Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Discussion in 'Germany' started by boddhitree, Dec 15, 2012.

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  1. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Initiate (0) Jan 24, 2011 England

    Doesn't seem so appetising when you call it sausage porn... :astonished:
     
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  2. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    After taking a day off to argue on another thread, I'm back to drinking and writing. Today it's the Frankenwälder Burgerbräu 1464 Wintertrunk. On their homepage they say they went through bankruptcy court from 2008 to 2010, saved by a citizen of the town Naila Walid Aziz when he bought and restructured the brewery. Interesting that his name doesn't sound very Bavarian. It's good that immigrants could save such a long tradition of brewing. Also in 2010, they drew up a partnership with the Regensburger Brauerei Bischofshof, which belongs to Weltenburger Klosterbrauere.

    On the bottle it states that Bereits im Jahre 1464 verlieh Markgraf Johann IV. die Braurechte an die Gemeinde Naila. Die Tradition der einstigen Kommunbrauer wird bis heute durch die Bürgerbräu Naila GmbH aufrecht erhalten. (Already in 1464 the Count Johann the IV gave the brewing right to the community of Naila. The tradition of this once communalbrewer is still until today kept up by the Bürgerbräu Naila.) It also states that "we brew a real winter beer from an old recipe for the cold season." Also, they mention hops extract as an ingredient. :slight_frown:

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    Hope the above pic from their website whets your whistle for this beer, as well as the pic below.

    [​IMG]
    So how does it taste? It's 5.6%, however usually Winter or Winterfestbiere are a little stronger, so I'm glad it's not that strong. The foam is tan in color, not your usual white as a Pils, and aroma is strong caramel, bready, sweet malts. The color is bright amber, a little darker than copper with red and almost orange tints, making it look robust. The first tastes are full-bodied Caramünchen malts, some Melanoiden and a slight hint at a Bockbier flavor. It's also quite hoppy, bitter hops only, in the back of the tongue, as well as a tangy feel that helps the beer not be overly sweet and cloying. It's a nice sipper but I find the bitterness in the back is starting to overpower once it's warmed up, which is not what I'm quite looking for in a Winter drink, almost bringing it back to Pils territory. It's also in the Goldilocks zone of not too thick and not too thin mouthfeel.

    Overall, very bready, caramel flavors and bitterness combined, quite good but I feel something is not quite there, something I can't really put my finger on, but it's missing something, maybe the balance between the bitterness and caramel maltiness. Anyway, I enjoyed it and wish I had bought more than 1 bottle.
    [​IMG]Jadgwurst... with beer... yum.
     
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  3. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,053) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Sounds pretty darned delicious. If you manage to put your finger on what you feel is missing, do let us know, as this one seems intriguing IMO. Prost, und frohe Weihnachten!
     
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  4. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    Prost, cheers and Frohes Weihnachten.
     
  5. Stahlsturm

    Stahlsturm Initiate (0) Mar 21, 2005 Germany
    In Memoriam

    We do accept immigrants on occasion, you know ? :slight_smile:

    And Bischhofshof belongs to the Bisphoric of Regensburg, same as the brewery in Weltenburg (but it's part of the monastery so it's really run by the Abbot of Weltenburg) but are run independent for the past centuries.
     
  6. Gutes_Bier

    Gutes_Bier Maven (1,339) Jul 31, 2011 Germany

    OK, here goes my first attempt at posting a photo. Since this counts as Bayernbiere bought (online, via Schlenkerla's website) and drunk, I got these guys just in time for Christmas:

    [​IMG]
     
  7. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    Please tell us what the beer tasted like! Please.
     
  8. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    After a break to visit my g/f's family for Christmas, I'm back, and I hate to say this, but I had some really disappointing beer. I have a vivid memory from the mid-80s of drinking a very hoppy Veltins Pils in a Kneipe in Frankfurt and thinking, "hey, damn good beer, my new fav." But now, I don't know, it was just blah.

