Weihenstephaner Pils

October is almost over, but I finally made it to a German festival.

Grindelfest at Grindelwald, Tasmania, was a lot of fun, advertised as a family event there were lots of activities for the kids while the adults partook in beer and food.

Between plastic steins of Carlton Draught, pretzels, bratwurst and even a tornado potato I enjoyed every moment of it.

Enjoying the great Tasmanian weather

Bratwurst "German sausage"

The only issue I had was their beer, I was hoping for something German to suit the event, but Carlton Draught was all they had available. Once I got home I opened a Weihenstephaner Pils, a real Oktoberfest kind of beer imported from Germany.

A bit hard to pronounce it is a great sized bottle at 500ml and has the typical old German beer feel to it, more of a punch than anything in Australia.

Weihenstephaner Pilsner is a traditional Pilsner style beer with a smooth, pale malt background and the grassy, floral aromas of European Hallertauer hops. Sweet and well balanced with a refreshingly crisp finish.  

https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_904073/weihenstephan-pilsner-500ml

This Pilsner is just one of many beers the brewery exports, I’ll have to try the others someday.

The Weihenstephaner range

The beer festivities for Oktoberfest are coming to a close but Halloween is on the way/ already here and I actually found some decent horror themed beers to share with you.

I picked up a German hat there to 'blend in'

Until next time,

Prost

Dave

Bitburger Premium

I have been trying to decide which German beer to start with, Bitburger boasts that it is Germany’s #1 draft beer, a good start.

This beer is good but it packs a good bitter punch, the first couple took a while to get down but after that the others didn’t last long.

Four million hectolitres of this centuries old German product is brewed each year so there are a lot of people that also agree this is worth drinking.

It tastes like beer heaven

This description comes directly from their website: “Its refined herbal notes are delicately poised, followed by a nutty and honeyed aftertaste. The overall impression of this gently sparkling beer is one of deep harmony, with the unmistakeable bitterness of the hops balanced and contained by an agreeable, mellow sweetness in the body.” 

http://www.bitburgerinternational.com/bitburger/products/bitburger-pils/

It looks like the six-pack I got is actually the real thing - because it was brewed in Germany - many international beers are brewed to a recipe at a different source and therefore different to the original product.

Made following the German purity laws it only contains water, malted barley, hops and hop extract.

I’ve just had my last one, time to go searching for something else to drink.

Cheers,

Dave

Oktoberfest 2017

It's Oktober! Bring on the celebrating!

Hello fellow beer drinkers, it’s a special month for us, October is around the time when Germany have their massive annual beer celebrations for Oktoberfest, just because we aren’t in Germany it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the same kind of fun.

This month I will be hunting around my city, looking for places that are celebrating Oktoberfest while also on the lookout for some amazing German beers.

Last year I posted a blog about when Oktoberfest actually is (it starts in September), but I didn’t explain how it came about.

There is something I love about this event... the beer! 

Oktoberfest’s roots actually came from a royal wedding in Munich on October 12th 1810, between Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese.

Citizens were invited to attend to celebrate the event which was so popular it was decided to be held again the following year but as a horse race and agricultural event.

Look at all those jugs... of beer!

The celebrating continued over the years where beer stalls begun to pop up, by 1896 the beer stands became tents and the beer culture took over to become what it is now, more than a hundred years later.

Forward to today and I was heading to Saint John’s for my (at the moment) weekly visit, they had advertised a German platter on their Facebook page on Thursday, by Tuesday though it was gone, another blow was learning that they also had several German beers on tap, all gone by the time I visited though, a chance missed.

Wish I could have tried this...

Saint John's Oktober feast

Let's go!

At Grindelwald on October 28th, Grindelfest will be held again, this time it will be a more family orientated event but still promises an Oktoberfest style, I’ll try and get there.

I’ll keep searching for things to eat and drink around Launceston, I might even bring the boot out of storage and show you how to drink!

Prost (cheers),

Dave

History found at: http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/events/oktoberfest/history.html

Pictures are from Google and Saint John Craft Beer's Facebook Page

What the German's like to eat