After yesterday’s wine filled afternoon, I was wondering if maybe today would be a good day to go to Stuttgart and check out a museum.  But Bill was kind of tired and not in the mood to drive a long way, plus I knew there was going to be a beer tasting in Gärtringen.  The beer tasting was hosted by none other than Martin Damlach, a popular and familiar name in the Stuttgart Beer Club Facebook group.

Over the past few years, I had seen and heard Martin’s name come up repeatedly among beer lovers.  He runs a beer store in Gärtringen called Sueffisant which carries exotic beers from around the world.  Bill and I had been wanting to visit him, but never found the right time to stop by his place, which doesn’t have extensive opening hours.

Today, we decided to meet Martin at the tasting.  When I introduced myself, he immediately recognized my name and, after we tried our first beer, took Bill and me to his place where we proceeded to choose and taste more beers.  We ended up leaving with about fifteen beers, many of which we have never tried before.

Bill tries an IPA from Freiburg.

Martin had some grains available to check out…

This was a good find.

Besides beer, there were also people selling food and accessories.  I saw one woman demonstrating some kind of kitchen gadget.  It’s probably a good thing we didn’t get too close.  My kitchen doesn’t have room for another gadget.

In Martin’s beer store.  He has an impressive array of beers you might not find at your local Real or Rewe.

One of the beers we tried.  Martin speaks perfect English and was happy to tell us about the history of the beers he offers.  

Bill is happy as a clam in high water.

Martin’s door is easy to spot.

 

After we spent some time perusing Martin’s collection, we had to go back to the beer tasting area.  Martin’s wife was handling the crowd and isn’t as much of a beer fan as he is.  Consequently, he needed to get back to answer questions.  While we were there, we tried another beer… one made with sea salt and coriander.

Bill was enjoying it a lot, as was I! 

And if we’d wanted to, we could have had maultaschen and cake.

Martin shared his box of wild hops with us.  

 

After about an hour at the beer tasting, we decided to go back to Buffalo Grill and Bar and try their steaks (ETA: This restaurant is now closed).  I also wanted to try their combi-platter of appetizers.  I have a feeling I will be sending Bill there to pick up some of them to go at certain times of the month.

Here’s a shot of the inside dining room.  We ate outside again.

The combi platter was a hit.  It had chicken wings, jalapeno poppers with cream cheese, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, and onion rings.  The finger food came with a honey mustard dip and a garlic herb dip.  

 

Buffalo Grill and Bar offers several kinds of steaks in different sizes.  I had wanted a rib eye, but they were out of them today.  So I went with an Australian rump steak instead.  Bill had a German rump steak.

My Australian rump steak was a ladies cut– 200grams.  It came with slaw and mixed vegetables– peppers, zucchini, onions, and bleccch… mushrooms!  Mushrooms happen to be my least favorite food ever.  Bill graciously took them off my hands.  Next time, I will ask them to leave out the ‘shrooms.

Bill’s German steak, also a ladies cut at 200 grams.  I tried his steak and liked mine better, mainly because the flavor was less gamy.  Germany is not known for its beef.  

 

If I’m honest, I was not as impressed by Buffalo Grill and Bar’s steaks as I was their burgers.  Besides the fact that they included mushrooms– which I know many people love, but I hate– the meat could have been better trimmed.  I still prefer Tommi’s steaks in Jettingen to what I had at Buffalo Grill and Bar today.  But… that’s just me… and I would definitely go back to Buffalo Grill and Bar for the burgers and the appetizers.

All in all, we had a really fun day.  And pretty soon, I will get to try some cool new beers, thanks to Martin!