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First Night in Berlin
Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 3:29 AM

Check into one of Berlin’s Art’otels, all decked out with Andy Warhol’s work — in the lobby, the hallways and even the room (a purple Mao above the bed).

Then we book up with a buddy and former neighbor of ours from Culver City, Wayne Grajeda, a musician/TV director, now living and working in Berlin. Together, we head out for some dinner — at a brewpub he knows not far away — and grab a beer at a local food stand on the way. It is local pils, Schultheiss, a decent pils with a grainy malt flavor, more like a Munich Helles, but balanced with hops.

We soon arrive at Brauhaus Lemke, one of two in the city, this one at Schloss Charlottenburg, a local palace on the westside of the city. Specializing in Bavarian-style brewing and cooking, and bedecked in the blue and white checks of the Munich flag. The brew works are tastefully integrated around the large restaurant area.

Lemke brews four beers, which I have as a set of tasters They arrive in a specially designed tray and served with a litte dish of Munich Cara malt.

The Original is a dunkles, golden dark orange in color and bready and biscuity in the taste. The Pils is unfiltered (!), well balanced but favoring the malt, again like a Helles. The Wheat is a Bavarian-style Hefeweizen with big banana and clove notes, but marred by some weird off flavor in the finish (this perceived flaw was much less noticeable in my second glass of it). And the Seasonal is a Oktoberfest bier (also available in a 1 litre size), smooth and malty creamy, and lighter in color, like US versions of the style. All good, solid traditional-style beers.

For dessert, I order a Berliner Weisse, bottled, from Berliner Kindl, mit schuss waldmeister (woodruff syrup), but ask them to let me pour it. It comes with a wide, squat logo glass, a dash of woodruff already in it, along with a bendy straw. I ask for a small glass and pour the beer into that to drink unadulterated. It’s very pale, almost colorless; nary a nose, and extremely light in taste with some discernible wheat flavor, followed by that tart kick in the finish. I drink most of it neat, but add just a touch of the green syrup for a tasty herb version. I spot a woman at another table drinking it Berliner style, with the straw in the squat glass of very green beer.

Wayne walks us back to the hotel, where we hang at the “Factory Bar” among the Warhols, catching up over a round of pale-colored Berliner Pilsners, in tall pilsner glasses. An inoffensive Pils, it is light and clean-tasting.

Berlin Bound
Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 4:28 AM

Danise and Früh.

4 hours from Düsseldorf to Berlin by train. 1 bottle of beer. And it’s a Kölsch, so we gotta drink it cold. We will be thirsty when we arrive in Berlin. Til then…

Last day in Düsseldorf
Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 12:17 AM

A mellow day, overcast after an overnight rain. The Sticke Warriors head off to Antwerp; we will meet up with them in Amsterdam in a week.

We explore the city on foot, from the parks to the riverbank to the neighborhood with the archictechturally avant-garde buildings designed by Frank Gehry, among others. Also take in the vast expanse that is Düsseldorf from way up above, atop the 172-meter-high (574 ft.) Rhein Tower.

Also have time for another malty Alt or two, this time from Zum Schlüssel, one of the Alt houses we managed to miss.

Finish the day off with some Kraut Kültur: a performance of Mozart’s “Sie Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute) at the opera house. Conveniently only 2 blocks away from our hotel. Bottled Frankenheim Alt (from a big Alt brewer in the area) was the only beer choice at the bar pre-curtain and during the interval.

A great town. D-dorf. To quote Leonard Cohen, “…then, we take Berlin.”. Stay tuned…

Day Trip to Köln, part 2
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 12:52 AM

Good advice. That’s just what we did in Köln.

After leaving the Köln train station, we gape in astonishment at the enormous Kölner Dom (Cathedral) in whose shadow we stand awed. We walk around the massive structure and soon find our way to the nearest Kölsch taphouse.

“13 Kölsch, bitte,” Fred orders as we gather around some tables outside Früh, our first stop. And very soon, the server comes out bearing a circular tray that carries multiple stagen (the small cylindrical rod-shaped Kölsch glasses) filled with that wonderful, clear, light-bodied liquid, and plops one down in front of each of us. Our first of many in this gorgeous city, and it’s only about 12:30 in the afternoon.

A pleasant alternative to the heavier, more bitter Alt, Kölsch is likewise served on gravity from a tapped barrel keglet and pours with a big, creamy, but quickly dissapating head. But no time for seconds (at least not yet), as there other tap houses andtheir Kölsch to try.

Unfortunately, we spent so much time visiting the pubs and sampling their versions, that I didn’t take many photos on the iPhone, so what you see above is what I got (until I post real camera photos).

After Früh, we follow a taphouse trail through the Altstadt (old town) and hit, in order, Brauhaus Sion, Peters Brauhaus, Gaffel (more corn in flavor), Brauerei zur Malzmühle (where we stop for lunch and have several of their quite good Mühlen Kölsch in the process), Pffafen (technically not a Kölsch as it is brewed outside the designated area of the city in which a beer can be legally deemed a Kölsch, as the term is an appelation, like Champagne), and then Päffgen. Next, as a palate cleaser, Fred leads us to an international beer bar, where we mix it up; some go for an Eisbock, others a Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock. Since Danise and I will not be following the group on to Belgium, I order a bottle of the Mort Subite Kriek — the not-so-sour cherries really jump out at you after days of the more subtly flavored Alt and Kölsch styles.

We walk along the river more, and then reconvene back at Früh for another. I do believe this is my favorite Kölsch of our walkabout in Köln today. Some of the group head back to Düsseldorf earlier, while a small cadre of us first-timers visit the confines of the massive Cathedral, Germany’s largest and most ornate gothic cathedral.

Day trip to Köln part 1
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 10:48 AM

The Uregie pub in the underground Carsh Haus shopping center in Düsseldorf shopping center, right next to the fresh produce section.

Today is the day trip to Köln to sample the local Kölsch. But first, a stop at the Carsh Haus, the underground shopping center with the Uregie pub, for those who didn’t make it there yesterday. Fortunately, we are able to buy some bottled Sticke und unfiltered Alt to take home, which we do. Back to the hotel to drop them off.

And then some 13 of us board the train to Köln, some 20 miles south…

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