Franz D. Hofer
@tempestinatankard.bsky.social
240 followers 280 following 200 posts
Writes about beer culture, beer travel, beer history. Teaches about museums and public history, food and drink, and cultural history. Books, hiking, cycling. https://tempestinatankard.com https://franzdhofer.com
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tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Great hanging with you this weekend, Jack! Wonderful tour of the city's diverse and surprisingly rich pub culture. 🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
?? ...

For clarification: they lifted your guide and used it as their own for pitching to their own online publications? ...

If that's the case, sorry to hear it. Not good.

Just had discussions during this opening week of classes re: generative AI and the threat it poses to critical thinking.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
La Fleur en Papier Doré, Brussels. One of the more fascinating tavern interiors I've come across. More in the post 🍻

tempestinatankard.com/2025/09/17/l...
Beer from Verschueren at La Papier en Fleur Doré, Brussels Ecclectic interior, La Fleur en Papier Doré, Brussels
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Nice! I read your book over the summer and thoroughly enjoyed it.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
This is really cool! Worth noting: Pundits have been predicting the "rise" of saké in North America for a good decade and change. Hopefully we'll finally see a breakthrough — and wider distro so that I can actually drink some fresh saké here in OK.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
All the more for me! Jacob's Weissbier is tops. 🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Tegestology. You learn something new every day. Where I grew up (Vancouver) we called the things we put under coffee cups and glasses "coasters" (and still do). Since I've been into beer (early 1990s) I've always called the cardboard things "beer mats" (and sometimes beer coasters).
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
If you're a lover of beer festivals and you happen to find yourself anywhere near Bamberg this weekend, head on over to the Sandkerwa, perhaps one of the "best" beer fests in Bavaria.

Best or not, it's among my faves. Great selection of Franconian beer! 🍻

tempestinatankard.com/2025/08/18/b...
Bamberg’s Sandkerwa: A Beer Lover’s Beer Fest • A Tempest in a Tankard
In August, the entire Altstadt of Bamberg is turned into an open-air beer hall with music on every square for Sandkerwa.
tempestinatankard.com
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
"All Schnitzel cooks agree that the color of a Wiener Schnitzel should be light golden brown. Certain Breughel paintings and Stradivari violins have the perfect Schnitzel color."

Fine food writing.

Joseph Wechsberg, The Cooking of Vienna's Empire (1968)

H/T @evanrail.bsky.social for the book tip
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
The very sound of the word Munich is enough to conjure up fond memories of languid afternoons in beer gardens, of joyous and occasionally raucous beer festivals, of winter evenings in beerhalls drinking mugs of beer to drive the cold away.

tempestinatankard.com/2025/08/06/i...
Your Guide to Munich's Beer Gardens, Breweries, and Beerhalls • A Tempest in a Tankard
The very sound of the word Munich is enough to conjure up memories of languid afternoons in beer gardens, or winter evenings in beerhalls.
tempestinatankard.com
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Just don't use generative AI. Period. (Among other things, the environment will thank you.) Side note: I'm not a Luddite. 🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Some "classic-ness" happening this afternoon right here in Oklahoma. Seems I haven't had Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo since 2012.

That's not for lack of tryin'. It's not something we see here where the wind blows down the plains. Had to go to Wizard of Oz country (Goebel in Wichita) to get sum.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
I hasten to add that @beervana.bsky.social 's piece is a fun read! It's intended less, I think, as a commentary on how we do history than it is a commentary on how layers of myth and legend sometimes obscure the "actual" story.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
A "counter-factual": What would the history of beer (or the history of anything, for that matter) look like without myths and legends?

I ask this as a historian, but also one who is decidedly *not* a positivist historian.

(The myths and legends we tell ourselves can be revealing for historians.)
beervana.bsky.social
For centuries, people have repeated myths or “romantic facts” about beer, misinforming the public about its history and science. But which of these are the biggest whoppers? Our crack team of researchers has put together the definitive list.
The Ten Wrongest Myths / “Romantic Facts” About Beer — Beervana
For centuries, people have repeated myths or “romantic facts” about beer, misinforming the public about its history and science. But which of these are the biggest whoppers? Our crack team of research...
www.beervanablog.com
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
We've got two pawpaw trees in our backyard. The wildlife around here tends to get the pick up the crop. But occasionally we have a few left over for us.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Yes, outrageous!

FWIW, I'm all for Festbier in summertime. After all, Festbier is just that: beer brewed for a festival. I declare today "summer fest." And tomorrow, and the day after, etc. etc.
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Märzen: Sommerbier by a diff'rnt name. Sommerbier: Märzen by a diff name. I don't dispute that the term Märzen fell out of favour until it was revived in 1872. My point (for Brian) was that, since Märzen/Sommerbier was a precursor of what we drink @ O'fest today, he should give in to the Teufel 🍻🙂
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Sorry about the "actually" 😅😛🙂🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
So tell the angel that seasonality is only a belated part of it, and indulge that devil on your shoulder. 🍻🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Actually, Märzen, the precursors of today's O'fest beers (&not the 1872 version infl'd by Dreher) were brewed to be consumed over the summer when brewers couldn't brew. What got drunk during those early O'fests were what was left. So it's entirely in keeping to be drinking the stuff during summer.🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Gutes Bier being the operative phrase. Definitely not a great beer. 🙂🍻
tempestinatankard.bsky.social
Looking forward to trying it when I'm back in Europe. So far, experience hasn't been kind to N/A lagers.