If you read this blog with any regularity you know I am a son of Jersey. No, not the craggy sea-swept island jsut off of jolly-olde England; I am talking about the overpopulated and over taxed armpit of America, New Jersey. After describing the Garden State in such a way, now you know why I am quite happy to be a “volunteer mountaineer” for nearly 30 years now.

There are a few things though that I miss from my youthful Jersey days; the best sub sandwiches in the world for one (and I am not taking any prisoners on that fact), the best road-side diners and Taylor Pork Roll. This Blog will be my ode to Taylor Pork Roll.

It was easy for me to take Taylor Pork Roll for granted. I didn’t know it was Jersey thing; I thought everybody in America was eating pork roll just like me. There were the Taylor Pork Roll stores on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. The pork roll was cooked over an open flame grill with an automatic rotisserie gently grasping the 1/8” thick by 4” round slices of delicious Taylor Pork Roll. We used to think it was funny when one of those North Jerseyans would call it Taylor Ham. You could have a Taylor-Burger or even a double-Taylor Burger with a flame-cooked beef patty sandwiched between two pieces of pork roll or vice-versa. This was before the invention of cholesterol…

I have been able to enjoy Taylor Pork Roll in Charleston. It has been available at the Ashton Place Krogers for the past few years (sold with the Boar’s Head products). Since 1856 John Taylor’s Famous Pork Roll has been made in Trenton, NJ and has been wrapped in a sewn burlap/cotton casing and put out for sale in one pound and six-pound packages. Pre-sliced pork roll is also available but I have not seen it sold this way at Krogers.  

I think the best way to try Taylor Pork Roll is pan seared with fried eggs (salt & Pepper on the egg) and buttered rye toast (Rosen’s is a decent brand but buy the one with caraway seeds). The slight salty- acidity of the pork roll is a perfect match with the white and yolk of the egg.  This must be experienced, for I am not capable of writing so expressively… (Here is a picture of my Sunday breakfast)

This is the ultimate Taylor Pork Roll Breakfast.

Schlenkerla Brewmaster Martin Knab talks about "Oak Smoke" while we tasted the beer in Schlenkerla's lagering cellar – Photo by Jared Tuk

The world renown yet surprisingly small Bamberg based “Brauerei Heller-Trum” is most well known for their use of beechwood smoked malts to produce the brewery’s flagship beer “Aecht Schlenkerla Maerzen” along with other smokey variations of the beechwood smoked theme. This year though 6^th generation family owner and head brewer Mattias Trum is throwing a wrench into what has become the beechwood smoked malt tradition of Bamberger rauchbier.

I recently visited the brewery and had the chance to taste an exciting new beer simply called “Oak Smoke”. When I asked Mattias why he would divert from what seems to be hundreds of years of beechwood smoked tradition, he cited some of what he learned when working on a thesis while studying brewing at Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest and most famous school of brewing; “When looking deeper into the origins of Smokebeer it becomes apparent, that not everywhere beechwood was the fuel of choice”. Mattias went on to give examples of the peat smoked malts deployed in Scotch ale; he was clearly on a mission to explore the use and effects that wood other than beech would give to his beers. Heller-Trum achieves the smokey flavor during the drying process after the raw barley has been germinated; a wood fire is used and hence, lends its smoke in the process.

Schlenkerla “Oak Smoke” is based on a helles-bock, but tipping the scales at 8% abv realistically requires this beer to fight in “doppelbock division”. First brewed last year, it was available locally in Bamberg on draft only. This year’s version will be available in two variants, a filtered version that will be available in keg and bottle and also a “vintage” edition that will be unfiltered and bottled for further aging. The beer will be shipped to several of the breweries importers for sale around the world including the USA.

A small band of thirsty travelers including myself were treated to some of the beer right from the lagering tank in the brewery’s nearly one-millennium old cellar. Brewmaster Martin Knab gave us a run-down on the beer as we tasted it. The beer is light amber with a deceptively smooth 40 bitterness units and the 8% alcohol is nearly imperceptible (though we were drinking it quite cold). The oak smoke flavor is very affable with no apparent phenolic (band-aid) flavors; it’s not quite as intense a smoke as the almost “bacon-y” flavor found in Schlenkerla’s other beech smoked products. During our recent 6-day and several-beer visit to various parts of Bavaria, Schlenkerla Oak Smoke was the stand-out beer of the trip and that is saying something…

Well, our trip is winding down and once again we have seen a beautiful country full of beautiful people. I continue to be amazed at the depth the culture and warmth of the Bavarians. As for our mission to explore the depths of Bavarian Beer Culture, it’s been a smashing success. Our respect for the beer and the traditions has earned us respect in return. We have made great friends; ones that we hope to be able to visit again on our next Bavarian beer adventure.

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!

The BTY drinking team is out on the town in Munich tonight. A little rain has pretty much shut-down all of the biergartens so we find ourselves at Weisses Brauhaus (Schneider). We were able to score the table that’s usually reserved for the regulars. The Aventinus and Hopfenweisse are especially tasty.

Here we are on Saturday afternoon sitting at Brauerei Griefenklau enjoying ourselves and ordering dinner. Griefenklau may not serve the best beer in Bamberg but it serves-up one heck of a biergarten with an awesome view of a castle perched upon an adjacent hill.

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Location:Promenadestraße,Bamberg,Germany

Location:Promenadestraße,Bamberg,Germany

Your BTY beer drinking team is in Bamberg Germany and we just finished an awesome tour of Brauerei Heller-Trum. More envy posts to come!