The largest American craft brewery, Sam Adams, and the oldest brewery in Germany, Weihenstephan, have teamed up to produce a prize beer called Infinium. They are awfully secretive about the supposedly novel process used to make this beer. The end result is not that unlike champagne, or in fact, DeuS, another bright, bubbly golden ale. They may not have intended this to be a winter beer, but it will fit nicely into your holiday celebrations.
Infinium pours a very hazy golden yellow with a copper tint. The off-white head is thick and solid. A spicy nose greets you immediately, featuring cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. A sweet bready maltiness follows, reminiscent of challah. This beer has the sort of mild yet complex aroma that makes you sit back and contemplate, content taking only a whiff.
The flavor of Infinium is likewise sweet and spicy, with some cinnamon and plenty of cloves. There is a significant alcoholic bite (reasonable, given it’s over 10%) which is restrained but invigorating. There are some floral and grassy noble hops as well. The palate is light, lively, and effervescent, but still rich and serious.
I shared several bottles with my family tonight, and here are some of their comments.
- “Mild, yet wheaty…”
- “…piquant…”
- “…evolved…”
- “…the smoothest ever…”
- “A great dessert beer. Pairs well with chocolate.”
Samuel Adams/Weihenstephaner Infinium
4.4 (5-9-7-4-19)
From 
Weihenstephaner Vitus
On one side of the building, directly facing the old city wall, and beyond it the Rhein, there is a patio under the canopy of an old carousel and a fence made of barrel staves.
Oh, and their cat is ridiculously friendly.
The flavor of Loreley is barely dry, but still has a strong malt richness. The high quality malt used clearly shows through, so the beer tastes quite fresh. The palate is full and round without intruding. It is not bitter, but rather remarkably balanced.
which grows more prominent through the taste. The palate is full but still drinkable, but the 1689 would benefit from a bit more carbonation.
Verlies is the German word for “dungeon”. They properly serve this strong beer in a hefty stone mug.
Altbier is the competitor of kölsch, traditionally brewed in Düsseldorf. Together with kölsch it is one of the only top-fermented beers in Germany (other than wheat beer). While a great kölsch is pale, clean, and fresh almost like water, the best alts have a deep amber color and a strong, flavorful malt presence. Altbier literally means “old beer”, recognizing the fact that prior to the invention of pilsner malt all beer was dark. Düsseldorf was proud of their ale brewing tradition and refused to switch to the pale lagers that the rest of the world is inordinately obsessed with. Köln I guess took the middle path?
There is a caramel malt aroma that gets somewhat confused in the fruit. Unfortunately there is a bit of a papery character that disrupts the otherwise interesting aroma.
The greasy cardboard flavor leaves quite a bit to be desired. Some earthy hops come through, and a bit of caramel and toast from the malt. The palate is full and sweet, but still refreshing. This one says it will be good till next May, so there’s no excuse for age.
Hannen Alt
A few folks from my program and I went on a brewery tour in Köln last weekend. To me ‘brewery tour’ implies a tour through a brewery, but instead it was a tour around Köln with stops at beer halls. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was a very good time anyway. The guide was named Frank Möhlenkamp and he was quite entertaining. He had plenty of anecdotes about the history of Köln and a unique manner. He even gave a decent (if somewhat simplified) description of the brewing process. Not as much information about the beer as I would have hoped, but an entertaining evening nonetheless.
He observed that one may elsewhere inside find a date of 1511, or if one were to dig a little deeper find the year 1912. I have noticed that this temporal confusion is a problem endemic with German breweries.
However, the statues here are important figures in the history of Köln. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the figures underneath the statues, intended to represent what the person would see when they look in a mirror. The heroes of Köln would see angels and flowers and such, but the bottom row of statues holds the more infamous characters of Köln’s history, along with the Kölners’ impression of their true character.
The Gaffel Kölsch is a brilliant deep gold. There was some big-bubbled head but it went away quickly. It has some light and refreshing malt aroma.
Each of the Moritz Fiege beers has a pithy description beneath the name. The Moritz Fiege Alt says “the traditionally brewed altbier”. The alt pours with a thick, creamy beige head atop a beer that is either a dark honey color or a light caramel. The aroma is strong and also could be caramel, but there is a rich character of dried green herb and winter spice to it as well. There is the lightest hint of sulfur and a bit of alcohol noticeable.
This one reminds me of the monolith from 2001. There is a fair amount of coffee-tinted head,
which isn’t lasting, yet forms a lacing on the glass. There is hardly any aroma at all. The malt and yeast make some sort of chestnut character and the hops and perhaps the color produce the sensation of being in the woods.
Last but not least, the Moritz Fiege Pils, “the characterful pils”. A bright straw, brilliantly clear, with a lasting creamy white head. The nose is mostly spicy hops, a mixture of pine and exotic spices. There is some pale malt aroma but not much.
Tonight I will taste three beers brewed in Köln (that’s Cologne to the uninitiated). Beer from Köln is called kölsch, and it is a strong, pale lager with a particular fresh taste. Köln and Düsseldorf are two cities on the river Rhine with a long history of competition, particularly on the beer front. This is my first in a series of posts that will attempt to answer the age-old question: which beer is better, kölsch or alt?
The flavor is immediately rich with an herbal hop flavor. Some bitterness is present but is overtaken by a cloying sweetness. There is some malt flavor that comes through as bread, but mostly just the corny sweetness. The flavor lingers far too long, and the carbonation is not nearly active enough.
The flavor is also cleaner: it is almost tasteless. Some pure pilsner malt comes out, and a hint of sweetness. Just a bit of herbal hops peek through. The body is certainly thick and full, but unlike the Früh, not at all cloying.
The tiny Bavarian village of Moosbach is located on the Czech border, just a stone’s throw from Pilsen. In the center of town, 
First, you can drink half and leave the rest for later without losing too much carbonation. Second, as a homebrewer I’m always looking for ways to avoid capping bottles, so reusing swingtops is ideal. Third, I have a neat trick I can do with a swingtop bottle. Ask me sometime, I’ll show you.
The rich malt flavor practically sets you down in a Moravian barley field. Faint malty sweetness and strong hop bitterness (for the style). A healthy herbal hop flavor indicates the influence of the Czech way of brewing. Some contribution from sulfur compounds. Hints of many things, but none for very long: apricots, chocolate, peanuts, fresh cut grass. Full bodied but thoroughly refreshing. In my opinion this is among the top Bavarian lagers. The 
As it warms it picks up more caramel and toffee and gets a little sweet. Again the body is essentially perfect: a full mouthfeel but refreshing and quaffable. I was not expecting the kellerbier to take the subtlety so much further than the helles lager, but here we are.
Last but not least, the Schwarze Weisse, which turns out to be a disappointing pedestrian amber color. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful beer, it was just 
Because of the delicate citric character and low alcohol content, Berliner weisse is the only sour beer that is best fresh. Unfortunately, I can’t get a hold of fresh Berliner weisse (at the moment at least), so I’ll have to put up with what I found on the shelf. Don’t fret, it ages well too. I don’t have any woodruff syrup so I’ll be tasting these straight.
1809 is named for the year in which Napoleon’s troops are supposed to have named Berliner weisse the “Champagne of the North”.