Nuremburg - right now the fun is about to begin

Disclaimer: blog post contains no fun.
As the banner predicted, the fun was about to being for the Nürnberg ultras who were witness to a bit of a goal fest.  But PropUptheBar is grumpy and doesn't do 'fun', even with ample statues, historic sights and brew pubs in Bavaria's second city. 

Early on a Friday morning a speedy and comfortable intercity train on its way to Berlin took me two stops from Munich to Nuremberg in an hour-and-twenty minutes.  
Let's start the city explorations with a statue, of which there are a fair few to marvel, although it was Jürgen Weber's "Marriage-Merry-Go Round" by the White Tower that had me wide-eyed.

This section of the huge statue which I've photographed doesn't look like the most fun bit of married life, does it?
The whole fountain actually disguises a subway ventilation shaft and came at a hefty cost which had local residents grumbling.

Here's the football sticker of the day...

Nuremburg's tourist hotspots begin in earnest as you cross the Pegnitz river and climb the gentle hills of Altstadt St. Sebald towards the castle. 
Great views over the rooftops from the castle, although the first glimpse of blue sky of the day made for a much better picture of Tiergärtnertorplatz.

Aha, there's another oddball statue to frown at...

Handily just around the corner from this charming square and the Albrecht Dürer house is a brewpub.  Time for a beer, I think...

Hausbrauerei Altstadthof (Bergstraße 19, 90403 Nürnberg)
I couldn't remember this place at all from a previous visit to the Nuremberg, but can't imagine I didn't visit the original brewpub slap bang in the most touristic part of the city.  They've been brewing beers here since 1984.
The bräustüberl is remarkably small: just a few big tables and a handful of high stools to the side of the bar on the route to a very cramped WC (don't try and negotiate it with your backpack on).
House beers chalked-up on a blackboard were the city's signature red beer, kellerbier, schwarzbier, or a rot-weisse.  I seem to have been very unadventurous on this visit and just stuck with the pale kellerbier.  

For a bite to eat I decided to head to a bar called Kloster which promised rotating local ales and home-cooked vegetarian fodder.
They'd done their best to hide themselves from me, scaffolding obscuring the whole place...

Kloster (Ob. Wörthstraße 19, 90403 Nürnberg)
This is a fantastic quirky little bar, once you've worked out the establishment you're looking for is actually behind the building site and is actually open.  There were just a handful of tables plus stools at the bar, an eclectic obscure musical soundtrack, quirky decorations including a skeleton in the window and a coffin over the door.

Three draft beers gave you a choice of helles, dunkel, or weissbier from different local breweries, whilst the lesser-seen bres appeared to be those on the bottle list. 
I ordered the Brauerei Kanone dunkel and a GREAT chilli-sin-carne.

Suitably fed, I caught the U1 line to Bärenschanze.
This is where you'll find the Memorial of the Nuremberg Trials, an exhibition in the Palace of Justice.  In 1945 this was chosen to hold the trial of 24 of the most important political and military leaders of Nazi Germany.  Unlike most of Nuremberg, the court had remained largely undamaged during wartime bombing and the location was significant: the downfall of these men happening in the same city which held the enormous rallies as their party rose to power.

 

We've watched the movie 'Nuremberg' recently so are experts on this bit of history. 
This is the actual courtroom where Russell Crowe stood trial...

That bit of historic sightseeing from dark times complete, I was within walking distance of the Schanzenbräu brewery tap, which came highly recommended, the beer being a bit of a favourite with the locals.

Schanzenbräu Schankwirtschaft (Adam-Klein-Straße 27, 90429 Nürnberg)
This brewery - the beer being produced a couple of kilometres further west in the suburbs - was founded in 2004 although I'd never have guessed they're a 21st century outfit based on their retro tap room.

The first Schanzenbräu beers were concocted in the cellar of a workshop, with some innovation required to make up for the lack of proper kit: old barrels being sawn open to act as fermentation vats.  The current brewery in the Höfen suburb opened in 2016 with an annual output of 5000hl, their staple products being Rot Beer, Helles, Kehlengold and a Pils. 
I had the impression that only the helles was on tap in the bar, but may have been misunderstood when I tried to ask the question.  Chalkboards in every direction, but not a beer list to be seen.

Never mind - the Helles was excellent.
Quality frothy head.  On a super unfiltered, full-bodied, floral pale ale.
This is a fantastic little pub in which I could happily settle for longer if it weren't for time racing by awfully fast with a football match to get to in the evening. 

I walked back into the city centre, dropped by backpack at my hotel, then considered where I could grab one more beer prior to the evening's kick-off.
I'm really not sure how I ended up in the modern Bruderherz and am conscious there were lots of good places I missed.

