A Glasgow beer institution is getting the first pour of a rare Furstenberg beer to celebrate Oktoberfest.
The family-owned Bier Halle on Gordon Street has been serving the city’s beer lovers for over 20 years, building up an impressive knowledge and selection of Czech and German beers to go along with their food offerings.
This year, to commemorate their annual Oktoberfest celebration, Bier Halle has been given the opportunity to be the first bar in Scotland to pour Furstenberg’s Unfiltered Helles on tap.
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Previously, you would only be able to try the Unfiltered Helles if you visited the Furstenberg brewery in Germany, but the legendary managing director of the family business, Colin Barr, has built up a longstanding relationship with his favourite beer.
Colin told The Glasgow Times: “The first place to serve Furstenberg in Scotland was the Ubiquitous Chip.
“I was never into the light beers – I used to, on my break, go all the way up to Ashton Lane to get a pint of Furstenberg because it was my favourite beer.
“They had a special driver that went over to Germany every week with a white van that bought the beer and brought it back.
“So that’s how much effort they went to get it, and I loved that story.
“It is my favourite beer, it’s the only beer I drink, day in and day out, and I do have a minimum of two pints every day of my life, there’s no doubt about that.
“It is classed as the best beer in the world.”
Colin and his son, creative director Josh Barr, have worked with Gary Lawson, director of sales at UK On Trade, to help share their love of the golden brew with Glasgow.
Helles is a type of lager that the Germans specialise in. It’s typically a clean, crisp, sweet golden lager but the unfiltered version has a cloudy twist on the original Furstenberg.
Colin said: “The Helles is wonderful, it’s unpasteurized, there’s no messing about.
“What we get with this beer, in these kegs, is what they’re drinking in Germany, and it is only a limited number.
“There is only one customer that gets it, and it’s us.”
He added: “In the Bier Halle, we’ve got proper beer trainspotters, people who know that we get these beers special, and they come out the woodwork for them.
“Real beer aficionados who know this is special and know that we get it.”
The Oktoberfest celebration will include the special ‘fest’ beers from the big German breweries like Lowenbrau and Paulaner and a menu of German-style food.
Josh said: “We only get a certain amount of the Oktoberfest beers in.
“We buy a pallet's worth, twelve cases of each of the big breweries ‘fest’ beer and then we have a food menu to compliment it.
“Stuff like Käsespätzle, which is a German mac and cheese, a German-style pizza, currywurst, and some of our staples as well.
“This year as a special, which we’ve never done before, we’re doing a roast chicken leg and chips.
“That’s one of the typical dishes when you go to Oktoberfest, it’s a staple.”
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Oktoberfest at Bier Halle is not a ticketed event, but everything will be served on a first come first serve basis, including just two kegs of the Unfiltered Helles.
Josh said: “You should get down this weekend because I think after the second weekend, we will be pretty much out of stock.”
The items will be sold from this Friday, September 30 through October until sell out and resident DJs will be playing music on the weekends throughout.
Gary, who represents Furstenberg and Weihenstephan Breweries, said: “Delighted to be introducing the first new brew from Furstenberg to land in over 30 years at The Bier Halle in Glasgow.
“Colin, Josh and the crew have been pioneers of world beer since the late 90s, so it’s a perfect fit for a taste teaser before the product is rolled out in Spring next year.
“The natural unfiltered Helles lager has a completely different taste profile to the well-known Furstenberg Premium so we’re all really excited to see how it’s received.”
Colin added: “It will all end in beers.
“Prost!”
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