Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

I am happy to report that there are tons of German style beers to pick from at my local beer stores. You have a variety of choices of Helles (Victory, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Spaten, Andechs Vollbier Hell, Augustiner Bräu Edelstoff, etc.), a very large selection of Pilsners (Victory, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Neshaminy Creek, Jever, Weihenstephaner Pilsner, Furst Wallerstein Classic, Mahrs, etc.), Hefeweizen (Troegs, Sly Fox, Weihenstephaner, Ayinger, etc.), Doppelbock (Troegs, Ayinger, Andechs, Sly Fox, Weihenstephaner, etc.), and so forth…

I just bought tickets to the 4th Annual German Society Bierfest hosted/sponsored by The German Society of Pennsylvania which occurs Saturday 2/21/14. Looks like there will be plenty of German style beers with a nice selection of imports:

“Andechs, Ayinger, Dinkelacker, Flensberger, Früh, Göller, Hofbrau München, König Ludgwig, Miltenberger, Mönschhof, Pinkus, Rothaus, Stiegl, Sünner, Warsteiner, Weihenstephaner, Weltenburger Kloster, and Wolters.”

I am looking forward to trying Flensburger and Miltenberger (Faust) for the first time plus getting reacquainted Rothaus and Weltenburger. I am also looking forward to drinking some Wolters since it has been a few years since I drank those beers.

http://www.phillybierfest.com/

Cheers!

 

Tap or bottle? Admittedly, I don't hit the bars as much as I used to, so I can't tell you if it's readily available in my area, but I see six-packs all the time -- even at Trader Joe's. But I'm always suspect of the freshness.

Looks like they utilize their distro's beer finder to help web visitors find their beers:
http://www.windycitydistribution.com/Beer-Hunter/

Seems to work pretty well, too. If only it would show us last delivery date...

 

I think in the original Rothaus thread there's a link to the distributer's page showing where you can buy the beer. Newburyport is far enough away from Boston that I don't think my advice on places to look would be of much help! Hope you found it!

To go along with some of the other content of the thread- I picked up a bottle of Mass Rising Double IPL from Jack's Abby to have later today. Should be an interesting lager experience. I had a Nooner with lunch, so I have a good palate benchmark set for comparison later.

 

I’m really enjoying Bell’s Consecrator Doppelbock, which started distribution in Michigan last week. A very clean-drinking doppelbock with a moderate melanoidin malt flavor profile. Dry finish, very smooth and drinkable. While it’s not on the same level as the German heavyweights (Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel and Ayinger Celebrator come to mind right away), it is a beer I look forward to each year. Prost!

 

So my take on Mass Rising Double IPL from Jack's Abby:

I found this much more drinkable than a DIPA. So this is labeled on the bottle as a "Double IPL", so I was expecting some of the cloying malt sweetness and huge thickness from DIPAs along with some appreciable hoppiness. What I actually experienced was quite pleasing- I found the malt backbone substantial without being crazy. Very little of that huge, thick, sweet malt base from DIPAs, but rather a sizable medium malt body with a pinch of that standard lagery breadiness. I actually found the fact that this beer is lagered to help the malts more than the hops- like several of you guys have pointed out, the hops in the beer were big but weren't crazy. I found the hop level akin to that of a standard IPA, favoring big aromas and flavors but without the accompanying bitterness. The flavor preserves some, but not much, of the nice lager crispness. There's definitely a noticeable difference with this beer and any DIPA I've had, so the lagering and the lager yeast must be doing something.

I liked the beer, and would definitely get it again. It's probably my favorite from Jack's Abby so far (though I promised to re-try Jabby Brau in the near future, so that's on the list after Framinghammer).

 

I should try more from Jacks' Abby, considering the styles they brew.... Have only had 3 of their offerings (Hoponius, Schwarzbier und Maibock), rated between 3.73 and 4.03.... I should target their Doppelbock and Rauch (plus their Baltic Porter).... We'll see.... Prosit!!

 

Mass Rising is ok. If you get the chance, try Kiwi Rising, it'll knock your socks off if you loved Mass Rising. I don't buy it too often, but that's more so because I'm not a huge IPL guy. I think Sierra Nevada's Hoppy Lager and Kiwi are superior to Mass Rising.

I highly recommend trying everything they have to offer, some of their stuff I really enjoy, but there's misses too. I found their doppelbock underwhelming, haven't had their Rauchbier (assumin you mean "Fire in th Ham").

Their baltic porter and its various installments (vanilla, coffee...etc.) are delicious. Seek those out, in my opinion.

