Bavaria Euphoria: Visitors come here for the beer – but also a countryside of fairy-tale castles and folksy festivals

The southern German state of Bavaria is so full of charm and beguiling beauty that it has been known to stimulate feelings of envy in the enchanted visitor. There are castles galore and the amazing Alps to behold, as well as the cultural melting pot of Munich and a host of medieval towns and villages that flaunt their folksy credentials in this prosperous region of Europe’s richest country. Time and tradition seem to have stood still at the plethora of festivals running from spring to autumn, where the men wear leather breeches and the women parade around in intricately embroidered dresses and aprons.

Bavaria, the largest of the states within the Federal Republic of Germany, has always had a distinct identity. The capital, Munich, is famous for its Oktoberfest, which runs from late September to early October and lures hordes of hedonists eager to indulge in the pleasures contained within raucous beer tents run by traditional breweries. Held in Theresienwiese in the centre of the city and dating back more than 200 years, this is the largest beer festival in the world and attracts millions of visitors – many joining in the hearty German spirit by donning the aforementioned lederhosen and dirndl.

Brewing pleasure

Indeed, beer gardens and beer halls are commonplace throughout Bavaria and the many local breweries are said to produce some of the world’s finest beers. These brews must adhere to strict quality and purity standards and be composed of water, hops and barley – the so-called Reinheitsgebot formula.

Munich itself houses some outstanding historic beer halls and taverns, and a visit to Hofbräuhaus is a must. Considered the most famous beer hall in the world, it has a darker side as the stage for the first Nazi Party event in 1920, but today it remains the definitive Munich pub for swaying tourists soaking up the atmosphere; the resident oompah band keeps the joyous and convivial mood flowing along with the beers.

The expansive beer gardens are marginally less crowded than the beer halls. Chinesischer Turm located within the English Garden has about 7,000 seats and an international clientele gathering for drinks in sight of the Chinese pagoda that counts as one of the city’s most notable landmarks. In Munich’s largest beer garden, Hirschgarten, Augustiner Edelstoff – first brewed by Augustinian monks in 1328 and regarded as the champagne of Bavarian beers – is served on tap from a huge wooden barrel. Other notable Bavarian beers are Lowenbräu, which dates to the 14th century and is made in Munich’s largest brewery, and Hacker- Pschorr, first mentioned in 1417.

Pigging out

As for culinary delights, the most famous of the Bavarian dishes is undoubtedly the wurst, or the sausage. They are popular across the state, but locals differ on the best time of day to enjoy them. Munich prefers its veal sausages (or weisswurst) for breakfast; Nuremberg to the north likes miniature bratwurst at lunch; and Regensburg, in between the two on the Danube river, loves the simple sausage for dinner.

Much Bavarian cuisine has its roots in Bohemian Austrian cuisine, such as knödel (dumplings), mehlspeisen (pastries) and schnitzel. Roast pork (the succulent schweinebraten) is also a popular dish and often the meat is continuously basted with dark beer while it is roasting, so the rind develops into crispy crackling. A beer-garden favourite is “Considered the most famous beer hall in the world, Hofbräuhaus … remains the definitive Munich pub for swaying tourists soaking up the atmosphere” obatzda, a spreadable cheese made from Camembert, butter, quark, paprika and onion. Of course, Bavaria is also noted for its gorgeous desserts, most notably the delightful apfelstrudel (apple strudel); others include elderflower pancakes and steamed dumplings.

Munich boasts a plethora of cafes, bars and bistros and some outstanding restaurants. The Landersdorfer & Innerhofer has a delightful Austrian-inspired menu, while Matsuhisa Munich, sitting inside the Mandarin Oriental, offers fine dining in a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines. Aside from the Mandarin Oriental, the city has a slew of fantastic luxury hotels.

