Oktober Reise, Day 1: Düsseldorf

Our flight left MSP at 7pm on Saturday, October 1. After a layover in Amsterdam, we arrived in Düsseldorf at 1pm on Sunday the 2nd to spend a couple days with Mario, our visitor from Düsseldorf back in January. His partner Ana met us at the airport and took us to their apartment.

Mario was still on his way home from a beer drinking boondoggle in Rīga, so Ana started opening the beers while we waited for him.

First up were a couple cans from Ana's native Romania, Bere Bucegi and Ursus Timişoreana. Both were basic European-style lagers, but really pretty tasty.

Ana also treated us to some amazing homemade Romanian food!

Once Mario showed up, the bottles came out, starting with Bolten Ur-Alt. Mainly famous for their Altbier, they're located a bit west of Düsseldorf in Kroschenbroich. This one is a good mild beer.

Then another Altbier, this one from Krefeld, northwest of Düsseldorf. Sadly, this bottle of Seidenbrauerei Samt Altbier tasted a bit stale.

Moritz Fiege of Bochum brews a damn near excellent Helles.

Bolten also brews a Helles that's quite a bit milder than Moritz Fiege's.

And speaking of Mortiz Fiege, we finished the night with their good clean Bernstein.

Well, that's not quite true. Apparently the schnapps came out after the Bernstein, but I gotta say I don't remember much about that.

Tomorrow: pubcrawling in Düsseldorf!