Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

I really like Helios, and pick one up whenever I see it. Maybe I've been lucky, or have just been getting it since the revised process, because it has been very consistent for me.

 

I did a quick BA search and here is what Jim (@Starkbier) posted about the Helios process change: “Right, its tank conditioned now prior to filtering and then normal bottle conditioning. This is due to capped 22's limits in pressure to about 7g/L.”

My recollection is that prior to this process change there were some instances of Helios bottles exploding from the over-carbonation issue.

Cheers!

 

Holy moly! I'm surprised that they didn't just pop the cap. Either way, I'm glad that the sterile filtration is working and they are still making it.

 

“I'm surprised that they didn't just pop the cap.” My only guess is that the cap crimping process creates a super strong seal? In homebrewing, over-carbonation can occur (due to a number of reasons) and the result is referred to as bottle bombs. This has never occurred to me but I have read many posts from homebrewers who describe loud bangs and finding shards of glass in the areas where they store their homebrewed bottled beers. I would imagine this would be a very scary occurrence. I can only guess how homebrewers dress as they approach their bottles that have not exploded yet so they can uncap them to defuse them.

Cheers!

 

Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing about somebody's homebrew caps bulging, but not coming off, as they iced down the bottles before recapping. Scary, indeed.

 

I had two American Bocks tonight and I didn't care for either one of them. I had Local Option's Voku Hila which is supposed to be a Maibock. It tasted like a Maiock fermented with a Belgian yeast. No thanks.

Then I had Samuel Adams Double Bock. It tasted old. The dark fruit flavor was overwhelming. I'm looking forward to Weltenburg Asam Bock returning to this market.

 

My local watering hole (The Bull & Bush) started carrying Weltenburger Asam Bock on tap recently. While probably not as fresh as from the source, that beer is a thing to behold. It's a top 5 doppelbock for certain and could even be the best in a head-to-head comparison. That beer has me wanting to visit Kelheim next time we're in Germany.

 

It's worth it to go to the Kloster. It's a beautiful location.

 

It's most definitly worth it but make sure NOT to come on a weekend. It's a very touristy spot and on weekends it's packed. Really really packed.

 

Spröcket Bier - Black Rye Kölsch

Yeah, right. A strong flavor of roasted malt followed by a nice spiciness from the rye malt. A surprising amount of body and malt sweetness (it also has Munich malt). Very little Kölsch character. It's an enjoyable beer, but calling it a Kölsch?

 

I didn't understand that either. Or is there another German commercial example of this mash-up? Or can we expect a blonde Irish stout soon?

 

Okay, maybe this isn't an Irish stout, but it claims to be a "white" stout : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/88/109444/

 

Looks like a Koelsch to me! Black Koelsch, white Koelsch, cloudy Koelsch, dry hopped Koelsch, pineapple Koelsch...it's all good!

 

Speakn' of 'Mericän, we just finalized our plans to visit die Staaten (the States.). When I'm there, I plan on finding Getman-style brews again. I found Franconia Brewery Company in McKinney, an ex-urb of Dallas. My folks live in west Plano, so I plan in visiting this place. Anyone know about them? I remember seeing an article in the newspaper about them a few years ago, and I thought I'd give them some time to settle things before I judge them. They seem to focus on Getman styles and the owner/head brewer is from Franken.

 

Tony, I hope you have a great vacation back in the States.

I look forward to reading your posts in this thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/report-german-style-beers-in-texas.167577/

My favorite craft brewery in Texas that makes German style beers is Live Oak. As far as I know it is only available on draft.

While it is not technically a German labeled beer, I would recommend that you try some Shiner Black Bohemian Lager. That beer is tasty and very reasonably priced; a twofer!

Cheers!

 

While you're in Texas, keep an aye out for http://franconiabrewing.com/Franconia/?page_id=12

I haven't had any, but I read about it somewhere. Probably in this forum.

EDIT- it was in the thread Jack listed.

 

They just released a seasonal Maibock which is pretty tasty. It is also bottled, as are their koelsch, weizen, and dunkel.

 

While they're in Houston (not exactly super-close to Dallas), Karbach is run by former Tabernash/Left Hand/Flying Dog boss...and Weihenstephan-grad Eric Warner: http://www.karbachbrewing.com/home.
Their stuff is now in bottles and cans, so you might see some in central Texas, too.

 

So, as usual, my luggage was packed with beer upon returning from my annual spring pilgrimage to the family farm in Illinois. This time I tried to load up on some east coast beers that I wasn't familiar with. The only exception was Bell's Two Hearted that I picked up during my two-day "praktikum" there. Also, as usual, I invited my co-workers over to have a tasting session. As you can tell from the photo, they brought a couple of German IPAs to include in the tasting. We conducted a blind tasting, and I thought the results were pretty interesting.

First of all, the Lost Sailor and Harpoon were easy to pick out as they were obviously fermented with British yeast. The residual sweetness and estery aromas were apparent when compared to their American yeast counterparts. I've never had an English IPA that I cared for. These beers finished in the middle of the pack. There was nothing wrong with them (other than a slight bit of cheezy hops on the Lost Sailor), but they just couldn't compete with the clean profile of American yeast.

The Dolden Sud and Resin also finished in the middle of the pack, but not because they tasted English. In my opinion, the Dolden Sud was simply muddled. Nothing popped out and said IPA. I got a little citrus at the end, but it was more of a thin, lactic citrus than a nice, hop derived citrus. The Resin had a good aroma and dry finish, but there was just too much caramel in the middle. I couldn't drink more than one.

The three brewers in the room all agreed on second and third place (although in different orders): Two Hearted and Prototyp. Two Hearted is, in my opinion, a perfect beer. The 100% Centennial hop bill is a showcase for my favorite hop. Cleanly fermented and loaded with fresh flavor, I can't find anything I don't like about this beer. The Prototyp was my #3. It was well made, but in comparison with my #1 and #2, it lacked a bit of hop flavor. That being said, if you were to taste this beer without such great competition, it would be fantastic. And, having been brewed in Hamburg, it was the #1 German IPA in the bunch.

That brings me to Heady Topper. Holy shit. I'm not the type of beer nerd to believe in all of the hype that surrounds our "craft beer" scene today. Way too often, have I tried hyped up beers/breweries only to be amazed with how mediocre the product was. Heady Topper is truly a wonder. We all had it as our #1... in a blind taste test. Not an easy thing for a beer to do. I'll do a full review on it sometime, as I still have a few cans tucked away in an undisclosed location. If you are ever in the Vermont area, I would suggest that you try to find yourself some of this beer. It may take stopping by several locations in order to find a retailer that isn't sold out, but it'll be worth it. Footnote: The second can of Heady Topper was brought out as an encore upon request from the tasting panel.

Oh yeah, the Maisel and Friends was bad. Not sure exactly what happened, but something happened.