    Anyway, the next in this series is another Sonnen Bräu beer, the Eber-Weisse: my first Weissbier of this thread.
    Here's my pic taken of the beer I'm drinking right now:
    [​IMG]
    And below is one I found floating on someone's website. There are many words in German that use pig or sow (connoting "extremely") to denote great taste or greatness of any sort, so maybe that explains the pig on the label? Schweinegut (pig-great), sau-lecker (pig-delicious) are 2 I can think of, but there's also saumäßig (lousy, or beastly, or rotten). Maybe that's what they could be hinting at with this picture.
    [​IMG]
    Besides the fun picture of a pig drinking a Weissbier on the label, the label on the top states "Yeasty, Drinkable, Top-Fermenting" and on the side or (bottom) part I find the best, "Bottle-fermented," which for me says live yeast to possibly harvest for my homebrew. On the back label is a bigger surprise for me. Besides the normal BS about RHG, it states it uses Aroma hops. However, that might just mean "aroma hops" were used instead of "bittering hops" as the main hop additions. After drinking so many fränkische Biere without a leaf of aroma hops and lots of Noble hop bitterness, it should be nice to get variety.

    It opened with a bang, yes, it's bottle fermented, and I had to close the flip top immediately to avoid a minor mess. The beer pours like a regular Weisse, with a light orangish tinge to a nice deep, dark yellow. Foam is huge of course, but dissipated and laid down by the time these last 2 sentences were typed. It's not see-through clear, but not of a hefe-weizen thickness. It looks like a normal protein haze of some of my homebrews that are a signature of bottle fermentation with some yeast in suspension. It's not bubbling up CO2 like many Weissbiere, but that may be because I'm drinking it out of a Pils glass.

    The aroma is wheat full-bore with orange marmelade lemon and a hint of bubblegum, yet no trace of aroma hops :slight_frown:. The initial tastes is has a hint of sourness, spritzy but not overly so like a Hefeweizen. The wheat is as noticable as the Pils malt is. The taste has very, very light bubblegum but more in the direction of citrus, but not lemon, and finally, more of a sweet aftertaste. Basically, it's a sweet and sour taste that lingers without any hint of hops. In summer, I can imagine it to be a great thirst quencher of a warm, sunny day. The mouthfeel is not think nor thin, really a happy medium.

    Overall, I think I would've like it better sitting in the shade of tree with a little sweat from a nice warm day. Normally, I wouldn't expect sourness in a Weissbier but with the Eber-Weisse, it fits in nicely. I would give it a 4 out of 5.
     
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  9. Gutes_Bier

    Gutes_Bier Maven (1,339) Jul 31, 2011 Germany

    Well normally I wouldn't - to call my reviews "amateurish" would be to flatter me - but since you are leading by example here I will give it a shot.

    [​IMG]

    Aroma: Smoke is present, but not the dominant "Waiter-There's-A-Bacon-In-This-Beer" smell of Schlenkerla's Märzen or Urbock. Either more lightly smoked or just a difference between the Oak and the Beechwood. 4/5
    Visual: Even before the tulip glass, I always felt this was the best looking beer I've ever had. Beautiful mahogany with a nice head after an aggressive pour. 5/5
    Taste: What can I say? Sweet and to-style for a Dopplebock, except smoked. Delicious. No hint of the 8% alcohol. 5/5
    Mouthfeel: Christ, I don't know. ?/5
    Overall: Highly recommended to any fan of Dopplebocks or Smoked Beers. A must-try, really.

    Unfortunately no Wurst to picture.

    Cheers!
     
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  10. Stahlsturm

    Stahlsturm Initiate (0) Mar 21, 2005 Germany
    In Memoriam

    That is where we tradtitionally drink our Weizen :slight_smile:
     
  11. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    Why do you think I wrote it? :wink:
     
  12. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    This is the last beer in this series. Actually, there's one more, a Brauerei Faust Jahrgangsbock 2009, but I have only one bottle (0.75L though) of it and I want to share it with a good friend. I'll try to take notes when I drink that one, but until then, the following is the last beer.

