It’s January, not many winters ago. We’re in the Altstadthof, a brewpub in Nuremberg, and we’ve just decided that the “Rothes” beer we’ve just drunk three pints of is the best beer we’ve ever tasted. We look at each other and decide we’ve fallen in love with beer.
We decide we want to learn more about it — how can the “lager” we’ve been told is the root of all evil be so wonderfully varied? How do they make this amazing stuff? And so an obsession is born from a brief winter holiday.
We picked Nuremberg for a destination as (a) the flights were incredibly cheap (b) it seemed like an interesting place, especially if you like history and central European winters. I also booked a few days “surprise” holiday in the lovely Hotel Nepomuk in Bamberg, as a birthday treat for Bailey. I chose Bamberg because I’d heard it was pretty, and had a recommendation for the hotel in question. (It’s a classy joint — fellow beer-blogger Evan Rail celebrated his honeymoon there recently.)
So we planned a trip to the beer mecca that is Franconia, without beer being a motivation, and without really knowing much about beer at all. I’m not saying we’re experts now, but at the time we didn’t know our Dunkel from our Dunkel-Weiss, and nor did we care. In those days we drank real ale, but also “normal” lager. We weren’t sufficiently interested in beer to pick a pub on the basis of it, let alone a holiday destination.
That changed with this holiday.
We noted from the guidebook that Bamberg was famous for its breweries, and that people visited from all over the world to try the products from the nine (or is it ten? or eight?) breweries. That’ll be fun, we thought, gives us something to do. The rest is a bit of a blurry haze — I couldn’t tell you which ones we visited without seeing them again (at least two were shut) or what beers we liked. I remember Rauchbier, but I don’t think I liked it particularly at the time. I remember being surprised and bewildered by the different names and types of beer, and trying to work out what the difference was between a pils and a helles.
By the time we got back to Nuremberg, we were eager to try everything we could get our hands on. Then came the afternoon in the Alstadthof, and we were hooked.
We’re going back to Nuremberg and Bamberg in a couple of months, armed with a bit more knowledge. We’ve already been back to the Alstadthof, and the Rothes is still our favourite beer in the world.
For more on drinking in Nuremberg, see our post from June last year.
For the session announcement, see here. Let us know about your entry by leaving us a comment here or sending us an email – boakandbailey “at” gmail “dot” com
Boak
Here is my contribution. Cheers!
http://knutalbert.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/where-it-all-began/
Hi there Amigos!!
You can find my contribution in English HERE
And its Spanish version HERE
Thanks a lot
And my contribution can be found at: http://www.electriclandlord.co.uk/2008/05/session-15-where-it-all-began.html
Heres mine, cheers.
http://themothersmilk.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-beer-evangelism.html
My entry:
http://trojangradstudent.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-how-it-all-started.html
Here’s mine in American (no English version):
http://appellationbeer.com/blog/the-session-15-beer-and-epiphanies/
Prosit – Stan
Here’s mine!
http://greatcanadianpubs.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-where-did-it-start.html
I can do this too!
http://brewedforthought.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/the-session-15-in-the-beginning-there-was-boont/
Hi there!
Here is mine (en español):
http://cervezaalsurdelecuador.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-beervangelism-cuando-vimos-la.html
Thanks for hosting this month. Here is my contribution to the beer blogging world:
http://lyke2drink.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-can-you-see-light.html
Looks like everyone is hitting the comments, so i will do the same.
How it all began for me can be found at:
http://grainbill.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-beer-that-did-it.html
Really enjoying the posts for this month so far.
Short but sweet..here’s mine.
http://bottlesofbarley.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-seeing-light.html
Here’s mine:
http://blackcatbrewery.blogspot.com/2008/05/shakey-start-but-strong-finish.html
Forgot to comment and let you know I’ve posted mine here:
http://relentlessthirst.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/the-session-15-the-path-to-beerdom/
Thanks for hosting!
Hi, Thanks for hosing! Here’s my contribution:
http://thethirstyhopster.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/the-session-15-how-did-you-get-into-good-beer/
I’ve decided to join you this month. Thanks for hosting! Good starting topic.
http://www.fermentedlychallenged.com/2008/05/session-15-how-did-you-get-into-good.html
Wow, looks like e-mail is not the way to go today. Sorry!
http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-how-did-it-start.html
Great post! Thanks for hosting this month. My entry can be found here:
http://www.hifimundo.com/public/blog/2008/05/session-15-gradual-descent-into-must.html
Here’s mine: http://www.thatsthespirit.com/en/blog/default.asp?Display=93
Here’s my post:
http://buttlebeer.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-how-it-all-began.html
Hello gents, here’s my post for the Session. Thanks for hosting.
http://www.brookstonbeerbulletin.com/session-15-how-did-it-all-start-for-you/
J
Thanks for hosting. Good subject! Here’s my effort:
http://maeib.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-how-it-all-started.html
Cheers
Hello – Here is Flying Dog Brewery’s contribution to The Session.
http://www.flyingdognews.com/2008/05/02/founders-bbq/
Cheers,
Neal
My contribution http://geistbear.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/5/2/3672187.html
Here’s mine!
http://hodoeporicon.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-my-first-one.html
Better late than never….
http://pivni-filosof.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-seeing-light.html
Hope you like it…. And hope I will have enough time to read all the rest.
Here’s me:
http://brewvana.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/the-session-15-how-did-it-all-start/
Hey, when/if you do take a look at mine:
http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-15-how-did-it-start.html
Be sure to look at the comments, too. Five readers (so far) have left their stories of when it started for them. A Session within The Session. Kinda cool.
I haven’t seen my earlier comment show up yet, so I’m reposting just in case.
http://flowerysong.livejournal.com/51882.html
Thanks for the great response – we’re still going through them all, but shouldn’t be too long now before a roundup.
A number of people have also posted their links here, if you’re itching to read more.
I’ve finally been able to read all the post. It was fun! And a very good idea.
[...] already blogged about this – our conversion to good beer took place in Germany, so it’s a pretty key part of our beer-drinking lives. We try to go there at least once a [...]