Munich: Royal Brewery Hofbräuhaus

Nothing but beer attracted me to make an intentional one-day stop in Munich on my train trip from Paris to the Czech Republic. My acquaintance of Munich started from the beer carnival in my hometown Dalian. Every year in the festive beer party, the commercial tent was faked as "the Munich Tent". This trick never failed to allure people fanatic for this foreign destination brimming with the foam of bubbling bear. Munich is an alcoholic name to me. Hofbräuhaus München, the Royal Brewery founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm V, was my destination of pilgrimage in Munich.

Crossing streets and squares following the map, I found myself outside an ivory-colored building with a cast iron frame, from which hangs an iron banner bearing two huge white letters "HB", against bright blue background. I arrived. The huge wooden gate with semi-transparent glass was swung open and shut non-stop. As I waited for several high-spirited people coming out of the magic swinging gate, I finally got hold of it and pushed it open. A burst of warm air embraced me into a space stirred by laughter, chatting, bawling, against delightful Bavaria music with hopping keys. Iron-casted lamps hung from the high ceiling painted with plants, roosters, lobsters and family crests. Pictures hung on the walled dimmed by centuries of air and smoke, signifying the traditional of the house in an inexplicit but powerful way. The huge two letters "H" and "B" stood closely beside each other, topped by a golden crown to remind customers of its royal origin: Hofbräuhaus München.

The beer tradition of Germany was upheld by the Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law) issued in 1516. To regulate beer brewery, strict regulations were imposed to restrict the ingredients to barley, hops and water to prohibit unhealthy ingredients and problematic additives by various private brewers. Although criticized as an act that terminated local brewing tradition and specialties, the regulation gave rise to a German beer tradition that is pure and true to nature.

I found myself lost in sudden huge space filled with hundreds of people around wooden long tables filled with huge glass of bears, meat, sausages, potato dumplings, German Pretzels. This is probably the biggest dining space I have ever been. If not for the walls and ceilings, I would imagine myself in a vast open space where sky serves as the ceiling and earth as the floor. Waiters and waitresses dressed in traditional white and black German costumes ran past me with at least four dishes placed on both arms. Their eyes hardly turned to care for new customers. After dropping the plates on the wooden table for excited customers, they hurried back towards the same direction, leading probably back to the delicious kitchen.

The running waiters were too busy to show me where I should sit and I wandered in the food hall until I found a vacant seat at last. It is said that there are about a hundred waiters in the beer house and peak days welcome as much as 30,000 visitors. Finding a seat was almost a competition among newcomers and it took speed and sharp eyes to spot a place. Different from the other bare wooden tables, I was seated at a "special" table covered with a piece of white table cloth with blue plant patterns. It was not too long before I realized my lucky seat was for regular customers of the beer house. What a considerate act. On the HB official website, I found a full list of regular customers, each with their designated time slot to the house. There is a Hurt Firma who comes every first Thursday of the month, and there is A D` Mo`schei`briada who arrives at 4pm every Friday. Loyal regular guests such as Die Altbayern and Eichheim Regierung can be found daily at the spot. The beer house is part of life for regular customers and the regular beer lovers define the HB culture in turn. Such intertwined relationship between a walled brewery and free souls is simply fascinating. It is not only a place for the world-famous beer, but a social web where the townsman pat on each other's shoulders with a should “Hey Old Fella!”. This invisible universe formed by local folks is the true source of life for Hofbräuhaus over four centuries’ of ups and downs.

When Hofbräuhaus was founded by Duke of Bavaria as a court brewery, it was not as lively as today since the place was reserved to the royalty. Court ladies drunk up to 7 liters of beer per day as a beauty accelerator. Mozart and Sisi, the empress of Austria were both said to have frequented Hofbräuhaus. It was the year 1828 that King Lugwig I declared the court alehouse to be the people's alehouse, which is commemorated by the regular guests with a celebratory toast at Hofbräuhaus today. Public spirit flamed in the ashes of royalty and charted life into the public space that is supposed to be defined and enjoyed by all.

Immediate after the order, a square-faced waiter placed half a liter of cloudy wheat beer served in a glass narrow at the bottom curved wider at the top. The glass was brightened by a warm amber color of the wheat beer, topped by a thin layer of fluffy foam. I couldn't wait to take hold of the ice-cold glass and I felt refreshed the moment I poured the chilling liquid into my mouth. It was a silky taste and tiny foam of the beer created a cracking itchy feeling over my tongue. The beer gave out a banana aroma that well dissolved the slight hoppy bitterness. The wheat bear I ordered was neither dry nor sour or spicy, and very suitable to my cheerful spirit.

After about 20 minutes' waiting after the order, I finally got the HB signature dish: the roasted joints and knuckles of pork, an ancient Bavarian pride. I was taken over by the roast aroma immediately when the dish was put in front of me by a hand. I didn't have time to survey the waiter or waitress. My eyes were on the dish and there was no room for any additional information. I didn't care who delivered the dish. That was a feast. Crispy pork skin of gave out a crackling noise as I cut through the well-roasted port drizzled with oil and herbs. I dip the chunk of meat in the shining thickened gravy made from juice of the meat. What a bite! The tender meat melted with the crackling port skin, and the gravy moisturized the dry meat tissues perfectly to form a smooth taste. A sip of beer cleared off any oily residual in the mouth and prepared me for another bite.

Naturally, the people sharing a same table started chatting. The couple sitting across me came from Norway on their summer holiday. The two Portuguese young men sharing the same bench were munching on a pretzel and couldn't wait any more after my dish was served. Having lunch in a hall with hundreds of people was such an enjoyable experience. There, I understood the German word "Gemütlichkeit". It is a word describing a space filled with warmth, friendliness, and cheerfulness. It is a state of coziness, belonging and social acceptance.

After a good meal, I left for the train station to catch my 4 o'clock train to the Prague. Surprisingly, the train left half an hour earlier! I was annoyed. Maybe not so much annoyed after all. I was given another chance to enjoy a "Gemütlichkeit" night in a cheerful beer house.

#Germany #Europe #Travel