Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Shouldn't this be under Bayern Bier? The bottles we got were brewed by Weihenstephan.

BTW, my wife really likes this beer.

 

Agreed -- it's where I put my opinion.

 

On the edge of my seat...

Been enjoying some fresh HB Dunkel that's very nice, but I've noticed that you have to be attentive of temperature for optimal flavor.

 

Tried the Braupakt last night. The nose scared me. It has that heavy ester + hops combo that I typically don't like. My first thought was "I hope this doesn't taste like a Belgian IPA." Luckily it doesn't. The taste is far closer to what I like about Hopfenweiss. It's still hopped up a bit, but the nose carries most of the weight. The flavor is somewhere between a normal weizen and hopfenweiss. It's definitely not quite as strong, though.

I'd call it good, but not great. I'll finish the 6, but I don't think I'll buy more.

 

Chris, if you change your mind you can send the 'leftovers' to me. I love this beer!

Cheers!

 

Thought I'd share the latest tourism commercial Wisconsin is promoting. When I first saw this advertised on Chicago TV I had to laugh, but then I really wondered at their copping the German word for their marketing. Guess they really want us to know about their heritage.

 

Most of you know which Germany brewery will be involved with this year's Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest. This is what you'll be looking for:

 

Hmmm. "Subtle hop character." From SN?!

 

I will be looking forward to this collaboration for sure.

 

Not sure if it's still the case, but Weihenstephan and Sierra Nevada have had a pretty tight working relationship for a while. At least on the school side of things. I know they used to have students interning in Chico.

 

You'd have thought this collaboration (and the Braupakt) would have happened sooner.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure what took so long. They might just be reserved about who they work with and what they put their name on. They did the Sam Adams Millennium thing a decade ago, but haven't done much else. It could also just come down to some specific individuals at both that wanted to work together. Their brewing program has a focus on making German beers, but I think they're gaining an acceptance for students that want to brew elsewhere. There are pilot IPAs and whatnot being brewed by students. The best IPA I've had that was brewed on German soil came from the Weihenstephan brewing program.

 

By "they," I'm presuming you mean Weihenstephan.

 

Correct At this point Sierra Nevada has collaborated with nearly every brewery of note in the US.

 

...if not Germany.

 

When I was in Dallas last month at the end of May, I tried a lot of good local DFW-area and Texas beers. One of them that caught my attention immediately and almost screamed to force me to buy it is above. Yes, I bought it, drank it. It made me laugh and cry simultaneously. The beer was fine, a nice bottom-fermented lager and a decent amount of flavor, but again, I had to cry slightly inside. It struck me again that Americans still, but not unexpectedly, can't make a decent German style beer. I wish I could try the beers of @herrburgess , for I'm guessing if anyone can understand how to make a German beer, it would be you Scott. Nonetheless, the best thing about this beer was the label on the front of the can and the explanation of the Dortmunder style on the back.


The beer had none of the malt flavor I come to expect from a German beer. Simple as that. Anyway... I'm back in Germany, and I have to say that Germans can make good American style craft beers, though that may be due its ease of brewing technique. In fact, I believe I like the German IPA style, which is far more balanced with lots of München and other German malts, better than the West coast one.

 

If you are ever in Austin you need to try Live Oak and ABGB. Both do the German styles well.

 

Yes, this. Dovetail in Chicago and Urban Chestnut in St. Louis, too.

 

Haven’t been to Dovetail. Urban Chestnut was fantastic when I stopped there in late March. I mentioned the 2 above because those are in Austin, not far from Dallas.

I will explore some Oregon lagers soon.

Chuckanut up in Washington does a great job.

 

Honestly I am finding that -- for a number of reasons -- serving style is almost paramount for getting certain character right. We have started serving our Kellerbier straight from the tanks for this reason. We also bought a handful of gravity kegs from Franconia and serve out of those. I can elaborate on the reasons I think this is the case but it's pretty detailed (and maybe boring) stuff. But I think it helps explain why the absolute best beers over there -- a Malzmuhle Koelsch or a Mahrs U or a Uerige Alt or an Augustiner Helles...all served by gravity -- stand out that much more.