German craft beer

Ive had 4 Beers from Gusswerk.Nicobar & Black Betty i found decent-good.
Horny Betty and the Steinbier were off.

I wanna try their Barleywine but its ridiculously expensive (20EUR/0,5l).I can get almost 5 Old Foghorns for that price,and that beer has made its way across the atlantic ocean.

 

Funny thing, I didn't even know they make traditional styles like Weizen and Wiener Lager. I thought they only made stuff like the betty beers or triple A...
I encountered Horny Betty once in a small,filthy night club in Leipzig. It was really weird...Heavy electronic music, underground vibe, everything is dirty..and than,this beer (they also had Störtebecker Atlantik Ale I think) Sadly it was way too cold,off course, and no glassware. But it was nice,if really weird, to see it in such a surrounding.

 

I had the three LIDL "craft beers". The Mosaic Zwickl wasn't too bad, but I would have liked a bit more from the hops.

The other two were very sweet and boozy, I need to drink them again to make a proper assessment.

The reaction on untapped is mixed but more negative than positive.

 

The thing with the maltos beers is-they are based on Eichbaum beers. Eichbaum also brews them. But as I heard, the recipes are heavily simplified-less aromatic hops, no barrel aging etc.
Here are the "originals",which I guess are surely better than the Maltos crap which I still refuse to buy.:
http://www.eichbaum.de/Sortiment_Brauhaus Edition.html (they are way more limited and expensive as well)
Somehow this irritates me a lot, and makes me stay away from Eichbaum in the future as well.-.
I mean, imagine Riegele would make cheaper Versions of Noctus100 ,Amaris 50 etc with less hops,cheaper malts and such and would sell them at Aldi as "Hopus powered by Karlskrone" ...wouldn't that turn you off of the originals as well? I mean it shows that they have no faith that costumers will enjoy the good product, but only a cheap knockoff. Shouldn't beer as good as it can be??
Or worse: Imagine if a small franconian brewer would behave like that!!Or even a more renowned one!! Imagine if Marhs made a cheaper Version of their U, with less hops, cheaper malts and shorter lagering times, and would sell it in Supermarkets.....
Wouldn't that annoy you?

I mean, many Kölsch brewers already do something similar, which is also annoying, but I'd argue that the end product in those cases is often not worse than the core product (Traugott Simon Kölsch for instance is brewed by Sünner). Heck, many traditional Kölsch brands only exists as budget Kölsches nowadays (Sester Kölsch, Küppers Kölsch)-but since those contain wheat malt I like em more than most more expensive brands.But still, people argue about Kölsch getting "verramscht"..

 

@Lurchus wrote: "I encountered Horny Betty once in a small,filthy night club in Leipzig. It was really weird..."

Sounds like something we need to hear more about!

Prosit!

 

Giesinger Doppel-Alt from Giesinger-Braeu, Muenchen. 0.33l bottle, best before April 2016. Purchased at Getraenke Oase, Muenchen, consumed on October 20, 2015. Murky, deep amber to amber brown in color. Sweet malts, dark fruits (raisin, fig) peaking through, some molasses and caramel, toffee malts and bread crust on the finish. Excellent lacing, creamy mouthfeel; very smooth and drinkable. Worth trying. Prost!

 

Did you find that in the US? If so that is quite interesting.

 

"Purchased at Getraenke Oase, Muenchen, consumed on October 20, 2015."

Prosit!

 

Stupid question but-what is it with bavarian,esp. munich, brewers and Alt? In the 1970ies there were already several munich Altbiers, and every now and then the big boys put one out aigan. WHY??? I'm also fascinated that at least Giesinger makes a Sticke as a new bavarian brewer which kind of specializes in modern, US inspired craft, while elsewhere in germany, Alt is not seen as a hip,crafty beer style...

 

Not yet, anyway.

I am homebrewing a Sticke Alt as I type this message.

Cheers!

 

Sticke at least tastes well when it ages a bit. So this works in a craft context when millions of other beer styles are sitting there as well... But with normal strength Alt, freshness and serving method by gravity is absolute key in my opinion. So somehow, I think it's a good thing that you can get normal Uerige only in and around Düsseldorf...

 

Were they true "Alt" beers, as in the Dusseldorf style, or were they just using "alt" as an adjective? Pretty sure it's Ayinger that calls their Dunkel an "Altbaierisch" Dunkel; meaning it's of the old Bavarian style, but it's not an Altbier as Uerige or Schlösser are.

I have honestly never seen a true Altbier that was brewed by any of the larger, original Munich breweries.

 

Hacker Pschorr used to call their Dunkel, 'Alt Munich Dark'.

 

Hacker Pschorr and Spaten surely made one, Hacker revived it a few years ago: http://www.weizenblog.de/2009/06/muenchner-alt-von-hacker-pschorr/
And no, Im not talking about "Altmüncher". You have to know, in the 1970ies and 1980ies, Altbier in the rhineland style was kind of popular in many regions in germany. You still can get Diebels virtually everywhere. Kölsch tends to be rare outside its homeland.

 

I'll have to take your word (or the writer's) that these were true Altbiers, as I never saw them in Munich when I started visiting in the 90s. As you say, Diebels was available here and there, but I only ever saw it in Würzburg -- and then only in bottles.

 

No, Alt is not protected. There were for Instance Altbiers brewed by Binding Frankfurt (Kutscher Alt), by Erzquell Wiehl (Kupfer Alt), Schwelmer Alt from Wuppertal...... plus the different Altbier style, Münster Alt, still brewed by Pinkus the traditional way with lactic acid.
And no, I think in germany, Kölsch-experimentation will be limited due to the protection, you can't call everything Kölsch. So there are Kölsch brewers here and there who make something kinda different: Gaffels Sonnenhopfen and Winterhopfen, Frühs Rude Pitter, Mühlens Von Mühlen, or Sünners Bio Colonia. Notice something? They all do NOT name those beers Kölsch....

BTW still searching for more hard evidence on Düsseldorf style Altbier from munich

 

The one that is referenced in that blog is from what I would call Hacker Pschorr's small, non-production brewhouse (brewpub if you will) near the Wies'n. I visited the place the first time I visited Munich. Not surprising that you wouldn't see it anywhere else as I'd guess it was only available there.

http://www.hacker-pschorrbraeu.de/Herzlich-Willkommen.2.0.html

 

Always saw that spot, but never stopped in. I was always focused elsewhere -- if you know what I mean -- so I never stayed on that side of the street for long.

 

Kölsch and Alt are equally rare in my area.
Theres Früh/Gaffel/Reissdorf for Kölsch.
And Diebels/Hövels for Alt.

Strangely enough i found Uerige Sticke recently