Koln (Cologne)

"Oettinger wasn't that bad"

“I have had the Oettinger heffe and while not great it isn't awful.”

My personal take on popular beers is that more often than not they are not ‘bad’ beers; where ‘bad’ would mean having off-flavors, etc. My personal expectation for the majority of popular beers is that they will be lacking in flavors and be of lesser quality than higher quality beers (examples of higher quality beers would be Augustiner, Rothaus, Sierra Nevada, Firestone Walker, Victory, etc.).

From time to time I will purchase some US popular beers since I am able to enjoy them taking into consideration what they are. I am really hopping to ‘find’ a case of Genny Bock next month. Genesee is distributed in my area but for some reason Genny Bock has not historically been available in SEPA. I don’t have a definitive price for a case of Genny Bock but my guess is it will cost much less than 20 bucks for a case. That beer just might win the bang for the buck award.

Cheers!

 

It's very true that the discount stores perpetuate the whole mark-down dynamic -- and now frequently have at least one national brand on "sale" at all times, which encourages repeat purchase among many, many customers.

As for the Oettinger, at its core I find it a third-rate (used to be fourth-rate) German beer. My primary complaint is its grainy/husky character, as well as a slight astringency (which seems to have been toned down in recent years).

You know what I'd like to see? Oettinger run through a Randal of noble hops. I'd be willing to bet that the resulting beer is on a par with many highly touted U.S. "craft" examples of German styles.

 

“Regarding Oettinger it isn't like slumming…” As a stated in my prior post: “My personal take on popular beers is that more often than not they are not ‘bad’ beers; where ‘bad’ would mean having off-flavors, etc.”

I have not had the opportunity to specifically drink Oettinger, I have had a number of other German popular brands: Warsteiner, Bitburger, Becks (German brewed), etc. None of those beers were ‘bad’ and while drinking them I never considered myself as “slumming”. Having stated that, I have a strong preference for drinking high quality beers instead. For German breweries I prefer beers from Weihenstephan, Ayinger, Jever, Furst Wallerstein, Mahrs, etc.

You made mention of “When I get back to the states this summer….’ Well, depending where you are in the states you may have the option of drinking high quality US craft brewed German style beers. I live in Southeastern PA (SEPA) which has a number of production breweries who make high quality German style beers plus a very large number of brewpubs that make high quality German style beers. It is my understanding that SEPA is somewhat atypical from the rest of the US but there are other regions who reportedly have a number of breweries that make high quality German style beers (e.g., the mid-west like Wisconsin & Minnesota, Colorado, etc.).

Cheers!

 

“Any idea on the German brew for Tampa, Florida or the Spokane area.”

I have no personal experience with Florida or Washington State.

@TheChef18 recently posted: “Rapp Brewing in St. Petersburg, Florida has a very large selection of awesome German beers as well as more American styles. They also have a Gose that is the best I can find locally.”

I have heard good things about Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham, Washington. I have also heard good things about Heater Allen in Oregon but it sounds like they only distribute in Oregon?

Cheers!

 

As I mentioned it was bc Becks was on sale... normally I would see them buy Norten Hardenberger, god awful local beer, or Hütt, mostly awful, though I find their Naturtrüb to be pretty decent, or Astra - the pbr of Germany.
You will see a lot of what is sold around here is local/within 30kms of here. A couple bars sell Warburger beers, which i wouldnt clean an enemies dog bowl with, but its cheap and local.
Granted, Kassel is mostly a mixture of blue collar and students. Aachen and Köln, where I have lived, were a bit different, but still focused largely on regional.
Köln - Kölsch, Aachen Kölsch, Alt and a few bars with Belgian beers due to it being on the border.

 

This thread has sure wandered from the OP of where to find Kölsch near a Winter Market.

 

Yeah, but the OP is now much better educated don’t you think?

Cheers!

 

We call that Americanization of a thread. Germans would never have allowed the plan to not be followed.

 

It's a difficult group to keep focused.

 

That isn't what Americanization is. Americanization is taking an already existing product and continuing to innovate and improve upon it until it is terrible.

 

That literally made me laugh out loud.

 

It's 3:00 am in Germany. I felt the need to stick up for Stahly.

 

Going 300 km in any given direction I'll end up in what I consider a foreign nation. Adding to the regionalism point (to which I completely agree) is the fact that here in Europe we have a completely different mindset about distances.

 

Completely agree. I miss living in Aachen, I could walk 20mins and be in Belgium or the Netherlands

 

I can walk 20 minutes and be in Wisconsin… sort of another country.

Still discussing beer, no?

 

Me too, hahaha.

 

Make sure that she gets what she wants as far as Christmas decorations or other stuff. My wife gets a big smile on her face when she pulls out the decorations, and talks fondly of the markets.

 

The Chuckanut beers are pretty good, never had Heater Allen. Don't know any lager breweries in FL.

Either of those have pluses and minuses. Tampa area has Cigar City. Spokane has the whole WA beer scene, but might be far from the beer centers.