Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

I trust it costs what you say in Heidelberg. That type of markup seems normal within Germany. Just in Munich itself, the prices are much lower.

 

There seems to be a slight detour on this thread about American beers.

For those interested, according to BeerAdvocate:

· Augustiner Bräu Edelstoff: Style | ABV: Munich Helles Lager | 5.60% ABV

· Ayinger Jahrhundert Bier: Style | ABV Dortmunder / Export Lager | 5.50% ABV

For my palate the Augustiner Edelstoff is malt forward with the hop flavor/aroma in the background.

For my palate Ayinger Jahrhundert has a prominent malt flavor/aroma but in that beer the hop flavor/aroma also plays a role. In other words that beer has a balance of malt and hop flavors/aromas which is consistent with the Dortmunder style (as I understand that style).

Cheers!

 

Piggybacking Dortmunder-Export is a result of attempting to categorize beers in the early days of home-brewing. Export can be tacked on to any German beer by its ABV (@patto1ro Ron probably has all the details etched in his memory).

Northern German renditions of Pilsner became known as Dortmunder; kind of a hoppier Munich Helles.

Just my own theory, but when folks like Eckhardt and Papazian started writing books about beer styles the only German beers being imported at the time with "export" on the label were Dortmunders -- so the term was (erroneously) tagged together as synonymous.

 

Here's what MJ had to say about Dortmunder Export:

"In 1843, the city's [Dortmund's] oldest brewey, Dortmunder Kronen, began to make bottom-fermenting beers. In the 1870s, Dortmunder Union developed a bottom-fermenting beer that won wide renown in Germany. It was so widely marketed that the Dortmund brewers began to refer to it as the Export style. Beers in this style are now produced elsewhere in Germany, but Dortmund is its home. Dortmunder Export is a recognized style, albeit these days one with a low public profile."

Of course this doesn't answer the question as to whether breweries like Augustiner were among those mentioned as producing the style "elsewhere in Germany." A bit of research should be able to answer that question easily enough, though. I'm just too lazy to do it myself at present.

 

From Ron a few years ago (2004):

And a few years later from Ron (2007):

 

And @steveh answers the question in record time!

So Augustiner Export refers to the strength only, and the Dortmund examples refer specifically to beers like those from DUB and Kronen (and some others that imitated them post-1870).

 

Pretty much what I can tell from Ron's research.

As @einhorn said: Exportbier - another can of worms...

 

Is Export different from Spezial?

 

More worms!

I'll just send you to this post by Ron.

 

There's no such style as Spezial. Every brewery which uses this term applies it to something different. Some use it for Export, some for Kellerbier (or Zwickel), some for Dark Lagers and some for Landbier (which is the same: no style at all, just a marketing term).

 

Coincidentally, I ran into two girls at my local tonight who are from Munich. They wouldn't even touch Ayinger (~$3.44 for a 500 mL), Andechs (~$5ish for a 500 mL), or Augustiner (~$15 for a six pack). I think I overhead them saying Ayinger is 1.50 euro for a bottle in Munich. And they were shocked by the Augustiner price. We got to chatting and they realized I'm a huge German fan, and they asked what local beer I could recommend that would be similar. They were most interested in Helles, so I had nothing to recommend for them.

For American beer I recommended an IPA, or maybe even a pumpkin beer because they'd never had one. One of our locals was pouring there, Pretty Things (a brewery Ron Pattinson is a huge fan of, me too). They liked their Meadowlark IPA (I tried a sample too, the citrus really pops in this one), but when I told them what the ABVs were on American IPAs compared to Helles, they didn't seem as interested. I told them most American IPAs were around doppelbock strength.

I started to steer them towards maybe a pale ale, at first I mentioned session IPAs, and described those to them. Then some Pale 31 caught my eye, and I figured that might be a safe bet at 4.9%, fuller bodied, and still hoppy enough. Well crafted too. Honestly, it was quite difficult trying to explain American beer to them, as it was quite overwhelming with all of the options at the liquor store. I ended up telling them to head to the fridge so they could make their own six pack and try a few different American beers.

 

As for me? I picked up a mix a six of Spaten Oktoberfest (finally came in!), Paulaner Amber Oktoberfest, and Oaktoberfest again.

First up is Spaten. In my Jever 0.4L mug against a white background, it looks to be about a 20 - 22 on the chart above. Certainly not a 9!

Not sure of the date, but damn, this beer is still fantastic in the bottle. Sweet, bready, and delicious.

 

Quick question to you all - do you have the feeling that Spaten O-fest is less readily available?

 

Seems like it around here.

 

Yes. But I found a good, fresh batch over the border in Wisconsin; cases and 12 packs. Not sure what's going on in my area.

 

Yes.

I did find some yesterday, per my post above. However, I noticed the date on it to be puzzling. I looked through the forum, and the number on the bottle starts with "L3163...." This would indicate it was bottled last November. Based on the taste (which was excellent, and comparable to the draft I had last weekend) I find this hard to believe.

 

Will be very interested to hear your take on the Schlafly Kölsch.