Sayin' Hi from Germany

[swillmaker]

High guys,
Moved from B.C./CDN to Berlin shortly after the wall came down.
Been having a real good time over here, brewing being just one of my hobbies.
The malt quality over here is fantastic, Weyermann is about as good as you can get.
Hope to pick up some interesting pointers here and there on this site.
Wishin´ you all a good brew
C YA
swillmaker

 

[RichBrewer]

Welcome to HBT swillmaker!

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome

 

[homebrewer_99]

Gruss Gott!!

I lived outside of Bamberg from 1999-2004.

Went to Berlin several times. :rockin:

Log on to hobbybrauer.de

 

[swillmaker]

High homebrewer99,
Yup, I´ve already read much of their stuff on the site that ya mentioned.
Although, living in Berlin I have a girlfriend who comes from the eastern corner of Brandenburg and her folks have a small plantation with around 1800 appletrees. So I been makin`more cidre than beer. And since I do use extra sugar I`ve been playin around`with higher alc levels than I would get out of beer.
But being a biker (yes, I did bring my trusty shovelhead along) I do like my suds.
Hence the home beer brewing, cause Germany is Pils ladden and I don`t really get off on this heavily hopped stuff, like Becks or Jever, just to name examples.
Actually I consider those commercial horsepiss, pardon my French.
I prefer the maltier, sweeter and heavier beers, with a little more kick to boot.

But anyways, if you`ve lived near Bamberg, you should be familiar with the Weyermann maltery.
It`s their home base.
It sure is an impresive factory, producing some of the finest malts sold world-wide.
C YA
swillmaker

 

[Jaybird]

Welcome to HBT my friend!
Cheers
Jay

 

[mrkabal]

I'm thinking of taking a job in Ramstein; are there any legal caveats about home brewing that I should be aware of? I'm a hop-head, and I don't remember seeing a lot of IPAs and the such last time I was in Germany which means I'd have to brew my own. Is it pretty easy to get Cascade and Chinook over there?

 

[swillmaker]

High,
Are ya going to be living on an army base or in private accomodations?
As army bases are considered American soil, different rules apply, set by military law.
If ya live on German soil, you have to advise customs(Hauptzollamt), that you are a homebrewer and plan to brew.
On the first 200litres(50 US-gallons) per year, you pay no tax.
After that amount is surpassed, you pay tax on your homebrew, depending on the plato strength of your wort.
It is not much - around 8€ for 100litres at 14plato.
Forget your chinook or other american hops.
This is Hallertauer or Tettnanger country.
If you`re a hophead, you can get Hallertauer Herkules with 17% Alpha for bittering and Hallertauer Perle with 7% for aroma for bargain prices.
Hope to have helped ya.
I buy here, online: www.hopfen-und-mehr.de
C YA
swillmaker

 

[bschindl]

High guys

I get the feeling you're more from Amsterdam than Germany...

 

[swillmaker]

High,
Been there. To "drink a good cup a coffee" in one of the shops.:rockin:
I don`t speak any Dutch though.
Also took a guided tour through the Heinecken brewery.
Very impressive and I can highly recommend it to anybody ever going to Holland.
The "evil" guide forced us to have a sip here, taste that, how about a mug of this and by the time we were through, we were all waxed and didn`t know up from down.
To top it all off, they gave everyone a complimentary six-pack, a hat and a t-shirt before they booted us out.
C ya
swillmaker