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We thought it would be fun to share with you, the fans of Oak Creek Brewing Company, some of our adventures in Europe this past summer. Our Head Brewer and partner, Jim Strelau, is a consummate professional in beer-making, with dedication to product quality, and love of all things beer. One reward for his efforts was his 2006 bonus, a roundtrip plane ticket to Munich, Germany, whereby he would accompany Rita and me during part of our vacation travels as we traveled around Germany, France, and Czechoslovakia. that also included visiting her relatives in Bavaria.
It's always a long flight to Munich no matter how well it goes. With getting to the airport, schlepping baggage, undergoing barefoot security screening in your bare feet, changing planes in Denver, flying over almost the entire American continent and Atlantic Ocean and with seats designed by and for anorexics, claiming baggage claims and passing muster with 'show me your papers' customs officials, you're talking twenty something grueling hours. And the the worst part is -- on the U.S. to Germany leg the 'beer' served on the plane is canned 'domestic'!.
So, of course, the first thing Jim, his girlfriend K.C., Rita, and I did subsequent to all this, on a rainy Munich morning in August, was what? What else? Drink a draft Erdinger Weissbier along with eating some fresh hot Weisswurst (veal sausage) with sweet, grainy mustard and soft, warm pretzels, (a Munich specialty made famous by the likes of Donisl on the Marienplatz, which figures later in this series). And although our flight was thankfully uneventful with none of the usual horrors one hears and reads about as commonplace, that Weizen sure did taste verdammt fine.
I have to admit I was giddy at the prospect of introducing Jim and K.C. to the world-class city that is Munich, focusing, as brewers, on its beery delights. This, after all, had been one of my major stomping grounds during the almost fourteen years I lived and worked in Bavaria prior to coming back to the U.S. and founding Oak Creek Brewing Company. After making our way to our hotel on the city's north side and checking in, it was time to get serious about drinking some of the world's finest lager beer. If I could have, I would have saved the best, the Paulaner Braeuhaus ( pronounced broy house), for last, but. I just couldn't wait to experience it once again myself both directly and vicariously through the pleasure that I knew awaited Jim and K.C. in imbibing what in the beer world is truly nectar of the gods.
I was introduced to the Paulaner Braeuhausit years ago by a Bavarian brewmaster, Josef Wiegaertner, who trained me in Pottenstein, a little village of twelve hundred people in Franconia, (which had three breweries at the time!). Josef, Jim, K.C., Rita, and I had sampled the beers there with Paulaner Brewmaster Andreas Schwarzmueller. This a phenomenal brewpub/gasthaus Owned and operated by the Paulaner brewery, one of the major breweries in the country,. But the only beer served there is all brewed on the premises, with none from the larger brewery., This relationship is similar to that between Oak Creek Brewing Company on Yavapai Drive and our Oak Creek Brewery and Grill at Tlaquepaque. I just had to get that obvious and shameless plug in!
When you first set foot inside you're bowled over by the gleaming, highly polished all-copper brewing system, beer bar, taps, dispensing heads, everything! It just knocks your Knickerbockers off as it was calculated to do when the good folks at Paulaner decided to create something where absolutely no expense was spared. Then you hit the Old World charm of dark oak beams, booths, tables and chairs; aromas of fermenting beer, roasting meats, sauer kraut, fresh farmer's bread. There's an understated, reserved, yet joyful din that registers from the satisfied guests, an eclectic mix of Muencheners and in-the-know tourists.
After sitting down and perusing the beer list we all ordered half-liter mugs of unfiltered 'Helles', or light colored lager beer, called Zwicklbier in some quarters. You might have heard this type of beer referred to as Zwicklbier. The German word 'Zwickl' refers to the sampling device on a brewery fermentation tank where brewers pull samples of the unfiltered beer and taste it for quality control during the course of fermentation. So Zwicklbier is really any beer removed from the fermenter and served without prior filtration. This assures an element of freshness and yeasty richness unique to beers of this type.
One thing about Jim is when it comes to judging beer quality he asks no quarter and gives none. He is his own harshest critic concerning the beers we make at Oak Creek, which is one reason why they are so consistently good. So when he drinks beer made by others he is equally critical. I like to think I'm the same way!
I wish I could adequately describe for you the look on Jim's face after his first sip. The words would have to be 'awestruck' followed by 'elated'. "There's no way beer gets any better than this," he said. And at that moment I knew that this partner, brewer, and friend, had also just become a fraternity brother of mine in a fraternity whose documented history stretches back at least 6000 years!
Don't miss the next installments! Photos included!
Jim and K.C. experience the Hofbraeuhaus and survive, but just barely!
Tales from a small Bavarian village beer fest in Fred's old neighborhood!
Jim shows us how to order beer in France and in French!
And much, much more!!