City of culture

Central Munich also embraces an outstanding museum quarter hosting Bavaria’s top art museums and other world-class attractions. There are superb science exhibits and some outstanding private collections – plenty to keep the enthusiast occupied. Like some historic areas of the city, many of the museums that were bombed during the Second World War have been painstakingly reconstructed or redeveloped. Further afield, in the north of the city lies the bowl-shaped BMW Museum, a delight for car and motorbike fans. The city is also a shopper’s haven; Residenzstraße is where the leading luxury brands are situated.

There is also magnificent theatre, concert and opera in Munich. The famed Munich Philharmonic will delight classical music lovers, while the Bavarian State Opera draws half a million visitors a year for more than 400 performances annually. An intimate and recently reconstructed historic theatre – the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz – hosts operas, operettas and musicals.

Land of tradition

Munich is ideally situated to explore wider Bavaria. The land is full of traditions which are played out throughout the year and the calendar is filled with picturesque rituals and spectacles. For instance, on the first Sunday in November there are processions on horseback or in painted carts throughout Bavaria in honour of St Leonard, the patron saint of horses.

The German National Tourist Board recently revealed the Top 100 tourist destinations and many Bavarian destinations figure prominently, including Rothenburg, which achieved fourth spot and is renowned for its fantastic medieval architecture. Situated in northern Bavaria, this magical town is worth visiting.

King of the castles

Another must-see is Neuschwanstein Castle (sixth on the above list) in the foothills of the Alps, and a day trip from Munich to Füssen – which is about six kilometres from the castle – is recommended. Visits are only possible as part of a guided tour. Commissioned by oddball king Ludwig II as a homage to composer Richard Wagner, this fairy-tale castle is one of the most popular in Europe and has a mystical, romantic air nestled in a forest of fir and pine; it is breathtaking in the early morning sunrise. Ludwig himself kept an eye on construction from nearby Hohenschwangau, a neo-Gothic building where he grew up. Not far away, the Museum of Bavarian Kings on the shores of the scenic Alpsee Lake tells the story of the Wittelsbach family dynasty and their 700-year tenancy of the long-abolished Bavarian throne.

There are numerous ancient monasteries and world-famous churches within easy reach of Munich, including Wieskirche, a Unesco World Heritage Site, which is noted for its magnificent rococo interior.

See sights

The many lakes in southern Bavaria, formed by huge glaciers that melted countless centuries ago, attract water sports enthusiasts, swimmers and other outdoor activities. Chiemsee, also known as the Bavarian Sea, offers fantastic yachting opportunities.

Well worth a visit is Starnberger See, a magnificent lake surrounded by several palaces, including Berg, the summer house of the Wittelbachs. It was near here that Ludwig II died in mysterious circumstances – a cross a few metres from the shore marks the tragic scene.

Alpine heaven

Bavaria may only contain a small slither of the Alps, but the landscapes are dramatic, and Germany’s highest mountain, Zugspitze, can be easily reached by mountain railway and cable car.

The observation platform on the top of the mountain has wonderful vistas that reach out as far as the Italian Dolomites on a clear day. The terrain is perfect for skiing in the winter, and there are countless cable cars offering access to superb ski runs.

Hop Kong: A veritable brew’s who of the SAR

As thirsty patrons gazed into the far distance, past the twisty line of empty-glass-handed booze-queuers that preceded them, it was clear to all but the most willfully contrary that this occasion did, indeed, mark Hong Kong’s ascendance to the very highest levels of hop-flavoured maltdom. The occasion, of course, was Beertopia 2018, the seventh iteration of the semi-legendary quafferthon, which came to a slightly cloudy head on Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront in early October.

Even more remarkable than the volume of imbibery afoot was the sheer volume of craft beer there was for imbibing. Wind back to 2011 – or 1 BC (Before Craft) as pintaphiles refer to it – and Hong Kong, while hardly beer-free, was merely awash with the bog-standard brewings of the big boys. While there was the ever-present threat of a Tsingtao-tsunami or a Foster’s flash flood, traces of yer actual craft beer were rarer than body-popping Buddhists.

