Kulmbach

A quarter of Kulmbachers earn their living directly or indirectly from beer. A special local brew available only in winter and during the Lenten season is Eisbock, a dark beer that is frozen as part of the brewing process to make it stronger. Kulmbach celebrates its beer every year in a nine-day festival that starts on the last Saturday in July. The main festival site, a mammoth tent, is called the Festspulhaus—literally,"festival swill house"—a none-too-subtle dig at nearby Bayreuth and its tony Festspielhaus, where Wagner's operas are performed.