Franconian Beer Message Board

Die Erlanger Bergkirchweih / Der Berg' / Der Berch'

Posted by Nick B. on 2013-05-21 00:05:19

[Official name, nick-name, Franconian nick-name ("dry" Franconian 'ch', of course, not a wet Prussian one!)] I used to eschew and belittle the "Berg" for its massive crowds and miserable beer. Then a few years ago, I discovered a couple of Keller(s) serving beer from Kundmüller and Alt (Dietzhof), which although being highly priced, were perfectly enjoyable, at least on a weekday afternoon before the crowding sets in. Met occasional poster Chris K. there on Friday afternoon, and really enjoyed it until I had to leave by 19.30 or so. I had told him I'd be "out of there by 16.30", but the crowding, despite v. pleasant weather, really didn't set in until then. Dietzhofer Alt Hell was quite lovely, whereas the Dunkel was a horrible broccoli/butterscotch sludge that had to be dumped on the ground...at 3,80 € a Seidla. The Weiherer beers were quite good, of course, though we only had two of the four of five on tap. Never got to the Mönchshofer Festbier (which I've read is brewed exclusively for the Berg, not simply a re-badge of their other Festbier, though maybe the recipe is the same), but really enjoyed the Steinbach Bergkirchweihbier: "the only dark Festbier at the Berg". A cracking time, it was. The Saturday paper had an article about the Anstich from Thursday evening, with 100k visitors. The police made a total of twelve arrests for fighting, only three of which were *at* the fest, the others after the fest. (The usual cause was jostling or "exchanges of words".) Two visitors are already "verboten", banned from the fest for repeated drunken, aggressive behaviour. And the Red Cross had 18 calls, once for a pair of youths who fell from a bench. Another "young woman" never even made it to the Berg, but had to be rescued on the street just before the fest for alcohol poisoning, owing to the trend to "tank up" with cheap bottled stuff on the way to the fest, where the Mass costs 8€. And the accompanying photo was taken from the first place where we sat at the Steinbach Keller: < http://tinyurl.com/pzukjhv > No crowding when we were there though. Later, we moved to a lovely spot up the hill, where the puppy made friends with a group of Prussians...youths from Lüneburg, who didn't even know what "Seidla" meant. Lovely accents though! Our own encounter with the Polizei was over the presence of my puppy-dog, to inform me that dogs aren't allowed at the Berg. This despite an article in the paper last week reminding people not to drag children or dogs through the crowds after 20.00. The officers were unaware of any such article in the paper, but let us go anyway. I think we saw a total of 2 or 3 pairs of cops roaming the fest.

Die Erlanger Bergkirchweih / Der Berg' / Der Berch' by Neil on 2013-05-21 01:13:44

Die Erlanger Bergkirchweih / Der Berg' / Der Berch' by Nick B. on 2013-05-26 04:19:48

Cold and Wet by Fred Waltman on 2013-05-26 05:46:46

Cold and Wet by Nick B. on 2013-05-26 07:21:38

Cold and Wet by Uncle Jimbo on 2013-05-26 09:57:11

Cold and Wet by Nick B. on 2013-05-27 00:20:05

Cold and Wet by barry on 2013-05-27 03:26:09