Brewing Through Bavaria
A brew day in Bavaria revealed how 150 years of tradition can still feel surprisingly familiar.
A Familiar Craft, Far From Home
I spent the week before last traveling through Bavaria with Sebastian from Epiphany Craft Malt and three other brewers from North Carolina. The culmination of the trip was a brew day at Brauerei Riedl, a 150-year-old family brewery in the Zoigl region where the equipment is old, loud, uncomplicated, and still very much in use.
The ceilings drip and the floors creak underneath you, but the brewing process is still very much the same. Mashing in smells the same no matter where you are in the world, and the familiar scent of wort and hops boiling made us feel right at home. I've seen historical brewing systems before, but usually they're retired and only for display. Moving through Riedl’s maze of rooms felt like stepping into one of the old brewing books I’ve read. Everything around me felt surreal, but the process itself was so familiar that I felt grounded.
Old Equipment, Real Work
Even with the romance of the brew, there was still work to be done. The grain needs to be removed from the lauter tun, just like it does back at home, and it was genuinely nice to do a job we're all so familiar with, just this time explained in broken English and German. No biggie, I’m a brewer! I was giddy to climb into the lauter tun, get sweaty and soaking wet, and do some familiar grunt work. The approving thumbs-up from the Braumeister, Marx, made it even better.
Throughout the day, people from town stopped by to meet us and watch the brew. Some understood the process, while others had never seen beer being made before. We worked through a mix of English, German, gestures and pointing, and through the laughter, I think we all figured it out. There was a contagious curiosity in the air, and it lasted the whole day, as long as that was.
More Than a Brew Day
Of course, I learned a lot, but I think the trip was more about being fully immersed in a brewing tradition that's almost impossible to experience in operation anymore. I can't express how grateful I am to have been able to witness something so rare and unique and to do so around strangers I adore.
By the end of the day, we grilled out, drank beers and shared stories, then bowled and sang karaoke probably far too loud, but no one seemed to mind. Angela, whose family has owned the brewery for 150 years, was somewhat reserved throughout the day, but by the end, you could feel how happy she was to see the brewery filled with laughter, music, and people enjoying one another’s company. As we left, Angela gave me an enormous, unexpected hug, and that's when I really understood how much this trip meant to her as well.
Thank you Sebastian, Angela and Marx, and Mike, Nick, and Chris <3