German craft beer

huppendorfer kathreinbock would be my prime example of a traditional,well hopped heller bock.

 

Define "well-hopped." As hopped as an IPA? As hopped as German Pils? As hopped as a Munich Helles?

 

Notably more than most german Pilsners these days,also the northern ones. less than an IPA off course.
Sadly couldn't find trustworthy mention of IBUs, but most reviews mention a bitter aftertaste.
Its a really nice, balanced brew, at least when I last had it.

 

Yesterday I had the Becks Amber Lager and Köstritzer Red Lager.

I actually thought the Becks Amber was ok, it reminded me of some darker South German Märzens.

The Köstritzer looked great, but tasted a bit thin. I knew it reminded me of something and I've just realised that the beer I was thinking of was Newcastle Brown Ale. Not to say that it was particularly bad though, I would rather just buy of the 4 pale ales for €4,99.

 

Another perk of brewmaster school.... research between classes. Say, how about mid/late June for a BA Meetup in Munich?
I know a guy that has a well stocked supply of freshly brewed, experimental beers.... and he happens to be damn good looking to boot.

 

IN (ish)!

 

I'll be taking a run at Zugspitze some weekend in June, so I might be down in the area...more likely the weekend of the 6th or 13th though...

 

Would love to attend but am only mildly good looking.

 

Somewhere back there we discussed Spital's Pale Ale, I think. If I remember correctly, @Stahlsturm reported that it sold well at the pub?

 

Here's an article about Spital's Chocolate Stout.

http://www.mittelbayerische.de/regi...bier-fuer-feinschmecker-21179-art1138219.html

Anton Miller was the brewmaster at Weltenburger Kloster when we were there in 2010.

 

Wow,at the end of the article, they use the term ALE and STOUT differently, correctly so, and unlike any US-article I've seen

 

It's been a while that I've been to Spital. Last I was there they only had the Pale Ale which, dutiful BA that I am, I tried and found wanting. Which doesn't say all that much since a Pale Ale is pretty much the polar opposite of what I enjoy drinking. I've had a similar experience at Plank not too long ago who now also brews a "Red Lion Pale Ale". Michael told me he sells a lot of these to girls and hippsters...

Now that I see Spital has a Chocolate Stout as well I might go and try that. Most likely at that Regensburg Craft Festival on May 13th.

 

Keen your memory is

 

Really fun video from the last place on Earth I thought would be brewing "craft" beer: Goeller in Drosendorf. I used to bike out here and get Mass of lager for 4DM (yep, around $2 for a liter). Dude is definitely having fun with it...and you should put on your Franconian dialect translator earphones for this one. Even shows a double decoction mash, Kuehlschiff wort chilling, and open fermentation. Good stuff

EDIT: also shows that they serve direct from the lagering tanks into your Krug. Very, very cool (to me at least).

 

Oh c'mon man, no one does that anymore.

(is that a Cleveland Browns cap? )

 

I watched the Göller video and even though I am not a German speaker I found it to be interesting on many levels:

· I did indeed hear the word “craft’ on a number of occasions

· It was fascinating to see that small ‘old school’ brewery!

· Lots of analog gauges and manual labor involved; I would guess this brewhouse is several decades old

· They use pellet hops vs. whole flower hops

· It appears to be a one man brewery

It does not surprise me one bit that decoction mashing was employed in this ‘old school’ brewery. Decoction brewing was indeed the ‘norm’ a few decades ago. Modernized German breweries tend to not conduct decoction mashing because of the high energy costs associated with this process. When Interbrew purchased Spaten (sale date: 2003) one of the cost cutting measures that was implemented was the elimination of decoction mashing to save some money.

Cheers!

 

All correct. Except there are literally 100s such "old school" breweries operating throughout Franconia, the Oberpfalz, and the rest of Bavaria. This place is in no way the exception. To name just one example, Hoehn, right down the road (approx. 1 km) in Memmelsdorf also employs all of these same methods. Schlenkerla uses double decoction; Greifenklau has a Kuehlschiff; etc.; etc. It's more common in these areas than people think.

 

And let’s hope that in a few years (a decade) from now those ‘old school’ breweries are still operating. Based upon a number of posts made by Douglas (@einhorn) I unfortunately have some doubts on this matter.

Maybe the fact that Göller is entering the realm of craft beer brewing this will optimize their individual chance for survival?

Cheers!

 

You're kidding, right? Schlenkerla, Greifenklau, etc. are in danger of closing? Or will only be "saved" by brewing "craft" beers? Silly.