7 Stern Bräu

Today we went to a local brewery for the second time since we arrived 12 days ago. Located about 150 meters from the Stiftkaserne (where we are staying), 7 Stern Bräu has pretty good food, and pretty great beer. While I am partial to the Wiener Helles, an excellent light beer, a couple of other cadets really enjoy the Prager Dunkles, a sweet-tasting dark beer with a smack of vanilla. There are some strange beers on the menu as well. For example, the Hanf beer has hemp in it and although the hemp does not give any narcotic addition to the beer, it does give it a nice, sweet, and herbal flavor. Also, the Bamberger Rauchbier was interesting. It is made by either adding smoked wood during the brewing process or brewing it over smoked wood (I honestly have no clue). What I do know is that the first drink tasted like I was drinking bacon. After the initial shock at this, I began to savor the flavor more and found it to be truly smoky, something that would go quite nicely with cheese and crackers (although a little heavy to drink on its own). I also tried the Chilli beer, which of course, is made with chilies. It honestly tastes like something you would use to prank an alcoholic with or something you would put on super hot buffalo wings. I initially expected it to have a little underlying heat, but I coughed after my first sip (obviously paying for my underestimation). It took a serious dare and a promise of over 6 Euros to get me to finish it. If you're interested in the brewery, check out the website... http://www.7stern.at/.