CBC Hollerdauer Bavarian Pale Ale - Victory Brewing Company

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a hazy dark golden orange color with golden yellow hues and a one finger frothy white head.  Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring.  Streaks and spots of lacing left behind.

Floral, slightly earthy hop aroma with hints of grass and pine countered by sweet pale malt and crisp light fruit.  Hints of grass and straw along with some biscuit, apple and pear.  Very similar to a kolsch.  

Full bodied with a spicy and earthy hop bite up front that lingers over the malt backbone and sweeter notes into a slight dry finish.  Floral, piney hops provide a nice dryness without being overly bitter.  Excellently balanced by the earthy notes of grass and straw along with hints of biscuit, apple and pear.  Complex, flavorful and extremely quaffable.

Serving type: on-tap

07-09-2011 03:59:06 | More by corby112

Brad007

Vermont

4.13/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark golden color with a one-finger head into my glass. Very mellow color.

Swwet, mellow malt with a texture highly reminiscent of bread. Not many hops.

Sweet, crisp and buttery malt greets the tongue, foilowed by a hint of grassy hops.

Lingering hop grassiness and buttery malt. Reminiscent of a lager as well.

Serving type: on-tap

04-15-2011 21:10:43 | More by Brad007

JAXSON

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

April, 2010 draft at Victory.

Poured a dark gold to amber with a white head. Light malt and citrusy hops in the nose. Hops focused on citrus, grapefruit rind. Quite bitter and lightly malty in the mouth, kind of a singular bitterness. Not as much sweetness as their normal IPA's, though I could be wrong as I had this beside a lot of the lighter CBC offerings. My notes say "not terribly vibrant or exciting", so I'll roll with that.

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2011 04:44:29 | More by JAXSON

plaid75

New York

4/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft at Blind Tiger, NYC.

Poured a medium copper hue with a two finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured a light grainy malt and a soft noble hop.

The taste consisted of a light caramel, sweet bready malts with an initial herbal hop that faded toward the finish. Breadiness reappeared at the finish.

The mouthfeel was on the softer side of the style.

Overall an interesting and easy drinking ale..

Serving type: on-tap

07-14-2010 21:25:51 | More by plaid75

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.98/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at Victory the other day. None of the CBC BPA beers I tried was particulary impressive, though I thought this clearly the best of the bunch (maybe the extra alcohol helps).

The beer pours a honey gold color with decent head retention and minimal lacing. The nose is fairly spicey, consisting of considerable clove, banana, light honey and some nutmeg. While I thought this beer also smelled better then it tasted, this beer seemed to hava bit more sweetness to help counter the hoppy bitterness. As a result, I thought there was some decent honey and orange citrus to counter the spice and light bitterness. Also, the finish was not nearly as dry and was a bit longer in the end. Mouthfeel is light, but is not at all watery, with a fairly long finish. Drinkability is OK, and this was the only sampler glass I was able (or at least willing) to finish.

While by no means awful, this was really only attractive when compared to the other CBC BPA offerings.

Serving type: on-tap

07-05-2010 19:46:10 | More by johnmichaelsen

FeDUBBELFIST

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Served in a +/- 20 oz pislner shaped glass at the brewpub for $5.

A: Pours with a 3 finger bright white fluffy head that has excellent retention. And even when the head is gone, the film lasts forever. There is sparkling clarity in the honey/straw colored body. Streamers line the glass. Spare lacing.

S & T: Full of sweet sugar cookie malts. Banana, bubblegum and honeydew. Approaching sweet. Definite resemblance to a tripel. I'm not sure if this is what a Bavarian Pale Ale is suppose to taste like, but either way, I'm a fan.

M: Medium body with lively and prickly carbonation. No bitterness. Nearly spot on, although just a little sweet and syrupy. Mouthcoating. The semi cloying nature causes the flavors to endure. All that siad, this beer leaves very little to be desired.

D: The Hollerdauer is an excellent brew and should be a seasonal release at the very least. This one could appeal to a wide range of beer drinkers.

In my humble opinion, the CBC Hollerdauer is NOTHING like an American Pale Ale (which it is currently listed on BA as). Victory has it listed as a Belgian [style] Pale Ale which is more fitting but, like I mentioned above, comparing this brew to a Tripel is not out of line either.

Serving type: on-tap

06-28-2010 00:51:06 | More by FeDUBBELFIST

jwhancher

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this twice now at Victory. Recently got a growler filled for more enjoyment. Poured into my Northern Brewer mug. Excellent head with lazy carbonation. Head lingers for quite awhile. Appears a clear gold yellow. If you didn't know what was in the glass you could easily assume it was a BMC. Has a Belgian like aroma. Banana, slight clove scents, a bit yeasty & dough like. Slightly bitter in taste. Starts a bit peppery and spice-like (sort of like the Golden Monkey: I wonder if it's the same yeast?) and ends like a traditional German beer would. It's a refreshing beer, but I'm not quite sure the name fits the bill. It is an enjoyable beer; I'm just wondering now if it's a lighter version of the Monkey.

Serving type: growler

06-11-2010 22:45:01 | More by jwhancher

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had on tap at Victory

A-pours a transparent golden color with a bubbly white head.

S-the nose is quite strong, lightly toasted biscuit up front with a good citrus hop presence and light pepper spice. There is also some honey in the back to add a bit more sweetness.

T-bready malts act as the backbone of this beer, the hop presence is mild but apparent in the back. notes of spice try to offset the sweet citrus and honey in the finish.

M-this is smooth on the palate and quite syrupy. a little low on carbonation to help balance the syrupy texture on the palate.

D-decent offering, a little sweet in the back but the pepper acts to try and balance that out adding a bit of complexity.

Serving type: on-tap

05-20-2010 15:16:33 | More by cpetrone84

BeerIsland

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I think there were at least three of these CBC items available in Downingtown this week so I picked something I recognized least. Probably the hardest part of this post is characterizing this beer. While the brewery calls it a Bavarian Pale Ale (since it was brewed with all German ingredients), it was far from any German beer I've tasted (admittedly, I've got a way to go on that effort !). I found it to be a sort of muddled effort, kind of like mixing a Belgian ale with a lager. It was interesting how normally lager ingredients resulted in a more Belgian like aroma and taste profile; however, "interesting" only carries one so far. But, check it out yourselves while still available.

Serving type: on-tap

05-05-2010 12:44:08 | More by BeerIsland