Storm Emma & Beer

Glad to say that my wife’s stomach upset is long past and gone due to cups and cups of Camomile tea, it doesn’t taste all that good but it certainly helps.

On Friday evening we were invited round to some neighbours friends for drinks (this is a common practise here in Germany) they live across the road from us. It was an enjoyable evening, they are both pensioner’s like we are so most of our interests are mutual. We had a couple of beers (that is Heinrich and myself) the ladies had wine, the beer that we drank is called Alt bier this beer is drunk mainly in and around Düsseldorf. In Cologne (which is not so far from Düsseldorf about 30 km) they drink Kölch, but that’s an other story.

We were warned in the middle of the week that Europe would be hit by a storm (Called Emma) with gale force winds up to 135 kilometres per hour. When we came home it was around midnight it was raining and a strong wind was blowing. Half past three in the morning the storm hit us with thunder and lighting and gusts of wind that howled around the house we could hear the branches of the trees in the nearby woods thrashing wildly against each other. On such a night to be snug in bed with the wind howling outside is a great feeling.

Apparently from what they say on the news there has been considerable wide spread damage, the worst hit areas being the North of Germany and the North sea coast line.

Every year the same procedure, this year no exemptions, the filling out of the tax forms. Over the last four years I use a program, which helps you get through the tax jungle and gives you a very accurate account of what you get refunded or not. Tomorrow my wife and I shall do our tax return for 2007 which means stress for the pair of us.

Information about Alt Bier

(often abbreviated to Alt) is the name given to a form of pale ale that originated in Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach the Rhineland region in Germany

The name Altbier, which literally means old beer, refers to the pre-lager brewing method of using a warm top-fermenting yeast like British pale ales Over time the Alt yeast adjusted to lower temperatures, and the Alt brewers would store or lager the beer after fermentation, leading to a cleaner, crisper beer than is the norm for an ale.

History

The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot of 1516, was drawn up to ensure the production of decent-quality beer; however, this decree did not affect brewers of the Rhineland. As such, the brewing traditions in this region developed slightly differently. For example, brewing during the summer was illegal in Bavaria, but the cooler climate of the Rhineland allowed Alt brewers to brew all year long and to experiment with storing fermented beer in cool caves and cellars.

The photos are of a glass Alt bier and the second one is downloaded from Spiegel online

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.