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 …

Hopfendankfest at Bäm Bäm Bräu in Cologne

German brewers take their hops seriously and this festival was organised to celebrate the 2017 hop harvest. Bäm Bäm Bräu is a nano-brewery collaborative in Cologne Ehrenfeld run by 6 incredibly passionate home brewers. They kindly invited Ale-Mania to pour beers last night at the third annual hop harvest festival and to get a little …

Warm, flat English beer in Germany

In this globalised beer market there is a fluid exchange of beery knowledge and brewing expertise and this is undoubtedly a great thing. The Bavarian brewer Gabriel Sedlmayr II first introduced the Brits to bottom fermented lager beer in the 1830s (which came decades before foreign, premium lager was commercialised and subsequently bastardised in the …