German craft beer

From the 2016 style guidelines:

26) New Style Pale Ale

Color: Gold to copper

Hop bitterness, - flavor and aroma: Medium to high, however, not too dominant Utilisation of small quantities of "modern" aroma hops (America, overseas, however, also German Flavor Hops) in the cold part of the brewery("dry hopped") is admissible

Slightly flowery, fruity, citrus - type hops aromas should be identifiable

Body: Medium

Malt flavor and aroma: Low to medium, a small caramel character is permissible

Low to medium fruity ester notes

Chill haze acceptable in case of cold serving temperatures

No diacetyl

Analytics:

Original gravity: 11.0 - 14.0 °Plato

Apparent extract: 2.0 - 4.0° Plato

Alcohol: 3.5 - 4.7 % by weight, 4.5 - 6.0 % by volume

Bitterness: 25 - 45 IBU

Cheers!

 

And how does this compare to the "traditional pale ale" description?

 

I mostly brew German style beers and I'm getting to the point where's not worth entering comps because so few judges have any idea what these beers are supposed to taste like. They see "assertives hop bitterness" in the description for an Altbier and knock it down because to them an assertive hop bitterness is what many IPA's have.

 

You can read the 2016 style guidelines here: http://private-brauereien.de/ebs-de...dedokumente/E05_2016_Category-Description.pdf

Cheers!

P.S. As I read it the difference is the types of hops utilized: traditional hops vs. "modern" hops.

 

I believe that 100%. I was actually very surprised when I was able to try fresh altbier in Germany. The hops are absolutely assertive and ever-present...yet absolutely in no way like an IPA/APA/Barleywine/etc.
I usually don't know how to properly describe it when asked. It's hoppy, but it's very difficult to explain with no reference point. I could always compare it to a north German pils, but alas that's nearly as bad. I doubt they'll know about Klosterbrau Braunbier or Greifenklau Lagerbier either...

 

FWIW I homebrew my own Altbiers and when I bring that beer to parties I describe it to non-beer geeks as this beer being a German Brown Ale that is hoppy like a hoppy Pilsner. For folks in my area I use Sly Fox Pikeland Pils (which is a Northern German style Pilsner) as a particular example of a hoppy Pilsner.

Cheers!

 

I dont necessarily think the Eurostar is any different. Met too many folks in their respective countries while living there [among them a brewer at Cantillon] who had zero interest in really getting to know beer beyond their own borders. Like I have said before, I used to think this was the exclusive domain of ethnocentric Europeans, but I have been proven very, very wrong in that since moving back to the US.

 

There are some in that picture that probably have had the local beer on every continent (not Antarctica).

Some of those Brewers travel to Germany for hop selection every year. Some probably have not been out of the US.

 

From what I've gathered (personally and from those who know him), Jean Van Roy is interested in spontaneously fermented beers from other countries, but is more of a wine guy day-to-day.
Armand Debelder is more of a "beer guy" who drinks German lagers as his go-to. That comes straight from his wife.
I brought them a bottle from Crooked Stave and was told they'd rather have something like an IPA or something more "American."

 

Back in the day I used to judge Alt/Kölsch at homebrew competition (including the Nationals once) mainly because they knew I had spent time in both Düsseldorf and Köln.

I got into a interesting discussion once with another judge. There was a beer that was well made and fit all the written guidelines of the Kölsch style. My co-judge ask why it didn't receive a winning score, as it nailed the written specs. I said that may be, but it wasn't a Kölsch, while this other beer, with one or two very minor flaws would be right at home in Köln and I thought it was the better beer. We went back and forth, his point being that I shouldn't penalize somebody who maybe didn't have an opportunity to travel. I said if the beers didn't have to be a Kölsch then why was the category named that and not something more generic such as "German Light Blonde Ale" or some such.

I could really see he had a point -- the problem was really with the guidelines.

I also have had the opposite problem -- homebrewers applying homebrew style guidelines to commercial beers. Again back in the day, when the homebrew style guide just said "German Alt" or some such, a guy from our homebrew club joined us on our annual pilgrimage to Bergerstrasse 1. After one sip he exclaimed "This isn't an Alt, it is too hoppy!" After beating him around the head and shoulders he came around to our point of view

I feel strongly that outside of competitions homebrew style guides should just be commonly recognized short cuts -- rather than saying "A beer with this range of IBUs, this range of color, these starting and finishing gravity ranges, etc. etc." it is easier to say "American Pale Ale" or "Dry Irish Stout".

I did see something (US brewed) thats called something like "Mango-Kiwi Imperial Black Kölsch" -- I am still trying to parse that one...

 

Nothing can or will (or should) ever replace or substitute for traveling to drink the world's great beers at the source.

 

The top-rated "Koelsch" on Untappd is a "coffee Koelsch"

 

Lord. Comparable to a Cajun-spiced Chicken Kiev.

 

Yeah, but WHAT do they try and HOW are their expectations?
I mean I can't speak about the US, but when I look around (most of)europe,nowadays those millenials mostly try IPAs and have mostly very little interest in other styles, which is also due to critics, media etc. overemphasizing this style and totally neglecting everything else.

I man again, think of the wine world, think of the Parkerization. For many years, all "good wine" had to be big and bold, powerfull and "fat". It's just a recent trend that wine critics start to focus more on elegant, subtle stuff. Thankfully. I hope beer will be there in a few years as well.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for big fat stuff, but it should not be everything the consumers are after I think.

As funny as this quote is, as cringeworthy the concept behind it is..

 

New style category soon: India Pale Alt. Oh, wait...

 

Lol.
Well, pale Alt (Münster Alt) does exist...

 

But is it hopped three ways to Sunday with U.S. Pacific Northwest hops and 7.0+ ABV?

 

Imperial india coffee lambic anybody?