Inside, hand-carved oak beams form the low ceiling; a 19th-century green tile furnace no longer heats the room, but sits otherwise unchanged in the corner. Antlers line the walls as they have for hundreds of years, a Bamberg brew pub tradition. Locals chase traditional cuisine like Bamberger Zwiebel (onions stuffed with mincemeat) and Fränkische Bierhaxe (Franconian leg of pork in a beer sauce) with endless mugs of smoke beer (servers keep them coming until you place a coaster over your mug). The history is palpable.

"Bamberg's breweries are all owned by families with a long brewing tradition," explains Morcinek in the short time between gulps. "Anybody of average intelligence can be taught to make beer, but it is the expert knowledge handed down from generation to generation in these families that enables them to make not only good but excellent beer." Of course, we drink to that.

While smoke beer gets most of the attention from the outside world, it is hardly the only thing brewing in the city. There are some 55 different varieties in town. The oldest brewery, Brauerei Klosterbräu, stakes its reputation on Braunbier ("brown beer"). The rust-colored, slightly sweet beer was first documented in 1333 and, 200 years later, was designated the official brown beer for the town's religious bishops. Today, locals refer to it as "Bamberger Gold." It's so good, drinking it should be a sin.