Copper Altbier | The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Brewed by:
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
North Carolina, United States
oldemeckbrew.com
Style: Altbier
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 4.80%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
Formerly Copper Amber Ale
Added by AlexJ on 04-29-2009
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 386 | Reviews: 86
4.06/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Enjoyed on the porch with a friend.
Poured from a bottle into a glass.
Overall: excellent!
A honey, copper colored brew. Minimal head and faint lacing. A unique smell of yeasty yet sweet bread, like a Hawaiian sweet roll. Taste is balanced with a sweet and yeasty breadiness and a nice hop profile. So malty and yeasty rich.
327 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Enjoyed on the porch with a friend.
Poured from a bottle into a glass.
Overall: excellent!
A honey, copper colored brew. Minimal head and faint lacing. A unique smell of yeasty yet sweet bread, like a Hawaiian sweet roll. Taste is balanced with a sweet and yeasty breadiness and a nice hop profile. So malty and yeasty rich.
327 characters
2.12/5 rDev -47.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.25
3.75/5 rDev -7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.25/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.02/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours copper. Thick, short, off white head that lasts a little and fades to a lasting ring.
Smells roast and bready malt, light floral and earthy.
Tastes bready and light Caramel malt, light earthiness and bitterness. Finish is dry with a light bitterness and hints of fruit. Medium body and smooth medium carbonation.
This beer tastes great, but i don't enjoy the smell
374 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours copper. Thick, short, off white head that lasts a little and fades to a lasting ring.
Smells roast and bready malt, light floral and earthy.
Tastes bready and light Caramel malt, light earthiness and bitterness. Finish is dry with a light bitterness and hints of fruit. Medium body and smooth medium carbonation.
This beer tastes great, but i don't enjoy the smell
374 characters
4.48/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
I always go with the local beer when traveling. Yesterday I had two of these at a restaurant in Cramerton NC called Mayworths. They were served in tall cold glasses. The appearance was a pretty copper color with a medium sized white head. The aroma is nice with fruit, malt and hops. The taste is malt, fruit and some hops. This is a very smooth tasting beer with a very subtle kick. I was very disappointed that it is not available in my area. It will be my go to beer when I am in NC.
488 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
I always go with the local beer when traveling. Yesterday I had two of these at a restaurant in Cramerton NC called Mayworths. They were served in tall cold glasses. The appearance was a pretty copper color with a medium sized white head. The aroma is nice with fruit, malt and hops. The taste is malt, fruit and some hops. This is a very smooth tasting beer with a very subtle kick. I was very disappointed that it is not available in my area. It will be my go to beer when I am in NC.
488 characters
4.03/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.6/5 rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.37/5 rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.36/5 rDev -17.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.84/5 rDev +18.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Olde Mecklenburg Copper Altbier
A: This alt pours a crystal-clear, light bronze/copper (true to its name), with flecks of orange in the thinner regions of the glass. It is topped by a thick, off-white head of about a finger-and-a-half, which sticks around for an impressively long time. Carbonation is very good. Lacing is equally awesome, covering the glass in swaths. This is perfect per style. 5/5
A: Melanoidin-rich toasted bread and toasted nuts are the primary aromatics. Sweet breadiness like pretzels lays just beyond the toasted notes, adding further richness. Finally, spicy, floral, perfumey hops and an underlying hint of biscuit round out a complex and subtle aroma. This reads like the BJCP guidelines for Altbier, meaning it needs high marks, but perhaps it is just a hair too subtle. 4.75/5
T: While it follows up on the aroma very thoroughly, the sheer depth of flavor here is incredible to behold. It still remains restrained, but not as much so as the nose suggested. Rich bready malts, toast, almond paste, walnut, and pretzel all work perfectly in concert with earthy, spicy hops and just a hint of floral qualities. Bitterness is medium-light and is accompanied by similarly soft minerality and a last suggestion of dry, toasted bread. The aftertaste has that biscuity, sugar cookie richness that only comes from lager brewers that really knows their stuff. Amazing. The only drawback is a lack of any noticeable esters (this is a lagered ale after all), but that can be forgiven as it is certainly not a requirement. 4.75/5