Even The Globe, one of the most iconic of the island’s pubs, despite boasting a dozen taps and a 200-strong beer menu, was limited to serving solely-imported bevvies. As owner Toby Cooper lamented, looking back at that time: “While there was no shortage of imported beers, local craft beers were harder to come by than a peak time seat on the Island Line.”

Deciding to be part of the solution, in 2013 – just 12 months after the very first Beertopia – Cooper co-founded the Craft Beer Association of Hong Kong. Today, as sign of its success, the Association can point to the fact that Hong Kong is now home to 35 microbreweries. Five years ago, there were just two.

Of the 33 brewcomers, two have proved particularly influential – Rohit Dugar, founder of Young Master Ales, and Christopher Wong, his counterpart over at HK Brewcraft, Explaining how it all started for him, Wong says: “In 2013, a few friends and I – all of us truly endeared to beer – realised that Hong Kong lacked a home brew store, one where you could buy everything, including actual brewing equipment. Thus HK Brewcraft was born and we’ve never really looked back.”

Dugar has a similar story to tell, saying: “When people realise that something has potential, things tend to move quickly in Hong Kong. In our case, at least some of our popularity is down the distinctly Asian ingredients and local flavour profiles we’ve favoured. For instance, we use local ingredients like soba (buckwheat), which allow us to create beers that are truly local in flavour.”

Others, though, have prioritised history over geography. In the case of the Moonzen Brewery – founded in Kwun Tong in 2014 – it teamed up with Beijing-based Jing-A Brewing to recreate one particularly ancient beer, the recipe for which was uncovered during an archeological dig in Xi’an.

For those not opting to resurrect the craft beers of classical times, wily marketing has often sufficed. In the case of the splendidly unimaginatively named Hong Kong Beer Company, brews such as Dragon’s Back Pale Ale and Big Wave Bay IPA had just enough hometown appeal to woo the locals. Whatever the strategy adopted, the outcome is undeniable, with some 600,000 litres of craft beer now knocked back every year from Hong Kong Beer Company alone.

Above all, it’s the desire to create something new that seems to inspire most craft beer creators. One such case is Mike Hu, an amateur home brewer who has taken it up as a hobby. Testifying to the sheer joy of his own experience, Hu says: “Once one of my beers is ready, I get together with the other home brew guys and we check out each other’s brews. It’s great fun.”

For those looking to take the hobby to the next level, Hong Kong now even has its own version of a home brewing contest – the Hoppy Cup – which takes place later this month. With everyone from newbies to old hands welcome to compete, no doubt the longer queues at future Beertopias will be for many of the winning brews.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay

Happy New Beer

The Year of The Rooster is upon us and, as ever, it is only fitting that we welcome it with champagne all round. As the year progresses, though, what else should we be looking to fill our glasses with?

As in so many other aspects of our lives, our drinking habits have become increasingly subject to fashion. At one time, we used to form long-lasting loyalties to wine regions, spirit categories and brands and even to particular cocktails. Such allegiances were formed early in adulthood and then we stuck to them for years.

Such days are gone. Now we thirst for novelty. In certain quarters, though, there is a certain nostalgia for the way things used to be.

Our former habits had the merit of making life easier for bartenders. Customers would come through the door of their preferred watering hole and their favoured tipple would be waiting for them by the time they got to the bar.
Knowing a customer’s preferences was a matter of professional pride for a bartender. These days, though, that sort of service is no longer appreciated. Preferences change from day-to-day and many don’t care to have their choices pre-empted.
Even champagne has fallen victim to fashion. At present, the consumption of prosecco and cava is growing steadily across the world, while French bubbles are being very much left behind.

In 2016, champagne shipments to China fell for the fourth consecutive year. They are not expected to pick up any time soon.
Of course, fickle fashion is only one factor in this decline. With conspicuous consumption of premium priced products now officially frowned upon across the mainland, whisk(e)y, cognac and champagne have all taken a hit, along with the more expensive red wines.

Indeed, such anti-extravagance policies are undeniably shaping trends in the drinks sector. With First Growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy now believed to be best drunk discreetly in private, people are more inclined to investigate less ambitiously priced wines.

