Brauerei Aichinger, Heiligenstadt

Brauerei Aichinger,
Makplatz 5,
9133 Heiligenstadt.
Tel 09198 - 522.

"A bit Deliverance" was Andy's comment. I wasn't going to turn my back on the blokes over the other side of the bar.

It was difficult ordering a beer because the granny serving was deaf as a post. Her elder son just sat in the corner and glowered at us while his mum struggled to understand. When Andy asked for a carryout Mr. Grumpy threw him a crate of blank bottles and a pile of labels.

Out back his cheerier younger sibling was much busier. "My brother has the brewing diploma but I do all the work." It didn't come across as a complaint, just an oservation.

They have a single regular beer, Spezialbier. "That's just its name." was about as specific as he got as regards style. So BJCP apologists look away now. I'm not going to waste my breath discussing whether it's more an amber Spezial or a Märzen. Very nice is what I call it. Only brewed 12 times a year, it's lagered four to six months. No wonder it tasted so smooth. 13.5º and 5.5% ABV, it cost a mere 1.70 euros a half litre. A bargain, even if you do have to gliue on your own labels.

I could try to describe the beer, but it would be impossible to capture its complexity and the wonderful integration of flavours that all those months of lagering had achieved. And it wasn't even one of the best beers we had. Only slightly above average.

This was one of the six breweries I drank in last Monday. It was by no means the weirdest, either. The crowd drinking in Hebendanz at 9:45 AM were that. Of course I had to sit directly opposite the strangest one of all, who even the other crazies were ignoring. I would love to tell you what he said to me. I think "Bier" was in there somewhere, but I'm not 100% certain. The second schanpps he knocked back in the 15 minutes Stonch and I shared with him did little for his lucidity. But you have to admire the spirit of a man with such obvious health problems being down the pub on a Monday morning. I hope he didn't lose his crutches.

Stonch is wonderful company. He had me falling about laughing every day. His blog is but a pale shadow of the man himself.