Altbier Tour

Every region in Germany is known for brewing its own

special beer. Here in Düsseldorf, they brew what is known as "Altbier", a darker, richer type of beer that I would compare to Newcastle. Or maybe Yuengling. In any case, I LOVE it. So, one "Düsseldorfer" thing I really wanted to do was make a little Altbier tour of the 4

local breweries right here in Düsseldorf! And very very conveniently I happen to have met and fallen in love with a real,

live Düsseldorf boy and Altbier expert!

It was not difficult to convince him to lead the t

our.

We started at the Schumacher Brewery in the Carlsplatz open air market. Schumacher, Kai informed

us, is

the lightest in color and sweetest of the Alts. Perfect for summer.

Next, we moved to the Uerige Brewery, just on

e block down the road and sat indoors.

This beer was much darker and bitter in taste, meant for heavier and more traditional German dishes like Leberwurst Brötchen or Black Pudding. It would have been great in the wintertime, but I like the lighter and sweete

r taste of the first beer.

The third stop was Schlüssel. This place had a beer that was light like the first but bitter like the second....I like it alot. Unfortunately, you can't really find it in town except for at the brewery. It did have the coolest story behind it....the word "Schlüssel" in German means "key".

In the days of Olde...Düsseld

orf used to be surrounded by 3 city gates, and at night they would lock the gates shut and store the keys in this brewery to keep them

safe! Cool!

The last and final stop was my favorite....the Füchschen Brauerei. "Füchschen" means "Little Fox". This beer was more red in color an

d sweeter. It was super fresh and it only is good for about one month, unlike most other beers, so its shelf life is very precious! At Füchschen we were definitely in need of some nourishment, so I ordered a traditional "Mettbrötchen", which is a rol

l sliced into halves and topped with a mixture o

f raw ground pork, diced onions, salt and pepper. It might sound gross, because it certainly did to ME the first time it was described to me, but it is

DELICIOUS! One of my favorite local dishes.

A great success! I can check it off my list.