They are finding that true quality can be found at far more affordable prices. Indeed, recognising value is at the heart of connoisseurship. In line with this, while austerity may be bad news for the most expensive tiers of Bordeaux and Burgundy, over the next year or so more and more people are likely to be looking at what the wines of Spain, Italy, Portugal and the New World producers have to offer.

Lesser known European wine producing countries are also looking to make inroads into Hong Kong and China. The exhibitor list for last November’s Hong Kong International Wine Fair is proof positive of that particular development.
Tellingly, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia were all listed among the countries with wines to promote. Despite that, though, France and Italy still garnered the most attention.

In another development, patriotic purchasing power and the increasing volume of better quality domestic wines from within China itself should make the Year of the Rooster a banner one for the mainland’s growing number of wine estates. Last November saw the launch of the first Ao Yun vintage from Moet Hennessy, a new red wine made from grapes grown in the Himalayan heights of North Yunnan.

In total, only 24,000 bottles of the 2013 vintage have been produced. Indeed, it has taken Moet’s operation some time to get to the point where it felt the wine was good enough to release at all. According to Jean-Guillaume Prats, president and chief executive of Moet Hennessy Estates & Wines, now that it has got there, the aim is to improve the wine with each vintage. Its avowed aim is to be “not only high quality, but world class.”

There is also speculation that the Year of the Rooster might finally see Greater China learn to appreciate the great white wines. While such a development is long overdue, Asia is quite different to the other new markets around the world. Typically, white wine has found a foothold in such territories well before the reds have made any headway. It will be interesting to see just how much progress can be made.

In China and Hong Kong, Western grape wine continues to be an “aspirational” drink, a status that baijiu – or at any rate any baijiu below state banquet grade – doesn’t quite enjoy. This, though, could very well be the year in which attempts to drag it upmarket bear some fruit.To be fair, it possibly makes more sense than mixing cocktails with tea. At one recent cocktail competition in Hong Kong, about half the bartenders used tea leaves, apparently because they wanted their creations to have a distinctively Chinese character.

That particular trend has, hopefully, run its course. Tea usually masks the spirit base and dulls the taste of defining ingredients.

In Hong Kong, the middle ground between uncompromising hard liquor classics – such as the Dry Martini and the Negroni – and alcohol-free mocktails is being occupied by fruity acidic concoctions, all with too many ingredients and all with very little kick.

Contributing to this problem is the fact that many people – a clientele that now has to be accommodated – have learned to love cocktail bars, without really understanding cocktails.

Among the bubbles forecast to burst this year are the gin and the craft beer bubbles. We’ve heard lots about both over the past few years and it’s probably true that they are due for a market correction, with some of the sillier products falling by the wayside. At least, let’s hope so.

BSC Group co-hosts Oktoberfest celebration

The BSC Group co-hosted its very own Oktoberfest recently at its lifestyle store –colourliving. More than 250 VIP guests joined in this night of merriment, which featured dress-up fun, beer pong and – of course – a live oompah band.

Irelanding

It’s an unwritten rule that any destination aiming to boost visitor numbers must, first and foremost, label itself as “friendly”. Who, after all, would holiday anywhere that billed itself as wilfully unfriendly?

Naturally, the Irish, ever eloquent, have to go several steps further – welcome, then, to Dublin: The City of a Thousand Welcomes. This is far more than just a slogan. Visitors to Dublin can actually register to be met by a local, a city resident who’ll take them out for a cup of tea or a pint, all the while generally filling them in on where to go and what to do. The scheme, completely free and now in its fifth year, is the perfect introduction to a capital that regularly takes home the honours in every international “best city” tourism awards going.

It’s even more impressive when you bear in mind that Dublin and Ireland had something of a chequered start to the 21st century. They roared into the millennium on the back of the Celtic Tiger boom years, then hit the skids after falling heavily into recession in 2008. Now, they’re decidedly on the way back, with Dublin once more the epitome of growth and vibrancy.

