I find that the best Weißbier doesn't come from Munich, but more so from the surrounding areas. Some of the best are:
Weihenstephaner (30 mins north, near the airport)
Andechs (a monastery to the south)
Hopf (small town to the south)
Ayinger (small town to the south)
I don’t think you’ll find these in the 5L kegs though. Best chance would be Franzeskaner.
For the 6 Munich breweries, they all focus on Helles(bright) Lager, and most of the breweries in Bavaria make either really good Lager or really good Weißbier, rarely both. Some only do one or the other.
IMO Augustiner is the best by a mile. I think it’s the most popular, and as far as I know they don’t export it since they refuse to add anything to it for export. At home I usually drink the Helles Lager from Maxlrainer, which comes from a regional town next to a castle, and I live a little bit outside Munich now.
No love for Fischer’s here???
Never tried it. I was specifically talking about Munich and surrounding areas, which are all of a similar style. Being Munich Lagers or Weiß biers. A quick googling says that Fischer’s is actually in France, near the german border.
I just bought a case of Weiß bier from Rosenheim, from Auer Braü. I really rate it.
Tezza, can you tell us what kit you settled on, and how would you rate it's ease of use?
I’m assuming the brewing bit has gotten easier, but still a hassle doing the bottling, unless it’s got a keg too…
I went with robo brew, which I have since realized as an all in one vessel is a poor mans grainfather, but Im wrapped in the 2 beers that have come out so far. Mind you I have an excellent brew supplier that is very meticulous in preparing my all grain recipe. Could not be happier so far. I have brewed their (bacchus brewing) APA, very nice. and I was lucky enough to get a recipe hint on a very good commercial Pale, and I have an American Hoppy Red in the fermenter right now.
Robobrew has some deficienceies I have learned, but as a beginner im stoked with the results so far. My brewer / grain supplier have been extremely helpful in getting me in the right direction.
Whenever you guys are in Sydney. you should get there. Its not only great at the grifter, but inner west Sydney is a hot spot for craft beer with 4 other craft brewery’s in that area. I’ll be happy to meet any of you if you head to Sydney for the footy. Grifter is a solid regular also at the Cricketers arms pub which is very close to the SCG, great little inner city pub. Sydney city pubs are the best. No bullshit, old school, pokies and TAB are not a big feature at most of the good ones
Tezza, can you tell us what kit you settled on, and how would you rate it's ease of use?
I’m assuming the brewing bit has gotten easier, but still a hassle doing the bottling, unless it’s got a keg too…
Bottling isnt ■■■■■■■■ me yet. I’ll probably keg eventually but happy to start out with bottling. Doing 740 ml. Great opening a tallie of good home brew and savouring it. Brew day is fun too. I set up some old school big ■■■ stereo speakers in my garage hooked up to my old Hifi gear and chill out while im cooking.
Whenever you guys are in Sydney. you should get there. Its not only great at the grifter, but inner west Sydney is a hot spot for craft beer with 4 other craft brewery's in that area. I'll be happy to meet any of you if you head to Sydney for the footy. Grifter is a solid regular also at the Cricketers arms pub which is very close to the SCG, great little inner city pub. Sydney city pubs are the best. No bullshit, old school, pokies and TAB are not a big feature at most of the good ones
Tezza, can you tell us what kit you settled on, and how would you rate it's ease of use?
I’m assuming the brewing bit has gotten easier, but still a hassle doing the bottling, unless it’s got a keg too…
Bottling isnt ■■■■■■■■ me yet. I’ll probably keg eventually but happy to start out with bottling. Doing 740 ml. Great opening a tallie of good home brew and savouring it. Brew day is fun too. I set up some old school big ■■■ stereo speakers in my garage hooked up to my old Hifi gear and chill out while im cooking.
I even find the bottling cathartic. You get into a rhythm. It’s a form of meditation.
Oh oh, that Grainmaster things looks rockin, then I find something called PicoBrew and BrauMeister, this could get real ugly
Honestly, so far Im pretty happy with the robobrew, but you could get the same result boiling and and mashing with care in any old thing. Im still glad I went own this way. Because robobrew only has a heater at the bottom and no recirculating pump, I just get to mash temp and turn it off and cover it with a few blankets to maintain temp. I might lose 3-4 degrees in the hour, so I start out a smidge higher to compensate. Also the immersion chiller not the best, does a good job initially, but as the water temp here is probably about 24 degrees, its hard to get to the fermentation temp here in QLD. I might need to get a plate chiller and immerse in ice to speed that process up a little.
But really 2 brews in and I cant say any of this seems to have affected the output quality to my taste anyway.
I also have a thermostat controlled fridge as a fermenter which is a must for constant ferment temp and also for chilling down prior to bottling.
Robobrew is a poor mans version of whatever, but it does and OK job, easy to use and really easy to clean. Batch size is a bit small as well. It says 35 liter, but the batch size in reality, maybe 25 litres max. I get equivalent of about 4 cartons out, so with a 10 day brew plus 5 day chill and then bottle ferment, its hard to get the supply constant. I might need to double up on some brews, and then cube a few so I can keep the fermenter constantly full.
