St. Georgenbräu Annafestbier
St. Georgenbräu

What a different a good copy makes.
I had my first Anna-Fest only 30 minutes ago. It (Greif) was good, but my copy was not fresh.
St. George's is close to excellent. (I can say that after only two beers in the Anna-style because I'm a malt-head.)

That said, St. George's Anna has very good Looks; a pretty amber and a healthy lace, indicating to me the lager yeast has done its work and is now letting this subtle malt bill envelop my buds. While I don't get this brew's excellence in my nose, Taste proves me right. Not only does this have the signature palate subtleties of the Fall lagers, but its finish is among the lightest and driest I can remember. Certainly on the full side of medium-mouthed. Wonderfully soft, doubly so.

Is this brew really for July when refreshment is key ? It is so subtle.

While I'm new to AnnaFest, I'm lucky to have found it this late in My Beer Career. This is a wonderful celebration of regional brewing traditions, mixing in a primary religion (Anna is the mother of Mary, the one who bore Christ.) However irrelevant this tradition may be to today's mindless mash into mediocrity, at least Mary and Anna keep civilisation from drowning in salt water... so far.

L:
-pours a clear amber with a small-to-medium,foamy,off-white head
-medium-to-high carbonation visible
S:
-caramel,plums,lightly acidic,malty,floral,rose hip
T:
-malty,caramel,bready,spicy,grassy
F:
-medium carbonation
-light-to-medium body
O:
A simple-but-good old-style Märzen.

 

 

 

From the half liter bottle, it pours a clear amber color with a modest white head that soon reduces to a nice ring. Scent is malty with notes of caramel malt and some spice. Taste is pleasant, with the malt definitely shining through.

Pours a slightly unfiltered golden to amber color with a big, bubbly white head atop.

Aromas on this are defined by wet hay, spicy honey and dried garden leaves together with a flowery nuance.

Has a very soft, surprisingly velvet, yet sparkly mouthfeel, leading to a late, refreshing effervescence. The beer is balanced throughout and offers a fantastic, smooth, versatile mouthfeel.

Tastes of dried straw, fresh baked bread, a gallant, flowery spiciness and rustic, toffee defined malts. Offers soft bread dough then, spiced up whipped cream even and a drop of farmyard honey. Finishes with a pleasant herb dryness, grassy undertones which blend flawlessly into lighter caramel, and a crisp crackery note among a stony mineralic quality.

This is very different from all other Anna-Biere I’ve had so far and I must say that I like this quite a bit. The beer’s mouthfeel is world class for me, it has a mind boggling refreshing character, while producing an astonishing creamy softness at the same time, creating a heavenly balanced beer. It is not as focused on sweet malts as I expected it to be, but instead manages to offer a fitting, herbal and rustic grain complexity, which is utmost enjoyable and represents a bold take on a Festbier in my opinion. All in all there is nothing left to be desired, this even features a well working, spicy down to earth hoppiness which goes all the way, resulting in a pleasantly dry aftertaste.

De Labirratorium. En copa hefe de Bavaria. En almuerzo, con bacalao dorado de Mercadona. Para el relativamente bajo abv que tiene el alcohol se nota sorprendentemente bastante. No obstante no es nada que estropee la experiencia gracia as al agradable perfil maltoso y refrescante que presenta, pero es algo que llama la atención

This Annafestbier has a color somewhere between golden-yellow and copper-orange, has a frail white head and a few big carboantion bubbles working their way up.

The aroma is sweet and grainy from the malts and hoppy in a way that I have never encountered in a German beer. Hop character curiously seems much closer to a US-style hopped beer.

The taste follows the nose's direction and ends in a bitter, slightly roasted place. Less hoppy (and more malt-based) than can be expected with the smell in mind. A slow developing and quite satisfying taste.

Body is medium, carbonation level moderate.

An average brew in my opinion; a little monotonous maybe, but nice.

5.6% abv beer in a 0.5L brown bottle with a cream and blue colored label depicting a woman with a beer. Off-white head didn't last two seconds, and left only a few specs of lace. Dark golden beer is perfectly clear allowing you to see the few streams of bubbles rising through the middle. Light floral hops in the aroma with a faintly sweet malt undertone. Flavor is fairly clean, just a spec of malty sweetness mixed with hops that are reminiscent of tea. Bitterness increases towards the end, but is barely worth mentioning. Nothing exciting, but it would be easy to drink a few.