Ireland attracts more than eight million visitors each year, a feat made all the more remarkable when you bear in mind that the total population of the country is just over half that figure. A sizeable proportion of those tourists have Dublin (population, 500,000) on their must-visit list, and no wonder, given its history, culture, charm, creativity and hospitality. Or, as the Irish might say, just because the craic is so good.

A few years back, however, Dublin’s appeal seemed in danger of being overshadowed when it earned the rather dubious distinction of being the “stag and hen-do” capital of the world. You’ll still find raucous pre-nuptial shenanigans going on throughout the Temple Bar, but if you don’t fancy that – and who would? – it’s easy to side step. It would be a waste of a weekend, in more ways than one, if you didn’t.

The two halves of Dublin – North and South – are bisected by the River Liffey and are stitched together by 23 bridges in a variety of shapes and sizes. As any visitor is going to be crossing the river quite a bit, that’s probably just as well.

Dead centre – and a useful orienting point – is the famous O’Connell Bridge, a crossing that is as wide as it’s long. Just up from that is the photogenic, cast-iron pedestrian Ha’penny Bridge, so called because that’s what it used to cost to cross it.

More recently, the Samuel Beckett Bridge and the Rosie Hackett Bridge (named after the famous writer and prominent trade unionist, respectively) have swelled the number of crossing points, adding ever more fuel to the on-going debate about architectural variety and merit. Most tourists, however, favour the south – the Trinity College side – when it comes to hotels and walking.

Trinity College Green is the starting point for many visitors, with the university’s quads and campus embodying a rich academic tradition stretching back to 1592. Within its ancient library you will find the venerated Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript Gospel written in Latin by Irish monks around 800AD. It’s one of Dublin’s most visited attractions.
If old books aren’t your thing, you may just want to sit in the beautiful college grounds and let the world pass you by. Such a sojourn will give you ample time to wonder at the staggering list of alumni who have passed through Trinity’s impressive portals over the years.

Many of these former students were writers, with Ireland (and Dublin in particular) boasting a remarkable literary tradition, one unparalleled for a population of its size. O’Casey, Wilde, Swift, Joyce, Behan, Toibin… the list is endless.

Quite how Ireland has managed to keep producing such brilliant writers is anybody’s guess, but no less than four Irish writers – George Bernard Shaw, W B Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney – have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s small wonder then that Dublin is a UNESCO-designated City Of Literature, one of only four in the world.

Naturally, the city plays up its literary heritage. Especially recommended are both the Dublin Writers’ Museum in Parnell Square and a trip out to Sandycove to visit the James Joyce Museum. The latter is housed in a former Martello Tower that was built to withstand invasion by Napoleon. Fittingly, it was also the setting for Ulysses, Joyce’s masterpiece.
Back in Dublin centre, it is worth signing up for a literature walking tour, true erudition on the hoof. There’s even a walking tour that combines literature and pubs – perhaps providing the elusive answer as to where many Irish writers found their inspiration.

Speaking of walking tours – and there are a surprising number on offer in the city – the 1916 Rebellion walking tour is particularly popular, not just because this year happens to be the centenary of the armed Easter rising against British rule. The key locations of the rebellion – the General Post Office building on O’Connell Street, Dublin Castle, City Hall, Liberty Hall, Kilmainham Gaol (where the leaders of the uprising were executed) – can be visited without the aid of a guide. Although if you really want to discover how the independent Irish state emerged from the ashes of this conflict, it’s best to take advantage of the truly enthralling guided tour.

Dublin also offers a number of locations where you can while away the hours in between the more energetic walking tours. Merrion Square – Oscar Wilde lived at 1 Merrion Square between 1855 and 1876 – is an especially fine example of a Georgian garden square, complete with its elegant town houses and greenery, as is the smaller Fitzwilliam Square.