Off topic:

I'm notoriously a harsh critic of US brewers' attempts at German styles. This weekend I sampled Southern Tier's new Helles. What a surprise. Might be the best US take on a Helles I've had the pleasure of drinking.

 

I very much enjoyed the draft pint of the Southern Tier's new Helles I had a few weeks ago. I would highley encourage you to try the 'new' Victory Helles lager.

Cheers!

 

I've was about to do a blind Helles tasting recently (inspired by Jack's recent Straub/Spaten showdown), but @JackHorzempa and @utopiajane convinced me to hold off until I had that one in my hands. I struck out in NY this past week, believe it or not, but now you have me even more jazzed to go get some asap. Hopefully this week!

 

Yeah, I'll see if it shows up at Trader Joes sometime (where I know I can get it cheaper than just about anywhere else).

I think on BA Smoke & Dagger is labeled as a 'Rauchbier' too, though after having one Schlenkerla I realize that that is a total misnomer, buts it's possible he's referring to that one too.

 

I'm on #2 of Holy City's latest (canned) batch of their Hefeweizen, Washout Wheat. As it stands right now, it is hands down the best U.S. version of the style I have had to date. Reminds me a lot of Mahr's -- a real banana cream pie feel (h.t. to @Domingo for that description). Prost!

 

Thought I read it was for the summer variety 12-pack, but now I can't find where I read that, so not entirely sure...

 

It is indeed part of the summer pack. Previously discussed: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...our-summer-seasonal-pack.255920/#post-3270373

Cheers!

 

Recently tried the LHMS Nitro and I gotta be honest, it kinda reminded me of Guinness on draft - partially because of the mouthfeel (probably due to the nitro part) and partially in terms of taste. I did enjoy it, though. Admittedly, so far I haven't had too many great experiences with domestic stouts, though. Stuff like the Schönramer RIS I were too bitter for me, although I did like Camba's MS.

 

At a quick trip to a liquor store for some "cooking wine" I discovered that Full Sail now makes an "Export" Session Lager.
While it might be okay...that name is a borderline oxymoron. Anyone try it?

 

Yes - IMO it's pretty bad (and I generally like Full Sail). Very thin, little malt presence, and an unpleasant hop bitterness. I will not be finishing the 12-pack.

 

Drinking a Lakefront Big Easy "Imperial" Maibock. It's usually one of the first of the Wisconsin Maibock to hit the shelves, though I don't know why they added the "imperial" descriptor to it.

Maybe it's because I've been cutting back on the beer consumption and my palate is re-setting, but I didn't remember the great breadiness in this beer from past years. Quite the nice local rendition on an old, old-world favorite.

 

Ugh, this reminds me that I have yet to try an actual Maibock (shame on me, I know).

Also, while we're at it: Tried the Rogue Juniper PA at 5.3% ABV, 34 IBU yesterday while playing a round of Nosgoth with a friend.



A - Pours a dark orange with a quickly dissipating 1-1 1/2 finger white head.

S - Smells very piney and slightly floral, I think there's a hint of the juniper berries in there together with the bitterness. Definitely not as pronounced as in a good gin (I do actually have one here for comparison).

T - Boatloads of piney flavors - reminds me a bit of West Coast PAs bar the citrus flavors. The pine flavors and bitterness actually remind me a bit of the Polaris hop although I kinda doubt there any in here (I'd at least be surprised if that was the case). Similar to the smell, there's a hint of juniper berries towards the end and then comes the bitterness. The latter of which I think feels stronger than it is at 34 IBU. At least at the first few sips.

M - I'd say light to slightly medium body with a good amount of carbonation. Not sure whether I should note this here or in taste but I didn't really get any of the "butter bomb" tendencies that have been mentioned.


O - I honestly have to say that I was not a fan of this at the first few sips, similar to the Polaris SHIPA I tried last year. It kinda grew on me the more I drank, though (and I think have seen other people mention this phenomenon in the context of blind tastes). It's not quite as tasty as an SNPA for me but's it quite quaffable and refreshing so a good hot weather beer. However, I'm not sure I'd buy it again given the price point of their stuff (I think I got it for ~2€, now I'm seeing it being sold for around ~3).

 

Any thoughts on Gordon Biersch's line of products? Honestly, I always walk right past the stuff, in the same way I've always walked right past their brewpubs, thinking it was just another "corporate" play at the craft thing. Realized, though, their retail line is all German-style, and they purport to offer 3 different bocks (I say purport because I don't know how legit they are) -- a blonde bock, winter bock, and maibock. At my local Total Wine, they also have a Golden Export, Marzen, and Czech-style Pils. Anyone give any of these a go? Are they worth a shot?

 

Definitely worth a shot if you like well-made, traditional german styles.