Beering in Bavaria: Part I

I flew to Munich amidst fears of blizzards and airport closures.The television screens of my Air Berlin flight played in unison, Sting's "Rise and fall" which was not exactly reassuring.But all went well. Daniela picked me up at the Munich Hauptbahnof(Central station). Along our short walk to the hostel, I realised a few things. One was that snow was beautiful. Second, that it is not always cotton soft and fluffy, but is wet and crystalline as well. Third, and a few more steps down the lane, that when the temperature is in the negative, the chill creeps in through your fingers and your nose and freeze your insides.

So bless Dani for taking me a few minutes into my arrival to the warmth of the little underground pub of our "4 u München" hostel and introducing me to the magics of German Weißbier.Weißbiers are wheat beers which mix at least fifty percent wheat into barley malt achieving a light golden brown coloured smoothness. That half litre glass was the first among many such that guided our two days in Munich.

Beer has soaked into the Bavarian culture and history.One walk around the streets of Munich attest this.The Gothic edifices and the occasional peeps into world war history are interspersed by numerous biergartens.These gardens that lie along the banks of the Isaar are pleasant eat-outs on summer days where you buy your beer fresh and enjoy the Bavarian delicacies under the shade of chestnut trees.But now the river is a frozen sheet of ice and trees are covered in snow. The gardens, deserted, except for a solitary raven sitting on snow white with an off-season red cherry in her beak.

Winter days are more for a steaming cup of Glühwein- warm spiced up wine, in one of the many Christmas markets. But , we are not coming back in summer, are we? Hence, we decided to go on a beer tour- one of the many guided affairs in the city. It was bound to be touristy. Then, we were tourists after all. The tour named "Beer Challenge" promised to take us through a number beer houses and breweries around the city. At the meeting place we were joined by a couple from the US who shared our dorm and many more whom we would get to know on our way. The tour offered two half litre bottles for the road. With the already frozen hands on the frozen bottle we trouped into the subway for our first destination.

A loud group of youngsters with full bottles in their hands will not exactly be welcome anywhere in Portugal. Only recently did an old lady beat up a poor couple in love on a park bench with her chastising umbrella. But in Bavaria, the scene is altogether different. The Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516 is perhaps one of the oldest and most longstanding food laws.Also known as the Reinheitsgebot, the law states that that only barley, hops, and water may be used to make the brew, and is thus devoid of chemicals artificial flavouring and the like. With the free market principles gaining an upper hand the Reinheitsgebot was struck down in 1987. our tour guide explains how for the Bavarians beer was just an item of food, as integral to sustenance as perhaps water was. With its integration into the European Union the country is under pressure to adopt the high taxes on beer, despite stiff resistance from the citizenry.

Established in the early 14th century, the Augustiner Bräu is one of the oldest and independent breweries in Germany. Inside the tavern we seated ourselves on high chairs or on stood around the table waiting for our Augustiner Helles, a light lager of much fame.By now the assorted mix of strangers had re-formed into a group. Outside it was snowing. A gentle snow in wispy flakes. My inside was alight in a warm glow and a long long night was in wait...


(cont.)