Reid and Dale's Trip To Poland and Germany: Munich Part I: Beer Tour

I apologize. It has been a while me blogger friends. There are a two reasons for this. First, internet in these hotels is not too easy to come by. Every hotel except for one has made us pay for their use of WIFI. Secondly, when we arrived in Munich from Nuremberg a few days ago, we had a planned beer and food tour. Lets just say we enjoyed ourselves. Actually, I enjoyed myself!

I will tell you all about it!

But first, I must say that now we are in Berlin as I write this post. I had wrote a previous blog about Munich on the long train ride, but some how it got lost in translation, and so now I am redoing this portion of the blog. Due to the lengths and events in Munich. I will call this blog entry part I and the subsequent post part II. Part I is about the beer tour and everything you must know about beer and the second one is about Munich the city itself, and in particular, its massive role in the Third Reich. Very interesting indeed!

About a month ago, prior to our trip, I was interested in possibly viewing a brewery in Munich, as I knew that it was very well known for its beer. I came across a youtube video, and an online city tour guide called Viator. Not sure how it works, but I guess they work with a company called Radius who puts on numerous tours in Munich including city tours in the night, and even Dachau concentration camp. Nonetheless, I was amazed by this online video that I immediately told my mom, and we booked it!

After arriving in Munich after a short train ride from Nuremberg, our previous city, we had a bit of time to shop. We came back to the hotel shortly to drop stuff off, and then back to the train station where the tour guide kiosk was located. We got there a bit early, and were immediately concerned about what we had gotten ourselves into. Initially, it looked as if we were going on a tour with three incredibly drunk, and very rough looking, guys. Luckily this was not the case and more people showed up. Looked like a good mix of people from all over the world including Australians, Kiwis, English, an American, and Canadians, including a group of four Chinese women from the west-side of Vancouver. My mom and I were concerned because I don't think these women knew what they were in for!

The tour began by an introduction to German beer. The guide, and American from Texas, who clearly has enjoyed a few beers in his life time, began to tell us about Augustiner Brewery and the famed Augustiner Helles. It's a type of lager that has only four ingredients in it. It is simple, smooth and delcious. He gave us the story of how it ended up that the last family member to own it had no heir to give the company to so she gave it to a board who, under contract, had provisions that the beer could only be made in the surrounding, basically so it couldn't expand, and that it had to be made the same way. Then the contract also stated that 50% of the profit from the beer goes to charities around Munich, and the other half goes to the business. That's why you can't buy this golden goodness anywhere else but Munich. Too bad, but one may understand why.

We learned about the word prost! Which is the German way to say cheers! Its important that when you do this that you do it by looking the person in the eyes or else its seven years of bad sex. As the English guys said, "I guess thats better than seven years without sex."

We then got on a train and headed to our first destination. Oh I forgot to say that we were able to test the Helles right at the kiosk in the middle of the station. Very cool! We headed to the Oktoberfest Museum. A must destination for all you beer lovers. The information about this old building is very cool to know. It is also the oldest building in Munich as it was built in 1340, I believe, and unlike most buildings in Munich, it survived the war! As we later found out the next day, just down the alley and on to the big street was where Hitler's famous beer hall was located. It no longer exists and is now a computer store, but it's where Hitler gave his very early speeches and where the origins of the Nazi party began. In 1924, the attempted a coup, which was known as the beer hall putsch. But I digress.

We got to see many artifacts from the origins of Oktoberfest, how beer was created by watching a video, so the world's first refrigeration system that the guide argues was used for cooling down beers. He told us about how monks were some of the first to start making beer, and how these monks would drink nine litres each day because it made them feel closer to God, and that by making this golden treat they were doing God's work. So basically what I'm trying to say is that by drinking beer you are getting closer to God. It is what God wants according to these very drunk monks. Do you know how much nine litres is? I had two and was really starting to feel it!

We got to taste a few samples of Augustiner down at the cellar of this museum, which is also a pub. Then we headed to the Hofbraukeller, a very large biergarten. I think we need a few of these in Vancouver. I have got to talk to Gregor Robertson about this idea. Or Christy Clark. You think she would be interested? The reason why I say this is, is because the Hofbraukeller biergarten is state owned!!! As our guide said, we are doing our civic duty as tax payers and supporting the state. I think this is very good idea. This is why Munich has done very well for itself. That and its 19% sales tax.

Here we tried a selection of food. Basically a charcuterie plate of German goodness. Cheese and meat. And of course the first one liter beer of the night. It was a variation of a helles. It was bit more toasted and delicious.

We proceeded on to the Hofbrauhaus, a large beer hall. We learned the traditional song that is played by the Bavarian brass band inside, and then proceeded for a few more beers. It was loud. It was raucous. It was hot. It was chaos. It was fun. We hung out with an Australian couple and the American who was in Germany doing his academic research on Ancient Greek scripture. Apparently Munich has good records of these things.

We had a good night. Shared many laughs, and staggered back to the hotel, where I did not feel to good in the morning! My mom was concerned that I may not be able to make go of the Eagles Nest Tour the next day. I sucked it up and put on a smile and away we went to Hitler's summer home Eagles Nest. Which will all be discussed in the next blog entry, and after all these lovely pictures of the debauchery that ensued throughout the beer tour. Enjoy.

PROST!

The building was very tight because it was built so long ago. My mom like the height of the doorways.

He cracked a lot of jokes during the tour. Some were pretty funny, yet crude. Did you know when you see images of people carrying a bunch of the 1 liter glasses, its like 70 lbs! Crazy heavy.

These are the proper mugs to drink beer out of. The preferred choice amongst Bavarian beer drinkers. Has to be the ceramic mugs with blue writing on them. The serve many purposes, but most of which is that they are the most efficient in keeping the true beer taste.

Apparently never drink draft beer. You don't know how long ago the pipes were clean and how long ago the keg was tapped. Brown bottles are the best for keeping light and air away from the beer. Those to elements are what damage beer the most. NOT HEAT! Brown bottles let the least amount of light in. Second green bottles, and last clear bottles, which are the worst for type for beer. Too bad since I normally drink beer by Sleemans, which uses a clear bottle. And I like the draft too! The hoola skirt looking one was used for shipping the large bottles. Also, have you complained about a tin-like taste when you drink beer from a can? Wrong. It's not the beer. Its when your lips touch the aluminum can that that causes you taste buds to react to the taste of metal. It's not the beer itself. In fact, cans are the preferred choice as they cannot let air or light in the beer. Interesting eh?

During Oktoberfest there are only four beers allowed. Augustiner is one of them. Each brewery has the special and hidden recipes in this box. This box has four locks for each brewery. Each brewery has its own key. As our guide said, its like trying to open a box for a nuclear bomb. This is a ritual during Oktoberfest.