Saturday, 27 June 2009: Stuttgart

Yesterday: Flözlingen and Bernhausen

Our ambitious-yet-relaxing plan: take the S-Bahn from the airport into Stuttgart, have lunch at Calwer-Eck, and stroll through the beer gardens in the "Green U".

Calwer-Eck-Bräu, Stuttgart

Two small beers were plenty on top of the massive plate of schwäbisch meats, sausages, potatoes, and sauerkraut. It was already starting to feel like time for a nap.

We wandered around Stuttgart-Mitte in the neighborhood of the Neues Schloss.

Neues Schloss, Stuttgart

We found a beer garden outside the Hotel am Schlossgarten and had a beer each. We were all so tired by then, we decided to walk the three blocks to the train station, head back to the hotel, and get ready for our 6:30am flight home.

Still, it was a successful and fun trip. And it looks like we'll be going back in October!

Friday, 26 June 2009: Flözlingen and Bernhausen

Yesterday: Rißtissen and Hörvelsingen

Paris thought she might get the day off, but alas, she had to work in the morning. In the meantime, Choo and I wandered back over to the Budget office to rent another car. Paris called at 11:00 for us to pick her up, and we were off to Flözlingen by way of Rottweil.

I never pass up a chance to visit Rolf at Hirschbrauerei Flözlingen. He's a great guy who makes great beers.

Hirschbrauerei Flözlingen

Choo enjoys her first Flözlinger beer, and she has a sample to take home

"In every bar, no matter where I am, I always have an asshole at my table."

Rolf, Choo, Richard, Paris, and Rolf enjoying some Zwickelbier

Unfortunately, as the afternoon drew on, we had to take our leave from Rolf's Gemütlichkeit and head for Stuttgart. Choo reminded me that I had promised her an opportunity to drive on the Autobahn; here is a quick look at the fun she had.

Choo fährt auf der Autobahn

(Keen-eyed viewers will note that we were traveling over 180 km/h, and we passed no less than three 120 km/h speed limit signs. I protested from the back seat, to the point of acccusations of Tourette's, but my pleas were ignored.)

We did arrive safely in time for dinner at Schwanen Bräu in Bernhausen, just south of the Stuttgart airport. It was fine Biergarten weather.

Schwanen Bräu, Bernhausen

Schwanen Weiss

Schwanen Pils naturtrüb

It had been a long day, and the hotel was quite comfortable.

Tomorrow: Stuttgart

Thursday, 25 June 2009: Rißtissen and Hörvelsingen

Yesterday: Bad Schussenried and Tettnang

No Choo today! She's rather the worse for wear after yesterday's adventures, so I'm on my own. A train to Laupheim and a bus to Rißtissen dropped me off in front of Adlerbrauerei Föhr. I found their beers at the Gasthaus zur Traube about two blocks up the street.

Adlerbrauerei Föhr, Rißtissen

Gasthaus zur Traube, Rißtissen

There was nobody here at noon except the owner and a couple of her old-timer regulars. Great beer and a nice plate of Bratwurst!

Föhr Edel-Pils

Föhr Schalander Bier

Föhr Hefe-Weizen

Following a short bus ride to Ulm and a longer one to Hörvelsingen, I found myself at Pflugbrauerei Gnann.

Pflugbrauerei Gnann, Hörvelsingen

The schwäbisch is strong here, and the beers aren't bad.

Pflug Weizen

Pflug Helles

Pflug Dunkles

I missed a bus and didn't get back to Biberach until 7:30 or so. Choo was feeling better, so we wandered around until we found the Croatian restaurant Trulli for dinner. (Paris was working late. Again.)

Tomorrow: Flözlingen and Bernhausen

Wednesday, 24 June 2009: Bad Schussenried and Tettnang

Yesterday: Isny im Allgäu and Bad Waldsee

The original plan was to ride buses to the Bierkrug-Museum in Bad Schussenried and to Königsegger WalderBräu in Königseggwald. Instead, Choo talked me into renting a car and adding more culture to our trip. Bad Schussenried made the cut. Königseggwald didn't, being replaced by the HopfenMuseum in Tettnang.

I had visited Bad Schussenried in December 2006, but I didn't feel then like I really experienced the place. We did much better this time.

Schussenrieder Erlebnisbrauerei & Bierkrug-Museum, Bad Schussenried

A Choo-sized wooden beer-drinking vessel

Bierkruge for card-players

"The Three-Legged Brewmaster"; note the extra boot

Lunch and a beer followed the museum tour.

Schussenrieder Schwarze Weiße

Schussenrieder Kristall Weizen

More culture was to be found at the HopfenMuseum in Siggenweiler, near Tettnang.

HopfenMuseum Tettnang, Siggenweiler

Whopping great bags o'hops

Hops as high as an elephant's eye

Choo helps with the hop harvest

A Tettnanger Hopfensau

"A beer glass is not just a beer glass! Match up the beer glasses with their appropriate beer styles."

The HopfenMuseum had a section dedicated to the history of Women and Beer.

Homebrewers may be interested to see just how many hop flowers it takes to make hop pellets.

The two glasses contain the same weight of hops.

The HopfenMuseum is just a few minutes away from Dietmannsweiler, home of Brauereigasthof Schöre. I had wanted to visit Schöre many times before, but it was never possible due to their opening at 4:00pm on weekdays. Today, we had the opportunity.

Brauereigasthof Schöre, Dietmannsweiler

The Schöre grounds include cattle barns and hop fields.

We had a spot of dinner and sampled the various beers.

Schörepils naturtrüb

Schöre Weisse

Schörebräu hell naturtrüb

Schörebräu Dunkel

Schöre's owner George Bentele did us the honor of inviting us to sit at his Stammtisch.

In the meantime, Paris had called me from her office in Biberach, reminding me that I was supposed to bring some bottled beers for her colleague. Schöre didn't have any, but I knew that Brauerei-Gasthof Krone in Tettnang did, so we made a quick stop there.

We drove back to Biberach, filled up the tank, dropped off the car, and walked back to the hotel.

$30.59 for 4.359 gallons = $7.02 per gallon

Tomorrow: Rißtissen and Hörvelsingen

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