The Carastians went to the Ren Fest event at the local wonderful brewery (Maxlrain). The Renfest peeps tour Germany with some "medieval" food/jousting/swordfight/food/ stuff for all those D&D/Harry P./ etc people ... and us. Wonderful setting infront of a wonderful castle, with knights in armor, stalls, arts,smiths, clothing - and best experienced with a fresh, beautiful local beer - Weissbier for the Missus and Hell for Mr. Carastian :-)

Since we are right on the front lawn in front of the family castle (yes, the one you see on the label), of COURSE the beer of choice is Maxlrain! Helles or Weiss?! Your choice! Mrs. C always goes for her B vitamins (weiss) while Mr. C likes a good light refreshing flavor (helles). Win win either way!

gotta love Bavaria. 11 am. bright sunshine. White and Blue Sky (just like our Anthem), guys erecting the Maypole (which was actually stolen this year by a neighboring town - go figure out HOW you do that...) and everybody enjoying some Bavarian tradition with this tasty, golden Maxlrainer. Perfect Morning for the Carastians with their friends. Heaven. Happy first of May!

golden nectar... and their classic. initial malty taste turns into a wonderful hoppy note.

Happy Fourth of July dearest friends!! the Bamaricans in Carastian County all celebrated in our favorite Biergarten - with GOOD (!) Bavarian beer. Have a great one yourself and celebrate (remember: throw away the fireworks and keep the lighter in your hand. NOT the other way round).

Rediscovering our local Biergarten that undertook a new facelift, new management and a new playground for little C. The food is better and the beer... well the beer is ALWAYS good. You can't improve on perfection!

yes my friends.. the Beer N*zi Mr. Carastian drank a Samuel Adams beer, that is brewed with spices (!) such as coriander and some orange peel. And he LOVED it (it might have been the days of IPA. Ale and what not that made him more receptable to some refreshing, wheaty golden deliciousness.

Forgive us, for we have sinned and fallen. We gave in to the corporate evil and ate at Bubba's. In our defense we did it for the little one and the quite tasty kids meal served in a paper boat. The beer was really refreshing and the view fantastic!

HAPPY DAY OF THE BEER to all of you!!! On April 23rd, 1516 (yes, that is fifteen hundred sixteen ) the Bavarian Duke William IV and Louis X signed a law that put the Munich purity law in effect for the whole of Bavaria. Beer shall henceforth only be made with water, barley and hops. And what better beer to celebrate than a great Weihenstephaner. Mild, hoppy and made in the worlds oldest brewery. In bavaria - of course. Having its roots in 768 and its first license in 1040, those guys perfected brewing. Soo... open up a beer, and celebrate!

Ahhh remember that tarte flambé from last weekend? Of course we can't survive on tarte flambé and sunshine alone. With it came the best low alcohol Weissbier ever. Maxlrainer Ernte Weisse. Prost

just do it. it does safe lifes. and here, they even give you some nice hell to replenish and make up for those lost juices and a gift pack. So - Cut the crap. go. donate.

best. Hell. ever.

ahh... refreshing and oh so tasty. That golden nectar of the Bavarian gods..

Ahhh... golden refreshing liquid of gods.... This time not Breakfast juice but Brunch juice (is there anything Beer can't be, @Reverend?) served in a misleading "Engerl" glass - which is reserved for the alcohol free version;-)

with the panicky expression (See Bombay Tonic spot) in mind - Mr. Carastian goes for his go to "Cocktail". a beautiful tall and blond - wonderful Maxlrainer beer (still one of the best Hell ever). Prost my friends! (go and hunt down that beer!)

back in the best place in the world (home) the Carastians waste no time to have a good Bavarian beer (Breakfast juice). Erdinger. Chuck full of these B Vitamins, minerals and wonderful taste - brewed according to Bavarian purity law. ahhh... home.

Ahh... nothing beats a fine afternoon of Mr. Carastian and little Carastian enjoying some time in a Cafe. With this exquisite, aromatic and fresh to the taste, golden-yellow in colour and topped with a superbly persistent head bavarian Hell. The tiny hand coming in puts tears of joy in Mr. Carastian's eyes, showing that little one is a Bavarian by heart. But before you call child services on me, keep in mind that little Carastian obviously forgot that Mr. Carastian lives by the strict #NOSHARE rule when it comes to beer.

just in case you missed the lecture of Prof. Carastian on sports drinks. skip Gatorade, go for Weissbier! all the minerals, the vitamins... just in a beverage you actually LIKE! perfect light Weissbier after a little bike tour. LOVE Bavaria.

And no fine Bavarian meal is complete with a delicious Weissbier. Always hitting the spot like a yeasty hammer!

After sending the lovely Foodspotting bunch off to experience Munich/ Chiemsee / Salzburg, Mr. Carastian and little C went for lunch. Little C, enjoying the favorite: Spaetzle mit Soss, Mr. Carastian enjoying his carbs in liquid form. a nice, refreshing reduced alcohol Weissbier. Prost my friends!

Taking the lovely foodspotting bunch for something very Bavarian - a brewery tour! Although this was not the Carastian's favie (they were booked solid) but the second runner up. A family owned brewery that is producing EXCELLENT beer (their annual production is a little bit more than the annual consumption at Oktoberfest) and want to show the people of the world that the beer at Oktoberfest should not only be InBev and Heineken (the parents of the "Munich Breweries"). and boy.. we HIGHLY recommend you guys to sample anything else but those Munich giants. Heck, Ayinger even has a place across from Hofbrau Platzl (owned by the Bavarian Government). what are you waiting for! This is their "standard" Weissbier, smooth, top fermenting wheat beer, hints of Banana, and Champange like mouthfeel. Our wonderful guide Hans-Peter was telling us all about the history and the process of this great brewery.

Sorry for the poor quality - but thankfully only the picture and not this quality beer! Perfect light beer with a deep golden color. Prost!

Herbstfest opening - and the Carastians make sure that the beer is good for our meet up. First one: taschty

usually those nondescript asian Restaurants give us the creeps - but then, Germany is full of Vietnamese running Chinese / Thai Restaurants ;-) This one being new to us and we began with a safe option. A light Weissbier from a regional family owned brewery. Tasty, distinct yeast notes, fruity aroma - VERY refreshing. For you beer geeks: EBU 12, Alc 2.9% Vol, 7,9° Plato

Hopy notes amber color. Ice cold. Nuff said.

A beautiful ale with some fruit notes. Yummm

O'zapft is:-) happy Kick off to the Volksfest Season:-)

back in London Mr. Carastian experienced almost an American Psycho moment (where do we have reservations? which ones did we cancel?) with his colleagues - as there was so much indeciseveness that we had to end up in this place. a tourist trap (even the very nice host was admitting this ;-) but with a good selection of beer and moules This one was nice fresh blonde pilsener style. supposedly trending right now (but then... what does a menu know?)

Golden nectar of the gods... and the only choice on a day hot as hell in a park with no shade (Except under the umbrellas of the fine people from the Floetzinger brewery;-). nice to drink, mild hopy, definite malt note - beautiful.

Refreshing start to out little trip. We always like to take a little bit of home with us - in our stomach and liver that is:-)