Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Nearing the end of the Camba Bavaria journey until I order the next shipment. We're down to the 2 American style "Craft beers" in the box. 1st, I saved them for last because I wanted to compare them side-by-side, and 2nd, I wanted to enjoy them alone and have time to reflect without thinking of any of the other German styles waiting for me in the box.

I couldn't decide whether this post should be in the Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk thread, or the German Craft Brew thread, so I'll post them in both, as then they'll be there as handy references for future searches on the above topics.

First, the bottle.​

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I introduce the Pale Ale.​

First, what I notice is the pic… evoking Marilyn Monroe, the iconic American pin up? It definitely has a 50s vibe. Also, the background is earthy, smudged, unclean almost, very in contrast to all Camba's other labels, which are full of clean lines, strong colors and overall pretty boring. No images. All the German style beers have only the stated name of the beer and, well, that's it. Here we have a more evocative image, provoking a link to the craft beer labels in the USA, I'm guessing. Anyway, it's interesting how the American styles are so different in labeling than the German styles. 2nd these beers are available only in 0.3L bottles, instead of the 0.5L bottles for almost all the German styles. More beer for less flavor? Is that the message they're sending? Or more ingredients require smaller bottles, hence higher costs require less product sold at one time, equalling more profit per bottle?​

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These little things really add up, IMO The overall image here is how they want the beer perceived by the public, and it's interesting to know the thinking behind these marketing concepts.​

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Ok… the beer. It's 5.2%, orang-ish yellow, or yellowish orange, not sure, but it's dead in the middle of those two colors, with tints of red hiding in the shadows of the glass.​

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The nose is all grapefruit, orange, lemon, typically C-hops, quite strong and lovely aroma.​

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The flavor is close to the typical American Pale Ale. Up front lots and lots of bitterness, slightly biting in a manly, aggressive manner. Yummmm. In the middle a tad sourness and astringency with lemon flavors mixed with a little, yes, just a hint of British Pale malt. In the back, again, lots of flavor. I get more bitterness in the back, Pale malt flavors, giving me the feeling I'm drinking a English Bitter while searching for the aftertaste, which is quite strongly in the direction of astringency again.​

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However, I can taste the German-ness in this beer. First, what makes this beer German is the Pils and Roasted malt flavors that underly the flavor profile. I can taste these are German malts and quite good quality, too. Second, it's mouthfeel is German, thick, romantic, warming,… in a word… süffig. It's a feeling I get from German beers, and that's present in all Camba's beers. How I love that feeling in my mouth.​

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Overall, slapping a U.S. craft beer label on the bottle doesn't make it a "craft beer," so luckily the beer lives up to the expectations provided by the label. It's an extra aggressively hopped Pale Ale that could be masquerade as a U.S. brewed APA. Is it special, unusual or outstanding for this style? No, and except for the wonderful bitterness here, it's not too different from other APAs, and that's a great, wonderful thing. See, I haven't had, not even laid eyes on an American style Pale Ale since leaving the USA, so this is an exotic taste of a lovely hopped up beer for one hopeless man stranded in Germany. Yet, it's not too far out there for a German tasting this beer for the first time, for it still has familiarity such as undertones of German malts and the mouthfeel that envelopes like a warm blanket. Put all that together, and you get a WOW beer.​

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Now to the climax, for me at least, of all the Camba Bavaria beers. The IPA. It's been for me like a crescendo of great beers, one after another from them, and I hope by the most flavorful of the bunch… that I won't be disappointed.

Again, I'll be posting this simultaneously on this thread and the German Craft Beer thread, so like there, too, please.

First, the bottle.​

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Notice the similarity of the label to the Pale Ale. Again, we get the earthy, emotive aspect, the grungy, almost smeared use of color, monochrome again, but this time with a pic of a hop emerging from the chaos. Green is an good color for a beer in Germany that emphasizes the hops. Again, no brewery name on the label except on the neck. No words whatsoever, none. You feel the nature, yet no appeal to Heimat here, by which I mean no name written hugely on the bottom of theel of the town Camba Bavaria's located in written hugely on the bottom of the label: Truchtlaching. Above I said no words, but cleverly they pu AI PI AI on the label. It's the German phonetic pronunciation of the English letters I, P & A. Cute, eh? It gives it indeed a sense of Heimat, stating that though this is truly an American, i.e. foreign style, we're bringing you the German version designed for your tastes. At least that's what I get out it as a studied oft practicing artist and wannabe graphic artist.

So. Does it live up to my expectations of the label? The head is huge, a dirty white foam mountain on top of an orange-yellow colored, verging on amber body that's clear as a bell. Basically the same color as the Pale Ale.

