You know what needs to occur every single Monday? Nights with friends and visits to new (to me) breweries. It definitely helps keep me balanced after the stress of the start of the work week.
I drove into LA and visited some friends for a nice de-stressing post-Monday dinner before we headed out to the brewery. Above is tofu with crumbled pork curry and sauteed shrimp with green bell peppers…
As well as chicken curry stocked with potatoes and carrots. Un-pictured – cabbage and some kind of black fungus that looks like ears (?!?!). I had a sampling of everything along with a Black Market Hefeweizen, and after we scrubbed the kitchen, we headed south. Far south. Hermosa south.
The Brewery at Abigaile is a beautiful rustic space overlooking the pier and ocean. I’ll have to go back during the day so I can get some pictures of the amazing view. Since we’d stuffed ourselves already with a home-cooked meal, we stuck to beer and dessert.
5 beers on tap. Flights were ordered all around.
From bottom to top – Orange Blossom Blonde, Analog Amber, Polyrhythm Pale, Black Mass Porter and Sugar Daddy Belgian strong. Not a single bad one in the bunch. My favorites were the porter and the orange blossom, surprisingly enough. Super roasty and light and refreshing. It’s all about balance.
We also may have ordered the soft serve ice cream to share. With bacon caramel. Bacon. Caramel. This place was created for me!
BACON. CARAMEL! Complete bliss. Afterwards we strolled to the end of the pier, checked out the rolling waves under the full moon and capped off the evening with one more beer on da pier: for the birthday boy!
One more beer EACH and bottled water for our lovely DD. Happy birthday, Mike!
Now I have some exciting news – I’m going to Munich and Amsterdam in September!!! Any and all recommendations of must-sees are more than welcomed. Take note: I will NOT be there during Oktoberfest, so recommending that would just be cruel and painful. Happy Humpday!
Oktoberfest would be is really fun, but in the weeks leading up to it there are many other traditional beer-festivals around munich you could be interested in (e.g. Dachauer Volksfest 10.08.2013 -19.08.2013). These are much smaller than Oktoberfest but also have a couple beer-tents and are much more traditional than Oktoberfest. That might be one way to experience bavarian beer culture.
A couple other beer-centric tips:
In the city you might want to go here: https://www.google.de/maps/preview#!q=Sandstra%C3%9Fe+15%2C+80335+M%C3%BCnchen&data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d11.555435!3d48.14771!2m2!1f131.47!2f92.31!4f75!2m4!1e1!2m2!1s3isgfHlaIc6ZfH1Oli7ApQ!2e0!4m10!1m9!4m8!1m3!1d3383!2d11.553101!3d48.1464715!3m2!1i1920!2i976!4f13.1&fid=5 as far as I know they don’t offer tours, but you can at least see a bit of the brewery from the street.
Instead of the well known Hofbräuhaus (which is also not bad but very touristy) you might want to check out Augustiner Bräustuben (http://www.braeustuben.de/index_en.php) which is located right at the Augustiner brewery for Munich’s preferred brand of beer and some traditional bavarian food.
Depending on how long you stay you could also make a short trip to a brewery near Munich: Kloster Andechs – there you can go on a brewery tour (this is one of the few places that offer tours http://www.andechs.de/veranstaltungen-auf-hoechster-ebene/fuehrungen-am-heiligen-berg.html – unfortunately all the public tours are only in German and you would have to book a private tour to hear it in English ) but even if you don’t see much of the brewery itself the scenery is very nice and you can enyoy a cold beer in the beergarden after a short walk up to the monastery. This is a popular weekend trip also for locals.
Speaking of beergardens the one you must see in Munich is Chinesischer Turm – located right in the middle of the English Garden. This beergarden is popular with locals and tourists alike and the English Garden itself is a must to see in Munich. Make sure to also see Monopteros (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopteros) basically right next to the beergarden.
Other non beer related places you should see include the city center with the old and new town halls, the old city gates, Odeonsplatz and quite a few notable churches (Frauenkirche, Theatinerkirche). Also you could walk up the tower in Alter Peter right in the city center to get a great overview of the city and if the weather is right you might even see the Alps from there. (Or if you’re lazy the tower in the town hall has an elevator ;))
Another must is a stroll through the olympic park. Be sure to also walk into the adjacent BMW Welt (free admission) even if you’re not crazy about the cars – the architecture is amazing. You might also want to go to Königsplatz to experience a very different kind of architecture.
Not exactly nearby but also in the area is Neuschwanstein castle (the ‘original’ for the Disney castle) which is very popular with tourists. But if you want to visit it you should plan a whole day for that.
These are the things that come to mind, if you need more recommendations you might want to narrow down a bit what you’re looking for. We also have many museums, etc. Ask away!
Really nice recommendations Korbinian!
I will be in Munich (me too) in the middle of September and I take note of these places.
Becki, if you go to visit Neuschwanstein castle, nearby there is really a nice brewery, Zotler brauerei http://www.zoetler.de , which is immersed in a beautiful landscape. People working in are really kind and beer is without compromise. Only book before the visit.
Moving a little around in this area, there is another brewery – Hirsch brauerei in Wurmlingen http://www.hirschbrauerei.de – which deserves a visit for the same reasons of Zotler (booking necessary). I have still in mind the imagine of the big lagering room of this brewery with its iced fermenters: beautiful.
Around you can find the Costance lake, a village called Ravensburg and -if you have the possibility don’t miss it- Ulm with its amazing gothic cathedral.