Franconian Beer Message Board

Sorry if this is a bit long! On Good Friday, we went nowhere! Well, it wasn’t such a nice day and we decided that a rest was in order, so it was stay at home day. We did try Göller in the evening but, by the time we got there, it was closed.

On our last Saturday, we decided on a local trip to Debring and Brauerei Müller – it’s a local bus ride (912) and I wanted to buy a book in Bamberg en route. So, we broke our journey with a visit to Schlenkerla, arriving around 12.30 p.m. Of course, it was packed, with the now usual queue at the Ausschank, but J. managed to grab a couple of seats. The Märzen seemed in better form than a couple of weeks ago but that may be just imagination. One thing for sure, they have to get this Pfand business better sorted out. Ok, it’s reasonable to charge a deposit given the situation but it puts a hell of a lot of work on the guy behind the hatch having to serve beer at the Ausschank and to the waitresses, broach casks, take and return deposits. I can foresee some ugly moments in store.

Picked up the 912 in Schranne and headed for Debring. The location of Brauerei Müller isn’t immediately obvious but, for future visitors, get off the bus, walk pass the right turn to Muhlendorf and you’ll find the brewery a hundred or so metres further on. When we got inside, a few drinkers were on the Stammtisch but the place seemed otherwise deserted. Eventually, a lady turned up and took our order. I had the Stöffla, pleasant if not sensational, and J. had the Dunkles, which was similarly pleasant. Before we left, I tried the Pils, which seemed to be the choice of locals – again, quite drinkable without being standout.

Sunday and Monday being public holidays and the weather being good, we headed for Merkendorf. Nothing new to report, other than both places continued to delight. If you arrived in Merkendorf and there was only Hummel, you’d be delighted but (IMHO) Wagner is just that bit better. A bit more friendly, slightly but only slightly better beer and ridiculously cheap, almost Eschawo levels at €1.90/seidla. But both super places and a real personal find.

Tuesday was day for a little culture; in this case, a walk around the gardens of Schloss Seehof – if you are in the area anyway, a nice break between beers, with a wonderful cascade, definitely worth a stroll. After walking back into Memmelsdorf, Höhn being closed, we decided to give Drei Kronen a try. Nice little garden but there the pleasantries ended. The service was appalling (some excuse, there was a funeral being attended to) but I ended up with a 40 cl glass of Lager and J. a seidla of Rauchbier. The Lager was mildly moderate and the Rauchbier not very ‘rauchy’ – to make matters worse, the bill was €5! My advice, do what I intended to do all trip and don’t go there! Fortunately, the bus for Bamberg was due so we jumped aboard and headed for Fässla.

Big news: my confidence in Fässla has been restored – a little. We hadn’t been there for a few years, which is a shame because it is a nice place to drink; you can buy from the Ausschank and there’s plenty of seats in the Hof (Schwemme), My objection was that the beers always seemed a bit too gassy but, on this occasion, they were no more gassy than most other places. Relying on taste alone, and forgetting that the Lagerbier is crystal clear and filtered, I reckon that it is not unlike many similar country Lager/Keller/Land biers and very pleasant at that.

Our final day was the big beer event of the period: Tages des Bieres Bamberg, which is held in Maxplatz. We got there just after two and I expected it to be packed but it was actually really comfortable. All the city’s breweries were represented and I decided to give Mahrs U a try, having been disappointed on our one and only visit to Wunderberg. Although not quite as I remember from previous years, it was definitely better than 2 weeks ago, much more of that special yeasty taste that I like. Of course, we had to have a rauchbier so followed up with a Schlenkerla Märzen – again in good form, think the breweries had pulled out all the stops for this one. We soon spotted Frank, Robert and Ursl in their uniforms as Tages des Bieres Bamberg Ambassadors. However, by the time we made our way over, Frank had departed to Spezial with his brother Jürgen, so we followed, to be eventually joined by the others. Spezial was in good form, too good because round seemed to follow round in quick order. At some stage, we met Chris from Saffren Walden who has been visiting Bamberg for many years, generally staying with Frank – hope you might write something on the Forum, Chris, because you have a lot of knowledge of the Franken beer scene.

Thus ended our three weeks in Drosendorf – next stop, Eschawo in July and, hopefully, our get together in Bamberg on July 25.