Aroma is equally powerful. Tropical fruits, maracuyá, a little strawberry, citrus behind it…. damn this smells a lot like my Axis and Allies IPA. It does a little malt note hiding, too (but not nearly as much as mine!) So far, it's really up there in the IPA pantheon as if it were straight outta the West coast. Their website claims Holunderblüten, or elderberry flowers, but I'm not getting that. Maybe Germans would, seeing as they're more familiar with this bloom's aroma. The website said it used Cascade hops, which really comes through.

There's lots of bitterness up front in the flavor, but not overpowering, not enough to scare the timid or newbie Germans away. The middle is some honey, but even more fruity flavors, lots and lots of tropical fruits, again, marakuyá, litchi, strawberry, all exploding on center the tongue, and also bitterness, almost biting, but not quite, just in the right amount. The back is more bitterness, a lot more bitterness, verging but never crossing the line to extreme, making you feel like a roller coaster of fake danger, just enough to scare you, but not enough to stop you from leaving your comfort zone. You get lots of malt notes here, too. I get some München malt, but more Pale malt here. It's extremely malty, and that's wonderful. The mouthfeel is like the Pale Ale, thick, warm, gemütlich,… hearty. The malt flavors and the "hearty" feeling in the mouth are the tell-tale signs of wonderfully done German beer, not an American version.

Overall, I really really like this beer. If it weren't for the malts and mouthfeel, it'd be an ABI (for those new here: "Another Bloody IPA," Andreas Seufert of Pax Bräu.) But it goes beyond that into WOW-land for combining the best of German and American beer styles. It's a straight up IPA, not mind-blowing, but it's no slouch compared to its American brothers. It's also not an ostentatiously look-at-me chest thumper like some American versions. It's strong but humble, and allows its German roots to underscore this beer with its malty backbone that is reminiscent but not quite sweet enough to be a Märzen. Lovely. However, it's not nearly as great as Pax Bräu's Cissy IPA, for it lacks the smoke malt, the roastiness and other German flavors (Münchner & Pils malt) added bubbling up and exploding around the hop goodies, which makes it a truly transcendent beer.

My only regret is not being able to try Camba's German IPA, which they describe on their website. I love this quote:

or "The first taste is dominated by citrusy aroma of mandarine as well as fruity notes of banana, apricot, Physalis (?), which are bound with a powerful balanced hop bitterness and are brought forward by a special taste-sybiosis from hop flowers and the exotic."

But what makes this beer a German IPA is the use of Herkules hops, they say. I've used this new German hop before and just recently. It's got an Alpha acid of 17.9%. Enough said?

 

September's here and that means a new beer from Pax Bräu's Bierkalender. This month is a real treat: Rhöner Imperial Pilsner.

First let's dissect that name. Die Rhön is name for the region where Pax is located, a semi-mountainous area that lies in the very northern part of Bayern. My guess is that this name is due to the malts grown in the area, which are well known in the beer industry (someone [Einhorn?] correct me if I'm wrong) alluding to the malts used as ingredients. Imperial: duh, it's 8.5%! What else would you call it? Pilsner… let's guess that it's a Pils style.


Now the label… maybe someone can help me here… what do you think? A rhino, looking like a British lord or a old German Bürger, an upper crust type? That alludes to the Imperial part, and maybe the 8.5% butts you with the power of a rhino? Again, I love the Etiket, or label. These are absolutely revolutionary in Germany. No other brewer that I know of uses such wild and cool images on the labels. It breaks absolutely with the German beer industry SOP (standard operating procedure) and makes them unforgettable in a German setting. Again, these labels set Pax apart as being in the craft beer, á la American revolutionaries, transferred and translated into the German setting.

I almost forgot to drink the beer. The appearance isn't typical Pils. It's close to light orange with yellow highlights, darker than a few Märzen I've come across (Paulaner Oktoberfest, anyone?) and decidedly not a weak color. The picture doesn't do it justice above. It's snow-white head sits under this appetizing color… lovely.

The aroma is virtually a blast of Pils malt. It jumps out of the glass and doesn't let go until the end of the glass. I get some lemon and/or grapefruit floating around in the aroma, which when combined with the Pils malt is a heady smell. You can also smell the alcohol when you swirl it around, giving it a Starkbier-like or Bock-like kick to the nose.

Before we talk taste, look at the label and check out the number of hops used: Smaragd, Centennial, Hallertauer, Tradition, Spalter Select, Beata, AND Amarillo, that's 7. Of the German hops, you see most of the usual suspects for a Pils: Hallertauer, Spalter, Tradition. Smaragd is a new German hop which I've used as well, quite bitter at 8.7% AA. Here's what I got on the internet:

Amarillo and Centennial are well known in America but pretty uncommon in Germany, and I've never heard of them used for Pilsner beers in Germany. I had to google Beata hops. I got this from http://wiki.homebrewforums.net/index.php/Beata

So quite an interesting combo of hops.

The flavor is overall quite strong. The mouthfeel is not typical Pils, rather more like a Bock or Märzen in thickness - impressively viscous flowing over the tongue, hearty and meaty all at once.

