Dry January 2022 – my experience with some non-alcoholic beers

I completed Dry January for the third consecutive year and used this opportunity to try out some non-alcoholic beers (NAB) brewed in Germany. My friend and neighbour Andreas Krennmair (@der_ak) suggested that I write a blog post to share my tasting notes of some of the more interesting NABs that I sampled. As a brewer, …

Braumeister Syndrome

A friend told me recently about a conversation he had with some craft brewers that he met at a local brewery. My pal is a German Braumeister and introduced himself to his fellow industry colleagues as such. Apparently, they retorted with something along the lines of: "Braumeister is an outdated concept and we don't like …

Drinking beer in Berlin

I recently moved to Berlin. And I'm very excited about this. After an extended spell in Bonn and a short stay in Edinburgh cut even shorter by “The Thing”, I had some fresh perspective and was looking forward to a change of scenery. So I packed my suitcase, jumped on a train and moved to …

A guide to becoming a brewer in Germany

Germany has an apprenticeship scheme like any other that allows young people to gain work experience, learn on the job and earn a bit of money and a qualification. However, the two unique aspects about the German apprenticeship schemes are the prestige it holds compared to similar schemes in the UK, for example, and the …

Walking the 5 Seidla Steig – a beery day hike in Franconia

On my recent trip to Nuremberg I spent a day hiking in the fränkische Schweiz - a rural, particularly picturesque region of the southern German Franconia - following the 5 Seidla Steig hiking route. Seidla is Franconian dialect for a 500ml mug of beer and yes, that's right folks, it's a beer hike. This is one of the …

Transparency in German contract brewing

Transparency is, in my opinion, a key factor that sets small breweries apart from macro breweries. Transparency manifests itself in numerous ways, whether it's a brewery that offers tours to its visitors or whether we consider transparency as an open and honest dialogue between brewers and drinkers about the brewing process, raw materials and industry …

Learning how to brew Kölsch at Sünner Brauerei

After a brief, exam-related hiatus from blogging I thought I'd put some thoughts together about some time I spent recently at Sünner Kölsch, in, well, Cologne. As part of my brewer's training course I am expected to learn about all aspects of beer production and my boss kindly organised for me to go to the …

Golden Pints 2017

So this seemed like a fun way to sum up a beery 2017 and reflect a little on what's been in my glass. (Apologies that Golden 'Pints' doesn't quite seem so apt in a German context but any potential alternatives would most likely lead to confusion.) Best German bottled beer – Schönramer Helles Perhaps the …

A couple of things CAMRA and the Reinheitsgebot have in common

In my time working in beer in the UK and Germany I’ve had some interesting dealings with customers and industry folk alike regarding CAMRA and the Reinheitsgebot. When working at the BrewDog bar in Bristol, we’d often get real ale traditionalists who would come to the bar and turn their noses up at the broad …

A conversation with World Champion Beer Sommelier Stephan Hilbrandt

I recently sat down and had a beer or two with Bonn resident Stephan Hilbrandt, the current World Champion Beer Sommelier. In September 2017, Stephan won the beer sommelier competition run by the Doemens Academy, Munich that is held every two years. He competed alongside 69 other beer sommeliers from 15 different countries to win …