Searching for the line between "hobby" and "obsession"

Kloster Andechs – Andechs, Germany

Hey reader – thanks for your patience. Blogging has been a bit tough to fit into the schedule lately. The band has been very active and I just started a new job last week. I’ll try to keep posting as much as possible. Here we go:

Though we were over in Europe for about 18 days, I can honestly say our day drip out to this monastery/brewery was overall my favorite day of the trip. We took a train about 45 min. southwest of Munich down to Herrsching, a small town on the coast of a decent sized lake called the Ammersee. I’d been referred to Kloster Andechs (in the nearby town of Andechs) by Max, a reader of my blog, in the comment s section of a previous post. Glad I took the recommendation!

After getting off the train at Herrsching, we followed the signs for Kloster Andechs through the town, neighborhoods and eventually through the woods for a longer walk than I’d anticipated. I had to keep telling my wife how sure I was that the brewery was “just over the next ridge.” It wasn’t a lie because I honestly believed it, but I was wrong a few times before I was right.

Eventually we found the place and man were we thirsty. After checking out the inside of the big church the monks had built on the hill, we grabbed some brews and took a seat out on the deck. Side note: It’s interesting how the farmlands of Germany don’t look all that different than Wisconsin. Nice, rolling hills. Little towns here and there. Funny that you can travel all the way across the Atlantic and end up in your own backyard.

First, I tried their dopplebock. It was kind of roasty/sweet all at once, pushing neither end of the spectrum too far. Very much a thick, hearty, flavorful beer that would be great for winter. Probably not the most thirst-quenching beverage after a long hike but I was happy none-the-less.

My wife went for much lighter fare: their radler. I made sure to take a sample of hers, you know, for blogging purposes. Radlers are a mix of beer and lemon soda, originally created to quench the thirst of German bicyclists. Kloster Andechs used their hell bier as the base of their version. I definitely noticed it as being less sweet than Leinie’s Summer Shandy, which is probably the only other psuedo-example of the style I’ve tried. It was also much more clear than Summer Shandy.

After throwing back this round, we went inside and ordered a late lunch. I wasn’t quite sure what I was ordering, but I think it was called (post-translation) a pig knuckle. Man do the Germans ever love their pork. Very tasty, but a lot of meat. Had some great sauerkraut to go along with it (which wasn’t so great later…) and really huge  soft pretzels. To accompany lunch, I gave their hefeweizen a try. Lots of banana flavor, just like I prefer a hefe. You can tell it was fermented warm. Not much clove present. High five Kloster, high five.

Monastary on the hill

Wisconsin or Germany?? The view from the deck.

Inside of the church

radler and doppelbock

There were literally sinks set aside JUST for puking. "Puke and rally!"

Growing some Hallertauer hops for show. I wish my setup were like this.

After a late lunch, we hoofed it back to Herrsching to catch a train to Munich. Got some exercise, tasted some history. A great day, indeed.

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