Problem with home brewing is people line up for a taste so it is going pretty quick at the moment
I reckon including everything like some tubs, bottle gear cleaners the fermenter and fridge ect its cost me about a grand to setup and Im making nice beers I reckon.
Those grainmasters ect are more than that alone, If you got one of those, it would be pretty sweet, but I think you could easily get between 1.5 to 2K depending on the other things you buy
Tried another couple of these craft brews with stupid labels and frankly I'm almost done with them.
For consistency I reckon you need to stick to some of the larger brewers, 4 Pines, Bridge Road about the best imo.
Who in particular? There are some who it seems are spending more time on designing labels than designing quality beer. Usually packing them with hop bitterness to hide their flaws. My fave Victorian brewers that I would say stand up to world levels of quality would be Bridge Road, Boatrocker, and La Sirène. Plenty of others deliver the goods more often than not too. But yeah, some just don’t cut it.
The last one was a kiwi one, label looked like it was drawn by Ed Hardy, can’t even be bothered going to the fridge to take a photo. You’re right though, tasted like VB with a hoppy aftertaste. Probably ok if it was super icy cold.
Love the bridge Rd pale, will have to go back to the Boat rocker.
The other problem with the small batch craft ones is that if you find a decent one, it probably won’t be in stock when you go back.
Oh oh, that Grainmaster things looks rockin, then I find something called PicoBrew and BrauMeister, this could get real ugly
Honestly, so far Im pretty happy with the robobrew, but you could get the same result boiling and and mashing with care in any old thing. Im still glad I went own this way. Because robobrew only has a heater at the bottom and no recirculating pump, I just get to mash temp and turn it off and cover it with a few blankets to maintain temp. I might lose 3-4 degrees in the hour, so I start out a smidge higher to compensate. Also the immersion chiller not the best, does a good job initially, but as the water temp here is probably about 24 degrees, its hard to get to the fermentation temp here in QLD. I might need to get a plate chiller and immerse in ice to speed that process up a little.
But really 2 brews in and I cant say any of this seems to have affected the output quality to my taste anyway.
I also have a thermostat controlled fridge as a fermenter which is a must for constant ferment temp and also for chilling down prior to bottling.
Robobrew is a poor mans version of whatever, but it does and OK job, easy to use and really easy to clean. Batch size is a bit small as well. It says 35 liter, but the batch size in reality, maybe 25 litres max. I get equivalent of about 4 cartons out, so with a 10 day brew plus 5 day chill and then bottle ferment, its hard to get the supply constant. I might need to double up on some brews, and then cube a few so I can keep the fermenter constantly full.
Problem with home brewing is people line up for a taste so it is going pretty quick at the moment
LOL. It’s the complete opposite of the old Billie Holiday ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’.
Oh oh, that Grainmaster things looks rockin, then I find something called PicoBrew and BrauMeister, this could get real ugly
Honestly, so far Im pretty happy with the robobrew, but you could get the same result boiling and and mashing with care in any old thing. Im still glad I went own this way. Because robobrew only has a heater at the bottom and no recirculating pump, I just get to mash temp and turn it off and cover it with a few blankets to maintain temp. I might lose 3-4 degrees in the hour, so I start out a smidge higher to compensate. Also the immersion chiller not the best, does a good job initially, but as the water temp here is probably about 24 degrees, its hard to get to the fermentation temp here in QLD. I might need to get a plate chiller and immerse in ice to speed that process up a little.
But really 2 brews in and I cant say any of this seems to have affected the output quality to my taste anyway.
I also have a thermostat controlled fridge as a fermenter which is a must for constant ferment temp and also for chilling down prior to bottling.
Robobrew is a poor mans version of whatever, but it does and OK job, easy to use and really easy to clean. Batch size is a bit small as well. It says 35 liter, but the batch size in reality, maybe 25 litres max. I get equivalent of about 4 cartons out, so with a 10 day brew plus 5 day chill and then bottle ferment, its hard to get the supply constant. I might need to double up on some brews, and then cube a few so I can keep the fermenter constantly full.
Problem with home brewing is people line up for a taste so it is going pretty quick at the moment
LOL. It’s the complete opposite of the old Billie Holiday ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’.
Big debates up here about if ‘Pacific Ale’ is style of beer, or a brand of Stone N Woods.
Wild Yaks version is good, not sure about ‘better’.
Burleigh Brewing just released their ‘Twisted Palm’ beer in similar style, but called it a ‘Tropical Pale Ale,’ , rather than steal Stone N Woods ‘Pacifc Ale’ brand name.
Currently having a Kona Porter, brewed with Kona coffee. On my verandah in Molokai, with a view across the water to Maui. Have the Two minute warning before half time on Monday night football, but not yet 4 pm here.
