Kreuzberg, Germany: Monk Beer

To say German beer is good would be a complete understatement. German beer is delicious. For the ladies out there that typically do not like beer or do not like dark beer, try a German beer and get back to me.

When we heard a lieutenant friend of Justin's was going to a brewery we were in. When we found out he was going to a brewery located in a monastery we were really in. And when we found out he was going to a brewery where German monks brew the beer, well then we were willing to drive to make it there.

So we set out with Justin's friend Wes and traveled to Kreuzberg, Germany. A small monk town situated in the beautiful hills and mountains of Germany. We only got lost once while driving there, so in general the three hour drive was not too bad. I listened to a few hours of Army babble, but mostly just enjoyed the German countryside. One of my favorite things to do is just drive through the back roads of Germany, and that is definitely what we had to do to find Kreuzberg.

Once we made it to the general area we had to park and hike the rest of the way to the monastery. We grabbed some lunch and beer right away. The only beer on tap that day was a Dunkel (a darker beer). It was only sold in liter increments, so of course Justin and I both got a liter. Wes was a little braver and bought a 2 liter growler (a big jug).

Prost!

After eating, we carried our beers around with us and explored the monastery grounds. Justin and I found our Oktoberfest outfits here, so stay tuned to find out what we bought!

Here is the garden where the brew master and important monks of this monastery are buried

It was beautiful; the mountains, the gardens, the statues. We took the Army version of the "beer tour". A few of Justin's lieutenant friends told us about this personally created tour. There were 15 stations with statues that depicted the story leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection. At each station we were supposed to drink a sip of beer. So we successfully completed each station and tried to read the German inscriptions on each statue. Ultimately, we just enjoyed the art and beer. Luckily we know the story of Jesus' life, so we could figure out what was going on. The stations lead to the top of a hill where the 3 crosses are depicted. It was no easy task to make it to the top, but it was worth walking the hundreds of steps because the view was breathtaking. 

The view from the top of the hike

Overall, the monastery was beautiful, and the monk beer was fabulous. We bought some to take home with us, and now we too have a 2 liter growler just like Wes. We plan to go back around Christmas time to refill it with the monk's famous Christmas beer. I can't wait!

Grafenwoehr Volksfest!

Every year the Grafenwoehr base puts on the German-American Volksfest. This year was the 55th year of this particular fest. Fests are very popular in Germany. Many vendors set-up and sell food, beer, and German souvenirs. There are also a lot of great rides and carnival games. 

Our favorite game was something similar to beer pong. There was a booth with hundreds of German steins set-up. We could buy ping pong balls and try to shoot them into the stein that we wanted to win. If our ball landed in a stein, we got to keep it. We ended up winning 3 steins that night! It was a fun game.

We also enjoyed drinking beer from liter steins. It was a workout to hold that big of a stein all night, but it was a great time. We hung out with some soldiers from Justin's platoon, so it was nice to get to know them.

Our steins from Volksfest

In Germany you always pay a deposit for your stein. If you return the stein when you are finished drinking you get your deposit back. If you do not return the stein, then you get to keep it! We brought home both of those steins, along with the 3 we won. I guess we like adding to our collection :)