    It's my 2nd beer from Rothenbach Brauerei, a Aufsesser Heller Bock (Lighter Bock). It's 6.5% and hard to find in an internet search. I often find the regular, darker Bock, but not this one. I'll translate a sentence from the back label:
    "A strong beer from the good old time, spicy/full-flavored and stout/bold in taste. A long maturation in a cold and dark Lagerkeller guarantees the balanced and excellent taste, guaranteed by the Braumeister of Ausesser Brauerei."​
    [​IMG]

    Now, on with the show, but first, the obligatory money shot of the best wurst in town, Fleischwurst on a piece of wood.
    [​IMG]

    Aroma is weak, maybe a little München malts, but not much else. Color is deep golden with a bright white crown of foam sitting on top even a few minutes after the pour. So far, it could pass for a Pils, though a rich, dark golden one. The taste is... wow... very malty, - sweet and decent amount of smoke for a backbone. It's thick, feels like dreaming of a warm blanket wrapping around your tongue. It also has a decent amount of Noble bittering hops to go with the smoke. Overall, it's a wonderful balance of sweet maltiness of a Märzen with a bitter and smokey front and after taste, though neither of these flavors overwhelms. The aftertaste, though, is a really rich, sweet Münchener malt, really prominent. I have to say, I'm usually not fond of smoke nor German bitter noble hops, but this a great beer!

    Overall, in ranking these beers:
    1. Paxbräu Vollbier
    2. Aufsesser Heller Bock
    3. Fürst Wallerstein Winter Böckle
    4. Friedenfelser Zoigl Schwarzer Ritter
    5. all the rest.
    Hope you enjoyed this series! I also hope more of you continue what I've started. Take pics and post them along with your opinion of aroma, taste, etc. Cheers.
     
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  13. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,053) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    This is an excellent description of just a few of the overall characteristics that make Franconian beer so wonderful. Well done...and welcome! Hope you get to make the trip soon to try the 100s of others that will similarly wow you :wink: Prost!
     
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  14. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Below is a message that I sent to boddhitree. He thought it was worthy of inclusion in this thread.

    “Since you took the time to discuss and describe all of the Bavarian beers you have been drinking lately I figured I would share a related beer drinking experience.

    So, yesterday I was eating some Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips with fresh Pico de Gallo and I thought to myself: I wonder how a Kellerbier (Zwickel) would go with this? I recognize that my choice of food selection is not as elegant as yours but ….

    So, I popped open my bottle of Furst Wallerstein Zwickel. It is a large bottle (500 ml) so I had to get my biggest beer glass for this. It poured a nice tawny color and it had the unmistakable smell of a Franconian Kellerbier; a very pleasant combination of bready malt, subtle hops and some ‘yeasty’ smell. I haven’t even taken a sip and I thought to myself: this is going to be very good. My first sip realized my expectation; this beer is very, very good. I could describe the taste/flavors in my own words but your words fit the bill appropriately:

    “The aroma is both lightly bread-malty & lightly hoppy, so they were right on the aroma hops, probably Tettnanger, Hersbrücker or another noble hop. The taste is both malty and lightly noble-hoppy, nothing terribly wowing, but really, really easy to drink. There's no one flavor that overpowers, and they blend together very well! Also the mouthfeel is neither too thick or too thin, maybe exactly in the Goldilocks zone needed to make a very süffige (pleasant to drink, drinkable), creamy beer. Damn, I'm usually not a Pils fan, but this is maltier than a Pils and less hoppy than, too. But then again, the warmer it gets, the bitterer the aftertaste. I can really dig this beer.”

    As I posted in a previous post I have had a few Franconian Kellerbiers and the Furst Wallerstein is right up there! If I had to rank the Franconian Kellerbiers I suppose it would be:

    1. Triumph Aldstadt Lager
    2. Furst Wallerstein Zwickel
    3. Mahr's Ungespundet-hefetrüb – cask
    4. Southampton Keller Pils – 2011
    5. Mahr's Ungespundet-hefetrüb – draft
    6. Mahr's Ungespundet-hefetrüb – bottle

    After pondering the above list I think that Triumph Aldstadt makes the top of the list due to the freshness factor; noting like drinking a beer at the source (brewpub).

