A village as a base
Merkendorf has a brewery, a church and not much else, and that was the point. Three nights there meant the Wagner tap room became a local rather than a stop, and the drive to Bamberg, twenty minutes away, was a decision rather than a commute.
Brauerei Wagner has been in the family since 1797 and brews lagers that taste like the village they come from: soft, malty, unfiltered, served in the tap room a few steps from the kettle.
The Czech leg went deeper than 2024: two nights in České Budějovice instead of one, which is the difference between seeing Budvar and understanding the town that made it possible.
The Alps in early March
Bad Reichenhall as a base puts Berchtesgaden, the Königssee and Salzburg inside an hour. In early March the lake is still closed to boats, the snow is on the high paths, and the towns are full of people who live there.
Salzburg is a day trip, not a beer destination — but the Augustiner Bräustübl on the Mönchsberg is a beer hall at a scale that Munich no longer has, and it is worth the border crossing on its own.
Four nights in Munich at the end, again, was the correction that worked: the city is a set of rooms, not a checklist, and four nights is the amount that lets you go back to the one you liked.