An unforeseen trip over to Germany, the land of excellent, and value priced beer, was in store for me this January. I have been called to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I arrived in Germany the 28th of January in the early evening, after traveling since the evening before. We had to make a few stops along the way (no beer stops though, darn). We stopped in Nova Scotia and Iceland. Once arriving in Germany and getting settled where we were going to stay, I walked down to the 24 hour Shopette. I bought a 6 pack of Budweiser Budvar for $3.00. The original Budweiser is quite a tasty pilsner. Not as hoppy as a Pilsner Urquell, but still full of flavor. The next night, I got a 6 pack of half liter bottles of Scheinhofer Kristal Weizen. Again, this came in at $3.20 a 6 pack. Great beer at a great price. The next night I was off to Vilseck to spend a few days in the field (no beer there, what a drag). I came back 6 days later and then bought a rack (20 half liter bottles) of Ulmer Marzen bier. This was $9.95 for the rack and $4.50 deposit for the bottles, as they were flip tops.

I also had the opportunity to try some good wine. There was a local wine grower from the area that set up a booth outside the PX. He sold a homemade gluhwein. He used a mixture of red and white wine, a little sugar, some orange, cinnamon, and a little brandy. It was $1.50 a glass pre-heated, or you could by a bottle for $3.00. It was quite good. When I talked to him, he said if you use a heavy red wine like burgundy, it can get too strong with too many tannins. There are many local wine growers that make gluhwein with white wine as the Rhein area grows a lot more white grapes then red grapes. Therefore, the gluhwein is cheaper if made with the white grape local wines.

That was the majority of my beer and wine drinking. I am now in Kuwait and have not had anything to drink for a couple weeks. Looks like it will be several more weeks before I get the opportunity. Wishing you all a happy Fasching (the German celebration much like Mardi Gras). I wish I was back in Germany to enjoy it.