Franconian Beer Message Board

As always, subjective, but here’s my view.

Which drei Kronen? Hartmann is ok if you have a reason. Huppendorf nearby is much better. 

 

Questions:

1) Annafest--worth it? And should my wife and kids drop me off for the day or would they enjoy themselves?

 

Yes. And no, they would enjoy it. There’s a great atmosphere and though they might be a bit old for fairground rides, who knows. 3-4 hours in the afternoon would be enough I think, as a family. 

 

2) If you knew it was going to be your last visit ever to Franconia and you had one day, where would you go and what beers would you drink? (Excluding Bamberg, since I'm definitely going there no matter what I do). Any recommendations on a perfect beer served in a spectacular biergarten setting particularly appeciated.

 

God what a thought! As a resident I hope never. No such thing as a perfect beer, or at least there is, but it’s all about the moment. It’s a hard one, and you can ask anyone on here and get many ideas, all justifiable. I would say merkendorf, visit both breweries. For Kellers I would say Griess in geisfeld or the Kreuzberg Kellers, especially lieberth and roppelts - there are 5 Kellers on a hill, it’s a really good day out. 

 

3) Any brewers that are approachable to talk about their brewing? I am a homebrewer and would love to learn from the source.

 

You can try, but English is not spoken widely enough to the level you need. Plus they don’t have the time to sit and chat unless you catch them at the right time. They are also suspicious of too many questions, even if you are a regular. I would drop this personally. 

 

4) Any castles, museums, or other sights that shouldn't be missed? 

 

Outside Bambergs’ history... Oberfranken is full of charm, history and beauty, but nothing too spectacular, in and of itself. Vierzehnheiligen is a beautiful baroque church with a brewery out the back... seßlach is a very well preserved medieval walled town with a communal brewery. There are a few castles but they aren’t stand outs. To be honest you’ll find plenty of museums in Nuremberg.