Archive for the ‘European Lager’ Category

Oktoberfest: Spaten

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Munich’s Oktoberfest is held at the Theresienwiese (often shortened to “the Wiese”), literally “Therese’s Field”. It refers to the Princess Therese whose matrimony is celebrated annually with the beer festival. In September fourteen “tents” are built in the Theresienwiese to house the beer halls and gardens of Oktoberfest. These quasi-temporary structures have a rich history and lore and each pours a single brewery’s beers (a few serve wine, too).

Three of the most iconic Oktoberfest tents serve beer from Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu.2009-10-04-spaten The first keg of Oktoberfest is always tapped by the Bürgermeister (mayor) of Munich in the Schottenhamel tent. The trendy Hippodrom is the first tent inside the festival. And the Ochsenbraterei is the place to go for oxen at Oktoberfest.

The Spaten Oktoberfest pours a brilliantly clear tawny amber. A little bit of tan head is long-lasting. The meager nose is mostly malt and light-struck (*thank you green bottle*). The good toast and biscuits are overshadowed by the skunk, corn, and metallic notes.

A thin flavor is dominated by skunk character. Some good malt taste comes through, fighting all the way with the metallic. Well it’s not all disappointing – the balancing sweetness and active carbonation make for a smooth full palate.

+/-Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen

2.9 (3-6-5-4-11)

Oktoberfest: Paulaner

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Oktoberfest is underway in Munich. The largest beer festival in the world dates back to 1810 with the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. Six Munich breweries produce almost seven million liters of festbier, a style similar to the standard German lager and accented by generous additions of noble hops and specialty malts. It is also the strongest beer Germans drink outside of bock beer season.

This fall the Iowa City beer bar The Sanctuary is having a rotating series of Oktoberfest kegs. At the moment they have on the Paulaner Oktoberfest from the eastside brewery Paulaner. This beer is brilliantly clear, an aged copper color that borders on ruby. Some of the tan head lingers a while.

A sweet nose is pungent but not sharp, full of toast, caramel, and plum. The flavor is very sweet. Burnt caramel and some earthy hops dominate, with an accompanying sweetness. Alcohol tickles the back of the throat, but the cloying sweetness lingers.

+/-Paulaner Oktoberfest

3.1 (3-7-6-2-13)

Session #28: Think/Drink Globally

Friday, June 5th, 2009

session_logoThe Session is a monthly beer blog carnival, that is, a beer-themed blog-off. This month is hosted by Brian of Red, White, and Brew. The prompt is located here and the roundup is here. He asks that everyone honor “Global Craft Beer Forever” and describe “the farthest brewery (including brewpubs) you have visited and specifically the best beer you had there” and then have that (or a similar one).

I believe that by great circle distance Munich is farthest. So Andechs monastery brewpub it is. This monastery not only makes some of the best beers in the Munich area, they also make amazing artisanal cheese. Taking the train from Munich, you walk through the quaint village of Herrsching and up a footpath through wonderful foliage. After a little while you come to the back wall of the monastery on top of the mountain.2009-06-05-church Continuing along the wall, eventually you make it to the original chapel and courtyard, complete with maypole. If you are able to hold your thirst, you’ll stop in and see how beautiful it is. If not, you’ll keep going to the beer garden that features a breathtaking view of the city 35 km (about 20 miles) away. Fortunately, there is a shuttle back to the train station because you’re going to need it after all the cheese and masses (that is, liters of beer).

My best story about Andechs is of my first visit. I had heard that it was at the end of the S5, but didn’t realize it was near Herrsching not Holzkirche. All I had heard was that there is a sign for the footpath right by the station. So my Aussie friend and I set out for a day trip.2009-06-05-us We rode all the way out to Holzkirche and walked around looking for any sign, finding none. So we inquired of the nice English-speaking clerk in the station café where the brewery was. It was quite fortunate that she realized what we were talking about, and even more fortunate that my buddy wasn’t really angry at me. After walking around the village waiting for the next train, we rode for about an hour and a half back through downtown Munich and out the other side to Herrsching. But it was more than worth the wait. The footpath up Andechs mountain is remarkably pastoral and the beer and cheese and sauerkraut are unmatched.

2009-06-05-aventinusAndechs makes every standard Bavarian style and one interesting beer: a weiss with apples that you can only get there. Note that this is acceptable because the Reinheitsgebot (the German beer purity law) does not apply to wheat beer. But my favorite was their Dunkles Weissbier. As far as I am aware you can’t find it outside Germany, so I’ll have a bottle of another Munich dark wheat beer, the masterful Schneider Aventinus made by G. Schneider & Sohn. In 1907, disturbed by what she saw as a troublesome proliferation of light beers in Munich, Mathilde Schneider created the first strong wheat beer, the dark wheat-doppelbock Aventinus.

