The leading beers, Amberg

I looked over the list of participants.
Brauereien:
•Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu
•Bierkulturhaus
•Brauerei Bischofshof (Weltenburger)
•Braukunstkeller GmbH
•Brewdog (vertreten durch Brauerei Hofmark)
•Craftwerk
•Die Internationale Brau-Manufacturen GmbH
•Freudenberger Bier
•Gaffel Kölsch & Fassbrause (an unserer Cocktailbar)
•Schlossbrauerei Friedenfels
•Heberbräu
•Hofmark Brauerei
•Jacob Brauerei
•Kaiser Bräu GmbH & Co. KG (Veldensteiner)
•Kraft Bräu
•Brauerei Kummert GmbH& Co. KG
•Kulmbacher Brauerei (Mönchshof)
•Kundmüller Brauerei-Gasthof
• Mahrs Bräu
•Neumarkter Lammsbräu
• Brauerei im Eiswerk
•Pyraser Herzblut
•Riedenburger
•Riegele Brauerei Augsburg
•Schlossbrauerei Hirschau
•Sperber Bräu
•Spitalbrauerei Regenburg
•St. ERHARD GmbH
•Weingut Baron Knyphausen (!)
•Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
•Winkler Bier Amberg
•Zoiglbrauer Windischeschenbach

These look more like regional brews. Except for Gaffel Kölsch and Kulmbacher, most are small, independent breweries from the Bayern.

Though there were a lot of traditional breweries there who had only traditional German brews, BrauKunstLive was really all about the INNOVATION going on in brewing. I hope it's like that, too, in Amberg. With all those regional breweries, it looks to me like the focus might be more on tradition when I see this line up, though Brewdog and BraukunstKeller look promising in the non-traditional category.

Drink a lot, take lots of notes and pics, and give us a detailed report later. Amberg is too far off the beaten track and on too short notice for me to attend, so please be our eyes, ears and taste buds.

 

I'd be interested in the Josephs Spezial from Brauerei Im Eiswerk, if you are interested in taking requests . As soon as I can convince myself to take the 3 hour train to Munich on a Wednesday just to pick up a beer I'll be able to try some myself. Until then, I look forward to your report!

 

U.S. beer geeks would NEVER complain about a 3-hr public transport ride to get great beer. You Germany guys have it good*!

(*oops, forgot. there are no walez in Germany. nevermind....)

 

Welcome to Germany!
<------Belgium is over there.

 

Amberg isn't in Germany.

 

I had wanted to get to Eiswerk on the Weds I was in Munich, but a trip to Freising to visit a friend took precedence..... Next year.... Prosit!

 

But it is a nice little town..... ;-)

 

And I was in Munich on a Thursday so no luck for me. I thought about it, though!

Any report on the Pax Bräu?

 

I stopped into Liebick and got a Maibock and the Fasenochter.... Had thought the latter was a regular DBock but noticed it was a DBock Hell when I popped it.... Both were solid but not earth-shattering. My reviews (posted on BA) note no rauch, which you picked up.... Good biers, but the two I had I thought were a bit overpriced for what I got.... Still enjoyed them, though...

Prosit!

 

Not me, Boddhitree! I have yet to enjoy one of Pax Bräu's beers. I look forward to that day, though. Thanks for the feedback, I'll look up your reviews!

 

If only this was the weekend before!

 

Sorry.... I knew someone here had had some Pax.... I would still try some more, diff options... Next year.... Prosit!

 

The Maibock was my least favorite from all of Pax's beers, and the Fasenöchter was brewed in January and released in the beginning of February, this year. So, no rauchmalz? Strange. I went back and reread my review and the only thing I can think of is that the flavor could've gone bad, but you reported the hops were still quite aromatic, so I'm not sure why. Then again, you said there was also not much of München malts, either, and the original in February was chock full of Müchner malt, which can be "bready" but usually have more sweet, caramel flavors. "Bready" is how I describe a Pils or Helles, you too? Maybe Jack or Scott have more experience brewing with smoked malt and know how long it lasts in a beer with bottle conditioning. The hops which "I've never heard of before" are a new German hop (Smaragd), and the rest are new New Zealand hops. Sorry you were underwhelmed by this beer. You also said "no extensive floral hopping," which is often a word used to describe Noble hops used in Pils and other German styles, but were you expecting Noble hops in a beer with no Noble hops? Fresh, it was a WOW beer, like I said, a supped up IPA/Märzen with some Rauchmalz mixed in. 7 months later, I can't imagine it would be as boring as you mentioned it was, but I'm not surprised you got a weaker version of what it once was, either.

 

Tell me when you get your Bayern passport.

 

Back to the Pax beer that Bierman9 wasn't impressed with, the Fasenöchter. I just reread your review. You mentioned it had "a Best-by of 18JUL." Almost all of Pax beers are bottle conditioned and have a maximum of 6 months before the Best By is up. That means the beer you had was past it's best by date by over 3 months. At 8.5%, a beer like this should last and develop for years, but the initial intense flavors of malts of a regular Rauchbeer, Märzen, the hops might mitigate and weaken.

 

Yeah, was wondering about the best by of 6 months for a strong bier like this... Again, I liked it, but didn't get any Rauch..... Not dissing your review....Just didn't get it.... Still good, but not "great".... Still, I would give them another shot next year... Need more reviews to get some differing opinions... eh? Proait!!!

 

Chiming in here on the Rauchmalz question....

Tony: didn't you mention that Seufert sent you the recipe for Cissy, and the grain bill was something like 5% Rauchmalz? If this is indeed the case, I would expect only a very faint smokiness. I have brewed beers with 20% Rauchmalz and only gotten a barely perceptible smoke character. And with the types if hopping and bottle conditioning used for many of the Pax Brau beers, I could easily imagine that the smoke is overwhelmed.

That said, I have found that the longer a beer lagers, the more the smokiness can emerge. I even wrote to Randy Scorby about his AHA Best of Show-winning Classic Rauchbier recipe, and he informed me that that beer had been lagered for 16 months (yes, you read that correctly; not weeks, but months) when he entered it.

Hope this helps.

 

Tony, I personally do not have much experience with how Rauchmalz (Weyermann Smoked Malt) ‘matures’ with age in the bottle. I brewed a Smoky Brown Ale last year where I had about 9% Smoked Malt but that beer was very popular with friends and family so that batch was consumed in just a few months (I would guess the last bottle had about 3-4 months of age).

I have another batch of Smokey Brown ale in my primary right now. I upped the smoked malt to around 18% of the grain bill. I have no idea how long this batch will last but my guess is that this beer will also get consumed rather quickly. It seems to me that Brown Ales are not typically a popular style for US craft beer drinkers but that has not been the case for my Smoky Brown Ale.

As a reminder I also use some Rye Malt (about 9% of the grain bill) in my Smokey Brown Ale so it is really a Smoky & Spicy Brown Ale.

Prost!