Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Thought I remembered you having made it to Bamberg, but I didn't realize you explored a lot of the places around there...and in the Oberpfalz.

Haven't had the pleasure of drinking the heater Allen or Upright, but I agree with you 100% on New Glarus. Its and Olde Meck's German-style beers are the only two I have had (and I have had many of the SEPA ones) that I feel truly get close to the German originals.

If you had to compare the Heater Allen and/or Upright to some German pilsners, which (if any) would you say they are closest to?

 

Have you tried the Latzenbier? If so, what are your thoughts on that beer?

Cheers!

 

Upright I always think of Rothaus for some reason, and at the moment I only have Heater Allen's Doppelbock in my head, which every time I have it reminds me of Andechs.
I think I will have to do a side by side with some German beers when I am in PDX again in August/September.

 

Any beers from Franken and/or Oberpfalz they put you in mind of? If not, what are some of your favorites from those regions (styles and/or individual examples)?

 

“I think I will have to do a side by side with some German beers when I am in PDX again in August/September.” That is indeed a helpful exercise.

I was able to conduct a side-by-side of Troegs Sunshine Pils and Rothaus Pils a couple of years ago and it was very interesting for me.

Thanks again to Tony (@boddhitree) for bringing me a bottle of Rothaus!!

Cheers!

 

I love that beer, Ill go in a month when it is released. I think people always want to compare it to Uerige Sticke, as it is a stronger version of the alt, and in many ways they are similar, but I think I like the Latzen more, both have nice fruity tones and some hop bitterness, but I find the Sticke a bit breadier, and the Latzen a little more dark fruits.
I also like, and this could play into my preferences, that the Latzen comes in at 5.5% vs the 6.5% of the Sticke. I am not at all a fan of the doppelsticke, which is barleywineesque in my opinion, and has a cloying sweetness.

 

Yep, I had the Dopplesticke a couple times and I also was not a fan for the reasons you mentioned.

Cheers!

 

So does that mean the US is 100 years behind the Germans in their ability to brew a perfect Helles?

 

hmmm good question... I love Bamberg, even though I am not a fan of Rauchbier. I think some of the lesser smokey ones can be good, and I respect the style, just I cannot, perhaps as a vegetarian, get over the meat juice smell in my beer. Again, some I think are a lot more balanced, but not Schlenkerla. I think Mahrs was a bit more subdued.
But Bamberg is just a magical city in so many ways, going there always reminds me of going to Cantillon. There is something magical about it no matter how many times you have been there, as if you are part of a secret and are stepping into history. Granted the beautiful city does not hurt Bamberg. Though another part of the beauty is escaping the city, yet knowing it is right there.

I implore everyone to ride a bike around for a day outside of Bamberg, or at least drive to places around Bamberg. In fact it is largely due to your wonderful recs @herrburgess that I went to the beautiful Schmausenkeller, Griess etc... I love how laid back things are. It is about enjoying a beer with friends, taking in the scenery and enjoying a well made beer. It might also be one of the unique times I see Germans genuinely happy and enjoying themselves**

Some beers/breweries:
I do rather enjoy the unfiltered Mahrs kellerbier.
I enjoyed my time at Greifenklau and Gänstaller.
I have liked everything I have had from Faust, but have sadly not made it there yet.
And of course Die üblichen Verdächtigen: Ayinger, Weihenstephan, Andechs...
Recently, as I am in Bonn now, it's been a lot of Kölsch and Alt.



**side note, for all the revelry, karneval goers often seem quite miserable, I find the whole thing equally disturbing and depressing. For example, yesterday I saw the following whilst walking through the city: kids in blackface, adults in blackface, indian costumes w painted red faces, 2 people w ****** mustaches and copious amounts of other varying degrees of stupidity, from men pissing on statues and store fronts to harassing old and young people.
Serendipitously, I am heading to the UK and then Liege for the next week. Ich bin Karnevalsflüchtling

 

Not at all, bc, as I mentioned, there are some breweries in the US who are making wonderful German beers: New Glarus, Heater Allen, Live Oak, Victory...

