Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Joh. Albrecht Kupfer- Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht GmbH BA's page is listed as a München Dunkel Lager. I would call it more closer to a Vienna Lager, or somewhere in between?

 

Shhhh! Don't tell her we have a cellar. Just kidding. She knows, just I'm "in charge of organizing" everything down there, mostly b/c it's a tiny brick, claustrophobic-enducing, barrel vault room, of which our apartment has only half of for us. And more than half the cellar space is given over to my beer ingredients, homebrew beer bottles (more than 70% empty today), and it's locked, requiring extra effort to even get in there. The washing machine is down there, too, but it's in a separate room and wouldn't tempt her. Hahaha, evil, aren't I?

Now, I'm brewing a super hoppy beer from a recipé I got in BYO. The article is here.

First, I scaled the recipe up to 45L. I kept the hop profile but modified the malt and yeast portions:
ABV: 5.5%, OG: 1.054 (BeerSmith's est.)

• 1 kg - Abbey malt
• .5kg - Vienna malt
• .46kg - Carared malt
• .5kg - Table sugar (sucrose)
• traded Nugget for Apollo hops (can't get Apollo here)
• dropped the 2ndary hopping... doing 2ndary is just an invitation to an infection in Germany.
• West Yorkshire yeast to give it a fruitier profile.
• (I can't believe I used 250g of Simcoe for this recipe!)

Anyway, why is that even important what I'm brewing, right? Actually, I wanted to show how I like to innovate and hope German brewers do, too. I took a strictly IPA recipe, used more traditional malts from Belgium and Europe, then went more with a traditional British yeast. It might be awful or wonderful, but it certainly will be hoppy and citrusy!

While waiting for the specialty grains to steep, I jumped back into STAHLSTURM's STASH.
is the brewer, which is attached to St. Katarinenspital Hospital.
He dropped off their Helles, which won this award:

Here's a pic of the bottle I "borrowed" from kronenkorkkatalog.de:

And another I borrowed from
Beer Drinker With A Triathlon Problem:

So, what's it look like for real? Bright white head, gold, deep rich gold, clear as a bell and bubbling incessantly almost like a Kristalweizen. Aroma is all Pils malt, slightly caramel but also a background of hops there too.
The taste is almost a Bohemian Pils, but maltier, drier. The mouthfeel is thick but not as thick as a Czech Pils, and has a strong backbone that won't feel thin after the bottom of the glass. The flavor is all Pils malts, no sweetness at all. It's a tad bitter but with a aftertaste that is sweet-citrus, maybe a sign of Saaz hops? This citrus is only in the aftertaste, far far far back on the tongue. If you swallow it too quickly, you won't even taste it, but if you let it slowly glide over the back of the tongue, wow, it's there. I see why this won the award! That aftertaste, though is fleeting, making you desire more, but making you wonder if it's only imagination at play, yet I drink it again, and there it is... interesting. I'm not normally a fan of Pils/Helles, but this is a süffiges Bier! Don't tell Herrburgess or Stahlsturm, please, but I really like it! It's bitter up front and in the middle but not in the aftertaste, leaving each swallow with the desire for more. I would pay DHL to bring this to me once a month.

oops, there goes the timer, gotta sparge,... sparge, sparge baby.

 

The wort is boiling, so I need to spring back into STAHLSTURM's STASH. Maybe another Helles... still not my favorite style, but the Spital Helles makes me want to compare another brewer's version to see if it was simply great or average for the area. Pouring into the glass is a Eichhofener Helles from Schlossbrauerei Eichhofen from the town of Eichenhofen. Color is golden but not as intense yellow-gold as Spital's. It's almost pale, has a large bright white head, too. Aroma is the same as above, very Pils malty with some bitter hops around it.
First, a photo:

now for a close up of the logo:

The flavor is slightly sweet, bitter and a hint of lemons in the background all in one swallow. Up front is bitter-sweet, middle is maltier and bitter and a slight sourness, back is where the lemon aftertaste comes. The sweetness and lemon are strongest on the aftertaste, yet while it swirling in the mouth it stays bitter. It's also a tad on the thinner side for a mouthfeel, but not drier. I'm not sure if I like this one as much. You'd think all these complex flavors would add up to more, but it's feels more like their not all in sync. Overall, a really good beer, but it's both a tad too bitter and a tad too sweet. I can taste the lemony aftertaste strongly after I swallow, but sadly that's the best part. Again, don't get me wrong. It's a damn good beer! Just a little underwhelming after having drunk the Spital Helles.

