Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Revisited a lot of old favorites(mostly IPA's and pales) from when I lived in the states. I must say I was underwhelmed by many of them. Most seemed either one-note and thin or were just a huge mess of flavors. There were, however, a few notable exceptions; I found Finestkind IPA to be very enjoyable and there were a couple porters and stouts, not double or imperial, that I really enjoyed. I also found Pivo Pils very hoppy but very good.

Conclusion: can't wait to have a couple fresh 0,5 l bottles of Augustiner and Spaten tonight now that I'm back in Europe.

Edit: New England's Ghost Pigeon was perhaps the best beer I had in my two weeks there.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/357/78130/

 

I think when one sees abvs above 5% for a pilsner one needs to consider the original gravity, which in the case of Hardywood's pilsner appears to be circa 12.1-12.2%, compared with alot of German pilsners these days that get an abv of 4.8-4.9% out of an 11.3 or so OG. Rothaus is 5.1% with an OG of 12.4%. Both beers obviously aim at producing a fuller bodied/maltier taste. I think it should be within the style parameters though for the abv to land slightly above 5% if the OG is higher. 12% OG is really the classical Pilsener lagerbier strenght and if lower gravity pilsners (which I greatly enjoy btw) get a pass on their higher than traditional degree of attenuation I think these types of pilsners should get a pass for having a slightly more modern degree of attenuation that produces a slightly higher abv from a stylistically correct gravity.

 

Matt, I have had Hardywood Pils on draft on 3-4 separate occasions and I think it is a very tasty German style Pilsner. I personally have never noticed anything ‘off’ in the finish of those pints of beers.

Most recently I was able to conduct a side-by-side tasting of Hardywood Pils and Stoudts Pils at a local beer bar which was an interesting exercise. I thought that the Stoudts Pils had a more prominent malt backbone but I thoroughly enjoyed the balance of the Hardywood Pils.

I have yet to drink Hardywood Pils from bottles.

IMO, this beer is a very solid effort from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.

Cheers!

 

Is it more something there you find off-putting, or something not there (i.e. missing)? I have experienced both scenarios myself, so I think I can sympathize.... That said, I have never had this beer myself, so I can't really contribute in a specific, meaningful way.

 

Matt,

Is there a bottled on date on those Hardywood Pils bottles?

Cheers!

Jack

P.S. For the draft Hardywood Pils beers that I drank I personally found nothing "off-putting' in those beers.

 

If you could get back to us on that topic it would be useful to the discussion.

Cheers!

Jack

 

That "astringency" is the primary "there" thing I find off-putting about so many U.S. "craft" attempts at the German Pilsner style. I sometimes call it a "sharpness" or a "harshness" and usually find it is not necessarily contributable to ingredients, but is more a matter of something in the process not being quite "right" (i.e. not conforming to typical German brewing practices and/or processes).

 

Astringency in beer is not a flavor per se but a mouthfeel issue. It is typically described as being a mouth puckering sensation. For wine folks, astringency is often associated with robust red wines that are young; e.g., a young bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

A brewing practice that is commonly ascribed to creating beers with astringency is over-sparging.

I am personally very sensitive to astringency in beer and wine; when I purchase Cabernet Sauvignon wine I cellar them for a few years since I personally can’t enjoy them when young; cellaring permits the tannins to precipitate out of the wine.

I did not perceive any astringency in the draft Hardywood Pils beers that I drank.

Cheers!

 

However you want to classify it, astringency affects taste. In addition to over-sparging, it can also be a pH issue (I suspect this is the main one with U.S. brewed German styles). Another contributing factor is letting the Krausen, with all the hop scum, etc., that collects in it, fall back through the beer during primary fermentation. Many German breweries are set up to allow brewers to skim off this residue, preventing it from contributing any astringency to the beers.

EDIT: again, I have not had the Hardywood plis, so I cannot say what the real issue is. However, I do have a good baseline of fresh German pils drunk at the source against which to compare the (sometimes slight, sometimes grating) harshness we are talking about in many, many U.S. "craft" brewed pilsners (and other German styles).

 

“Harshness” can be a difficult descriptor to dissect. I personally associate “harshness” with the presence of excess higher alcohols (fusel oils). I would not expect that there would be excess higher alcohols in Hardywood Pils due to lager fermentation temperature and the fact this beer is of moderate gravity.

I will put on my ‘thinking cap’ and cogitate some more.

Cheers!

 

I'll have to keep this in mind. I used to ferment in a carboy and doing this wasn't possible, but a lot of it stuck to the shoulders so it stayed out of the beer. I'm now brewing in a stainless fermenter and could skim this off. I only wish this had been mentioned two weeks ago as I have a Pils in the fermenter, but it is too late to skim it.

 

Here's a little primer for you to peruse:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Whoa.

 

Jerry, have your homebrewed lagers suffered from astringency?

I ferment my lagers in 7.9 gallon plastic buckets. I could very easily skim the braun hefe but I have never made the effort since I have never experienced any issues in this regard.

I have submitted many of my homebrewed lagers in BJCP competitions and I have never received a comment about “astringency” so others do not perceive this aspect in my homebrewed lagers either.

Cheers!

Jack

Edit: from the John Palmer link: "The brown scum that forms during fermentation and clings to the side of the fermentor is intensely bitter and if it is stirred back into the beer it will cause very astringent tastes. The scum should be removed from the beer, either by letting it cling undisturbed to the sides of an oversize fermentor, or by skimming it off the krausen, or blowing off the krausen itself from a 5 gallon carboy. I have never had any problems by simply letting it cling to the sides of the fermentor."