Erfurt

The eastern side of the Harz mountains area is an orgy of Disney style Olde Germanie kitsch: three towns with perfectly preserved Altstadts connected by a set of steam railway lines. But breathing in coal fumes and looking at half-timbred houses was only a subplot of my main quest: to find out if the depressingly tedious beer scene in Bavaria (except Franconia) is replicated in the rest of Germany.
First a stop on the way north: Erfurt has a few decent looking streets, a cathedral and a fortress overlooking the town.

We're well into Krombacher territory here...

Not a patch on a Schneidder, seemed to lack any fruitiness... maybe I should lay off the Weissbiers up this next of the woods.

Kostritzer also seems have a strong following here.

I've tried many times to like their Schwarzbier, I feel like I ought to like it, but I find it distinctly unexciting. Maybe it's the Gebot preventing it from having any sort of taste you could vaguely describe as black. Having said that, a cold glass on draft did wonders for my dusty throat.
The Erfurter Brauhaus mentioned in Ron Pattinson's guide has unfortunately long since passed away. I wonder if the owners ever said to themselves: "Hey, rather than brewing exactly the same beer styles as all the other brew pubs round here, why don't we try brewing something different? Maybe one of the beer styles which are proving extremely popular in other brewpubs around the world? Then there might be something to differentiate us from the competition, we might even kick start a beer revolution in Germany and become rich and famous?!?! Nah, let's not bother, let's just brew what everyone else is."