 

While I'm waiting for the whirlpool hops to sit (while I stir), my next Helles from STAHLSTURM's STASH is from Schierlinger town, a Original Shierlinger Hell, brewed by Spezial-Brauerei Schierling. Their website only mentions a Pils, but here's proof that I'm not the only one to have drunk this, eh?

fromNIKOLAEV SERGEY's page, who's from St.PETERSBURG, RUSSIA.
Not many other pics online, but here:

Opened to find a clear, dark golden beer under a bright white head. The aroma is like the above 2 Helles, Pils-malty with some hops coming through. The flavor tends more towards bitter with some sour initially, also sweetness of Pils malts comes strongly through. It's both sweet and bitter, but with much less lemon aftertaste, actually about half of the other two above. They used a different, higher Alpha Acid hop. The back of the bottle mentions "from the Hallertau," so Hallertauer hops, but which one, Hersbrücker or Mittelfrüh? Nevertheless, it's a very good beer. Near the end of the bottle, I'm getting more lemon hints and less sour flavor, but the same bitterness. Mmmm, not bad, very good but not better than Spital's by a long shot.

 

Thank you for your praise. I've never had a beer from Victory, but except for the FfM water & Vienna malts (Weyermann), the Abbey malt is Belgium, so maybe it's a European Union IPA....mmmm, I like that name! EU IPA.
BTW, I had a major disaster yesterday. The Gärballon, the 54L glass fermentation ballon-shaped glass vessel, exploded (!) while I was attempting to clean it. If you can imagine this completely full of water:

In my shower, which is only big enough for 1/2 a person, and I mistakenly tipped it on it's side to empty the water. I had shards of glass in my hand and 8 deep cuts that required band aids to get them to stop bleeding. I do indeed bleed for my beer. Luckily, as this pic attests, I've got 2 Gärballons, so the EU IPA is racked and the yeast is pitched. I got it at around 40L, OG=1.050, so I estimate a 5.5% beer, possibly. Thanks Jack for the inspiration on the name!

 

You need to review them for us. And no excuse like, "my English isn't good enough," ok? If you're good enough to argue me to a draw, you're English is nearly perfect for reviewing beer.

Why should that stop them from brewing a rye? There's no patent on it, or trademark, is there?

 

I've got to review this beer before my g/f drinks it, too. We opened it up and loved the hell out of it.
Guess who's? PAX PAX, baby. It's Pax Bräu's Black Gold: Lakritz Oatmeal Stout. And it's a WOW WOW beer.

I blew up the pic so you can see the ingredients more clearly:

He used Süssholzwurzel (literally, "sweetwood root") [licorice root]... probably threw it in the boil. Also, hops from 3 different continents.

First thing I notice in the glass - it's black, black, ZERO light gets through it, and it's like used motor oil, not even on the rims can light get through it. The foam is deep, dark brown. The aroma...OMG, it's so complex I don't know where to start: sweet licorice, some coffee, spicy peppery smells, but much more. Whatever you named, I would probably agree it's in the aroma.
First it's thick as oil, but not sludgy, for it still glides easily over the tongue. The flavor is licorice in the front but not like the candy form. It's a tad spicy but not from the alcohol and not at all peppery. There's virtually no bitterness but it's not super sweet, either, just a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste, and it's not dry either, which makes me believe Andreas Seufert went less in the direction of an Irish stout, but went more like a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout direction, but Pax's is a tad thinner than Samuel Smith's. There's also a coffee- & toffee-like flavor mixing in. The hops add virtually no bitterness, but there's a lemony aftertaste that says Cascade and lends to the sweet aftertaste. Otherwise, the hops are barely noticeable, but that's good. The hops don't overwhelm; rather, they hide and complement so seamlessly that act more as balancing hops for sweetness. However, towards the end of the glass, I get more bitter notes from the hops. Every 3 or 4 sips, I discover a new flavor hiding under the others, but... my lord, overall, WOW WOW WOW, I'm in love.

 

I thought it over. With lots of American hops, a British yeast, and Austrian and Belgian malts, what do y'all think of......
Axis & Allies IPA? Or is that too corny.