Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

ISO Live Oak hefeweizen bottles. Now.

 

Cans actually.

 

Indeed... in the process of trading now.

 

Not really an approximate of a German lager, as I understand it, more an American/Vienna thing, all the moreso due to the use of Canadian 2-row and Cascade hops, but, hey, this thread needs reviving. Just started getting Brooklyn Brewery in AZ, so I had to grab Brooklyn Lager, which I'd had many times during previous stints back east. It's totally part sentimentality, but I love Brooklyn Lager. Drinks easy as heck, not overly sweet w/ the caramel notes, not overly distracting with the Cascade addition -- just easy, easy drinkin. Cheers, all.

 

Drinking a new release from the monopoly, an amber lager from one of five remaining Swedish macros. All of the macro brewers here have jumped on the craft beer band waggon in some respect, creating new inhouse brands or promoting old ones as "craft beer" using the English words and all, as can be seen on the label of this beer (which made me think of this thread). Either way it's an amber lager at 5% abv which is dry hopped with Saaz, Cascade and Fuggles and other hops, and features Munich malts. I figured this was going to be another standard caramel malt heavy amber lager with some American hops but while it disappoints in the hops department, it makes up for it with a distinct flavor from the Munich malt. A few months ago I homebrewed a beer using 20% pale ale and 80% munich malt from Viking malt (A Scandinavian maltster which is most likely the supplier of the brewery in question) and hopped it with Saaz hops, trying to get an idea of what flavor Munich malt actually contributes aside from color. I found that it gave the beer a strongly bready flavor, and I'm surprised at how strong, and similar, that flavor is in this beer after drinking on it for a while. At 5% abv it isn't a heavy beer, and the IBUs are obviously elevated to above 30 at least, along with some mild hop flavors, but after a while the malt really shines through and its really pleasant and a refreshing change of pace for a modern Amber lager. I'm reminded by my impression of Weltenburger Festbier which was also amber colored, and how much of a difference the malt can make in a beer. I would personally like to see more beers be more generous with Munich malt since I think it has alot to bring to the table flavorwise, as well as colorwise.

 

Was shopping at my local SKY-Markt yesterday and i surprisingly saw 4 packs of Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn EIPA.
Turns out they are not distributed by Braufactum in Germany anymore.
Looks like Carlsberg Germany now distributes those 2 brands.
Its also bottled differently (standard 330ml german bottle instead of the previous 355ml american one).

 

Does is indicate on the can where these beers were brewed? I wonder if these beers are being brewed and canned at the Brooklyn Brewing brewery in Sweden?

Cheers!

@Crusader

 

A few weeks ago Carlberg were advertising a vacancy as a "Brand Ambassador" for the Brooklyn Brewery on Stepstone.de. It looks like they will be pushing their beers in Germany in the near future.

 

As per Brooklyn brewery's website the beer is transported in "tankers" to Germany where it is bottled by Carlsberg.

 

yeah.the label is pretty informative.
Bottled by Brooklyn Brewery in New York, New York

 

Thanks for that input but according to Patrik (@Crusader) the place where this beer is actually canned is in Europe (Carlsberg). I do not know the laws of Europe to understand why the can does not provide the actual place of packaging. I can report that in the US the government does permit for not providing the specific details in this regard. For example Sixpoint brewing who has their beers brewed in Memphis, TN are permitted to list their corporate location of Brooklyn, NY on their cans.

Bureaucracy!?!

Cheers!

 

Just like @Domingo I finally got my Live Oak hefeweizen the other day. Both my wife & I tried it last night... very good example, more bubble gum and clove phenols than banana esters, good body and flavour, a rock solid hefeweizen all around. Was it as good as Andechs, Schneider, Gutmann and Weltenburger.... no, not in my opinion. Maybe I prefer the creamier Weißbiere, but if you get the chance, seek it out.

Glad I got to try it, the mysterious shroud has been lifted!

 

Feel rather similarly after a recent can. Rock solid for sure, but not noticeably better than some other examples, both American and German. My can poured surprisingly flat looking -- like the head dissipated super quick, which seems really unusual for a hef, and left it looking almost still. The carbonation on the palate was totally there -- just so unusual looking. Though I will say what separates this from the best German iterations is, for me, the feel -- the best hefs, to my palate, have a sort of bouyancy to them, a fluffiness in their feel, paradoxically light but rich. A lot of American versions seem to miss that feature, as Live Oak did. Also happened to have some New Glarus Dancing Man, and it was similar -- steller nose, tasty palate, but the feel was just a touch off. Nothing to make it unenjoyable -- it was great -- but there's still something slightly different about it.

For a good old banana bomb, which, frankly, is sometimes how I want my hefs, good old SoCal shelf staple Karl Strauss Windansea Wheat is fantastic.

 

That is indeed very unusual for a Hefeweizen. Wheat adds a lot of protein and protein yields head retention.

Cheers!

 

Oddly, subsequent cans haven't been as good to me. There's a kiss of something that *might* be diacetyl, but I can't put my finger on it. It isn't slick, but there's just a kiss of butterscotch in there that shows up here and there.
I know that beers from Germany often seem to pick up diacetyl notes with age. I wonder if this is similar?

 

Yeah, it was pretty darn bizarre. Gave it a nice vigorous pour too.

 

There has been a fair amount of discussion on the topic of mouthfeel of a Hefeweizen beer. For those of you who desire a think mouthfeel in a Hefeweizen I would highly recommend getting some Straub Hefeweizen if you can. My description of the mouthfeel of that beer:

“Mouthfeel: Smooth and luscious.”

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-543.315625/#post-3885934

Cheers!

 

Hmm. I have to wonder if your Dancing Man had some age on it. The last six-pack I had was outstandingly good all around as a Bavarian Weizen... if not a bit hot at 7.2% (based on BA's listing, anyway).

 

It was a month old -- fresh from my brother in law The wife, too, thought it a touch hot. Totally tasty beer -- nose utterly on point, taste really darn good too -- but there's something about the feel...it was just different than some of my favorite Germans or even some select American brews.

 

General question... anyone try the 4 star pilsner from GI yet? Thoughts?