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Hofbrauhaus, Newport, KY


Gillman
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This is a branch of the world-famous Hofbrauhaus, the Munich beer hall, beer garden and brewery. I was at the original last December and so feel I can compare the local version accurately. I had the chance to visit this past Saturday, after my day in Maysville.

I am not exaggerating in saying it was exactly like in Germany. The beers tasted identical to me. All are brewed onsite under close supervision from Munich (even online computer monitoring is used I understand), and it shows. The Dunkel (dark lager) was outstanding, with a complex interlocked malt and hop taste. The blonde lager was very well made with a strong keynote taste of German hops, Hallertau I think. That taste in my experience can sometimes be very penetrating, it can be earthy and almost onion-like, and is not my preferred style but it was a faultless copy of the Munich original. The wheat beer was very good too. Not all German lagers have that taste by the way, it probably depends on the specific hop used of the four or five typically employed for blonde or dark lager. I couldn't detect it in even in the HB Dunkel for example.

The food was great - just like Germany again, I had "hendl" (roast chicken) - and the music and vibe also very authentic. You don't often see Americans dancing on tables!

It's remarkable how they have duplicated the experience, I was really impressed. The Germans don't make the best beer in the world, but theirs is amongst the best and when you can taste it in its original form as here it makes a strong impression. I know all the beer fans in SB would love it.

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Joe, how was your trip? Was it for Oktoberfest? You were missed in Bardstown. Doug had to hear me talk for two of you. :)

Maybe we can meet at Newport's Hofbrauhaus before Sampler in Spring '12 to talk beer more!

Gary

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Was just there as well for a friend's 30th birthday party. Had a blast. I also had a few Dunkels. Great stuff! Really enjoyed the band and dancing on the benches! The beer garden outside was also neat with a great view of Cincy. It was a nice, cool evening with German beer.....coulda spent all night out there. :-)

Josh

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 1 month later...

I've been twice, and had a blast the first visit. Beer and food are great; the atmosphere is so much different from the more "blast top 40 and act inappropriately with a bunch of strangers" bars. German folk bands, leiderhosen (sp?), and foot-stomping table dancing are beer entertainment at its finest. If drinking can ever be called wholesome, this is surely it.

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I'm mystified at people's love for both Hb and even more so Germany's atrocious, ear-bleed-inducing folk music! I think there's only value in it to see it once in a very long while as a package. But in terms of beer, you can do much better than Hb.

I shouldn't talk, though -- I lived in Germany for 3 years and never once made it to Bamberg in Franken (northern Bavaria, no it's not its own state), allegedly the real beer country of Germany. But I can say, if you're in Munich, take a car and drive out to Kloster (monastery) Andechs. It's only about 20-30 minutes away and there you'll get truly fine beer and food. And all in a beautiful medieval monastery! The Benedictine monks there are very friendly as well -- no Trappist assholes there.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, there is plenty of very good beers in Germany no one knows about, even the natives.

My experience: For foreigners or tourists it usually comes down to the stuff from Bavaria, which is, in my opinion, highly overrated. For me, the stuff HB (Hofbrauhaus) does is almost as flavourless as water and for that quality just too expensive. Same goes for Oktoberfest...expensive, and the beer is really a joke. Okay, when you like the tradional stuff (which i absoluteley HATE!) it is probably the closest you can get, but as for beer...

Some beer you could try when in Germany, to get a glimpse of the more traditional breweries and stuff:

Hövels: Dark and bitter, amber-coloured, rich taste. From Dortmund, the "Ruhrpott". Goes great along meat and traditional food.

Malzmühlen Kölsch: It is a light and pretty mellow beer brewed just in Cologne. The best ist to visit the brewery and have some traditional food. Served in 0.2 liter glasses, always neat and fresh to sip.

Flensburger Pils: Very strong and dry taste. Brewed in the high north of Germany. At first, it may be a bit heavy on the tongue, but the taste is priceless, a real beer. Served in 0.33 liter bottles.

Radeberger Pils: The beast from the east. One of the oldest breweries in Germany. This beer is a classic: Very smooth taste, but still strong. They know how to do it in saxon!

Köstritzer Schwarzbier: Black and strong, this is quite an experience. Personally i love the black beers, but it's not for everyone. Delicious with wild meat.

Hopefully this was at least a bit helpful.

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Kostritzer is 4.5 % alcohol or so, which in America would be the lightest beer on the menu, excepting the light beer swill. I love it, but it's not exactly strong.

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Well, what i meant was the taste. I would consider Köstritzer has a strong taste, in my opinion, doesn't it? I just can't compare it to american beers, because in Germany the only one's you can get are Miller, Blue Ribbon, and Anheuser-Busch, from what i know.

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Well, what i meant was the taste. I would consider Köstritzer has a strong taste, in my opinion, doesn't it? I just can't compare it to american beers, because in Germany the only one's you can get are Miller, Blue Ribbon, and Anheuser-Busch, from what i know.

You're right, it does have a good roasted flavor - it's served at a simulation of a bier garden near me and I get it every time I'm there. My German friend is a bit skeptical of their food but was impressed that they made their own landjaeger. Anyway, black beers are not common in America, either, but we do have some amazing dark, roasty beers - do you have somewhere you can order a good selection, even online?

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This is what i meant, exactly, this roasted flavour. Sorry, but i probably used a wrong term, my english is far away from being perfect! ;-)

I'm not very keen with the traditonal german food, like sausage and stuff. From time to time, well yes, but the food in the area around Cologne has it's own story and differs from the more popular bavarian stuff. You have to know that the rest of Germany is always a bit suspicious about Bavaria...;-)

As for american beers, sadly no. I haven't checked online, but even in some american sports bar all the have is Miller or Anheuser, and i just know that this is not the best stuff available. I tasted some very good beers in California years ago, but can't remember the name. Would be glad if you could recomend some great stuff...

