Brewmaster Graduation

These are pictures from our Doemens graduation.  It was held at the Hofbräukeller in Munich, it most famously known as the place were Adolf Hitler gave his first political speech on October 16, 1919.  The biergarten was awesome and we tried our best to fit in with our traditional bavarian attire.

Stiegl

On Tuesday I helped brew a 10 hectoliter batch of Golden Rye Ale on the pilot system of Stiegl Brewery with their brewer Atilla.  Stiegl is the largest private brewery in Austria.  Located in Salzburg, they produce over 1 million hectoliters a year (around 26.5 million gallons).  It was the first rye beer ever produced at Stiegl, and will be on tap there as the "Beer of the Month" in August.

Weihenstephan

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to visit the oldest brewery still in existence.  Started in 1040, the brewery is now owned by the state of Bavaria and includes the most prestigious brewing school in the world, as well as a dairy that produces world class cheeses and milk.  Their hefewiezen is consistently rated as the best in the world. I thought the unfiltered pilsner was their best beer, and I tried them all.

Ayinger

Ayinger brewery is located about 25 km from Munich, and we went there over the weekend to scope out  their place.  They are a medium sized brewery producing about 140,000 hectoliters a year, of which 10% is exported to mostly Italy and the U.S.  During the tour, we were fortunate enough to have been offered a drink directly from the tank in the cellar, it was their 100 year anniversary Pilsner, and it was phenomenal.

Konzentrationslager Dachau

 Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany, located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory about 16 km northwest of Munich.  Over 206,000 individuals from over 30 countries were held here, and it is estimated about 32,000 did not survive the internment. 

"Through work comes Freedom"

Entrance to gas chamber. Victims were told it was a shower room and false shower heads can be seen on the ceiling.

Interior of gas chamber. The two caged windows are where the gas canisters were inserted from the outside.

Crematorium

Paulaner

Spaten

Riegele

Andechs

Amsterdam

BrauKon

Berlin