The front of the tongue gives you lots of bitterness, both of the Noble hop variety and some American bitterness. you also get some tart and astringent notes up front, going into lemon but not at quite sour.
The middle gives way to toasted Pils malts and more bitterness, slightly biting on the tongue. This isn't a Norddeutschpils, but it's a powerhouse of bitterness over the middle, maybe the effect of Smaragd, Centennial or Beata, but it's not too much Noble hoppy flavor. Nonetheless, the closer the glass gets to empty, the more assertive the Noble hops are and the more I pick them up here on my tongue and overall. The back is typically Pils in flavor, but also with a caramel, sweeter side, mixing though with fruity flavors of orange, apricot, a little grapefruit. Also in the back you get the punch of alcohol, not overwhelming but just enough to tell you this is an Imperial, damn it. It's not at a Märzen-type caramel, but it's not only a Pils malt flavor, but a mix of 30/70 here. The aftertaste is citrus hops with sweet Pils malts and a oh so slight burn of alcohol. Mostly the high alcohol is hidden but it peeks out at times, which is good, but it's not so strong that you wish you could age it 6 months before drinking.

Overall, this may be the best Pils I've ever ever had. Really. It's complex as all hell, throwing citrus, orangey and fruity flavors, toasty pils and some caramel, hard Noble hop bitterness and alcohol flavors at you in different parts of the tongue. And then there's the aroma! This part is important, for when you drink it, you could be fooled into not thinking it's a Pils, but the nose tells you yes, we're still drinking a Pils. It's an wonderful adventure simply sloshing around the mouth looking for the different flavors with every sip. This is another WOWOWOW beer. WOW. Like almost all of Andreas Seufert's beers, I've never tasted anything like this. If someone has come across a beer like this, let me know, for this again is the perfect cross of German, British and American styles to make a unique beer that really stands up, salutes then rocks out with complex flavors and aroma. Then, the aftertaste is there like a siren luring you to take the next sip.

 

Did it still have a great aroma? Or did it lose a lot due to it's age? The brew date should be on the neck. Did it taste like I described it in my review? And where did you get it?

Finally, the color of the label is different, blue background instead of yellow/green. That may mean a 2nd release this year.

 

Was given the following 3 as a present by Timosen this week, so hey, let's test them side by side. I've had all 3 of these before, so I'm really interested how they are next to each to each other.

1. Schneider Weisse's Tap 7 Unser Original (SW7)
2. Keiler Bier's Keiler Weißbier (from Lohr am Main, between Miltenberg and Bamberg.) (KWB)
3. Brauerei Faust's Weizen Hefe Hell (WHH)

Here's what they look like in the glass side by side:

Aroma:
SW7: banana, bubblegum, wheat malt, really strong, hearty aroma, maybe from a more maltier presence in the aroma
KWB: ditto, but less hearty
WHH: least aroma of all 3, but when swirled around, ditto SW7

Appearance: All cloudy.
Even though the pic about doesn't represent the colors perfectly, the KWB & WHH are almost identical, with the KWB a tad darker and less orange, but little bit of brown in it, whereas SW7 is brown with orange tints.

Flavor:
SW7: Lots of banana and some definite sourness up front, a combo of sweet wheat malts and little bitterness in the middle, and lots of orange, sweet banana and cloves mixed up with the wheat malt dryness.

KWB: Citrus, sourness and banana up front, again a combo of sweet malts and here a hint of bitterness, and in the back, lots of orange, cloves and banana with a sweeter, intense aftertaste.

WHH: Lots of banana and some caramel, sweet malt up front, some bitterness in the middle with wheat dryness, and in the back, orange, lemon, banana, cloves and tad sour and a sweet, dry aftertaste.

Mouthfeel:
Almost identical. All are quite dry, which is the wheat malt talking. They're all thick, but SW7 takes the cake for being the thickest and meatiest, followed by KWB and then WHH being the thinnest of the 3.

Overall:
Hard to differentiate them, really, really really hard here. From a aroma and mouthfeel standpoint, SW7 wins hands down, but it's not a huge difference. They're all really great. Flavor-wise, Faust is sweeter, Keiler is more citrus/orangey with more cloves, and Schneiders is as malty with more caramel as it's sweet. In reality, I'd never be able to pick these out in a blind taste test, no matter what.
Ranking:

1. SW7, liked the mouthfeel, extra maltiness, aroma, more complexity than the rest and fuller flavor to boot.
2. WHH, just liked the extra citrus, sour notes but it didn't have
3. KWB, the least complex of the 3, not bad but compared to the others, it's more like a one hit wonder.

This is really like choosing the favorite of your triplet children. Thank god I'm not a tasting judge. Complexity is good.

A caveat… I'm not a fan of Weizen that's all banana and bubble gummy, luckily the bubblegum was spared some here, but I still prefer a Kristalweizen that's lemony and zesty.