Fernseh-Pils-a-thon 2013

Which would be the proper translation for "Craft Brew(ed)" and I've seen that term on bottles around here for several years now.

 

I'd like to believe that, but AB-InBev seems to be looking for more ways to brew more of it.

 

Of course they do. They (and their likewise ill-minded minions) even managed to turn our most beloved Oktoberfest into an orgy of commercialized "Fernsehbier"-mongery and hordes of (otherwise seemingly intelligent)people manage to fall under this evil spell year after year after year. Methinks the evil empire is winning...

 

But... but, you're contradicting the first statement about walking away from Beck's!

What is it? The homeland rejecting the swill or turning apathetic? Shake 'em up man, shake 'em up!

(Oh, and I saw a Fat Tire commercial on regular television (not a cable-based channel) over the weekend... should I be afraid..?)

 

I haven't seen any yet, but of all of the breweries to be afraid of selling out, I'd say New Belgium is pretty safe. They're employee owned and if anything, they're doing better than ever.

 

Yeah, but... but... a commercial!

They played heavily on the "employee owned" in the commercial.

 

'handwerklich gebraut' has been on bottles for as long as I've been drinking German beer. Which is precisely the reason 'craft beer' fanatics can't translate the term into German, because it would be the same phrase that appears on the labels of the sleepy family breweries - from which they want to distinguish themselves.

 

Nothing against family breweries. They are the craft brewers Germany has.

 

Which displays the utter hypocrisy in it all. Instead of embracing the fact that not every place on this planet has lost the traditions and values they CLAIM to uphold they want to distance themselves. To me that means they don't give a flying f.. about beer but are in it to satisfy personal narcisism.

 

Got myself a very special treat yesterday. All of the 5,0 beers (excluding Radler and Cola-Bier). I see so many people buying them all the time. I know it was a Feldschlößchen Braunschweig and now is a Oettinger Braunschweig product. Never had one of these before and probably never will again.
None of them are worth any deeper description. I found the Weizen to be the "best", although it was overly sour while at the same time lacking deeper yeast aromas. The Export was the real Pennerbier (=> bum beer), quite disgustingly sweet. The Pils was the ordinary kind of poor, cheap beer you get everywhere. All of them had no intensive aromas, were even watery.








The best thing about having these three beers in the evening was the fourth before going to bed: one of my favorites, Löwenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell.

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. They are so cheap, you wonder what ingredients they use. You saw my report on the export and it wasn't pretty. The word Pennerbier is the best word for this beer.

 

Ha, saw those in Edeka last week and stayed well clear of them, you are both braver than I!

 

Their willingness to subject themselves to be... verages (My keyboard won't let me type "beer" in that context...) such as the above approaches outright masochism, does it not ?

 

And that, friends, is a good description of herb.

 

Yup. And FWIW I never remember Jever having much of a big hop aroma -- even back in the early 90s. It's always been about that astringent, dry (i.e. herb) bitterness. And, yes, it used to be even more herb back then. Pretty intense, unique stuff.

EDIT: And -- yet again -- I remember it being even more herb when I had it at a friend's place in Wilhelmshaven, near the source. Perhaps, like super hoppy IPAs, Jever's herb-ness falls off fairly quickly...but, as you saw for yourself, it is definitely still there.

 

Thank you for your report and your effort to take note of the aroma.

“Aroma: Definitely muted. Almost zero.” Yeah, that has been my consistent experience as well but I was unsure whether that was a freshness issue. Yeah, hop aroma is not Jever’s thing.

“Taste: Here's where the bitterness kicks in. In fact, it's different than I remember. This is almost astringently bitter.” That sounds consistent to what I have experienced. I would have described the taste as being noticeably bitter and dry. For me the ‘defining’ aspect of Jever is that it is the most dry Pilsner that I have ever tasted.

“Overall: Not a beer I'd seek out. Sorry, …” No need to be sorry. Jever is just not your ‘thing’. That just means more Jever for me and Bill Manley (SierraNevadaBill)!

Permit me to ask a follow up question: does Jever taste like it ‘only’ has 35 IBUs to you?

Prost! (and thanks for ‘taking one for the team)

 

Think that's been discussed before, but Jever, along with Flensburger, ain't what they used to be. Say, about 10-15 years ago, that's about the time span I am able to cover. Those two used to be the flagships of northern German Pils that were noticeably hopped. That's gone. Both of them are still somewhat different from the Fernseh-Pils-A-Thon crowd (although they clearly belong there), but their distinctiveness from earlier days is gone.

 

I never liked Flensburger, personally. When I lived in North Germany my go-to Pilsners were first Dithmarschen and then Moravia. Former was OK, latter was (and IMO still is) really good -- even though it's no longer independent but rather owned by Holsten.

Of course, then again, I never much cared for Northern Germany in general....

EDIT: that being said, save for their common geography and the Pilsner label, Jever and Flensburger have very very little in common. In fact, I don't understand at all why they are so frequently mentioned together and/or directly compared. (Probably just because they are 2 of the only "northern German" pilsners to be found in the States.)