Hopfen Ublich
Town Hall Brewery

 

 

Crisp and clean; sweet and light but still flavoerfull.

 

 

Met a friend at my usual friend meeting spot last Monday night and ordered Hopfen Ublich for no other reason that I hadn't heard of it until I walked in the door. I love Town Hall because I trust that every tap is worth drinking.

When the draft showed, I was bit surprised at the shimmering pale straw ale with a stark white head in front of me. Fresh, beautiful nose of Hallertau Mittelfruh hops: floral, spice and light fruitiness. Hops blend well with a fresh breadiness. The Floor Malted Pilsner seems to make the beer, but I would have never guessed it without reading. In the taste, the malt is the equivalent of eating a newly made loaf of oven loaf bread. Full and enlivening, the double pilsner hop punch floats a pleasant bitterness above the sweet malt. Fullest mouthfeel I've ever had from a beer this light in color.

This is a great beer and just one in series of reasons why I sing the deserved praises of Mike Hoops and staff at Town Hall Brewery.

From Town Hall's website:

Roughly translated - "Hops Traditional"

A very special double lager! We gained access to some of the only Floor Malted Pilsner available. The Floor malting process is way old school and a very traditional method of grain modification. This is extremely high quality barley used in this beer.

The hops are Hallertau Mittelfruh, one of the German Noble hops (very traditional to Hallertau region of Germany.) We used massive amounts of this hop in leaf format (our system is designed for pelletized hops) that created a challenge in the brewery.

The result is a beautiful pale double lager/pilsner that we are very pleased to be serving.

Stopped by Town Hall to get a couple of growlers and was looking for something different so I got a fill of the Ublich. Which we drank last night. Pour was yellow with a good sized foamy head with some persistence but not a great deal of lace. Smell was earthy, resin and grassy. Taste had a distinct earthy character with a fairly bright almost green (un-ripe) cherry sourness. Grassy elements and mildly bitter throughout. Malt bread and crackers was present and the finish was clean. Medium body, very flavorful, but one large glass was enough for me. Glad it was shared.

Pours a white head. Color is a clear golden yellow.

Aroma: Light bready malts. Kind of buttery. A little bit of grassy hop flavors. Very clean and crisp. Not much here.

Taste: Very 'lagery'. Bready and malty. Floral and grassy hops. Not much else here.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and clean. Light bodied. Medium amount of carbonation. Ends a bit sticky and bitter.

Overall, this was pretty hoppy for a lager. I was quite shocked. Pretty decent, but nothing overly exciting.

The Hopfen Ublich is a very special german style lager brewed with floor malted Bohemian pilsner malt and hallertau mittelfreh hops. The color was yellow clear similar to most german lagers/pilsners. The smell included basic hops and malt also typical of german style pilsners, etc. The taste was definitely unique it was like mixing a 2/3 becks and 1/3 samuel adams boston lager. Wasn't too bad. The mouthfeel was good, but flavor was such that one would be good enough for me. Definitely worth a try.