M: The feel of each sip is a thing of beauty. It is medium-full, creamy, and somehow crisp and light on the finish. It is dry enough to keep you drinking yet refreshing enough to make each sip something to savor. A study in opposites combining to create perfection. 5/5
O: Olde Mecklenburg is unquestionably one of the best lager producers in the country. Doing an Altbier and making it a mainstay in the lineup should be suicide in the current ale-heavy craft beer scene, but when you do it this well, it does not really matter what the masses are clamoring for. This is beautiful, subtle, complex, crushable, savorable, and everything else a truly great beer should be. The things I would do to have OMB distribute anywhere near me are unthinkable. North Carolina is lucky to have such an amazing brewery, and they should really be hyping this stuff up a lot more. Pair with The Hotelier's amazing and comparatively subtle "Goodness." 5/5
2,492 characters
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Olde Mecklenburg Copper Altbier
A: This alt pours a crystal-clear, light bronze/copper (true to its name), with flecks of orange in the thinner regions of the glass. It is topped by a thick, off-white head of about a finger-and-a-half, which sticks around for an impressively long time. Carbonation is very good. Lacing is equally awesome, covering the glass in swaths. This is perfect per style. 5/5
A: Melanoidin-rich toasted bread and toasted nuts are the primary aromatics. Sweet breadiness like pretzels lays just beyond the toasted notes, adding further richness. Finally, spicy, floral, perfumey hops and an underlying hint of biscuit round out a complex and subtle aroma. This reads like the BJCP guidelines for Altbier, meaning it needs high marks, but perhaps it is just a hair too subtle. 4.75/5
T: While it follows up on the aroma very thoroughly, the sheer depth of flavor here is incredible to behold. It still remains restrained, but not as much so as the nose suggested. Rich bready malts, toast, almond paste, walnut, and pretzel all work perfectly in concert with earthy, spicy hops and just a hint of floral qualities. Bitterness is medium-light and is accompanied by similarly soft minerality and a last suggestion of dry, toasted bread. The aftertaste has that biscuity, sugar cookie richness that only comes from lager brewers that really knows their stuff. Amazing. The only drawback is a lack of any noticeable esters (this is a lagered ale after all), but that can be forgiven as it is certainly not a requirement. 4.75/5
M: The feel of each sip is a thing of beauty. It is medium-full, creamy, and somehow crisp and light on the finish. It is dry enough to keep you drinking yet refreshing enough to make each sip something to savor. A study in opposites combining to create perfection. 5/5
O: Olde Mecklenburg is unquestionably one of the best lager producers in the country. Doing an Altbier and making it a mainstay in the lineup should be suicide in the current ale-heavy craft beer scene, but when you do it this well, it does not really matter what the masses are clamoring for. This is beautiful, subtle, complex, crushable, savorable, and everything else a truly great beer should be. The things I would do to have OMB distribute anywhere near me are unthinkable. North Carolina is lucky to have such an amazing brewery, and they should really be hyping this stuff up a lot more. Pair with The Hotelier's amazing and comparatively subtle "Goodness." 5/5
2,492 characters
3.75/5 rDev -7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.21/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.16/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
3.79/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
4.5/5 rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.27/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Served at OMB. Medium to low carbonation, nice malty aroma. Flavor is very balanced and rich, lots of german malt flavor with a subtle fruitiness. Beer is very drinkable but far from boring. Looks great, a deep ruby red, very clear served in one of their nice glasses.
268 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Served at OMB. Medium to low carbonation, nice malty aroma. Flavor is very balanced and rich, lots of german malt flavor with a subtle fruitiness. Beer is very drinkable but far from boring. Looks great, a deep ruby red, very clear served in one of their nice glasses.
268 characters
4.19/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.58/5 rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Copper Altbier from The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
4.07
out of 5
based on 386 ratings.
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5