Ben Palmer

It's @johnzee7.bsky.social and my annual Czech Dark Lager brew day today. Essentially the same recipe as the last 4 years. Our first decoction is currently boiling. #homebrewing

Thanks to @johnzee7.bsky.social, I get to try the legendary Kneitinger Bock! It's delicious.

GOOD MORNING! Here's our regular round-up of good writing about beer with a bit of Zoigl, 19th century brewing, faux-19th century brewing, Austrian hops, non-pubs in Yorkshire, and very light Czech beer. boakandbailey.com/2026/10/news...

My third stop of the day is Kelheim for Schneider Weisse TAP 7 Original at the Weisses Bräuhaus. Big shout-out to my pal @akrennmair.bsky.social for his excellent book 'Bavarian White Beer', which reminded me just how great Bavarian Weißbier can be.

My second stop of the day is the Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg for lunch and their amazing Dunkel.

The first stop of the day is Abensberg for a breakfast Weißbier at the Brauerei Kuchlbauer and a glimpse at the funky tower.

I'm a little sad that the Zoigl chapter of my Bavarian beer adventure has come to an end. But it's okay because I'm currently in Regensburg, where the local Export Dunkel is going down nicely.

More Zoigl-ing today in the Oberpfalz. I'm not sure how it has taken 10 years of living in Germany for me to visit this region.

I looked a bit into how the Upper Austrian hop industry recovered after WW2, and also tried to identify the exact origin of the Austrian-grown Malling hops. dafteejit.com/2026/10/uppe... #beerhistory

Drinking Zoiglbier in Windischeschenbach. My beery adventure through the Oberpfalz starts today and was inspired by a fantastic article written by @tempestinatankard.bsky.social published in @pelliclemag.com

Happy Oktoberfest from the Zollpackhof Biergarten in Berlin 🥨

GOOD MORNING! Here's our regular weekly round-up of good writing about beer and pubs, with notes on pubs with too many rules, Norwegian pilsner and car park hops, among other things. boakandbailey.com/2026/09/news...

Am I in the Hallertau for hop harvest? No! I discovered these in the car park of a Getränke Hoffmann drinks store in Berlin.

It's great to be in Rotterdam for the EBC Congress 2026! I'm proud to be presenting our scientific work carried out at VLB Berlin on the topic of flavour stability in beer.

Hostomice Fabián 14 on tap. In Berlin, at Muted Horn. My favourite Czech Dark Lager. 😍

What happens when Bristol darts expert @fredcook.co.uk comes over for his annual trip to Germany? We go to Bamberg and play soft-tip darts, of course.

I'm excited to present some of my PhD research on thiol stability in beer at the 40th EBC Congress this September in Rotterdam. The poster title is "An investigation of thiol disulfides as a potential indicator of ageing in dry-hopped beers" www.vlb-berlin.org/en/vlb-at_EB...

This weekend I'm on a Franconian brewery adventure with @fredcook.co.uk @louisekrennmair.bsky.social and @akrennmair.bsky.social We stopped for Brotzeit and beers at the Brauerei Göller in Drosendorf.

Start of our summer holiday. We have possibly made a bad choice and gone to Bamberg with @johnzee7.bsky.social and @fredcook.co.uk First stop is Spezial, one of my favourites.

First leg of three trains to see @johnzee7.bsky.social @louisekrennmair.bsky.social and @akrennmair.bsky.social in Berlin. Fingers crossed for no delays 🤞

In our monthly Beer and Book Club, we discussed "Thin Places in Hard Concrete" by @raynewman.bsky.social It's a brilliant collection of short stories featuring memorable settings and subtle unease. Highly recommended!

In Germany we say "wer schreibt, der bleibt"

GOOD MORNING! Here's our regular round-up of good writing about beer and pubs with vague themes around Bavarian beer culture and, oddly, that pub Lidl have opened in Northern Ireland. boakandbailey.com/2026/07/news...

BLOG POST: A response to @boakandbailey.bsky.social's "What does Helles taste like?" through the lens of a brewing scientist. hopandschwein.wordpress.com/2026/07/09/w...

