Big Breweries!

Tuesday we took a day trip to Leipzig! We took a train there (it was about an hour away) which was my first train ride! It was really fun. I am actually looking forward to our six hour train ride to Munich tomorrow. Brian taught us how to play a card game called Elevator which was super fun but really stressful. Haha I wasn't very good at it but I am hoping to make a comeback soon.

When we got to Leipzig, we took a tour of Sternberg Brewery which was the first big brewery we have seen so far (that was not a restaurant/pub). It was huge! They make affordable beer that is marketed toward a younger demographic; they emphasize the fact that they make good, cheap beer. I think my favorite part of the tour was going to the bottling room. It was pretty amazing to see all of the bottles and think about how many beers they are able to produce daily. Our tour guide told us that we were able to bottle 100,000 beers every hour! It was really interesting to contrast this brewery with the other ones we have seen; it definitely felt more like a factory than a brewery. But I guess a more commercial brewery needs to be more efficient. I wonder if the brewers still have the "passion" for what they do like they talked about at the brewing school.

After Sternberg, we had lunch at Bayerischer Bahnhof and took a tour of their brewery. The food was really delicious. We tried Gose beer, which Jenna presented the day before. I actually really liked it! It was tart and not too salty. There was definitely hints of coriander in the beer as well. It was refreshing and definitely unlike any other beer that I have tried before. They export the Gose to 24 states in the US...unfortunately California is the closest state that receives it. Our tour was interesting as well; they brewer definitely seemed like he had that important passion for brewing. He talked about a Gose Doppel Bach that is aged in tequila barrels. Sounds interesting!

We then walked to Ratzkeller, a pub underneath City Hall in Leipzig. We tried the Gose that they served there, which was the from the only other brewery that brews Gose in Leipzig. This one was quite a bit more sour, but it was delicious! I think I might prefer this one over the Bayerischer one. After the pub we went to the church where Bach worked. I don't go to very many churches, but this one was definitely beautiful. Someone was playing the organ up above, and you could see his/her shadow from below. It's really amazing to visit places that have such significant history.

That night (after the train ride and more Elevator), we tasted some beers in our hotel. I am still working on tasting beers, but I think I could detect some off aromas in a few! Then some of us went to a local pub called Slumerland. It was a very interesting place...the entire floor was covered in sand. It's kind of weird, because I got used to people not being allowed to smoke in the US, but here it's allowed. It's not as much fun to go to pubs and smell like smoke afterwards, but I guess that comes with the experience.

Today we took a tour of Shultheiss Brewery which is one of the large brands of beer in Berlin...I see their beer everywhere! They brew Berliner Kindl, Berliner Pilsner, and Shultheiss beer. It was similar to the Sternber Brewery (though even bigger) in the sense that it was more of a commercial brewery than a restaurant or pub. When we got there, we had a movie that outlined all of the steps of brewing. Most of the information I already knew from previous tours and class, but it was cool to see it put all together. It is definitely the kind of place that is used to having tours. I suppose those big breweries are used to people wanting to come and learn about brewing. We took a tour of all of the typical brewing equipment, though their fermentation tanks could hold 500,000 liters each! Again, I think my favorite part was the bottling room. Like Sternberg, they can bottle 100,000 beers in an hour! After the tour we had a tasting and tried four beers. I was again pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the darker ones! I am definitely expanding my knowledge of beers, though I still need to work on my tasting skills. It is definitely an art and a skill to detect different flavors and aromas in beers.

I can't believe tonight is our last night in Berlin. The week has felt like it has flown by, yet we have done so much! It will be sad to leave, but I am so excited to see Munich. I have heard that the culture is very, very different than here. Can't wait!

PS: I'll post pictures soon...promise!!