We’re all used to judging the aroma of the beer we’re enjoying, but it’s rare to be able to enjoy the aroma of the town where it’s being made. Bamberg is fairly small and so dominated by brewing that the very air is full of it.
When they’re making Rauchbier, the air fills with the smell of smoke, making a summer evening feel rather autumnal.
At the other end of town within sniffing distance of the colossal Weyermann malting plant, every time the breeze blows there’s a powerful scent of toasting, sugary grains in the air.
Makes you thirsty.
7 replies on “Bamberg smells nice”
When I used to work in Wandsworth there used to be a great aroma from the Young’s brewery. Sadly no more.
I work in the vicinity of the Guinness brewery and there’s often some sort of brewing smell in the air. Residents of the neighbouring streets are well used to not being able to hang out their washing.
I remember as a kid driving down the M4 past the old Courage plant near Reading. Always smelled of arse – although maybe that was the nearby sewage works…
I can certainly agree with the Bamberg observations, coming from Tadcaster I grew up with the smells of brewing (it hasn’t affected me, honest).
I had a similar experience recently in Cognac, the whole town smells of cognac and the lose a staggering amount to the air every year (they call it the angel’s share). When in the aging chais full of thousands of barrels of cognac, quietly letting the years go by, the aroma of cognac is incredibly intense. Also, the whole town has been blackened by a fungus that feeds on the alcohol in the air!
Even though most of you don’t like the brewery there is a wonderful smell that often hangs over Bury St Edmunds. It is one of the most wonderful smells imaginable I always think.
Garrardo,
That’s the smell of success at others’ expense!
I remember following my nose to find the St Austell brewery, about this time last year. I love the smell of brewing and wouldn’t mind in the slightest living near a brewery.