The voice coming from the back of the bus was unmistakably that of a Brit even though the only other person waiting for the bus ten minutes earlier looked like a young German guy. My assumption had seemed grounded. Who else would be waiting for a bus to Ebrach at 8 am on a Sunday. He was trying to help clear up some confusion about my intended stop. The bus driver was less than sure about whether it was on his route. The destination sign on the bus wasn’t working and he couldn’t get a hold of his boss on the phone. It was, after all, 8 am on a Sunday morning.
the 4th Brauhaus Rügheim Braufest
The voice was louder now, he’d moved closer and on engaging me, took the seat across the aisle. On closer inspection, the accent was British but he was German as I’d guessed when seeing him at the bus stop. His English was impeccable and he’d perhaps spent a lot of time with Brits or had traveled there but I also detected a hint of a German one. After teaching English in Munich for a decade, it was hard for me not to. He told me his plan to hike from Burgwindheim to the Bähr Keller and onto Hermann’s and Schwana. I made note since the first stop has been on my list for some time. Likewise, I told him about my planned hike to Zentbechhofen for the Kirchweih there. I mentioned I’d been to the Braufest in Rügheim the day before, and it turned out he’d been there too. I mentioned who I’d been with and he knew them as well. We laughed at how small the Franconian beer lover’s world is.
the old Brauerei Barnikel & the gorgeous start to a beer hike
My stop in Herrnsdorf came up quickly so I bid a new friend adieu with a “Viel Glück” as we both embarked on our adventures. I must say, meeting him made my decision to squeeze two back to back beer fests into a couple of rushed days seem more sane. I’d be lying if waking up in Bamberg a couple of hours earlier with the hazy remnants of the Brauhaus Rügheim Spezial Lager still clouding my thinking hadn’t made me doubt my logic. It had been a fun afternoon with friends at an authentic and off-the-beaten-path event with a marvelous beer and truly local Bratwurst but if I’d been less ambitious, my Sunday would have been more relaxed. Passing an old friend like the former Brauerei Barnikel on a gloriously sunny morning was further confirmation and the start of the hike was scenic and easy.
the every present reminder of religion’s significance & mother nature’s too
Once off the main bike path, the countryside unfolded before me. With a crucifix and field of corn as its backdrop, I was reminded of the importance of religion and agriculture in this land I’ve adopted as home; both somehow intrinsically woven into the brewing culture I’ve perhaps grown too fond of. I was on my way to a Kirchweih, a celebration of the consecration of the village church. These ubiquitous events as all fests in these parts always involve beer. At their best, there’s a brewery right there making the stuff and that was my draw to Zentbechhofen that day.
few things prettier than a field of sunflowers on blue sky day
Swaths of bright yellow are a common sight when walking in the Franconian countryside. In spring, it’s Raps, the German name for rapeseed that I learned before the English. It still conjures what I feel when I see it much better too. Though it was July and it wasn’t possible, it’s still what I thought I saw. As it grew closer, it revealed itself to be one of the biggest fields of sunflowers I’ve ever seen. I sent photos to my wife, who hadn’t come due to the too-beer-fest-crammed itinerary I’d presented. She now was a little envious if not regretful but I’d soon tell her that she had indeed made the right choice. Nature is a funny thing. For all its splendor, there is generally some reminder that you are very much not the center of any universe but your own.
a huge field of sunflowers, walking along the corn & the mozzie forest
The end of the open field part of a route and the entrance to the forest is generally a nice relief from the summer heat but this has been a very bad summer for mosquitos in Germany due to unprecedented rain. I wasn’t really about to walk on a forest path so much as a combination of four-wheel drive forest road with some smatterings of overgrown animal tracts. These are always buggy, even in the best of circumstances. I hadn’t ever been on this route but I knew from experience what to expect. All that said, being swarmed by mosquitos is never pleasant and I made my way as quickly as I could navigate though it. I later told the friend I was meeting, it was more a bush whack than hike. No one likes this kind of stuff and no one’s wife does either. I was glad she wasn’t with me and she reiterated the same when I described it.
window adornment of things to come & Brauerei Friedels
Of course, that’s the kind of stuff that makes you appreciate being out in the sun and very close to a brewery. Just to make me more thirsty, I spotted some lovely lidded beer vessels adorning a window as soon as I entered Zentbechhofen so finding an empty beer tent didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. It only meant I’d get my cold one sooner. I may have been too früh for Frühschoppen, but not to get the first beer of the morning. The Friedel Kirchweih Festbier was a lovely sight to behold and even lovelier beer to drink. It truly was a beer worth the walk.
Friedel Kirchweih Festbier
I wasn’t alone for long. Small groups of guys starting to file in and a friend who had decided to join me last minute also finally arrived. Though not generally a fan of the Friedel beer, even he thought it was one fine Festbier. He was hurting due to a too long stay at the Rugheim Braufest the day before so we attempted to eat inside the brewery’s pub. That didn’t go so well as the rest of the weekend but Franconia is not one to make assumptions about. It doesn’t always go your way and while that may be part of its “charm,” it can wear thin sometimes. My friend rescued me from missing dinner back home with my wife by dropping me off at the station to catch a train back to Munich. I’d planned on hiking out but our rather “lengthy lunch” made that less desirable than it sounded when planning.
In the end, however, the biggest revelation of the day was meeting a fellow beerwanderer on the bus. He not only gave me some ideas about future beer hikes but he also made me feel not so alone in my endeavor to get back to something that I love and had given up on a bit due to knee issues. We may not have been walking together but we were doing the same thing at the same time, and we were doing something we both love. This weekend wasn’t just about back to back beer fests, it was about getting back to beer hiking.
For more information and details about:
Brauhaus Rügheim Braufest
Brauerei Friedel Kerwa
Glad you’re back hiking, Rich, and as you might recall from the Northwest, mosquito season here in the Cascades, can also spoil what would otherwise be a great hike. Cheers.
Thanks, Don. It felt great, even with my little friends and have experienced them out there back in the day.