Bruderherz (Luitpoldstraße 15, 90402 Nürnberg)
I think I may have been fooled by this one - it was once one of the city's brewpubs but appears to have closed in 2024.  Well, I can confirm it's open again, although it looks like the brewing kit you can see in the basement room may now just be for show.
At least I got to try the Schanzenbräu Rotbier which I'd missed out on at their pub. The red beer is something of a speciality in Nuremberg, an old style that has been revived in recent years - a kind of maltier, spicier Marzen - thoroughly enjoyable.

Six-thirty - time to start thinking about getting to the football ground for kick-off in an hours time.
If in doubt about directions, follow this chap...

Special S-Bahn trains are laid on to whisk you non-stop to the Nürnberg Frankenstadion station, a few kilometres south of the centre.

All the usual features of the walk between public transport and the ground were in place: stalls selling a vast array of football scarves, bratwurst and beer retailers, the scent of marijuana in the air, chaps with trolley bags collecting empty bottles, blokes in the bushes having a wee.

This was the weekend-opening Friday evening Bundesliga 2 game, Karlsruher SC the visitors at the Max Morloch stadium.
It's a big stadium with a lots of empty seats at one end of the ground where visiting supporters were located, the impressive second tier attendance of 29,378 not coming close to making it look full.
I was at the very edge of the 'posh' seats in the main stand, looking across the running track towards the most dedicated and noisy Nurnberg fans.

Twenty-five minutes in, Julian Justvan grabbed two goals in three minutes to dash Karlsruhe's spirit.  The home side were having fun and looking like scoring every time they surged forward, going into half-time 3-0 up.  Despite the two clubs sitting next to one another midway up the league table, Nürnberg continued to dominate, Mohamed Ali Zoma scoring his hat-trick in an eventual 5-1 win.  It's the first time in my German football travels that I've seen a set of fans give up with their drum beating and chants, the Karlsruher support looking utterly fed-up and ready to head back to Baden-Württemberg by the hour-mark.

I could have dived into Nuremberg's Friday night city centre action once I'd travelled back from the stadium.  But all I wanted was my comfy bed and a cup of tea.
Gotta save some energy for more Franconian beer the next day.

Maisach and München

Day three in Munich and I opted to set out on the S-Bahn to find a nearby brewery in the town of Maisach.

Located 16-miles northwest of Munich this sleepy place has increased in population size by over 40% since the late-80's.  What's bringing them all here?
Could it be because they have a UNESCO cultural heritage listed shooting club? The folk festival? The fact that pagan metal band Equilibrium were founded here? The town's own brewery?
Or perhaps because it's peaceful and less than 30-minutes on the train from central Munich.

As there really isn't much to see, especially on a chill grey morning with the raindrops beginning to fall, I headed straight to the brewery...

Bräustüberl Maisach (Hauptstraße 24, 82216 Maisach)
It's unmissable as you walk down the main street, the chimney and brewery logo on a white wall visible from some distance.  Their wirsthaus/restaurant takes up the left-hand side of the building.

Maisach Brauerei dates back to 1556 according to the beer mat...

It has been in the hands of the Sedlmayr family since 1907.  Somewhere within the brewing building are historic steam engines, early 20th century coppers, and a grist mill from 1925, the latter two still being in use today.

Beer-wise, four regular drinks are on offer: 'Perle' (a hoppy Helles), Keller Bier, the dark beer - Räuber Kneißl, and an unfiltered Weißbier.

I started with the marvellous Dunkel, then followed it with the unpasteurised Keller Bier, served in earthenware mug.

It's a lovely place, all tables filled on a weekday lunchtime with a mixture of locals, business-folk, and couples.  I felt a bit guilty that I was sat at a table for four and wasn't eating (too good a breakfast buffet that included pancakes and cheesecake).  Plus, I wanted to get back to Munich with a reasonable amount of time to keep exploring, so I paid the bill after two beers and moved on.

Here's a picture of me stumbling out the pub...

I made it back to the train station and hopped aboard the next S-Bahn service to Munich, alighting at Marienplatz and returning to theViktualienmarkt for a bite to eat.
Close to the outdoor market is this little bar...

Giesinger Bräu - Stehausschank Viktualienmarkt (Prälat-Zistl-Straße 4, 80331 München)
A stehausshank is literally a stand-up bar - somewhere to call into, get served at the counter, perch on a ledge and quaff your beer elbow-to-elbow with your fellow patrons. I thoroughly approve.

There really wasn't much room in here: just four perching tables in front of the counter with no stools, although pavement seating allows you to take the weight off provided the weather behaves.

Giesinger started out in a garage in 2006 in the suburb of Giesing and have since grown into the second largest private brewery in the city, with a capacity of 1.2 million litres per annum.  I've read that they've been trying to get a tent at the Oktoberfest for a number of years, but keep finding new hurdles put in front of them.
Perhaps there's a suspicious eyebrow raised at the modern beers which Giesinger concoct alongside the traditional ones.

