For the fifth time, 180 beer lovers from all over Germany are fighting for the championship title in hobby brewing.
Including again many Bavarians - and for them no way is too far for their great passion.
Hohenlinden
- A gift showed Robert Wittwer his great passion. “A small brewery at home would be great,” he enthused his friends until they gave him a brewing set. The Hohenlindener (Ebersberg district *) made his first 20 liters of beer with a fermentation bucket, a ready-mixed malt and some hops and yeast. Wittwer licked blood, today grinds his own malt and selects special hop varieties in order to create different flavor profiles. “It can go in any direction: from herbaceous or lemony to fruity to toffee,” says the 34-year-old. “I already have several systems. For example a brewing machine, a kind of mulled wine pot with an environmental pump. "
When Wittwer found out about the first German championship for hobby brewers * in 2016, he registered.
He's taking part again this year, but this time he didn't have to contest the 900 kilometers to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea alone.
His friend Benni Huber is going with him to present his home-brewed food.
There are 40 liters of beer in the trunk.
German Championship of Hobby Brewers: Creative beer category - Broyhan sour beer should convince
“When we were brewing for a friend's wedding, I got stuck,” says Huber. "In 2018 I brewed my first own beer and with this pale ale, a classic, top-fermented light beer, I am also competing in the championship in the creative beer category." And Wittwer also came up with something special: "I have old recipes and combed through magazines and tried them out to brew a beer from the Middle Ages. ”The“ Broyhan ”is a sour beer and tastes like that. "Not as nasty sour as lemon," he says, "rather milder than orange."
"In the creative beer category, we rate each other among participants by going from stand to stand and at the end of the day voting for our favorite beer," says Huber. 180 hobby brewers from all over Germany take part in the championship in the Störtebeker brewery district in Stralsund. A very specific beer style was specified for the main category: the hop white, a full-bodied wheat bock with yeast-typical spicy notes and fruity-flowery hop aromas. All hobby brewers had to send three and a half liters of the hop whites in advance. A jury of experts made up of brewers, sommeliers and beer ambassadors selects the German champion, whose white hops are then brewed by Störtebeker and sold nationwide.
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German championship of hobby brewers: hops whiteness as a given beer style
Uwe Hackl from Erding * was delighted with this year's beer style.
“I love to drink and brew wheat beer,” says the 53-year-old.
When it comes to hop whites, it is crucial to add the hops not only when cooking, but also during fermentation.
"With the hop stopper, the hops also go into the barrel."
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Father-daughter team: Stella and Uwe Hackl from Erding present their sting beer at the championship.
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Hackl arrived yesterday with his daughter Stella - and the pupil is convinced: “Papa's beer tastes great - and especially his creative beer doesn't come out very often.” Hackl got the inspiration for his sting beer at a Christmas market. "The basis is bock beer and before I fill it in bottles, I dip a glowing metal tip into the brew," he explains. So the beer not only gets a caramel, but also a slightly metallic note - and that should convince the other hobby brewers this year.
* Merkur.de / bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA