Tuesday, 23 June 2009: Isny im Allgäu and Bad Waldsee

Yesterday: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

I finally got my wireless connection working today. Turns out I was trying to connect to the <headslap>wrong network</headslap>.

We bought an twelve-euro all-day DING ticket for the buses to Brauerei Stolz in Isny im Allgäu. Real good beer and more food than I could eat.

Brauerei Stolz / Gaststätte Engel, Isny im Allgäu

Stolz Isnyer Hopfen Perle

Stolz Dunkles Weizen

Stolz Hefeweizen hell

Stolz Blaubändele

Stolz Isnyer Zunftbier

We got on the bus for Bad Waldsee, and the driver said our DING ticket is no good on the BODO lines, and he charged us another twelve euro for that 1½-hour ride.

Having missed the bus at Bad Waldsee, we walked a mile or so to the Mühlbergstüble and had a tasty Steinacher beer. The Mühlbergstüble is a nice bar that's probably lots of fun when it's busy, but we were the only people in the place at 4:00pm.

Mühlbergstüble, Bad Waldsee

Steinacher Hausbräu

We walked back to the train station just in time to see our train pull out. Just as well, since we didn't have tickets. We waited 50 minutes in the rain for the next train, nursing Choo's injured hand all the while. (I'll let her post those details.) We arrived in Biberach at 6:10pm, and nobody ever asked us for the tickets we bought.

Tomorrow: Bad Schussenried and Tettnang

Monday, 22 June 2009: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

Yesterday: Travel days

Just like last time, I can't get the hotel's internet connection to work with my machine nor on Paris', so there might be some delays in posting my notes.

Choo and I got on a bus headed for Ehingen. Near the end of the trip, the driver asked why we were going there, and I told him we needed to change to a different bus to go to Zwiefaltendorf. He asked which bus, then what time it was scheduled to leave, which happened to be in about two minutes. He started hollering at the car in front of us to "Geh! Geh!", and he pointed us at the bus we needed, and we made the change just in time.

The bus made a turn by a sign saying it was only two kilometers to Zwiefaltendorf, so I figured we'd want the next stop and pushed the button. The next stop, however, was Datthausen Kapelle, about a kilometer short of Zwiefaltendorf, so we walked the rest of the way. Funny thing: about halfway there, the bus had made its u-turn and passed us going the other way. The driver looked amusingly confused.

Blank's Brauerei, Zwiefaltendorf

They are friendly people at Blank's, and the beers were good, and so was the food. The senior Herr Blank allowed us to walk around his 130-hectoliter (111-barrel) brewhouse and distillery, and he seemed quite interested in the American brewing scene.

Blank's Spezial Dunkel

Blank's Weisse

Blank's Pilsener naturtrüb

Blank's Edelbier

Our next target was nearby Zwiefalter Klosterbräu. The bus would have taken nearly an hour to get us there — if we hadn't already missed it anyway — so Choo decided we should walk. Five kilometers. Along a highway. In the rain. Bad idea immediately after lunch and beers. My stomach reacted like it did in København, but much less violently.

We did manage to get there in the end.

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu, Zwiefalten

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu is a fairly big brewery with a fairly big Gaststätte attached. We didn't eat there, but we did manage a few of their beers.

Zwiefalter Kloster-Weizen Hefetrüb

Zwiefalter Klosterbräu Spezial Export

Zwiefalter Kloster-Pils

Zwiefalter Abt Beda naturtrüb

We waited most of an hour for the bus to Biberach via Riedlingen, and got back to the hotel just after 6:00pm. I still can't get the wireless internet to connect.

Tomorrow: Isny im Allgäu and Bad Waldsee

Sunday, 21 June 2009: Biberach an der Riß

This year's third trip to Oberschwaben begins! Follow along here, and check out the map.

Our flights — Omaha to Minneapolis to Amsterdam — were uneventful, which is always a good thing. Choo, having flown non-stop from San Francisco, was waiting (and by waiting, I mean sleeping) at the departure gate in Amsterdam, and we all flew to Stuttgart together. We had time for a couple of beers in an airport bar before the long train ride to Biberach. We arrived at our hotel around 6:00pm and had dinner and a couple of beers before hitting the sack.

Tomorrow: Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalten

Oberschwaben itinerary

Here's what we'll try to accomplish during next week's trip to Oberschwaben:

• Sunday, June 21: Arrive in Biberach an der Riß around 5:30pm and check into the Hotel Drei König.
• Monday, June 22: Brauerei Blank in Zwiefaltendorf and Zwiefalter Klosterbräu in Zwiefalten. The bus schedules are such that we might walk the 5 kilometers between the two breweries rather than wait for a bus to take us via Riedlingen.
• Tuesday, June 23: Brauerei Gasthof Engel (Ausschank for Brauerei Stolz) in Isny im Allgäu and Mühlbergstüble Gaststätte (Ausschank for Steinacher Hausbräu) in Bad Waldsee.
• Wednesday, June 24: Gasthof Goldener Löwen (Ausschank for Königsegger WalderBräu) in Königseggwald and Schussenrieder Brauerei in Bad Schussenried.
• Thursday, June 25: Gaststätte zur Traube (Ausschank for Adlerbrauerei Gebhard Föhr) in Ehingen-Rißtissen and Pflugbrauerei Gnann in Langenau-Hörvelsingen.
• Friday, June 26: We'll rent a car and drive from Biberach an der Riß to Hirschbrauerei Flözlingen; brewer/malter/distiller/owner Rolf Schittenhelm has shown us such a good time on our past couple of visits, I can't resist stopping by again. If time and sobriety allow, we'll try to stop at one or more of these breweries on the way to our hotel at the Stuttgart airport:
  • Gasthausbrauerei Sonne in Herrenzimmern
  • Schwanen Bräu in Bernhausen
  • Hausbrauerei Schloßturm in Stuttgart-Möhringen
• Saturday, June 27: Das grüne U is a series of parks in central Stuttgart that happens to be dotted with beer gardens. (Thanks to Choo for finding out about it!) We'll likely spend the day strolling from beer to beer if the weather is nice. If it's not, there are several brewpubs in Stuttgart Mitte that are worth a visit.
• Sunday, June 28: Our flight leaves Stuttgart at 6:30am.

The Google Earth map is posted at beerme.com.

Buy my house!

41.430598° N, 97.365145°W

Listing at realtor.com

Gottberg's new brewer

I just heard from my former assistant Jeremy Kirby; he says he's been hired to take over the brewing operations at Gottberg when I leave.

I wish him all the luck in the world; I know he's more than capable of handling the job. Hey, maybe he and Sara can buy my house!

Back to Biberach

For the third time already this year, we're headed back to Germany! Biberach an der Riß will be the home base again, along with a couple of days in Stuttgart. We'll arrive on Sunday, June 21 and fly home early Sunday, June 28.

I'm hoping to be able to visit at least ten breweries, but we'll see how that goes. As always, I'm putting together a Google Earth map of the routes and targets; you can find that map at beerme.com.