I'm afraid that I only tried the one on this occasion.  I vow that Giesinger will be high on my list next time I'm in this neck of the woods.

The Dunkles was served in a clay mug for €4.70 a half litre and was a fine example of the style.

I didn't move on far, my decision dictated by worsening weather.  The smart modern Hacker Pschorr pub is pretty much straight across the road.

Der Pschorr (Viktualienmarkt 15, 80331 München)

This is a modern smart bar/restaurant which I can't say was my favourite in the city.  Very much a 'please wait to be seated' place - quite the opposite to where I'd been beforehand.
The main draw was the chance to drink the Hacker-Pschorr 'Edelhell' from the wooden barrel...

So, how was the ambitiously-billed "Pschorr Experience"?
Hmmm...pricey with that €6.70 charge for a half litre.
Perhaps a little too chilled for my liking and nothing special in my opinion, wooden barrel or not.

But - wow! - the psychological effect of the bell ringing when a new barrel is tapped is something to behold.  The number of people draining their glasses and putting in orders as soon as the bell rang was incredible, despite the fact that I don't imagine any one barrel stays in place for long enough for the beer to get tired.

My next point-of-call was to the Munich tap of a brewery 50-miles to the south.

Tegernseer Tal - Bräuhaus (Tal 8, 80331 München)
The brewery traces its roots back to 1050 (take that, Britain's oldest pubs!) and is connected to an ancient Benedictine abbey in the lakeside town of Tegernsee.  They've grown a bit over the years and now have a second production site and the official name Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus (The Bavarian Duke's Brew House).

The building this pub is housed in dates back to 1897 and previously housed Brauerei Schlicker who ceased brewing in the 50's.  It has remained a pub ever since and was taken over an refurbished by Tegernseer in 2013, providing another alternative to the dominant Munich brewers. 

I was really comfy sat in here, helped by the fact that I was sheltered from a heavy rain shower outside, refreshed by a light, hoppy, grassy half litre of helles, and earwigging a beery conversation between Americans and Aussies sat at the bar.

Tegernseer had WC signage worthy of a covert bit of photography...

 

Then I was off into the gloomy late afternoon, examining football stickers on lamp-posts (must come back and get to an 1860 game), and searching for more modern beer.

My evening diversion for 'craft' beer (Maisach may have a thing or two to say about that descriptor and will vehemently tell you they've crafted their beer for hundreds of years).  

I caught the underground to Poccistraße, then made a short walk to Fisches Bier.

Frisches Bier (Thalkirchner Str. 53, 80337 München)
This modern moodily-lit bar, in a part of town that really deserved a bit more exploration, offered up 14 tap lines of trad lagers, Dutch pastry stout, bocks, and IPAs.
I picked the 5% dunkle from Tilman's, who I assume the bar is associated with based on the number of their beers listed in pride of place at the top of the menu.
Tilman's is a Munich nano-brewery set up in 2014 by a fella called Tillman Ludwig.  The enjoyable 'Die Dunkle' was like a very light English stout with caramel and blackberry notes. I just wish I'd have given myself longer to stick around and try more.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a decent interior photo of Frishes bar.
But I do have a picture of donuts at the train station...

Which I think is a fine alternative.

Those sticky sweet treats bring my 2026 exploration of Munich to a close.
My evening ended up at the back of an aircraft hangar of a venue watching Biffy Clyro...gosh, they have an awful lot of ballads.

Bear with me - if you will - for further posts on Nuremberg, Bamberg, and Augsburg, before I return to these shores and Banks's bitter in backstreet boozers.

From the Hofbräuhaus to Obliteration

I've been looking back through the blog to try and discern what's missing from the posts. Then it struck me: not enough Napalm Death.

So I'm going to try pairing grindcore and New England pale ale.
By way of the transport museum and Munich's most famous beer hall.
Let's start at a gentle pace...

I strolled south from the main station under blue skies that defied the rainy weather forecast, making my way to the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum.
This is housed in 1920's exhibition halls on the edge of the Bavaria Park, three large halls containing all manner of motor vehicles from all ages: trams, trains, bikes, skis, and F1 cars.

I thought it was great.
I even put my coat and bag in a locker and I never usually commit myself to staying in any museum long enough to need to take my coat off.

Ironically, viewing all those modes of transport and old Munich trams in the museum, I was mostly relegated to travelling on my own two feet throughout the rest of the day, Munich's transport network brought to a standstill by a strike.  And I thought that only happened in London.
My route took me across the expanse of the Theresienwiese (nope, still no interest in visiting the Oktoberfest).

Then into the centre via pleasant leafy suburbs, through the Sendlinger Tor, then onward to the beer hall that I said I wasn't going to bother going to this time.
A bit like going to Leeds and not visiting Whitelocks, or skipping a pint of Bass in The Star in Bath, you kind of need to pop your head in to the Hofbrauhas. 

