Afraid didn’t get to a pub this week – at least not one on this beaten patch – but I did drink enough ale to stun a musk ox.

My tippling was done in that great beer producing region of Bavaria, where I had travelled in order to research the Munich Beer Festival ahead of a hefty feature to appear in the LEP later this month (or next – basically, whenever I have sobered up enough to remember the detail). What I do recall, however, is the beer – and the wheat beer in particular.

Have sampled varieties of this German brew before, but never such quality and never (again) in such quantity.

Although some of the best I sampled were produced by micro-breweries with the emphasis on micro (several producing solely for one hotel or restaurant) I am happy to report that two (at least) real crackers are readily available here in the UK, and suffer not one jot for the jaunt.

ERDINGER Weißbräu was the lightest, least lively of the wheat beers I drank, soft on the palate with subtle orangey citrus taste, and frighteningly quaffable (at 5.3%).

Less prone to over hasty inhalation was the Schneider- Weisse Grunes, a blessing as it weighs in at a hefty 6.2%. No less enjoyable, however, with a complex spicy aroma and a malty full body.

Both available at www.thedrinkshop.com/