Beer Paradise
The Bavarian town of Bamberg is packed full of breweries to delight the beer adventurer. Roger Protz went for a look-see
If you are searching for beer paradise, there’s no need to wait until you fall off your bar stool – just head for Bamberg. This small city of 70,000 people in Franconia, upper Bavaria, has 11 breweries and a vast collection of inns and taverns in which to enjoy their brews.
The beers include fascinating examples of Rauch or smoked beer made from malt roasted over beech wood fires. The method was once widespread in Europe and the British Isles until wood was replaced by coke in the 19th century.
A visit to Bamberg enables you not only to drink amazing beers in superb inns but also to see at first hand how beer was made centuries ago.
At the same time you can drink in some astonishing history, culture and architecture, as Bamberg is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The cathedral and Prince-Bishops’ palace were built in the 13th century from local sandstone: the cellars and caverns left behind from the excavations were used to store perishables, including beer. The Benedictine monastery of St Michael looms above the city. It once had its own monastic brewery, which is now a brewing museum.
The standout building is the Old Town Hall, part Baroque, part half-timbered, with the medieval section perched on a sandbank above the rushing, foaming river Regnitz. The building’s precarious position is due to the refusal of the ruling Prince-Bishop to give the citizens more solid land on which to erect their first attempt at local democracy.
Bamberg is steeped in beer. The first licence.....
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By Roger Protz
Section : International Brewery
Page number : 26
