Deutschland Bier bought and drunk (2021)

I thought that this was a rather interesting brew and a worthy candidate to open up this year's Deutschland Bier thread. As a side note, since Bavaria is a part of Germany, I would prefer not to open a separate Bayern Bier thread this year, as it seems redundant and it just makes more sense to have everything in one place.

Braumanufaktur Hertl / Blech.Brut - Dunkle Zeiten

Imperial Black New England IPA with Sabro, Amarillo and HBC 472 hops, from Germany (7.1%).



Pours a deep, dark brown coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells of lightly roasted, biscuity malt, some chocolate and distinct earthy, woody aromas, as well as just a hint of coconut and citrus.

Taste is an excellent balance of lightly roasted, biscuity malt and earthy, woody, slightly fruity hops, with citrus and tropical notes of tangerine and coconut, as well as some chocolate and oak. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some coconut, chocolate and oak lingering in the aftertaste. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

The brewer desribes this as a "New England Black IPA" and while that may sound gimmicky and this isn't nearly as roasted, bitter and resinous as I like my Black IPAs, it really does make for an intriguing brew, mainly due to the use of Sabro and HBC 472 hops, which really impart some interesting, quite earthy and woody coconut and oak notes here that go very well with the light roasted malt and chocolate accents, while the fruity citrus notes add a little zest, but stay mostly in the background.

I usually don't even like Sabro hops, but they really work here, especially in combination with the HBC 472 hops. Certainly an unusual, but rather fascinating brew that's quirky yet well-balanced, making for a rather different but quite enjoyable drinking experience.

 

Thanks! I was actually considering using both normal and roasted malt for this picture, but I couldn't be arsed to pick the two apart afterwards .

 

While I consider this to be a decent and interesting Stout overall, it just confirms to me once again that German breweries specializing in NEIPAs can't brew a GREAT Stout to save their lives.

Blech.Brut - Quinty

Imperial Stout aged on toasted American oak chips, from Germany (10.4%).



Pours a pitch-black coloration with a medium, creamy, mocha-colored head. Smells of lightly roasted, caramel malt, with some chocolate and quite a sharp woody/spicy aroma also coming through that carries hints of vanilla and frankincense.

Taste is a good balance of slightly roasted, quite caramelly malt, milk chocolate and hints of coffee, red berries and licorice, as well as a distinct, woody and spicy oak presence with hints of vanilla and frankincense. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some caramel malt, chocolate and toasted oak lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

I really wasn't a fan of this at first, but it did come into its own a little more as it warmed. Just like their recent Black NEIPA collaboration with Hertl, this is a rather interesting beer that is pretty enjoyable for its sheer experimental value despite not quite working out perfectly. I think that the woody, toasted character is a bit overdone here, which brings that kinda odd note into this that almost brings frankincense to mind, which mellows as this warms, but underneath that there is a pretty nice Stout with some good chocolate, coffee, vanilla and red berry accents that is just yearning to break free.

Overall, this makes for an interesting and enjoyable brew with a good balance of sweet and bitter notes, as well as a certain complexity to it, although the rather sharp woody presence seems just a bit too assertive here.

 

I really don't mean to monopolize this thread, but here's another beauty from what is probably Germany's finest maker of Wild Ales, not that there's really much competition in this field...

Kemker Kultuur / Elixer Bier - Wuortel

Wild Gruit Ale with wild carrot seeds, yarrow and bog myrtle, aged in red wine barrels for 12 months, from Germany (5.6%).



Pours a clear, deep golden coloration with a small, fluffy head that quickly fades to a thin ring, leaving behind some lacing. Smells of doughy, slighty bready malt and and light fruity esters, with some stronger floral and herbal notes.

Taste is a great balance of doughy, bready malt, strong herbal, spicy and lighter floral and fruity notes of elderflower, gale, allspice, clove, red apple and gooseberry, with just a hint of leathery funk and tannic oak as well. Finishes with a light tartness and some floral, herbal and spicy notes lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This makes for a very nice wild Gruit beer with strong herbal and spicy and lighter floral and fruity notes, accompanied by light acidity and funk as well as hints of tannins and oak. It's a bit hard to say where the herbs end and the yeast esters start here, but there really is very nice balance with a decent complexity to this.

While it's not quite as funky and acidic as some Wild Ales, the herbs really are coming through quite distinctly, with the barrel aging also being apparent due to those oaky, tannic accents. This really is a Gruit at heart, it's just a bit of a shame that it contains hops, thus not being a historically accurate example of the style, which doesn't really make it any less enjoyable though.

