Beer Pilgrimage, Part II

Beer Pilgrimage Day, Part II
============================

Making the most of our day pass, we headed back to Munich and caught a different commuter train out to the tiny town of Aying.  It was hard to remain conscious after the pork attack (like I said, more on that later) and the beer, but the bolt-upright seats helped.  Halfway to Aying we passed the Siemens main campus, which is enormous and looks like a huge urban centre made of lego.

Aying is a cute little town, centered around and created for the Ayinger brewery, which is one of the better-known German breweries.  You can walk the town end-to-end in about 20 minutes.  It looks much like other small Bavarian farming towns.  Except for the revealing street names near the brewery:

Malt Way

Hops Way

Brewland (I think) Way

We dropped by the brewery, but it was around 5:30pm so it was closed for the day and we couldn't get a tour and/or sample.  Such is life.

Here's the well where the get the water for the brewery from a couple of hundred metres underground.  They also package and sell spring water from the same source.

We walked around a bit - a very quiet, calm, tiny burg. Probably an expensive bedroom community for Munich.  Starting seeing some nice Bavarian touches to the houses.  (Though this isn't uncommon - it seems like every house in the region has the same classic Bavarian look.)

For Rick - apparently the Germans also have old Lotuses they work on from time to time.

If you're going to make a painting of Aying, might as well put it on a cow statue.

This looks like I've taken a photo of Sarah taking more professional photos.  In fact it was an excuse to photograph the father and son in the background, who are practising soccer in lederhosen.  Yep, people actually do wear it in Bavaria, though usually for ceremonial events or in more rural areas.  These two were probably from the wedding reception next door.

One of the old brewery buildings near the center.

Has the requisite church at the center of town.

The standard Bavarian maypole at the center of town, in front of the main (and one of the few) hotels.  I believe the maypole originated here, though we will be leaving Germany before May Day celebrations.  They usually decorate the maypole with cutouts representing the different services and products available in the town.

We stopped at a restaurant in the center (there are only 3-4 in the whole town) for a bite and an Ayinger beer.  They also served spring water from the Ayinger spring (center).

Ayinger makes Celebrator, which back in Vancouver was my favourite doppelbock (based on limited selection/sampling).  Drinking it fresh less than a kilometre from the source, it is indeed even better - not a drink-it-all-day kind of beer, but one whose big flavour demands attention.  It's much hoppier at the source - I think the bottles we get in Vancouver must be a bit old and musty by the time they reach us.

After the pork attack, I needed something a bit lighter for dinner.  White asparagus (spargle) is a big deal here and it is the peak of the season for it - all the markets are selling it.  And it is indeed very good - like regular asparagus, but without the bitterness and the sulphur flavours, much milder.  Really quite excellent.

Sarah, having only had a pretzel for lunch in accordance with her monastic vows/usual eating requirements, went with the luxurious cheese-and-onion-straw spatzle see earlier (dumpling-like, pasta-like dish), which was excellent & filled her to the brim.

That was about all we could manage that day - it was back on the train & back to the guesthouse after dinner.