Hoevels Hausbrauerei: Dortmund Germany

With the upcoming Champions League Cup game between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, many people will be wondering,"Just where the heck is Dortmund?"

 "Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund" Hails from the city of Dortmund. Dortmund is one of the cities that make up what in much of Germany is known as the "Ruhrpott" (a slightly pejorative term for the Ruhrgebiet, or Ruhr Valley). Dortmund is a town that StringGirl and Amber know well having spent many a trip to Europe there while Eric works at AutoForm. Dortmund is also the home of Hoevels Hausbrauerei

Head downtown to the City Center of Dortmund and you find a not too new not too old, and not too posh German city. It is moderately clean, fairly busy but for the most part all I know of Dortmund is the area just south of the Hauptbahnhof which is pretty much a mall. An area that prides itself for having the largest Christmas Market Tree (that's right just the tree is the largest). Dortmund is a town that I had for many year lampooned as a place not so interesting to visit. But that is not true, it has it's charms.

 The Hoevel's Hausbrauerei is one of those charms. Located just afew minutes walk south from the Main Station, the Hoevel's Brewery Restaurant was a nice place to visit for a beer or three and some dinner.

 A nice little "Biergarten" greets you from the street.

 The restaurant is housed in what would seem a modern building with little or no character, except for the fact that the entrance of the restaurant is made to look like a giant brew kettle. Complete with copper funnel top and wooden barrel siding. The inside of the restaurant is very German and very much a beer hall.

 I ordered the Brewery skillet dinner, which offers a little bit of everything.

Hövels „BRAUHAUSPFANNE“ mit Spanferkelrollbraten, Leberkäse, Blutwurst, & Rosenkranz, dazu Sauerkraut, Bratkartoffeln, und Hövelsjus
That's brewery pan (skillet) with Roast suckling pig, Meat pate, blood sausage, and Sausage, with Sauerkraut, Roasted potatoes, and Beer au jus.

 At 16.90 EUR it is not a bad amount of food, quite a lot all things considered. The suckling pig had great crackle in the skin, a nice ribbon of pork fat and tender juicy flavorful meat. The meat pate (don't freak they call it Leberkase, but the only desription that would make sense is if you could make fresh home made SPAM this is what it would be if it was good) was great. Leberkase is a treat when made well and this was.

Blood sausage is a new one for me, but it was of course very good. they pan seared it right before serving it onto of the whole platter and it was super tasty. I know "blood" right? But if it is just seared concentrate of that which makes steak taste good, warmed, cooked blood.

 The beer at Hoevels is a "Bitterbier", similar to an Alt or Kolsch. However, as those styles of beer are associated with their towns of origin (Dusseldorf for Alt and Koln for Kolsch) I suppose we might call it a lager. Certainly with a bit more flavor than the Pils (Pilsners) very common to be served through the Ruhrgebeit, Hoevels is a rich amber beer with a touch more complexity of flavor than a Pils.

 Lots of wood and porcelain tile, which one might think is a Dutch afffectation similar to Delft, but when you consider how close we are to South Holland one can easily conclude that the black lined porcelain is likely a regional original.

 The wrought iron and beer bottle chandeliers are 100% pub flavored decor. not a lot of pretension here, they serve beer and roast suckling pig and schweinhaxe (pork knuckles). I think that if you don't like pork and potatoes you might not like it here. However, we love roast pork with tons of tasty fat and skin, so we loved it here.
Mr Hops makes one last tour stop with StringGirl and Amber before he sets out on his own individual beer tour. HE still manages to make friends despite getting a little bit rough from wear. We will have to see if he can meet up with some other beer drinking Geocachers who will find other beer spots for him to visit.