Mountain Beer Fest

Where the glass is always half full.   We were at the 2. International BERG BIER FEST of the BERGBRAUER in Pfunds – and that's what we experienced:

The Berghof in Pfunds in the Tyrolean Oberland stands for a long family tradition and experience, as well as for modern thinking when it comes to spending an enjoyable holiday in Tyrol in harmony with nature. In the in-house restaurant, regionality is very important, the preferred lamb comes from our own farm, the eggs from their own happy chickens and cheese and butter from the surrounding alpine pastures. Since the beginning of 2020, the beer has even come from the in-house brewery.

Brewmaster Roman Hänseler brews two different beer styles about once a week, an organic naturally cloudy gusset and an organic naturally cloudy wheat under the clever name "Die Bergbrauer". On the one hand, the Berghof is located with the brewery at 1400 meters and is thus the highest brewery in Austria, on the other hand, Roman is supported in his venture by his wife Elisa.

"Die Bergbrauer" stands for honest, hand-brewed beer made from the best ingredients in organic quality: mountain spring water from Greit, malt & hops from Upper Austria and sour malt from Bavaria.

On Sunday, 04.09.2022, connoisseurs had the opportunity to discover the Berghof and the brewery at the BERG BIER FEST, to taste the specially created menu with a focus on regionality and seasonality (almost all ingredients come from Tyrol) and to have the development of water and malt to the finished beer explained to them in the brewery tour.

The arrival was facilitated for the guests with a specially set up shuttle service every hour on the hour from the roundabout in Pfunds to the Berghof. On this very hot September day, hikers were free to take the route from Pfunds through the idyllic Radurschlklamm gorge and reach the brewery in approx. 2 hours to reach.

Above all, the menu makes the hearts of vegetarian guests beat faster: 95% of the selected dishes were kept meatless, only the Berg.Lamm.Burger was formed with a patty made of mountain lamb from our own husbandry. With tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese and burger bread from the Pfundser Bäck, the burger tastes like a poem that only the mountains know how to compose, especially with the in-house organic wheat in a sympathetically shaped craft beer glass. The beer.cream.soup, which was of course prepared with their own beer, makes more than sense and seduces with delicate cheese nuances and the crispy farmhouse bread with melted Gschnairer Almkaas, oven-baked cherry tomatoes and Tyrolean roasted onions is probably the best anti-hangover recipe of the past century.

With this in mind, you can drink Zwickel and eat farmhouse bread with Almkaas.Raclette in a continuous loop until the shuttle runs for the last time. But we are still a long way from that.

 Our secret favorite on the menu: the Greiter Gerstlbowl. A salad of rolled barley, caramelized balsamic plums, sheep's cheese in cubes and nuts. Beautifully harmonious, sweet, sour, the bowl together with the cold beer was a real refreshment and the recipe for it will definitely be included in your own collection (by the way, you can find the recipe at the end of the article).

For the small appetite, portions of coleslaw, wedges with two kinds of dips and corn on the cob with herb butter were served. This time unfortunately not made it but for the next time with three exclamation marks is the Berg.Mahd.Eis, an Oberland hay ice cream from Nauders with honey from the Radurschla and nuts.

Every hour on the hour, Roman gave a tour of the brewery, for which a fitness cellar and a garage of the Berghof were "sacrificed".

With a lot of passion and joy, he explains the history of the brewery so far as well as the brewing process itself. What is produced in these two rooms alone with manual work up to bottling and corking of very high-quality craft beer is simply impressive and should best be experienced for yourself. Until the winter season, there is the opportunity to do so every Thursday evening, which is now only known as the Berg Bier evening in Pfunds. Brewery tour, subsequent catering at the Berghof and shuttle service on request are included in the package, for which vouchers are also available. Fortunately for us, there are also glasses of organic beer mustard in stock, which the "mountain brewers" produce in cooperation with the mustard manufacturer Telfs.

Stocked up with the two types of beer in practical 0.33 liter bottles in wooden crates specially made for transport with the burned-in "Bergbrauer" logo, we start our way home again, definitely hungry and thirsty for more.
#drinklocal #thinkglobal #diebergbrauer

  Are you still looking for a suitable gift for your beer lovers?

Take a look at the Onlineshop of the "Bergbrauer" - here you will find very attractive wooden gift boxes with beer samples and craft beer glasses as well as a glass of organic beer mustard!

Easy Peasy recipe for the Greiter Gerstlbowl:
that. 300g barley (e.g. from Greiter Mühle)
200g sheep's cheese
10 – 12 plums (e.g. punched)
Handful of nuts (e.g. cashew, hazelnut, etc.)

In addition:
Brown sugar (approx. 1 EL)
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil (approx. 3 EL)
White wine vinegar (approx. 3 EL)
Ahornsirup (ca. 1 EL)
Salt, pepper

Instructions:

• Soak the barley overnight (then the cooking time will be shortened) and then cook until al dente.
• Then marinate with white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a little maple syrup.
• Cut the plums and caramelize them in brown sugar and deglaze with balsamic vinegar, reduce them a little.
• Cut the sheep's cheese and at the end arrange everything together and enjoy it with an organic naturally cloudy Zwickl beer from "Die Bergbrauer".