Monday, February 25: Hirsch-Brauerei Honer (Wurmlingen)

Yesterday: Omaha-Atlanta-Zürich

Swiss Alps from 10,000 feet

So our plane landed in Zürich at 8:00am, and by 9:00 I was on a train (77.00 CHF = US$72.55; the dollar's in the tank this year) from Zürich Flughafen via Tuttlingen to Wurmlingen, home of Hirsch-Brauerei Honer. (Web Site | Tasting Notes)

I wandered around town a bit to get my bearings, but it was a short walk from the train platform (Wurmlingen isn't big enough to have a "station") to the brewery.

Hirsch-Brauerei Honer, Wurmlingen

I arrived shortly after they opened, and there were just three people inside, all at the same table. Turns out one of them was the boss of the place, and the other two were regular customers. The boss got up from his laptop and asked what I'd like, and I gave him a business card and told him what I was up to. He was surprised to hear that I wanted to try all of the beers, and he told me that the smallest glass he has is a half-liter, and I told him that it's OK because I'm traveling by train. His buddies got a kick out of that, and one of them invited me to join them at the Stammtisch: a great honor, especially for a foreigner. Conversation was difficult, though, as my German was not their Schwäbisch. ("Ich verstehe Sie aber nicht," one of them said.) The boss decided that I didn't have to drink a half-liter of each of their five beers after all, but rather set me up a sampler tray of 0.2-liter glasses. I bought them all a round of beers and had a couple more myself.

They're quite proud of their brewery museum ("Bier Welt"), but it appeared to be closed at the time.

My ticket said I had to take a rather roundabout way to Konstanz, but I still got there by 4:30pm. I waited for Paris at the hotel bar, along with a couple Radeberger Pils (very tasty stuff), and I had a couple more Pils there after she arrived.

Hotel Golden Tulip Halm, Konstanz

Tomorrow: Waldhaus Privatbrauerei, Waldhaus-Weilheim