    One of my pet peeves with German brewed beers is that they often don’t have dates (either brewed on dates or best by dates). A few months ago I bought a bottle of Schlenkerla Marzen but I almost didn’t since there are no dates on that bottle. The Furst Wallerstein beer has two dates:

    · Best before: Sept. 24, 2013
    · Production code: 267A (It think 267 = 267 day of the year which is Sept. 23, 2012).

    So the ‘good news’ is that my beer was 3 months old. That is older than I prefer but not too old in the big scheme of things. The ‘bad news’ is that the Furst Wallerstein brewery thinks that a one year timeframe is acceptable. From my perspective, one year for a lower gravity lager is too long!!

    Anyhow, I look forward to reading more about your Bavarian beer journey!

    Cheers!
     
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  15. EdTheEdge

    EdTheEdge Initiate (0) Mar 26, 2011 California

    All I can say is: Yum!
     
  16. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,030) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I don't know, I've had an awful lot of Helles and Märzen on warm days under the nice shade of German chestnut trees -- and damned if it wasn't one of the best experiences anyone can enjoy!
     
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  17. boddhitree

    boddhitree Pooh-Bah (1,765) Apr 13, 2008 Germany
    Pooh-Bah

    [​IMG][​IMG]


    Today--- the last one, from Brauhaus Faust, from Miltenberg. Drinking it with timosen, a real German who I have forced to brew beer. We're now drinking it and.... first, it exploded when I opened the flip-top bottle, beer all over my MacBook Air!!! That's ok, because it shows it was conditioned in the bottle. 7%, brewed in 2009, bottle #423 from 879, with Hallertauer Perle and cold lagered in Wild Turkey whiskey casks for 12 weeks in their de-humidified mountain-side cellar.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    Basically a Doppelbock aged in whiskey oak casks! mmmmmm... even the idea makes my mouth water.
    The aroma is a little on the molassesy side, sweet, apricots and figs, and almost like a Belgian Abbey Dubbel or Trippel. The color is dark brown with red tints. Timosen said, "very mild!" For a German that's high praise. The taste is very sweet, almost verging on a Belgian Dubbel, but still with caramel, German Münchner malt tones. It also has a dry aftertaste with a tad bitterness in the back of the tongue. The whiskey notes are pronounced but not overpowering, just enough to tell you it's there. So basically, it tastes like a 80 year old whiskey mixed with a 10 year old abbey beer in a 30:70 ratio. This is one great beer, and Timosen agrees, so it's not only my world-weary, jaded palate that says this. After a few sips, it's starting to get a bit cloyingly sweet, with licorice, though. We have a 0.75L bottle to drink, so I'm glad I got another person to help me finish it. Basically, great as an aperitif or with cake, preferably a Frankfurter Kranz, since we're in FfM.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Sorry, today no sausage porn, only KUCHEN PORNO.
     
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  18. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,053) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    OK, be honest: did either/both of you crack open a couple of "regular" beers before/after this whisky-aged one? :wink:

    Also: Mmmmm, Frankfurter Kranz....
     
  19. Gutes_Bier

    Gutes_Bier Maven (1,339) Jul 31, 2011 Germany

    Allow me! New Year's Zungenwurst (tongue sausage)(pig tongue) with stinky French cheese and Schlenkerla's Dopplebock. I thoroughly enjoyed one of these items!

    [​IMG]
     
  20. Gutes_Bier

    Gutes_Bier Maven (1,339) Jul 31, 2011 Germany

    Quiet here recently, so I will break with protocol and post something I did not order over the internet, rather I just walked over to my local bottle shop and grabbed one (shoulda grabbed two :slight_frown:) . Tonight I paired it with that famous delicacy out of Hamburg.

    Best by: 20/08/2013
    Aroma: Smells good. Molassesy? 4/5
    Visual: Pretty perfect. 5/5
    Taste: See "Visual". 5/5
    Mouthfeel: ?/5
    Overall: Shoulda grabbed two :angry:

    [​IMG]
     
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