Some time ago a few friends and I did a head-to-head comparison of a number of lovely Munich Starkbiers in honor of the end of Lent, and the winner was – Korbinian!
I’ll write a little more about Starkbier later, but you should know that the traditional Munich Starkbiers are all named with names which end in -ator. Korbinian is an exception to this rule, and it isn’t even the beer its brewer, Weihenstephan, mentions with respect to the season known as the “fifth season.” For those of us who tasted it, the winner was clear.
My ranking of the beers we …read more

If you haven’t looked at airfares recently, travel to Europe in the winter is pretty darn cheap (although the exchange rate will make your stay pretty darn pricey). Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a way to spend some of that money on a beer-related trip, Munich’s Starkbierfest may be the answer. The Starkbierfest, also called the fifth season, is a remnant of the days when the monks, fed up with fasting, tapped kegs of extremely thick, high-alcohol beer to get them through the rest of Lent. Nowadays there’s not much fasting going on, but a trip to Paulaner’s Nockherberg during …read more

\r\n\r\nI\’ve mentioned it here and here, but I have always enjoyed Augustiner\’s beers. For those of you who have spent any time in Munich, you\’ll know that Augustiner is not nearly as well represented across the city as Paulaner, Löwenbräu and Spaten, but when you get the chance to order one, do (preferably an Edelstoff, don\’t ask, just order it). Like most Munich beers, the traditional Augustiner is a Munich Helles, so it\’s neither overly hoppy nor heavily malted, but it\’s a crisp, refreshing and eminently drinkable beer.\r\n\r\nSo it was that I ended up at one of the Augustiner tents …read more

One important detail about the Oktoberfest is the beer tents. The most important thing to know about that is that only Munich breweries may have a tent at the Oktoberfest. That said, there are in fact wine and champagne tents, which are surprisingly popular, as well as smaller “schnapps” tents serving up eau de vie made out of virtually anything which can be distilled. Just for the record, most anything which once lived can be distilled.
In any event, the Munich breweries are, in no particular order: Paulaner, Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker Pschorr, Spaten-Franziskaner Bräu, Löwenbräu, and Hofbräu. As I recall, there was …read more