Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Denver will have to be on the short list for a long weekend beercation. It's easy to fly to from St. Louis.

 

Drinking the local brew in Marktheidenfeld am Main, Germany:

 

We enjoyed this bier again last evening at the Faust Bierstrüble along the banks of the Main River in Miltenberg. It followed one the -the best meals- we've ever eaten at the Sigon Deli just a couple small blocks away.

 

Visited this:





And this:





And drank this in Marktheidenfeld am Main:

 

Our favorite two beers at the moment.

 

Geez @-N8 .... your photos could make Bud Light served in plastic cups at Six-Flags look amazing.

 

Haha- thx!

I'm just a hobbyist who likes to photo things that interest me; my neighbors think I'm a bit loco I'm sure.

 

What's the deal with the Kaiser-esque beer helmet on the Vitus?

 

I saw these for the first time this past weekend when I was in Munich and stopped into the Hofbräuhaus gift shop with my parents. They are little clip-on pewter lids so that your bottle can mimic the pewter lids that you see on mugs. Gotta keep the bees out even if you're swigging straight from the bottle!

PS - good eye, by the way.

 

I picked it up the clip on mini-stein lid (or maybe it it better called a Flaschendeckel?) locally for a few euro.

I am sure one could acquire the same from an online vendor for a few US dollars.

 

Has anyone here tried anything from the Meinel Brauerei up in Hof? I here there are 2 young sisters doing up the brewing there, keeping a long tradition of family brewing going.... Just 3 older reviews here on BA....

 

Not sure about the 2 sisters or the history of the brewery, but I have a little experience with the beer: A co-worker of mine native to that area of Germany brought me a mix-6 from Meinel last year. Oddly enough, I only have notes on 4 of the beers (there was also a Gold Lager and a Weizen). Here are the short versions:

Meinel Märzen - Good beer overall. Amber with a decent head. Slightly bready, but with enough caramel and burnt notes to almost be nutty at times. Enjoyable, easy drinking, but slightly subdued for my tastes.

Meinel Classic Pils - Take this with a grain of salt, as I'm not generally a fan of pilsners. Yellow, excellent head. Lots of bread notes, a bit of malt, but significant lemony citrus flavors. Very refreshing and, again, easy to drink. I can imagine that for Pils-fans, this is an excellent beer.

Meinel Körnla - Poured a dusky, amber with minimal head. Fairly flat actually, and somewhat thin. Not sure what exact beer style this was supposed to be, but the ingredients list had wheat, dinkel, rye and barley. Rather distinctive flavor. Malty, caramel notes, bready, but also with a bit of sourness at times. There were some floral notes here as well, almost like honey. This was a very enjoyable beer, complex enough that it kept my interest, while still be "suffig". With more carbonation, it would have superb.

Meinel Dark Lager - Dark brown with a fantastically, pillow head. The flavor was equally excellent: caramel, touches of chocolate and even a little cinnamon spiciness. At the end was a bit of ashy bitterness, like really dark chocolate, that balanced out the initial sweetness. Very nice beer, very balanced and yet still interesting enough that I can imagine drinking this all evening without getting bored. My favorite of the Meinel beers that I got to try.

Overall, I thought their beers were rather good. All of them were very easy to drink, and all very well made. I was impressed. Though, having said that, of those that I tried, the only one I personally would bother to really search out (considering my specific tastes), is the Dark Lager, which really impressed me. They also have a doppelbock and a weizenbock, though, that I would love to try.

Hope that helps! If you find yourself in that area, I'd love to hear your thoughts on their stuff.

 

I haven't had any of the Meinel beers since the daughters took over. They are really going all out on social media (and playing up the female aspect) and seem to be doing a very good job of it. They are always talking about the Holladiefee and Fruehlingsweizen. The ones I had back in the day I really liked. But when I was in Hof, I would usually drink Zeltbrau beers. Good friend of mine who studied in Bamberg was from Hof, and swore by Zeltbrau. Very sueffig stuff.

 

Ok, thnx @JHDStein and @herrburgess... I will keep this place in mind and perhaps check it out this Fall... prosit!!!

 

Pax Bräu's Cissy IPA
7,2% ABV, 1L bottle poured into a 200 ml Fancy Pants glass (for me) and a 400 ml Wilibecher (for die Frau).



Appearance: @boddhitree warned that this beer was "a tad under-carbonated". It appears to be the case, and maybe more than a tad. A gentle pour at first, but then full-on vigorous pour yields almost zero foam. A shame. As a result, it looks quite a bit like fresh-pressed, unfiltered apple cider rather than a pale ale.
Aroma: Smells a lot like a classic American style IPA. I don't get as much smoke as Bodd does, although die Frau said that she got some smoke on the first sip but not after. Both die Frau and Bodd are better than I am at these things. Or perhaps I am too used to Schlenkerla's sledgehammer smoke to pick out more subtle variations.
Taste: It tastes good. Also very much like a classic American style IPA, bitter bitter bitter with citrusy flavors throughout. Again, I don't get much from the smoked malt. No hint of the 7,2% ABV, very well hidden.
Mouthfeel: Admittedly I don't know anything about mouthfeel, but I think the lack of carbonation hurts this beer in this respect, too. I really want the prickly bitter feeling on my tongue, but this seems to just sit there doin' nothin'.
Overall: This is a beer I really want to like. I think it could be a WOW beer but has perhaps, in its current incarnation, a fatal flaw. Unfortunately for the price I'd have a hard time recommending it, but I will say that I'd love to try it again. I think it could be a home run, but didn't get there for me today. Not a bad beer by any stretch, just a bit of a letdown.

3.75/5.00

 

A bit off topic - back to the Öttinger saga....

Just heard about this - Aldi-Süd has lowered prices for Weissbier - now EURO 1.79 for a 6 PACK of 0.5 liter plastic bottles, brewed by Feldschlößen/Öttinger. Please remember that these prices always include 19% VAT/MWST.

Holy Overcapacity, Batman.

 

Needless to say but you understand the German beer industry better than I do; is it really possible to make money (profit) selling beer at those prices?

Cheers!

 

Next installment of Bayernbiere bought and drunk is another well known one to many of us

Kloster Andechs Weissbier Dunkel, 5.0% abv



Appearance - Dark chocolatey brown hazy body with a solid 3-4 finger creamy head that gives very good lacing/retention.

Aroma - Faint Rice-Krispies like grain quality, hints of clove and biscuitiness

Taste - Subdued banana notes upfront, abruptly ending in a thin wheaty grained watery finish. As the beer warms I'm getting a tangy note - others have mentioned pineapple in reviews, that's a good descriptor. However, for those of you familiar with Scot's slang, the term "peely wally" is coming to mind.

Mouthfeel - Touch overcarbonated, thin.

Overall, big disappointment. Apart from the doppelbock dunkel, I've never been impressed with Andechs. Even at the monastery I didn't think anything I sampled was worthy of note. A non-descript dunkelweizen if there ever was one!

Apologies to the Andechs fan-club

Prost!

 

Actually kinda agree. Not a huge fan of their hefe-weizens in general. I should revisit their Hell and Export Dunkel, though, it has been awhile on those.

 

Oh actually, forgot about the export dunkel. If memory serves, that was fairly good! I actually have a bottle coming my way soon so will revisit.