Cheers!

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Heh heh, I have heard about the German attitude towards Bavaria :) My friend also raises an eyebrow when the region is mentioned!

He told me at brunch that Cologne is very proud of its Kolsch! We try the style in America from time to time, but I can't compare it to the real beer. I hope I get to visit Cologne in the near future!

Since you love whiskey and a wide range of beers, I imagine you'd like some of the American beer offerings, many of which are aged in whiskey barrels or are otherwise pretty strong flavored brews. My favorite around here is Founder's Breakfast Stout, but everyone seems to have a long list of his or her own.

I forgot to say, welcome to the board!

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Thanks for the warm welcome!

So, in Cologne, it is a bit of a rush to get along with the bavarians ;-)

I love pretty much all good stuff. For me, it's done with some bourbon and coke and loud hairmetal

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I love old Slayer, but I haven't been exposed much to newer metal. I love, love, love Mastodon, and I like what I've heard from High on Fire. Any recommendations?

EDIT: I cannot stand Mastodon's new album, but I'm happy they're trying new stuff. I was thinking more Crack the Skye, Remission, and the first half of Blood Mountain.

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Wow! Too hard for me. Mastodon, well yes. For me, the hardest is probably Metallica. I love the sexy hairmetal: Poison, Faster Pussycat, Warrant. Sippin' thru a good bourbon while dancin toe to toe with your girl - nothin better!

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Wow! Too hard for me. Mastodon, well yes. For me, the hardest is probably Metallica. I love the sexy hairmetal: Poison, Faster Pussycat, Warrant. Sippin' thru a good bourbon while dancin toe to toe with your girl - nothin better!

If you can dance with a girl to Metallica, you are far, far more creative than I am :)

My wife can't stand anything heavier than Everclear - oh well...

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Everclear = Great band! Art Alexis is a great songwiter. I used some quotes in my new book. Santa Moinca was an amazing single.

Yeah, i mean, we like to dance to Poison and G N' R's "Sweet child o' Mine", basicially the old stuff! ;-)

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Of course, being from Koeln, you don't want to mention the great Altbier from Duesseldorf! But they have a saying up there... The Rhine goes straight through Koeln/Cologne, but when it gets to Duesseldorf, it takes a winding path, making sure to get a taste from each brewery. :)

I also really like Koestritzer. My favorite Pils was one from the Black Forest, where I lived - Waldhaus. Flavorful but balanced. I also really liked Ketterer. Rothaus Tannenzaepfle is the most famous one from the Black Forest, I even saw it in Berlin... but while good, it wasn't my favorite.

The best Koelsch I've ever had was Sion, but I've never tried Malzmuehlen. I hope I'll get a chance to try it sometime!

If you want to order better American beers online, you can go to http://www.biershop.bierpost.com/ . I used to order Sam Adams from them for my July 4th bbq parties. They ship fast and pack well!

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Haha, don't get me wrong, I prefer D-dorf to Cologne: cleaner city and better options. Cologne is quite dirty. I even like the "Altbier"! Never got into this hassle ...;-)

Hey, thanks for the tip! Will check the onlineshop. Any recommendations?

Cheers

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Oh, also, about Bavaria... a lot of northern Germans (i.e., north of the Weisswurst line) love to bash Bavaria. But a lot of the warmest, most open people you'll meet in Germany come from the south, including Bavaria. And Bavaria itself is a very large state with many regions. The people of Franken/Franconia, for example, are in a way not even true Bavarians.

It's kind of like how some Americans love to make fun of people from our south and especially Texas. Different accent, different way of life. And it's mostly completely unjustified.

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Oops, I wrote that response without seeing what you had written!

I'm glad you're open to Duesseldorf and Altbier -- I see that at least some people are ready to look past some bloodshed over 600 years ago. ;)

As for Bierpost, I ordered Sam Adams Boston Lager from them... but that's because that's the beer I grew up with. And I'm from Boston. So of course it was most appropriate for me on July 4th as an expat thinking of home.

Their US selection isn't huge, it seems. And I think they have fewer American beers than they used to. Sam Adams Boston Lager is one of the decent beers you can find on tap all over the country. If you like stouts, you might like Left Hand Milk Stout. Anchor Steam and Anchor Porter are both quite good. I'm not a huge fan of Sierra Nevada.

Keep in mind, though, that while these are good beers, considering the great prices you have, I don't know if I'd necessarily shell out so much money these small 35cl bottles. Although the selection of foreign beers in Germany is pretty bad, both the selection and the price of domestic beers is excellent. So if you do order, I hope you don't expect something wildly better than what you can already get in Germany. And it might make sense to get beers that are a bit more different from what's available near you... like the Anchor Porter or Milk Stout.

Hope this helps!

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I try not to justify ;-) Doesn't really make a difference to me where one comes from: Bavaria, Texas, who cares as long as the person is alright?

Bavaria has some very nice places. I love Munich! Nürnberg as well! Great Cities! I mean it is quite expensive to live there, but worth it on the other hand. I'm not too keen with the Oktoberfest and all the stuff that comes along with it, I have to admit.

Yeah, will check this online shop and the stuff you recommended. I know that the german beer is alright, but I'm always open to new stuff. Right now I'm exploring the polish beers - simply amazing stuff! Next will be the american made stuff...;-)

Cheers!

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Agreed on that. :) As for the Oktoberfest, I've still never been. I hope to go one day, though I know it's overcrowded with foreigners and way overpriced! At least I do like Maerzen and Bavarian food. ;)

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Stiffy, you can't go wrong with DanG's recs on Samuel Adams Boston Lager. There is also a Samuel Adams black lager that's pretty good.

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