German craft beer

Indeed. When we were at 3F, Armand's wife described our American wild beers as "Like an American ordering a Hamburger in Belgium."

 

"Easier access to world-class Belgian and French beers in the same style" is not really true, depending on where in germany you are. While belgian beers are starting to show up in more and more shops,they are still kind of rare, and for french beers,you sadly still have to go to france. But yeah, I always wondered about that, but french biere de gardes are kinda cheap over there,while drinking beer in a pub is very expensive. France is weird.
Anyway,for the avergae german consumer, >2 Euros for the native craft beers is already very steep.

 

Had one of these last night: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/12511/82736/
While some of the German hoppy beers feel like so-so copies of American examples, this one didn't disappoint. It's somewhere between an English IPA and an American pale. It had a mix of old world and new school hops (like citra) that blended well.
Not sure what these run over there, but if you're looking for something to approximate some of "citra haze" beers gaining momentum right now, this can scratch that itch.

 

Yet another way for us in Europe to get craft beer delivered to our doors:

NEW

http://boxbeers.com/

 

beergium.com ships to Germany and is around 4/5 Euro cheaper than any other delivery site I have seen. Including boxbeers.

It's how I have been getting my North American Stout fix while working in Germany.

 

i live 30 mins from the Störtebeker Brewery.
The Atlantik ale is 0,85EUR/btl

 

That's my one (and only) experience with them, but I think it was a good beer. It's representative of where the US trend for IPA's is going, but without copying them. At less than a single Euro, I think that's a good price, too.
While certainly more than a random pils, it's a lot cheaper than US imports that may or may not be fresh.
A similar beer would probably be $7 (6.5 Euros) over here right now.

 

Theyre saying its one of their biggest sellers,which i wouldnt expect here in Pilsner country.
Personally, i think its o.k, but Köstritzer's PA blows it out of the water (Thats more expensive though at 1,40EUR).

 

Where did you happen to get your hands on one? Was it in the US? I liked Stortebecker's Roggen-Weizen but not some of their other offerings.

 

I made a trade a few weeks ago when I was in Dusseldorf and brought it back. I would happily buy it locally, though.

 

The Atlantik Ale is kinda cheap and all over the place. But not my favorite. From the more common,inexpensive german ales I stil prefer Doldensud to scratch my itch, and it was the first affordable one I had,years ago...

 

I had an awful experience with Dolden Sud. We bought 2 bottles from a biomarkt in Munich a few years ago. Both were only 3 months old and total butter bombs.

In fact, that's kind of a common theme with German bottles. They're either great or they smell like a 2nd-run movie theater.
There has to be something about the process over there. There are plenty of bad beers on US shelves, but it's not like Boston Lager or Fat Tire turn into "I can't believe it's not butter" after a few months.

 

I don't know what you mean by "butter bombs". Is it a specific smell/taste?
I've been drinking Doldensud every know and then since Sud 2, and I never experienced a smell or taste I would identify with butter.
After googling a bit, you mean Diacetyl? Maybe some people are more sensitive to it than others, and it is even intentional in some beers, esp. in franconia? I mean, I've heard about Diacetyl in Fässla, for instance, and I always adored their beers and never found anything wrong with them.

 

i find Dolden Sud way too sweet for an IPA but i never got Diacetyl in it

 

Yes, diacetyl.
http://www.professorbeer.com/articles/diacetyl.html

The only beers of which I've ever really heard it to be (sometimes) "intentional" are Extra Special Bitter, though there is a mild characteristic of it that's allowable to-style in Czech Pilsner. I can taste it in Urquell, though I'd never refer to Urquell as a "butter bomb," and I'm not sure which Franconia beers have been singled out -- big diacetyl character is pretty much a big fault in a bottom-fermented beer.

 

The varieties in the single Suds in Doldensud are huge, but this is intentional as I've read in interviews the brewer. The earlier ones were less sweet than the newer ones.

Oh, I think it is also quite common in czech bottom fermented beers,isn't it?and can be quite tasty?
I always hear that Fässla Lager can contain a lot of diacetyl. I've been at Fässla many times and enjoyed it a lot. Maybe I just like diacetyl in small doses?
who knows...

 

As said...

But it's mild, not at all in Domingo's "butter bomb" range. And yes, I like the flavor in certain beers too, but not German Pilsners or Helles certainly not in a Pale Ale or IPA -- and definitely not overdone.

 

Oh, I think it is also quite common in czech bottom fermented beers,isn't it?and can be quite tasty?
I always hear that Fässla Lager can contain a lot of diacetyl. I've been at Fässla many times and enjoyed it a lot. Maybe I just like diacetyl in small doses?
who knows...[/QUOTE]\

I recently spent 5 days in Bamberg and rented an apartment about 70 meters away from Faessla. One of the amenities was a ceramic pitcher (bembel) that I carried to Faessla ausschank almost every day, had it filled with Faessla Lager, and then returned so my wife & I could have as fresh beer or two before going out. I did not notice any diacetyl taste or problem with this excellent beer.

 

I've been to Faessla twice with a 3-year break in between. The first time their Gold Pils definitely had some diacetyl going on. Nothing too crazy, but along the lines of Urquell. The second time it was totally absent and very clean. Pretty similar to Herren Pils in fact. Had a similar experience at Klosterbraeu's pils, too - but the exact opposite. It was great the first time and buttery the second time.
I'm very sensitive to diacetyl and have a borderline zero-tolerance for it. I know that some English ales and Czech pilsners essentially "allow" it, so I give them a bit of a pass. I'm still not a fan and prefer the ones without, though.

With German bottles of all sorts, I find that time seems to affect the amount of diacetyl. Beers that don't have it fresh seem to be able to develop it with time. Not all of them, but certainly more than most American breweries. Usually when an American beer is buttery, it was due to a technical error and it's there on day #1. With German beers, often it might be a great beer on day #1, but after a few months in a bottle it develops. I've never gotten it from any of the really big brewers, but have gotten it from the small regional breweries and the craft ones. It's a relatively small % in the grand scheme of things, but it's disproportionately high compared to American beers. When our beers are bad, you know right away

 

@honkey discussed his experiences with perceptible levels of diacetyl in German beers during his days as a brewing student in Germany in a recent thread:

“When I was in school in Germany, I stopped drinking a lot of German Pilseners because of diacetyl. It seemed like about half of them had diacetyl. This was true even or German brewers that mocked other breweries for having beers with diacetyl in them. It really irked me how they would perpetuate the myth that German beers are the best in the world, yet so many of them had flaws.”

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/diacetyl-in-beer.335487/#post-4073180

Cheers!