I suppose this will only affect those of us in the bay area, for now.
In Berkeley, there’s the American branch of an Austrian braueri known as Trumer. They just opened a couple of years ago, I understand. The brewmaster is an Austrian guy who imports all of his ingredients (except for water) from his home country. I and Mr. Brown just sampled his brew yesterday at Speisekammer, a bier garten in the town of Alameda.
Holy hops and barley! This guy knows his stuff! Before I knew it was brewed in Berkeley, I could have sworn it was a top-notch German import. Only the insistence of the bartender eventually convinced me. I tried calling the Berkeley Trumer brewery, and found that they’ll be conducting tours and tastings starting after late summer this year. They only sell locally for now, but will eventually expand their distribution once their sales get under way.
So, bay area dopers, look for Trumer Pils at your favorite bars and give it a try. Good brewski, I tells ya!
Well, shit, I live in North Carolina and they would put out the National Guard if I brought that stuff back here! Actullay, NC is about to pass a bill to allow stronger beers in the state.
What part of the Bay Area do you live? I was raised in Richmond. Is Spengler’s and Brennan’s still active?
We live in Morgan Hill, which is about twenty miles south of San Jose. I believe it’s Spangler’s you’re talking about, and yes, they’re still there. We’ve never been in, but we should, because it looks like a cool old landmark. What’s Brennan’s?
We tried Trumer at a wonderful German bier garten in Alameda called Speisekammer. They have several good German brews on tap and more in bottles. Trumer held its own with the best of the true imports.
Yes, I see that it’s available in NC, FilmGeek, and a surprising number of other places as well. Whether that’s on tap or in bottles, I don’t know. I can’t vouch for the bottled stuff as we did not try it.
Spengler’s in Berkeley, purportedly at one time the busiest restaurant west of the Mississippi, is still around, but it isn’t what it was when I was a child. It went seriously downhill in the 1980’s, was sold and slightly refurbished as a fancier place in the 1990’s, but the general consensus seems to be that it still isn’t all that great. Though I admit to not having eaten there in several years, so things may have changed.
On the other hand its neighbor Brennan’s is still about the same as ever and when I want hofbrau-style food, that’s still where I go. Was there just last month, actually.
Speisekammer ( I can never that name, I refer to it as “that German place in Alameda” ) is quite good.
No hijack was intened with my Bitburger mention. I just hit ENTER too soon. What I wanted to say was that I can now buy my Bit here in the States, but I am still distrustful as to how it may have been “altered” (for want of a better word).
It may be a tradional thing with me. Such as , '“German beer only tastes good to me while I am in Germany.”
Has anyone else experienced this?
The OP is indeed fortunate that her brewer is able to import the hops from Austria, but I have to say that if I want to eat an authentic German “brötchen”, I have to go home to Germany to do that.
When I, a young GI, hung out in German bars, many of the affluent locals drank the Export brew. I couldn’t abide it. The local stuff on tap was the best. Just about the only thing I miss about my service days.