Oktober Reise, Day 6: Prague and the Sharks

Yesterday: The Train to Prague

Friday, October 7. After a lazy (but deservedly so) day in Prague yesterday, it's time to see the sights and drink the beer. The plan is to go across the river and up the hill to Klášterní Pivovar Strahov in the old monastery. But Paris needed to get new less-painful shoes first, so Mario and Ana went ahead while we went shopping. As it happened, there was a Foot Locker not too far away from the apartment, and the employees spoke pretty good English, and Paris got what she needed.

A fifteen-minute cab ride got us from Staré Mêsto to the imposing Strahovský klášter, home of Klášterní Pivovar Strahov and their Sv. Norbert beer since 2000.

All four beers I had were excellent: Amber Lager, Pale Ale, Antidepressant Dark Lager, and Antidepressant Brown Ale.

There were quite a few more beers on the menu, but I got filled up on their excellent pivovarský guláš.

We made our way down the hill on foot to work off that rich meal and make room for lunch (beers), and we were treated to spectacular views of this old city.

We found U sedmi Švábů along the way and slipped inside for a quick beer. Mine was a Beránek Weizenbier Nefiltrovaný, which was served way too cold, but it made a good base for the topinka.

We passed the Nový královský palác along the way. No longer a home to royalty, this week it was being used for an informal meeting of EU heads of state to discuss the war in Ukraine. (This explains why the whole area was swarming with cops.)

We continued down the hill all the way to the Karlův most, stopping for a Staropramen at the Rasiam Restaurant under the bridge's west end. At the bridge's east end, we could turn right and walk a short distance to the apartment, or we could walk a bit further to the Prague Beer Museum. Guess which one we picked.

The Prague Beer Museum isn't a museum at all, but a bar with about 30 beers on tap. They have three other locations in Prague besides this very convenient one.

The Bernard 12° Tmavý Ležák was a pretty good dark lager. The Náchod Primátor Weizenbier 12° was an excellent Hefeweizen. The Únětický 12° was a good Pilsner, and the "house beer", Real Deal Ale 13°, was a very tasty IPA brewed by Permon.

There's time for one more brewery and (no surprise) it's not far away. You'd never find Pivovar Staré Město without knowing where it was. It's below ground level on a tiny side alley between Betlémská and Náprstkova streets.

The Lager was excellent, the Single Hop Lager was OK, and the Amber Ale was oxidized beyond recognition.

And now, the point of the entire trip.

The San Jose Sharks were playing the first of two games against the Nashville Predators in the 2022 NHL Global Series. The Sharks are our team; Paris and I met at the games way back in their first season at the Cow Palace in 1991. We've been to hundreds of their games, including the overtime win in the 2016 Cup Final Game 3. Thanks to Paris, I got to play in the 2008 Shark for a Day fantasy camp. I even got a mention in the May 16, 1994 Sports Illustrated as "the loudest person in the loudest section" of the building.

Here's our Hockey Room at home — minus all the sweaters and signs that we hung up — where we watch the games now.

Paris and I took a cab from Pivovar Staré Město out to the O2 Arena, arriving in plenty of time for the skatearound. As you can see, our seats were way the hell up in the corner, just where we like to sit.

I got one picture of the player introductions too...then my phone battery died. Too many beer pictures, I guess.

The fans were about evenly split between Sharks and Predators, with a whole lot of Americans having made the trip. And the crowd was fun and into the game, but they were obviously soccer fans, singing songs and doing the wave during play.

As for the game itself, Nashville scored early, then hometown boy Tomáš Hertl tied it up mid-first. After that, it was all Nashville, and the Sharks lost 4-1.

We took a remarkably expensive cab back to the apartment and called it a night.

Tomorrow: A lot more beer in Prague

Oktober Reise, Day 5: The Train to Prague

Yesterday: Niederaula and Bad Hersfeld

Thursday, October 6. The train ride to Prague is a long one, and Matthias had to go back to work, so we got up early. Matthias drove us to the Fulda station to catch the 7:56 train to Nürnberg and the 10:37 train to Cheb and the 12:33 train to Praha.

There were signs in the Plzeň station advertising the Pilsner Fest to be held Friday and Saturday. It's kinda too bad we already had plans, because this year's fest celebrated the 180th anniversary of the founding of Pilsner Urquell, inventors of the Pilsner style of beer.

We rolled into Prague a little before 4:00pm. Finding a ride to the apartment was damned frustrating, but after walking a mile or so around and under and through the train station — much to the chagrin of Paris' shredded feet — but we got there in the end. The view was kinda restricted, but it was a taste of what was to come.

Mario and Ana were flying in from Düsseldorf, and the plan was that we would all arrive around the same time, but a pilots strike threw a wrench into that. Paris and I were gassed anyway, so I walked down the street to a little shop and bought us a few cans of beer. (The Kozel 11° was really tasty.

Then we took a nap until Mario and Ana finally arrived around 11:30pm, had a quick beer with them, and called it a night.

Tomorrow: Monastery beers and the NHL in Prague

Oktober Reise, Day 4: Niederaula

Yesterday: Beer and karaoke in Niederaula

Wednesday, October 5. We slept in, and Matthias whipped us up a little breakfast before we went out sightseeing. Our first stop was Bad Hersfeld's Schloss Eichhof. Built between 1328 and 1372, it was closed for renovations today.

Matthias called another castle/church/monastery/museum place to see if they were open; they weren't.

Matthias works in freight expediting, so we drove by Amazon's absolutely massive new warehouse. Seriously, there are entire cities in Germany that are smaller than this building. (For the record, Matthias does not work for Amazon.)

We parked in downtown Bad Hersfeld, which is mostly a Fußgängerzone (pedestrian zone), and wandered around a bit. Got a coffee and a roll, and found a pharmacy that had some bandages for Paris' feet, which were being shredded by her new shoes. It was nice and quiet there on this Wednesday morning.

Now it's already past lunchtime, and on this trip, lunchtime is beer time. So we went back to the house to work on some more of the beers we picked up yesterday.

Kloster Urstoff is a Vienna-style lager from Kloster-Brauerei Münnerstadt in Bavaria, although it actually appears to be brewed by Rother Bräu. It's a very good beer, nutty, toasty, and malty.

Yet another beer from Strecks Brauhaus, their Ostheimer Dunkel is nicely toasty and sweet, nutty and smooth.

We thought we'd see if the schnitzel place was open today, so we drove instead of walked down the hill to zum Alten Forsthaus. This time they did not disappoint! Good beers and amazing food, and really quite reasonably priced. Go there if you have the chance.

Back at the house for a few final beers, we had another one from Fulda. The Hochstift Pils had a nice floral hop flavor, but wasn't all that bitter, with a tasty bready malt character.

We had to get up early the next morning to catch our train to Prague, so one last Strecks beer will do it. Burgherren Pils was a good clean malty floral beer, except for a weird soapy note.

Sadly, there were still six beers in the case that I didn't get to try. But I'm sure Matthias will put them to good use!

Tomorrow: Up early for a six-hour train ride to Prague

Oktober Reise, Day 3: Niederaula

Yesterday: Day 2 in Düsseldorf

Tuesday, October 4. We took a train from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt — topping out at 186 mph! — and another from Frankfurt to Fulda, where our friend Matthias was waiting to pick us up. Before heading to his place, we stopped at Getränkefachmarkt Peter Koch to pick up a few of their 300+ beers. A case of assorted twenty half-liter bottles set us back a whole $25. Unfortunately, pretty much all of their stock is sitting out on the floor, unrefrigerated, and I think that showed up in the flavor of a lot of the beers.

I hadn't been feeling too well on the train, especially the second one which was packed full and we had to stand the whole way. But once we got to Matthias' house in the small Hessian town of Niederaula, we had to wait for the beers to chill. Matthias fired up the karaoke machine, and he and Mareike and the boys Paris and I sang, my thirst returned, and we started opening bottles.

