Weiherer Hopferla
Brauerei Gasthof Kundmüller

Consumed ~18mo before best-by.

Look: crystal clear dark yellow with a vigorous head and good lacing.

Smell: lemon, cracker, honey.

Taste: massively bitter grass, pine, some citrus fruit, something almost smoky.

Feel: just fine.

Overall: a bit wild and plenty bitter; very enjoyable.

 

L:
-pours a clear golden-orange with a medium to big,frothy,offwhite head
-medium to high carbonation visible
S:
-grapefruit,honey,zesty,malty
T:
-Follows the nose + piney,resiny
-high bitterniss for the style
F:
-medium carbonation
-light to medium body
-no alcohol warmth noticeable
O:
A pretty solid take on an old school west coast IPA with it's heavy amount of bittering Hops, though it's not overtly complex.

Pours an unfiltered amber to golden color with a huge, froth and stable head atop.

Smells of spicy flower meadow, peach pith and exotic lime zest, topped off by a sweet peak of melting caramel.

Has a light and refreshing mouthfeel to it with a late, well developed carbonation level, adding a pleasant effervescence to the light body of this.

Tastes of an old school resinous maltiness, joined by a spoon full of honey as well as freshly toasted grains among dry garden herbs and utmost bitter, fresh cut lime. Has an unusually mellow, aqueous mouthfeel during its middle part, highlighting the prominent hop profile of this incredibly well, together with wet hay and old grass. Finishes with a good amount of earthy toffee, which gets almost entirely washed away and balanced by an even more pronounced, late bitterness, which has a pleasant, spicy nuance to it in the aftertaste.

This is as good as it gets in an old school west coast IPA from Germany. This has it all, the lovely, soft and sweet malts, as well as the aggressively bitter and dry hops, creating an intriguing balance throughout. Thanks to Fat Head’s for making this happen, this beer is awesome.

Pours a clear, deep amber coloration with a large, fluffy head. Smells of quite caramelly, slighty grainy and biscuity malt and tropical/citrus hops, with notes of papaya, pineapple and grapferuit, as well as strong herbal and resinous accents. Taste is a great balance of quite caramelly, slightly grainy and biscuity malt and bitter, fruity, herbal and resinous hops, with tropical and citrus notes of papaya, pineapple and grapefruit, as well as strong notes of sticky, resinous pine and herbal accents remiscent of thyme and sage. Finishes with a strong bitterness and some papaya, grapefruit, pine resin and herbal notes lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

Yet another fantastic old school East Coast IPA from Kundmüller, it really is fascinating to see how this traditional Franconian brewery has achieved a mastery of this style that none of the modern German craft breweries can live up to, no doubt due to their collaboration with Pittsburgh's Fat Head's, who are masters of this style in their own right. There's quite a strong, sweet'ish caramel malt backbone to this, which is balanced just right by those rather bitter and resinous hops, which are quite herbal as well, perhaps a bit too herbal actually. At the same time, there are some subtle tropical and citrus to be found here as well though. Overall, this makes for quite an uncompromising, bitter, herbal and resinous old school IPA with a strong caramel malt backbone that is perhaps just a tad too much on the herbal side, but makes for that with its bitter, resinous character and fruity accents. (Updated 11/23/21)