Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Another vote. All around best in America in my book.

 

So much for us all being sticklers who can't see past the Reinheitsgebot. NG is best known as a fruit beer brewery, although their lagers and American-style ale are magical, too. I think they go to show that it's about quality and attention to detail, not just throwing random ingredients into the pot.

 

While Raspberry Tart and Belgian Red put them on many beer maps, they are well known for their extremely high quality lambic/geueze style beers, lagers, and even nailing ipas and stouts. Hence, my best all around brewery nomination. Brewing that range of beers, all at such a high level, is insanely impressive. Many breweries can do ipas and/or stouts well, but fail in the wild ale or lager category or vice versa. They also do not seem to have the need to make gimmicky beers. And I love their dedication to their market and brewing tradition. They just do everything right.

 

I honestly can't say I've ever been a fan of their fruit beers (and I don't know if they're really best known for that -- at least here in the Midwest), but then -- I've never been a fan of any type of fruit beer since my first taste of Lindeman's Kriek back in the mid '80s (I thought I was drinking Champale ).

Don't get me wrong, because I like NG and really enjoy having them in my back yard, but I think their German styles are hit-or-miss -- at least to-style. They're always well-made beers, if not always resulting in traditional characters -- which is really odd, because sometimes they're spot-on and other times they aren't. Edel-Pils is a good example I can point at. Nowhere near as good a Pilsner to-style as Hometown Blonde, but it's a darn good drinker. And then there's the Un-Plugged Bohemian Pils they made a few years back -- dead on to style.

I think many of the German styles they make are heavily influenced by American takes on the styles that were available pre-micro brew era.

Which beers would you consider their "American style" ales? Spotted Cow, or maybe Moon Man (a terrific beer) because it's an APA?

And maybe a passion for beer, rather than a passion for trying to create the "next big thing."

 

@Domingo & @digita7693 ,

Shouldn't New Glarus be 'known' for Spotted Cow!?!

Cheers!

“Although it took some time to convince her distributors, Carey turned out to be right. New Glarus now brews 45,000 barrels of Spotted Cow annually, almost half of all the beer New Glarus makes. (By comparison, Capital Brewery makes 25,000 barrels of all its beers combined.) That breaks down to 616,500 cases of Spotted Cow every year, or 14,796,000 bottles. No wonder that the welcome sign on Highway 69 as you drive into New Glarus reads “Home of Spotted Cow.”

Above information is from 2011.

 

Spotted Cow for sure, but also beers like Hopster, Fat Squirrel, Scream, and the like. I suppose some have old world influences, but I think of them as more American-style than Two Women and the like.

I honestly really like their fruit beers, too. Having had a ton of others - there aren't many like them. They're very "fresh" tasting. Plus, I'm always amazed how much of a malt presence they have. Maybe it's the decoction?

With the German examples, I have fond memories of Edel Pils, Uff-Da (the best US bock I've ever had), Two Women, and Bohemian. Since I don't make it to WI too often, I admit I don't get to try their stuff as much as I'd like, though.

 

Makes sense. American takes on traditional styles. I haven't tried Hopster or Scream at all -- just not exciting to me in this day and age, but Moon Man really impressed me.

Admittedly, just can't get into that type of Belgian-style beer -- no matter who's brewing it. So I'll be fair and not try to comment on their quality. Can't honestly say if they're decocted and Two Women is the only NG beer that ever gave me that typically rich malty character.

With me, Uff-Da (and Staghorn, to some extent) threw me a little because I guess I was expecting something more German, but it really is, as you point out, more an homage to the US style of Bock that was so popular in the Midwest for so long (talk to me about Rhinelander Bock some time -- talk about nostalgia). Same with Staghorn too, I suppose.

 

Um. Fellow lager lovers, I found some Southern Tier Where the Helles Summer today... but I have the feeling the local distro may be passing off last year's leftovers. I appreciate the opinions of many of the German Forum members toward German-style beers, but this one is way off from style -- at least this batch.

I wish I could find a bottling or best-by date to confirm suspicion, but there's nothing hiding anywhere. This one is so off that I may have to bring back the remaining 5 bottles because I don't think I want to chance them.

 

That's too bad. My notes from my review (March 2015) indicate that a date was clearly present on the bottle. If I recall correctly, it was located near the bottom of the bottle on the glass just off the label. Maybe another review is in order if you can get your hands on a fresh bottle. My guess is that this is an annual winter release, so early 2016 might be the next time fresh distribution hits the shelves. Cheers!

 

I'll take another look at the bottles.

I'd definitely give it another chance if I knew I was getting fresh beer.

 

You;re right, there's a number down on the bottom "shoulder" of the bottle, but I can't say how clear it's a date: 4128281621717 -- wha?

The other thing that worries me about the beer is just how hazy it is. Even the 2 bottles I just looked thru show a ton of chill-like haze.

 

Was it hazy when you poured it out? Because this beer was CLEAR AS DAY in my glass. I might even have a picture.

 

Yep. See my review.

 

I want to say I remember there being a date on the bottle. According to a few different sources, there should be a regular bottling date parallel to the label, at the bottom of the botle, under the UPC code I believe. Take another look, hopefully it's on one of the bottles.

 

See above. Any idea how to translate that jumble? I'm going to check the "Fresh Beer" (I think that's the name) site to see if they have any answers. Also e-mailed Southern Tier to ask if the newest beer really is in my area.

*Edit: Fresh Beer seems to be a little out of date:
Southern Tier: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only and also on the bottles themselves. It's near the bottom of the label on the glass, format is "DOB mm/dd/yy".

Not sure how to find the correct mm/dd/yy sequence in 4128281621717.

And that's the only number I can find in the position both of you and rkat are talking about.

 

Interesting PDF from ST:
http://www.stbcbeer.com/downloads/STBC_shelf-life-guide.pdf

Interesting how they mention the bottling date, but not how to translate it. I'm going to forward my previous e-mail to Matt Dunn and see what develops.

 

I think this beer is a new offering for this year, so it's not an age issue.

 

I finally found the date by really lighting up the bottom of the bottle: 01/06/15 -- just past 4 months. Don't know if this is just too fragile a beer to last that long or there was something off in bottling, but I'm afraid to take a chance at the remaining 5 bottles and will probably be taking them back to the retailer.

I e-mail chatted with Matt Dunn at the brewery who told me this beer is very close to the Euro Trash Pilz (which it replaced) in recipe, just lighter in hops. I enjoyed the Pilz okay, makes me wonder what went wrong with the Helles.

 

Did you ask him "What the Helles wrong with this beer?"

 

Hah. Tempting, but he was pretty gracious, so -- no.