In addition to very good food and excellent wine, the region of Churfranken also offers drinkable beer from regional breweries. A little beer tasting just before dinner was of course just the thing for me.
Eder & Heylands Brauerei
The family business in Großostheim in the Churfranken region has been in existence since 1872, when Friedrich Eder acquired the brewery and restaurant “Zum Ochsen” and began to consistently expand the business.
The best-known beers are the “Schlappeseppel beers” in the swing-top bottle. There are now numerous “Schlappeseppel” products on offer: Export, Pils, Pils non-alcoholic, Helles Bayrisch mild, Kellerbier, Landbier, Dunkel, Weißbier dunkel, Weissbier, Weißbier non-alcoholic, Natur-Radler, Radler, Winterbock.
Furthermore, beers of the brand Eder’s, Heylands and Bavaria are brewed in the brewery.
With the selection, I was really looking forward to the tasting.
Beer tasting in the Eder Keller
We were met by a beer sommelier, an expert on the subject of beer sensory analysis, beer styles and beer presentation. We were taken to the cosy guest room, where there are some interesting historical pictures pointing to the tradition of brewing beer in this house.
After a short introduction to the history of beer, the tasting could then begin.
Beer in Churfranken – freshly tapped tested
First, we were served a Bavaria Hefeweizen. The first glance shows a slightly cloudy beer with a firm and stable foam. It smells slightly of banana, wonderfully fruity. The first sip shows that a beer with a soft and mild taste has been brewed here. I like the taste, it is not too intrusive and the carbonic acid leaves a pleasant tingle on the tongue.
The second beer we were presented with was a dark beer. The Schlappeseppel Dunkel presented us with a beautiful dark colour. It smells slightly of the roasted aromas of malt, but not too malty. When you take the first sip, you are surprised by a restrained bitter note. I find it very pleasant and not too intrusive.
Finally, we were allowed to try the Eder’s Pils. With an original wort of 11.2% and 5.0% alcohol by volume, this is a rather mild beer. It is light and almost golden in the glass and has a firm and stable head. On the palate, the Pilsner has a fine, tart touch that is not dominant. I found the beer to be rather mild.
My clear favourite of the tasting was Eder’s Pils followed by Bavaria Hefeweizen.
Address:
Restaurant Eder Keller Aschaffenburger Str. 3 63762 Großostheim
Opening hours:
Tuesday – Friday: 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and from 5.30 p.m. onwards Saturday: from 17.30 Sunday: 11:30 – 14 h and from 17.30 h
FAUST beer at the “Zum Riesen” inn in Miltenberg
One of the oldest breweries in the Rhine-Main region is Brauhaus FAUST. It was founded in 1654 as the Löwenbrauerei in Miltenberg. In 1875, the Faust family took over the Löwenbrauerei and has run it as a family business ever since. In 1993, the Löwenbrauerei became the “Brauhaus Faust” and is now run by the fourth generation.
The brewery’s range of products is large. I drank the FAUST-Riesen Spezial during a dinner. The alcohol content is 5.5% by volume, the original wort 13.3%.
The first glance at the beer shows a golden beer with a strong but fine-pored foam. It smells quite malty and at the first sip you can taste the malt quite strongly, but not unpleasantly. Unfortunately, I did not detect the discreet honey and tobacco notes that were announced.
In any case, the beer went excellently with my schnitzel, it was drinkable and not too obtrusive in taste.
On my second visit to Miltenberg, there was time to make a short detour to the Faust brewery. Here I was to learn on a guided tour what makes the beer in Churfranken so unique.
The Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 precisely defines the ingredients for beer production in German breweries. Water, malt, hops and yeast may be used. Now you could argue that every beer should taste the same. But far from it. Every brewer can develop his own style for a beer. Whether it is a special hop, an individual malt or the secret yeast strain from the range of ingredients or the type of fermentation, the length of maturation or filtration – a small change brings a new taste.
Brauhaus Faust, for example, works with open fermentation. In the traditional manner, the beers ferment in low open fermentation vats. The bitter foam containing the tannins is skimmed off by hand.
The long storage period of at least 6 weeks gives the beer time to “mature” and develop its full-bodied taste. A total of 21 different beers are brewed at the Miltenberg brewery. Some of them are only available seasonally, other beers are offered constantly.
After we had supplied ourselves with some beers in a beer store, we were drawn to one of the most unusual places in Miltenberg. Here at the brewery, they’ve built a viewing terrace above some tanks. With a cool beer, this is the most panoramic beer-tasting location I’ve experienced so far.
After we had supplied ourselves with some beers in a beer store, we were drawn to one of the most unusual places in Miltenberg. Here at the brewery, they’ve built a viewing terrace above some tanks. With a cool beer, this is the most panoramic beer-tasting location I’ve experienced so far.
Disclosure: The visit and the tasting were part of the programme of a press trip. T
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