FritzAle India Pale Ale
Ale-Mania

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: sudsy 2 finger head, on the cloudy side, dark amber strawberry
S: refreshing and light grapefruit. with a mild ipa spicyness. beautiful.
T: okay, a very plain, slightly bitter AIPA. there is a slight pineapple/grapefruit freshness.
M: light, very mild carbonation.
O: okay, not a bad ipa.

 

 

 

330ml bottle. 1/2pt glass. Enjoyed on mar´13. Orangish amber color. Veiled appearance. Off-white froth. Close crown presents fairly good retention. Wide lacing film is left on sides. Intense caramel malt & subtle candy aromas as well as fresh wood & resins to the nose. Mild toasted malty upfront followed by smooth but increasing bitterness. Light to medium body. Moderate to high carbonation. Oily to watery texture & slightly sparkling palate. Grapefruit zest in the middle provides soft astringency. Resiny touch lingers into the finish& the aftertaste.

For those of you that don't know the deal with the Fritz beers, here it is. Fritz is a buddy of Sebastian Sauer of Freigeist, The Monarcy, Bierkompass, and Braustelle. Dude's got a lot of projects and helped Fritz get things running commercially which have now gotten pretty large scale (this year Fritzale IPA was canned).

Fritz's beers/recipes definitely vary and are not often available. I was recently able to try one of his IPAs that weighed in at 5.8% at 45ibu brewed with Amarillo, Simcoe, and Cascade. Basically, Braustelle is my favorite "progressive" German brewery for obvious reasons and I was delighted to finally get to try a Fritz Ale. Come on, how many Deutsch IPA's are there...more than there used to be, but still.

Pours a slightly hazy, light amber with a 1 finger head.

Nose is a little restrained but resinous citrus and pine notes were present.

With a bite of pine up front, lingering grassy hop character, a grapefruit bitterness and nice fruity hop presence throughout, this IPA is pretty damn good for Germany. It's rounded out with probably a bit too much caramel malt but there is certainly a nice body to this IPA that happens to be quite flavorful for the less than 6% abv. So, by US standards, more of a Pale than an IPA. Especially considering the new standard alcohol content for an IPA stateside is seemingly 7%.

Overall, looking forward to trying more creations from Braustelle as well as Fritz's brews.

If you have the chance to visit Germany, especially Köln, you better visit Braustelle!

 

Picked this up from the De Molen Beer Store while on vaction in Holland. Slightly hazy amber-orange pour with a huge head. Took forever to pour this thing because of that. Retention is great as is the lacing. Very "West Cost" nose for a German beer. Lots of resiny, herbal hoppiness and citrus with a real solid caramel malt backbone. Extremely well balanced with hints of pine, tangerines, grapefruit, and bread dough. For 87 IBU's it's not as bitter as I thought it would be, but that speaks to the balance. It still has a nice tangy hop bite. The mouthfeel is somewhat creamy, and slightly thick and chewy, but mostly smooth. The drinkability is over the top on this one. And considering the best before date was 2 months ago, this was still really fresh tasting. This was a great surprise. It's a tossup between this and the Brewbaker Berlin IPA as far as German IPA's go. I will definitely be making a beer run to Cologne to get me my IPA fix very soon!

.5L bottle purchased at Braustelle Ehrenfeld in Köln. Bottled 12/27/10, best before 7/11/11.

Pours a hazy, medium amber with a lot of effervescence and a voluminous off-white head. Really nice lacing.

The aroma is outstanding: there's a wonderfully juicy and citrusy hop presence, with some nice apricot notes thanks to the Amarillo.

My goodness, it tastes like a good ol' American IPA! Big bitter bite with some sweet caramel malts and a solid pale malt base cut with Munich malts. Lots of woody, piney hops on the palate, some grapefruit. Expected more tropical hop notes, but the Chinook seems to take over-- this brew's a hefty 87 IBU. Surprising amount of sweet, bready malt character as well, but overall well-balanced. The mouthfeel is resinous, creamy and highly carbonated, perhaps a tad too much so for an IPA.

This is a high-quality, German-brewed IPA. More than satisfies my hop craving. I'll be back in Ehrenfeld for more!