The Aventinus is a lightly hazy bronze-caramel color with a thick, honey-colored head. The aroma is big with bananas, strong malty caramel, and some toast.

The flavor is also strong with caramel and banana. It is somewhat sweet, but sufficiently carbonated so it is far from cloying. Light and playful, the Aventinus is somehow sessionable, even at 8.2% alcohol. This is what caused me plenty of trouble over in Munich.

+Schneider Aventinus

3.8 (4-7-7-5-15)

The photos at Andechs are courtesy of my beer school friend Matt. Thanks Matt!

Session #26: Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

The Session is a monthly beer-themed blog-off. This month is hosted by Lew Bryson of Seen Through a Glass. The theme is smoked beers. The roundup is hosted here. Lew writes, “Because I’m not going to tell you that you have to like them, how you have to drink them, or whether you can have an expensive one or where it has to be from. But I do insist that if you blog on this Session, that you drink a smoked beer that day.”

I can follow simple instructions. Today I am drinking a smoked beer.

2009-4-3-spezialAs Lew points out smoked beers are “not just rauchbier lagers from Franconia”, though that is the original and most venerated style. Nowadays these beers are centered around Bamberg, home of the Weyermann malt company, producers of fine beechwood-smoked (as well as smokeless) malts. The popular Brauerei Heller, producers of the famous Schelenkerla smoked beers, is found in Bamberg, with an unassuming pub on a street you’d call an ‘alley’ in the US. I imagine many people will be rating one of these, as they are pretty easy to get ahold of.

I somehow found a bottle of Spezial Rauchbier from the Brauerei Spezial, also located in Bamberg. I spent way too long trying to translate the phrase written at the bottom of the label: “Mindestens haltbar bis: siehe Datumsstempel”. I’ll give you a hint: you can find the same phrase on a can of Bud Light.

The Spezial pours a deep ruddy brown with a bit of off-white head. The aroma is strongly malty: with the usual suspects like strong caramel and toast notes, but a strange bread aspect as well. There is just a hint of smoke to the nose.

On the sip, you are initially overtaken by caramel flavor, but that quickly falls behind a mellow but significant smoke flavor. This beer is definitely smoky, but is not the bacon-wrapped smoke brick of some other rauchbiers. I would suggest this beer to anyone that, while interested in the style, is somewhat unsure of their desire to totally destroy their palate for the evening. A mild flavorful smoke is noticeable but not insistent, as it is effectively balanced by the malt sweetness.

+Spezial Rauchbier

3.4 (3-6-7-4-14)

edit: Somehow I repeatedly incorrectly spelled “Bamberg” as “Bamburg” and didn’t notice it until June. I sincerely apologize.

Moerlein Barbarossa and Emancipator

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

I got these two bottles of Moerlein beer in a trade way back on Dark Lord Day. To the stranger that gave them to me, I’m sorry it took me so long to try them!

First up: the Barbarossa Double Dark Lager. The bottle points out that it is named for Holy Roman Emperor “Barbarossa” Frederick I of Germany. I can only assume that by “Double Dark Lager” they mean a double, or heavy, version of a German black lager, or schwarzbier.

It pours an almost clear, deep caramel with a creamy khaki head. The aroma is delicately malty, with a sweet caramel character and notes of fresh biscuits. There is also something of a metallic tinge to the aroma, probably because these are twist-off caps and the beer has been slightly oxidized.

The taste: remarkably clean. Dry, with touches of caramel malt flavor and toast. Again, there is the slightest bit of oxidation, likely my fault for treating this beer badly and drinking it old. The palate is wonderfully dry, with a smooth but not overpowering carbonation. I could easily have another. By the way, this one has left thick rings and serious honeycomb lacing on my glass.

On to the doppelbock. Here, Emancipator refers to the “emancipation of America’s honorable brewing tradition” in 1933. Emancipator pours a dark auburn with a similar creamy tan head. The nose is pretty strongly metallic, which again I will attribute to cap-related oxidation. I can still get a strong roast malt and burnt coffee aroma.

The first taste is thick and very creamy. Later, I can pick out some of the roast flavor, but it is much too sweet. I feel like my mouth has been coated, and not in a good way. The metallic character cuts through the sweetness more than the malt flavor. Very cloying.

+Moerlein Barbarossa

RateBeer: 3.8 (4-7-7-5-15)

+/-Moerlein Emancipator

RateBeer: 3.0 (3-6-6-2-13)