First up was Land Premium, a clean, bready Vienna-style lager from Rhönbrauerei Dittmar in Kaltennordheim, Thüringen.

Closer to home, or at least to Niederaula, the Auerhahn Schöppchen is brewed by Vogelsberger Landbrauereien in Lauterbach, Hesse. It's a good clean Helles-style beer.

It was getting to be dinnertime, so we walked down the hill to zum Alten Forsthaus, which is said to have some of the best Schnitzel around, only to find they were closed for some inexplicable reason. We tried Central Grill & Pizza, but they were closed too. So we trudged back up the hill, ordered a couple pizzas, and got back to the beer.

So here's a Dortmunder-style Export from Bavaria. Rother Bräu Export seemed a bit too clean.

Here's another one from Rother Bräu. Öko Ur-Pils is smooth and floral with a mild bitterness. Öko means "organic", and while I find many organic beers to have an almost-offensive earthy character, this one was nicely clean.

Right around this time is when the exhibition game between the San Jose Sharks and the Eisbären Berlin started, so we got to experience televised European beernhockey for the first time.

Will-Bräu Hefe Weizen is from Hochstiftliches Brauhaus Fulda. Sweet wheat, mild banana, like the wheat beers we enjoyed in Baden-Württemberg some years ago.

The Eisbären scored early to take a 1-0 lead.

Back to Vogelsberger for an Auerhahn Pils. Medium body, smooth, mild hops.

And back to Bavaria, this time for a Zwickl from Strecks Brauhaus in Ostheim. It's a vegan beer, according to the label, and it's smooth and sweet, and that's about it.

Tomáŝ Hertl scored for the Sharks in the second period to tie the game.

Fuldaer Stadtbräu Helles was grainy and unfortunately mildly metallic.

Another one from Rhöner, their Pils was light and smooth and grainy, and not all that bitter.

The Sharks pick up a goal from Steven Lorentz to end the second period with a 2-1 lead.

By far the best beer of the day, Will Brau Maria Ehrenberger Pilgerstoff is a great Vienna-style lager. Toasty, nutty, and floral.

Former Nashville Predator Luke Kunin scores for the Sharks in the third period to give them a 3-1 lead and the win. The next game we see will be the Sharks vs the Predators, live in Prague.

Tomorrow, more beers with Matthias & Family!

Oktober Reise, Day 2: Düsseldorf

Yesterday: Day 1 in Düsseldorf

Brauereiausschank am Zoo is just around the corner from Mario and Ana, and it's entirely possible we walked over there last night and not today. Either way, it's a fun place with a lot of good beer.

Anyway, it's Monday, October 3. A breakfast beer is in order. And Mario was modeling his Sunken Ship Brewing shirt.

We took a tram to the Altstadt and made our way to Hausbrauerei zum Schlüssel, with their magnificent Schwemme overlooking Bolkerstraße. We drank their Altbier, of course, but they also had a Session Beer on tap. At 4.7% abv, it was more like a clean Helles beer.

Not far from Schlüssel is the fairly new Brauerei Kürzer, but they weren't open when we stopped by.

Instead, we took a walk along the Rhein and had some lunch beer.

Very near the river is the bucket-list brewery zum Uerige, home of Das Alt der Stadt. After enjoying one glass — or maybe more — of their famous Altbier, we each got a bottle of a special Helles beer they brew for the famous band Die Toten Hosen. A real good beer from a real good brewery for a real good band.

One more Altstadt Altbierbrauerei is Brauerei im Füchschen, the brewery where I had my first authentic glass of Düsseldorfer Altbier back in 2003. I had another one today, along with a Pils they had on tap. I'd drink it again.

One last Düsseldorfer beer was to be found at Retematäng Bar/Café/(Eck)Kneipe. It was Citra Hill from Beer Kong, one of the very few women-owned breweries in Germany. It was a fairly tasty representation of an American Pale Ale.

There may well have been more back at the apartment, but that's all the notes and pictures that I have. Tomorrow: we're taking a train about three hours east to visit our friend Matthias in Hessen.