In the same vein, no visit to Dublin would be complete without taking in the air at St Stephen’s Green, a 22-acre city centre park where you’ll find – among other notable features – an ornamental lake, a waterfall, a multitude of sculptures and a children’s playground. For an even more expansive green space, head for the 1,750 acres Phoenix Park with its 11-kilometre perimeter wall. As well as being home to a herd of wild fallow deer, the park is also site of Dublin Zoo, another major attraction for visitors.

Any introduction to Dublin’s eternal appeal, however, would be sorely lacking without any mention of the Black Stuff – Guinness, one of the most famous drinks in the world. It’s wholly remarkable that a branded product can be quite so synonymous with a city, a country and a culture in the way as this talismanic stout, first brewed in Dublin back in 1759, is. Forget that it’s now owned by a large multinational and is produced in 60 countries around the globe, just listen to the experts’ advice that a Dublin-drawn pint of Guinness tastes better than any served anywhere else in the world. They’re right.

Unsurprisingly, the Guinness Storehouse – the interactive visitor centre on the site of the original brewery in St James’ Gate – is one of the most popular destinations in the city. It tells the Guinness story over seven floors and is not to be missed.

Better still, though, just call into any Dublin pub – there’s over a thousand of them – order a pint, and get straight to the heart of the mystery. There’s an unmistakable ritual to pouring a Guinness – the shape of the glass, the dispensing angle, the 120-second two-part pour, the heaped creamy head on the pint…
Whether this is all science or marketing codswallop is immaterial when it tastes this good. The pubs you’ll visit will largely be dictated by your primary interests – literary, architectural, historical, sporting – or whichever is the nearest. It’s pretty guaranteed, though, whichever hostelry you end up in will have a story of its own to keep you entertained.

Certainly, if you’re after authenticity, put O’Donohue’s, McDaid’s, O’Neills, Mulligan’s and The Stag’s Head on your pub crawl to do list. Not however, necessarily, all on the same night.

All that drinking will inevitably make you hungry. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of eateries to help line your stomach. While the Temple Bar area is awash with takeaways, Dublin’s restaurant scene has experienced something of a revival in recent years with Michelin stars now abounding.

At the upper end of the scale, check out Chapter One or L’Ecrivain. If you’re after somewhere quirkier, wend your way to The Winding Stair. You’ll find it charming and truly laid back.

You’ll also have to try a number of Irish staples, most notably Boxty (potato cakes), Coddle (Irish hotpot) and Bacon and Cabbage at least once during your stay. Having said that, a killer Irish breakfast – bacon, sausage, eggs, black and white pudding, potatoes and soda bread – will keep you going all day. Perfect after a night on the Guinness.

Tempting as it is to spend all of your time in Dublin eating and drinking, there’s plenty of other things to see and do. The Irish love their sport so much that they’ve come up with team events you’ll only really see being played here. The GAA – Gaelic Athletic Association – presides over the exclusively Irish sports of hurling and Gaelic football. If you get an opportunity to see either (at the city’s 80,000 plus capacity Croke Park) you really shouldn’t turn it down.

Aside from sport, Dublin is rightly renowned for its music – not only of the traditional folk variety, but also in terms of more contemporary offerings, most notably U2, The Pogues, The Script and Thin Lizzy. Indeed older rockers are advised to head down to Grafton Street to have their photograph taken alongside the statue of the late Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy’s legendary front man.

There’s also an Irish Rock N Roll Museum in Temple Bar, a dedicated U2 exhibit in the Little Museum of Dublin and any number of live concerts at venues large and small across the city.

If you really want the diddly, diddly of “traditional” Irish music – the fiddle, the guitar, the tin whistle, the bodhran and the accordion – just ask for directions to Temple Bar. In the words of the old Irish joke, you may well be told “I wouldn’t start from here”, but it’s worth persevering.

Go anytime of the year and you won’t be disappointed. If it rains, shelter in a pub. If you really want to see Dublin at its very best, then St Patrick’s Day (17 March) is the date to ring on your calendar, as is Bloomsday (16 June), named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. Whenever you go, though, you’ll find that the promise of the city of a thousand welcomes isn’t an empty marketing boast. Dublin really is a most welcome break.