Glockenspiele as well as the Hofgarten and Odeonsplatz. Of course a München trip would not have been complete without the Hofbräuhaus in which we had lunch in and a sing-song a total of 4 times, great atmosphere and great band, in fact they even played Waltzing Matilda for us (see tour 4)! München's other great 'beer-places' were also visited-Schneider on Talstrasse (also great food) with it's New York/Kelheim Weizen beer and of course Augustiner Bierhalle, great beers and great places!

So, the nationalities on the tours. A complete mix of people, large and small, male and female and from all walks of life, Aussies, Canadians, Brits, Americans, New Zealanders, South Africans and Danish! To you all, you were all good people and cheers for making your way to Bayern for the tours, ein PROSIT!

Cheers for now,
Bier-Mania!

Saturday, 15 September 2007

Bruxellensis 2007 Photos



Photos taken at taken at Bruxellensis this year are now online, see Bruxellensis Photos

The festival was a complete success again, many thanks to Yvan and Bernard for giving Bruxelles/Brussel (and in fact Belgium) this great event!

Till next year!
Cheers,
Andy

Saturday, 1 September 2007

Bruxellensis 2007


The unique Belgian beer festival, Bruxellensis this year will start at 1200 (12am) on Saturday 08 September and end at 2100 (9pm) on Sunday 09 September 2007.

Opening times:
Saturday 1200-2300 (12am-11pm)
Sunday 1100-2100 (11am-9pm)

Cost:
Festival tasting glass 15cl €3.00
Beer token €1.20
Food Various

Where Approximately:
Around 3km directly south from the cenntre (Grand Place) of Bruxelles at-

Address of Festival:

Les Glacières de Saint-Gilles,
rue de la Glacière 18, 1060 Bruxelles.

See you there. We have the stall Beers of Düsseldorf & the Lower Rhine.

Beers we will have (all 10 litre barrels)
  1. Füchshen Alt
  2. Schlüssel Alt
  3. Schumacher Alt
  4. Uerige Alt
  5. Bolten Ur-Alt (unfiltered)
  6. Bolten Landbier (unfiltered Hell, top-fermented)
  7. Gleumes Hell
  8. Schmitz-Mönk Alt
  9. Schmitz-Mönk Weizen
  10. Zunft-Bräu Hell Lagerbier
  11. Zunft-Brau Dunkles Lagerbier

Cheers for now!
Andy

(Festival glass must be purchased on entry to the festival).