Franconian Beer Message Board

OT: Yorkshire and the North of England
Posted by barry on 2011-11-16 12:12:29
The difference between British (England) and German (Franken) attitudes? Firstly, the dreaded Reinheits Gebot - a great idea in principle but, in modern practice, I think that it has led to complacency. German people think that their beer is perfect because they are told it is and, when questioned, say 'It must be, we have laws that say it is'. In Britain, we had no such laws but we did have the experience of big brewery groups trying to foist an inferior product on us - keg beer. I know that I keep banging on about this but there probably would have been no beer revolution and no microbreweries if it hadn't been for CAMRA - like them or not. Second, in Britain, lots of people drink beer for its own sake. They go in to pubs to drink beer not to eat food, although food has increasingly become important financially. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a good thing (I've become more conscious of eating while drinking since I succumbed to diabetes) but it is a fact. I'm sure that a few decades ago, people went into stube mainly to drink but now eating and drinking seem to have assumed equal status, as can be easily verified in our beloved Bamberg. Personally, I like the Eschawo method, which concentrates on brozeit rather than huge knuckles of pork and mountains of vegetables (except Schlosshof!). This seems also to be one of the differences between Britain and the USA. Third, from my experience in Eschawo particularly, people are extremely conservative (again, probably because of the RG). I tried to explain the concept of spontaneous fermentation to some people and they simply would not believe that it was possible. I think that they were convinced that I am in a permanent alcoholic haze once I cross the Belgian border (probably true but spontaneous fermentation still exists!). I don't blame the RG for stopping brewers from experimentation, as there is loads of scope to do so within the law, as Weyermann prove in their might little experimental brewery. It's simply that most people are not interested in trying something new - after all, when you can buy a crate of half decent beer from a trinksgemarkt for the price of a couple of pints of crappy stout in Ireland, why change? In a way, I wonder why people in Bamberg (for example) bother going to the brauerei at all. After all, most of the beer sold is filtered and pasteurised (thank goodness for 'U') and the biggest difference between draught and bottled is the price. I mean, why pay €2.50 for something that can be bought for €0.80? The reason, I guess, is for the atmosphere, the social scene and the food! I just don't understand why more brauerei stube don't serve a 'U', as that is something you can't buy in a bottle. Just some thoughts on a quiet night! But I still like Bamberg even though J. (who is recovering) says she is 'Bamberged out'!
 
Followups:
                         OT: Yorkshire and the North of England by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-16 13:47:27
                           OT: Yorkshire and the North of England by Nichola on  2011-11-16 14:50:39
                         Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by Nick B. on  2011-11-17 00:13:06
                           Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by Nichola on  2011-11-17 01:35:31
                         Bamberger Bier by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-17 02:43:14
                           Bamberger Bier by Nick B. on  2011-11-17 06:15:27
                           Bamberger Bier by barry on  2011-11-17 06:57:11
                             Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by barry on  2011-11-17 07:05:05
                           Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by barry on  2011-11-17 07:26:11
                             Bamberger Bier by deciBeer on  2011-11-17 13:46:21
                             OT: Norway by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-17 14:28:06
                               OT: Norway by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-17 15:00:14
                               Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by Nick B. on  2011-11-18 03:07:46
                             Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by Nick B. on  2011-11-18 03:18:00
                                 OT: Norway in Yorkshire by Nick B. on  2011-11-18 03:22:58
                                   OT: Norway in Yorkshire by barry on  2011-11-18 03:58:01
                                     OT: Norway in Yorkshire by Nick B. on  2011-11-18 05:54:54
                                 Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by barry on  2011-11-18 09:16:07
                                       OT: Norway in Yorkshire by barry on  2011-11-18 09:21:57
                               Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by barry on  2011-11-18 11:44:45
                                         OT: Norway in Yorkshire by Nick B. on  2011-11-18 15:14:19
                                   Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by Nick B. on  2011-11-19 02:10:36
                                     Huppendorf by Nick B. on  2011-11-19 02:15:26
                                       Huppendorf by Gerhard Schoolmann on  2011-11-19 03:17:38
                                         On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by Nick B. on  2011-11-19 03:03:08
                                         Huppendorf by Nick B. on  2011-11-19 03:51:29
                                           Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-19 04:39:04
                                             Homebrewed cask by Nick B. on  2011-11-19 05:08:57
                                               Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-19 05:13:39
                                           On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by Barry on  2011-11-19 09:40:47
                                     Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by barry on  2011-11-19 11:32:16
                                                 Homebrewed cask by Fred Waltman on  2011-11-19 11:39:56
                                                 Homebrewed cask by barry on  2011-11-19 11:34:51
                                     Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-19 12:17:40
                                       Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-19 12:21:38
                                             On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-19 12:24:00
                                         Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Fred Waltman on  2011-11-20 00:30:33
                                       Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... by A.Harvey on  2011-11-20 03:36:03
                                                   Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-20 11:04:52
                                                     Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-20 11:17:23
                                                       Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-20 11:20:50
                                           Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-20 15:01:58
                                             Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Fred Waltman on  2011-11-21 00:07:19
                                             Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Fred Waltman on  2011-11-21 00:07:19
                                                         OT: Homebrewed cask by barry on  2011-11-21 02:50:47
                                                           OT: Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-21 05:53:52
                                                   Homebrewed cask by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 06:57:01
                                                     Homebrewed hopping rates by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 07:05:59
                                                     Homebrewed cask by Mark Andersen on  2011-11-21 07:34:34
                                                       Homebrewed cask by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 07:40:37
                                               Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-21 07:57:23
                                               Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by barry on  2011-11-21 08:27:32
                                                     Homebrewed cask by barry on  2011-11-21 08:28:57
                                                       Homebrewed cask by barry on  2011-11-21 08:32:37
                                                       Homebrewed cask by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 08:51:22
                                                         Homebrewed cask by Barry on  2011-11-21 11:43:28
                                                           Super-Low-Gravity by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 23:34:49
                                           On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by Nick B. on  2011-11-21 23:49:08
                                                 Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by mike004 on  2011-11-22 04:17:20
                                                   Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Nick B. on  2011-11-22 04:37:07
                                                   Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by barry on  2011-11-22 08:48:32
                                             On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by barry on  2011-11-22 13:46:44
                                               On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by Nick B. on  2011-11-23 01:54:50
                                                   Eating Habits, Ungespundetes... Mahr's by Uncle Jimbo on  2011-11-23 03:00:37
                                                 On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by barry on  2011-11-23 09:40:33
                                                   On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by DonS on  2011-11-23 15:46:42
                                                     On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by barry on  2011-11-24 01:28:14
                                                       On draught/draft vs on tap, ... by DonS on  2011-11-24 13:44:39
                                             On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by DonS on  2011-11-24 13:53:23
                                               On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by Nick B. on  2011-11-24 23:15:30
                                               On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by barry on  2011-11-25 02:36:00
                                                 On draught/draft vs on tap, vom Fass vs vom Holzfass vs bay. Anstich by DonS on  2011-11-25 11:09:39