Hofbräuhaus München (Platzl 9, 80331 München)
It's perpetually busy, attracting a vast number of tourists although that doesn't seem to put off a strong local following too, numbers swelled by Bayern supporters ahead of a cup tie with RB Leipzig.
The cavernous main drinking hall with painted ceilings was awash with noise and all tables occupied early in the afternoon, although I suspect there were plenty of spots to squeeze in if you were determined enough.

Live music...no, that's not Napalm Death, not yet...

The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl was originally built adjacent to the brewery in 1589 although it didn't open to the general public until 1828.

I perched myself on a high table about as far away as you could get from the action in the main hall and perused the beer choices...

The core beers are Hofbräu Original, Dunkle, Weiss from a bottle, and a seasonal on offer provided you're here at the right time.  Beware, the seasonal only comes in a 1-litre measure, as is the Bavarian norm.  €5.40 gets you the more sensible 0.5l measure of the pale or dunkle. The Original for me - "Bier mit charakter" according to the menu.

For those whom the hecticness of the beer hall is too much, Ayinger's central Munich tap is located almost directly across the road and is a lot more relaxed.

Ayinger am Platzl (Platzl 1A, 80331 München)
Their beer is brewed in a village to the southeast of the city, easily accessible on the S-Bahn if you want to sample it at source.  I grabbed a stool on the end of the bar and ordered the Kellerbier in the absence of a menu.  Nice glass...

I read somewhere that many locals stick with the big city brews and don't rate Ayinger, yet I thought the kellerbier was excellent and so easily drinkable.

Here's the male and female signage on the basement WCs.  My hair was quite dishevelled this day and I looked just like the chap on the gents (although I'd left my clay pipe at home), so no confusion this time. 

 

Departing from Ayinger, I strolled back through the city centre, dropped my backpack off at my hotel near the station and set out in the early evening dusk and on-set of drizzle for some more modern Munich beer.
Ah...they've set up a chair especially for me where I'll be out the way and won't bother anyone...

Higgins Ale Works (Karlstraße 122, 80335 München)
This fooled me a bit - I had the image of a sprawling industrial unit based on the 'Ale Works' moniker, yet it turned out to be every bit the micro pub.
Great music  - LCD Soundsystem, New Order, Talking Heads, Violent Femmes 'Gone Daddy Gone'.
Six of their own beers on offer, although all on the pale side.  I picked the New Zealand pilsner 'Tikier Tour', brewed in collaboration with Ingolstadt's Yankee & Kraut.  Then moved on to the 'Secret Idaho Pale Ale', a 5.7% hazy concoction brewed with Vic Secret and Idaho 7 hops.

The bar consisted just four tables, plus stools at the counter and stools along a ledge at the front window. Despite my picture making it look like a typical PropUptheBar empty pub visit, it filled up nicely during the time I was there.

Moving on, I made my way through the drizzle to Hackerbrucke station, the local trains still running despite the strike providing an alternative to a longish dull wet walk.
I was chuffed to jump straight on a train - less chuffed that it sat there and didn't go anywhere thanks to an 'incident'.

Regrettably, 15-minutes sat on an S-Bahn train going nowhere led to a late arrival and missing a good chunk of Polish stoner metal band Dopelord's set.  Shame...what I heard of them sounded pretty good and they had ace t-shirts that I couldn't justify buying after only catching 2-songs.

Next up - all the way from exotic Leamington Spa - were 80's punk band The Varukers.

A anarcho crusty punk band who formed in 1979 and have impressively kept going over the years with Anthony "Rat" Martin on vocals since the very beginning.

Backstage Werk was a cracking venue, part of a larger cultural centre with the evening's football playing on a big screen in another hall, a club venue, and more spaces to lounge about in converted shipping containers.  It's a large enough place to warrant signposts to your event as you weave through foliage planted in oil drums.
Beer in the venue was a very reasonable €4.50 for local big brewery draft or bottled beer - an Augustiner Dunkel for me, as I try and work out how the bottle deposit tokens work.

Veteran New Jersey trio Whiplash were the third band to take to the stage, providing some pedal-to-the-floor thrash metal...

Then headliners Napalm Death took to the stage just gone 9:30...

Details of the setlist?
No idea...except that everything was fast, loud and very noisy.
Back in Oxford, I played Mrs PropUptheBar my video of Napalm Death kicking into 'Scum', the crowd bouncing off one another in front of the stage.  Strangely enough, she didn't say she wished she'd been there.
I like a bit of noise every now and again - and four noisy bands of various persuasions made this good value for money - although I appreciate that many would much prefer to spend the evening with the dulcet brass tones of the Hofbräuhaus band as their musical accompaniment.