Schaumstoffherz
Privatbrauerei Eichbaum

 

 

 

 

 

Part of a 10 pack 16.9oz cans Costco $29.99
19.12.2024 stamped on can so 280 days before best by date
Smell of malts and grains
Clear golden color
Medium mouthfeel
Medium carbonation
Taste of malts, very light bitterness
Overall a straightforward good beer.

 

 

Nice sparkly lager with a good solid head, malty grainy aroma, and nicely balanced profile with some smooth bitterness and noble hops. It's a well crafted lager, and there's nothing that particularly stands out. It's a good refreshing drink. No surprises.

 

Privatbrauerei Eichbaum "Schaumstoffherz"
500 ml can coded "21.01.2025 SC P038211023". Sampled on 28 February 2024.
$29.99/12-pk European Beer Collection @ Costco, Christiana, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: Into a dimpled halb-mass krug we go, and it fills it perfectly. The white head fills the upper portion, an inch and a half tall, and the liquid below is a mostly clear golden with tiny bubbles rising steadily through it. It's clean in the nose with a combination of grainy malt and delicately herbal and grassy hops. The taste offers a more bready maltiness, and a clear hoppy spiciness. There's an edge of almost burnt sugar, honey, and a subtle toastiness to it. A firm bitterness balances it, leaving it lightly sweet upfront but dry and spicy in the finish. It's really well balanced and rounded, and compellingly drinkable. At just 4.2% alcohol by volume I'm impressed with the amount of flavor that it has. The body is medium and the carbonation tingles the tongue. It appears to be a natural carbonation but I'm not sure. Wow, I've really worked through this one quickly as I've only got a few ounces left. It reminds me of a festival that I attended in southern Germany with hay bales stacked up to make walls inside a massive tent, and the local school children playing in concert on a central stage. This is not a festbier but it has a richness that's reminiscent of one.
Review #8,932

Even a slow pour of this straw colored brew yielded a huge white head. Crystal clear.

Toasty bread scent, A little bit dry, a little bitter, a little grainy accompany graham cracker maltiness. Decent crisp feel. Not very exciting, but well built and clean. Quite light, and alcohol is quite muted.

Acceptable German pils, albeit fairly straightforward.

 

 

 

From the "Foam Heart" labeled can with a nice pastoral scene quite unlike much of anything you might find around Mannheim, where the Eichbaum Brewery is located, it pours with a large white head that slowly reduces and does leave lacing. The liquid part of the brew is light yellow. The nose gets light malt with maybe some spice, although the large vibrant head interferes with the scent transfer. The taste is light and easy drinking.

I was surprised that Eichbaum, which I remember from my youth at my first duty station, came up with a new name and label for their brew and did not include a pils or export. Sigh. Mannheim is also located in the Kurpfalz, which is a traditional region not affiliated with the modern Rheinland-Pfalz, which is across the Rhine river from Mannheim. Honestly, I found the description in the brochure somewhat misleading.

 

This is more a lunch beer than a German pils (a pils has a more complexed flavor and hops.)
But Schaumstoffherz is a good lunch beer. I had it last evening when I wanted to wash down some average soup. And I finished the can just now at lunch with a burger and BBQ sauce. Flexible enough for a lunch beer.

Otherwise, I consider Schaumstoffherz average. For Looks, decent foam in the pour but not much sticks around. Aromas are mostly malt with some sweet floral in the back of the nose. Tastes are balanced, but not distinguished; just average. Schaumstoffherz' soft mouth works with the food, but not much palate cleansing.

I give better Overall marks because I do not remember having a regional beer from the Palatinate state. (Mannheim is a mid-sized city mid-way between Frankfurt and Stuttgart.) While Eichbaum's web-site is developed well and shows a well-established beverage maker, I get annoyed when I can't find the English button. Hence average Overall Hugs relative to my generous scale.