My new book, Bavarian White Beer, has been out for almost two weeks, and so far, the feedback has been absolutely fantastic. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who bought a copy! Get yours now: waizenbier.de #beerhistory #homebrewing

I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at Andreas's new book. It is incredibly well researched, full of fascinating stories and offers a glimpse into just how wild Bavaria could be in centuries past, at least from a political and historical perspective. Congratulations @akrennmair.bsky.social!

If you're looking for the perfect drink for today's Germany-Curaçao match, here's a 1970's beer cocktail for you: Isarwasser. In a 1 litre Maßkrug, combine a bottle of Bavarian wheat beer, half a litre of orange juice or orange soda (e.g. Fanta), and a shot of Blue Curaçao liqueur. Enjoy!

Today I've been getting to know the locals on Hvar.

On this day 35 years ago, production of the Trabant car ceased. Here's a photo my brother took of a load of them in East Berlin in August 1990. #DDR #OTD

Happy German Beer Day! 🍻 Today I'm presenting some of my research at the VLB on the flavour stability of hoppy beers.

Please consider taking a few moments of your Sunday afternoon to appreciate this beautiful sourdough loaf baked by @akrennmair.bsky.social It definitely tastes as good as it looks.

UPDATE: My colleague from the VLB microbiology lab has kindly given me 500 mL of 3.2 pH kombucha starter liquid. I've been advised to reduce my batch size to increase the starting acidity and hopefully prevent early mould growth.

Are there any kombucha brewers on here? Green/white fuzzy patches of mould have grown on the surface of my third generation SCOBY. This has happened twice now and I'm not sure where I'm going wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

*Looks at train connections to Windischeschenbach*

German hop growing has officially been recognised as intangible cultural heritage by the Bavarian cabinet. I'm proud to support hop growers and merchants through our analytical work and hop research at VLB Berlin. www.about-drinks.com/hopfenanbau-...

As promised, hop growing in the DDR. barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2026/03/hop-...

Staying on the Oktoberfest theme, I wrote about the scandal of the Oktoberfest's first "giant tent" in 1898, and how it unfolded: dafteejit.com/2026/03/the-... #beerhistory #oktoberfest

🎯 New dartboard review 🎯 The seven stars in Redcliffe: fredcook.co.uk/2026/03/19/T... I've also added a handy map of all dartboard reviews so far

I've blogged about beers at late 19th/early 20th century Oktoberfest many years ago. I've now been able to find complete lists of breweries for the years 1895 and 1896, which shows how much more diverse the beer choice was back then: dafteejit.com/2026/03/beer... #beerhistory #oktoberfest

It has been a nice few days of pubbing around Sheffield and the Peak District.

Couldn't get the idea of adibass out of my head 🔺🔺🔺

BrewDog Germany filed for insolvency (article in German): www.morgenpost.de/berlin/artic...

Good news for German cycling fans via @tagesspiegel.de: the Tour de France Grand Départ 2029 might be coming to Berlin 🚴🇩🇪 The last time this happened was in West Berlin back in 1987. www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/berlin...

After a long and exhausting brew day (triple decoction mashing 😐) of a historic recipe involving 100% wheat malt, I wrote a brief article how I managed to lauter and sparge the mash without any issues, using a historic lautering aid. dafteejit.com/2026/02/laut... #homebrewing #beerhistory

Feierabendbier with @silentdan.bsky.social at the Eschenbräu brewpub in Wedding. The seasonal Rauchbock tastes like Bamberg.

Some Berlin kneipen (pubs) have been around for more than a hundred years and they’re still going strong… www.slowtravelberlin.com/around-berli...

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, 2022. A satirical novel about a millennial expat couple who move to Berlin. My favourite quote: "Wedding, in the west, existed only very faintly on their mental map, even though with every year it seemed to take on more substance, as if slowly coming into focus."

My pal @fredcook.co.uk has been writing about darts boards in Bristol pubs. There seem to be quite a few pubs with dart boards in Bristol serving draught Bass. Is this just a coincidence or are these somehow intertwined?

“The dartboard itself is a fairly old school Nodor Supabull 2. It had clearly been rotated a few times, but still had life left in it. That said, due to the chunky wires, staples and certain well-used patches, bounce outs were a theme of the night.”