Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

After drinking all the beers I really wanted to taste from STAHLSTURM's STASH, I now am into the ones I have less enthusiasm for. The first is Kneitinger and it's their Edel-Pils. This is my 2nd one from them, the other being their

So... since I rarely drink Pils or have found a Pils I like drinking other than on hot, sweaty days, this may or may not be my cup of tea, eh?

The color is typical Pils, a crystal clear golden color with some yellow tints, which is topped by a snow-white head of foam. The aroma is pure Pilsen malts and some strong Noble hops, exactly what a Pils should smell like. The initial flavor at first is hoppy, bitter in a Hallertauer hop way (they mention Hallertauer on their website), but mixed in is lots of Pils malts and some light caramel malts, for I'm getting lots of caramel flavors in the aftertaste. It's got a thick mouthfeel, very nice and not weak at all, going over the tongue like a slow wave lapping on the beach. You can tell they use good ingredients here, and everything fits well together. It's got a decent bitterness kick on all sides of the tongue but also it still has a powerful caramel aftertaste. If I swallow it quickly and try to bypass the aftertaste, I can still get a little of the caramel notes, but it then tastes more like a normal Pils, albeit a herbe, Noble hop bitterness. I'm impressed, and really, I would buy this beer if I found it on my shelves. (And yes, I would drink it on a boat, and I would drink it with a goat. I would drink it here or there, say, I drink it anywhere!) What impresses me is the combo of Pils malts, a strong bitterness and a very nice caramel maltiness, all in one beer. Nice! My faith in the Pils style has been restored. I could drink this süffige Bier all day.

 

Still have a few more beers from the STAHLSTURM STASH to plow through. Since I was so pleasantly surprised and refreshed by the Kneitinger Edel-Pils, as you can see above, I'd thought I'd risk it again and try another, this time a Scheinder, a private Braugasthof (or privately owned brew-inn), and I got their Lager Hell in the bottle.

After looking at pics of their inn, INside and out, I'm impressed. Maybe Stahlsturm can tell us if this place is worth it for staying overnight and if their restaurant's 5-gängiges Biermenü (5 course meal with beer) is as good as my imagination thinks it is. Take a look for yourself.

Here's their logo.


My bottle looks the same except for the "Best By" date is May 02, 2013, which is about 10 days from today, stamped on the front.

Now the actual beer. Color is clear, deep rich gold under a snow-white with finely laced bubbles that dissipated quickly on me.

Aroma has Pilsner some Münchner malts, very toasty and slightly sweet. I can barely smell some Tettnanger hops, but they're there, but I really need to breathe it in deeply to get my nose to register any hop aroma.

The taste is a typical Bayrische Helles. Much thicker in mouthfeel than a Fernsehbier, it's meaty and has some heft going over the tongue. It's malty, Pilsner malt flavor and lots of it. On the front of the tongue it's slightly bitter from the hops, Noble hops flowery bitter, but in the center it tastes like sourdough bread slightly. The aftertaste, the back of the mouth you get the caramel sweetness of the the Pils, and they may have added Münchner malts to get that, but not too much or the color would be more orange. It also has a lightly hopped spiciness in the back to go with it. Overall, more like a Pils, but less hoppy and more caramel notes; in other words, another great example of a Bayrische Helles. Compared to Kneitinger, it's less hoppy and slightly less caramel notes in the back, but stands up well despite that. I really like it and wish I could buy this beer in my local Getränkemarkt. Looks like I'll have to settle for buying it in Biershop Bayern maybe. It's not as good as Kneitinger's, but not by much. Now that I'm getting more and more beer over the tongue, i.e the bottom of the bottle, I'm tasting more of the caramel malt in the aftertaste, but hops before swallowing it. Wish I had both beers to compare side by side. The temperature's 22C today, the sun is shining, my window is open and the exhaust fumes of the cars below... no, let's close the window... and the mellowness of Schneider's Lager Hell is a nice feeling. Again, süffig.

Btw, as a test this weekend, I picked up a Flensburger Pils. Yuck. Tasted chemically infused and even my girlfriend refused to drink more than a sip when I offered to share it. Yes, I need to take a tour of the Regensburg area. You know, Stahlsturm, I hate Pils a helluva lot less now.

 

He's right, Eurorail passes may only be purchased outside of Europe.

Anyway, here's the next beeeeer. Jacob Weissbier, by Brauerei Jacob.

So, the scenery. First, the Braugasthof:

Then the better scenery, Mädels in Dirndls.


They have a nice Bierfinder page here. Too bad there's nothing near FFM.

My beer's "Best by"date is 25.07.13, so a normal 6 month lifespan. Also, you can buy their beer in Biershop Bayern.

Let's drink this thing. First, color is light amber with lots of orange in it, all under a snow-white foam.

Aroma is typical Weizen/Weissbier... a little banana, a hint of cloves, a bit of Münchner malt, and bubblegum, lots and lots of bubblegum.

The flavor is also typical for this style, banana and bubblegum is strong. It's basically all you taste at first. It's also sweet with some malt in the background, but not much. Here the yeast is what's prominent. The front of the tongue gets cloves quite strongly, the middle has tad of peppery and some sour notes on the back of the tongue. Malt flavor is barely noticeable but it's there as the basis of the sweetness that manages to come through, especially in the bubble-gummy aftertaste.

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of this style, really, but if I have to drink it, I wouldn't mind drinking Jacobs. I like it, but I'd rather drink other styles. However, my girlfriend really like this beer, and I almost wasn't able to drink much of it. I must say... it's almost too bubble-gummy and could've used some more malt flavors, maybe more Vienna, Münchner, Biscuit or some other toasty malt to balance it out.