 

But I see more and more U.S. brewers throwing hops at lagers in an attempt to make them marketable, if not covering up lack of process and good malt.

I'd love to try the Heater Allen and Live Oak stuff, and the Prost beers from Colorado. I'm lucky enough to have some great brewers making German-style beers around me (Sprecher's Spring Pils from a couple years ago was a near perfect German Pilsner -- and I forgot to look for it last year), but many fall short to-style. And I finally got my hands on some very fresh Prima Pils and just can't agree that it fits the bill of a to-style German Pils. IBUs aside, the hop flavor just isn't right.

 

Everything from New Glarus is very good, but not everything is amazing. Hometown Blonde is a great Pils. Edel-Pils is a great Helles, labeled as a Pils. Yokel falls terribly flat.

 

I completely agree and have lamented this trend over and over.
Jacks Abby makes some tasty beers, but I do not feel in any way that they are traditional German beers. Just bc you use lager yeast does not make your beer a lager. Now, whether this is a new style or not, and whether I like it or not is a different thing. I think there is a place for both. But many do it to either cover their inability to make a good lager OR to make it marketable.

I also agree with you on Victory Prima Pils, I think it is a great beer, but I would not call it a traditional pilsner.

 

Agreed.

I would also agree with this if I didn't think these nouveau lagers were pushing the traditional lager styles off the shelves, out of modern-day minds, and, possibly, to an extinction point.

Just the fact that so many U.S. brewers try and fail to brew these styles is disconcerting. If the likes of Heater Allen, Live Oak, and (from what I hear) Urban Chestnut could spur a renaissance it would be great. But I see Chicago's Metropolitan Brewing beers (great German styles) wither on the vine because everyone wants another IPA.

 

I'm in love with all things New Glarus. From their German beers to the fruity Belgian'ish beers. Everything is well made and carries a depth of malt that other breweries just can't seem to match. To me they're the best brewery in the country and there isn't a close second.
I haven't had a ton of Live Oak, but have been lucky to try a few of their beers in TX. They're also at GABF every year and that's usually my first stop before my palate has been destroyed. The hype (well, kind of) behind that weiss is well deserved. It's probably the best US-made one I've had to date. The lagers were also top notch, but I didn't find them to be as memorable.
Prost is an interesting situation because when Bill/Ashleigh had a falling out with their partners, Prost really changed. The recipes are probably close, but I don't think their beers have been the same for a while. They're still good, but when they opened, the place literally felt like a trip to Bavaria. Now it's more like a trip to Milwaukee. Luckily, Bill & Ashleigh have their own place, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, which will open sometime this summer. Supposedly they're going with a mix of traditional and non-traditional (like Jacks Abbey for instance) lagers and no ales at all. In the meantime, they've brewed several beers around town including a killer Czech pils with Hogshead, maibock with the Sandlot, and both a weissbier and rauchbier with Comrade.

 

"Now it's more like a trip to Milwaukee."

That is a great quote!! I will have to use that sometime, with proper attribution to you Chris (@Domingo).

Cheers!

 

This is really crucial to know and hard to accept. Even out in the customer base, retailers are reducing the number of English, Czech and German styles to make room for more US craft beer. I assume that one day, folks will return to well brewed lagers, but it ain't happening now. One can hope that by having the US brewers dabbling in this segment, that they will continue to get better, just as @MattRiggs has stated that the Germans are playing catch-up with ale, ale yeast and hopping techniques and Americans are learning about lagers which don't contain rice or corn syrup.

 

I've seen the steady decline in my area over the past 10 years.

 

And yet, when I'm up in Chicago, I have a hard time finding their stuff. There's no tasting room and their website does nothing to help you find their product (at least the last time I looked). They may be their own worst enemy.