 

Well, I'm sure someone else beside me will post in here eventually... *hint* *hint* . Anyway, I thought I'd mix things up a little by posting a "Bayernbier" today, a very nice Bock, actually.

Dorn-Bräu - Ammerndorfer Bock

Bockbier from Germany (6.2%).



Pours a crystal clear, pale amber coloration with a large, foamy head and visible carbonation. Smells of grainy, caramel malt and grassy, herbal hops, with some slighty nutty accents also coming through.

Taste is a great balance of grainy, caramel malt and grassy, herbal hops, as well as some dark fruit, with notes of fig and dates, and hints of honey and walnut also coming through. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some caramel malt, herbal hops, dark fruit and nuts lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

A very nice Bock with a great balance of sweet malts and bitter hops, as well as some fruity and nutty notes that add a bit more complexity to this. While this has quite a bit of character, it doesn't feel too heavy and remains somewhat easy-drinking, with the body and depth of flavor being pretty impressive for a single Bock here, while this also has a rather nice mouthfeel to it.

 

I didn't want to post this as well at first, but I enjoyed it so much that I thought what the heck. Fuerst Wiacek and Frau Gruber really stand out as the premier makers of the NEIPA style in Germany to me right now.

Fuerst Wiacek - Everything Is Under Control

New England IPA with Enigma, Citra and Mosaic hops, from Germany (6.8).



Pours a hazy, orange coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of light biscuity malt and citrus/tropical/berry hops, with notes of lime, passion fruit and white grape.

Taste is an excellent balance of light biscuity malt and fruity, juicy, slightly grassy and resinous hops, with citrus, tropical and berry notes of grapefruit, lime, passion fruit, mango, white grape and redcurrant, as well as just a hint of pine. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some lime, passion fruit and white grape. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

A very nice New England IPA with a great balance of zesty citrus, sweet tropical and lightly acidic berry notes, while the hops feel quite juicy and expressive here, with a great range of character. I just love finally coming across a NEIPA with Enigma hops again, one of my favorites that seem to be rarely used these days for some strange reason.

While I would have wished for them to stand on their own just a little bit more, there's actually a very nice balance of the Citra, Mosaic and Enigma going on here, making this a very interesting and well-rounded drinking experience. One of my recent favorites by Fuerst Wiacek, with a very nice mouthfeel as well.

 

I guess I'll go for the double-feature traditional and modern beer again tonight, starting with this Bock from Franconia.

Brauerei Josef Greif - Greif Bock

Bockbier from Germany (6.6%).



Pours a clear golden amber coloration with a medium, foamy head. Smells of doughy, slightly grainy and caramelly malt and floral, grassy hops.

Taste follows the nose, with a good balance of doughy, slightly grainy and caramelly malt and quite floral, grassy and slightly spicy and herbal hops. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some sweet malts and floral, bitter hops lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

Although this is released in winter, it feels very much like a Maibock with its pale coloration and focus on sweeter malts and floral hops. It's actually a bit too sweet and floral for my personal, although there is a good bitterness to this in the finish balancing that sweetness somewhat, with some light grainy, grassy and herbal accents as well.

Overall, this makes for a decent Bockbier with a good balance sweet malts and bitter hops, with the grainy and spicy notes standing out a bit more as this warms, which is quite nice, actually. Really shouldn't drink Bockbier straight from the fridge, I suppose.

 

And here's the second part, a NEIPA from Sudden Death, a brewery whose success I will never be able to quite grasp, although I heavily suspect that it has a lot more to do with their label design than the taste of their beer.

Sudden Death - Once Upon a Time in Eternia

New England IPA with Idaho 7, Citra and Triumph hops, from Germany (7%).



Pours a hazy, orange coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of light biscuity malt and faint hints of tropical and citrus hops, with vague notes of mango, papaya and grapefruit.

Taste is a decent balance of light biscuity malt and fruity, slightly floral and grassy hops, with feeble notes of mango, papaya and grapefruit. Finishes with a light bitterness and some papaya and grapefruit lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This is the perfect example of what Sudden Death are all about in my personal opinion: A very average NEIPA in a can with quite cool and eye-catching label design. I don't know if they extended their best-by date again, but for a supposedly three month-old NEIPA, the hops feel incredibly washed-out and expressionless here, with that certain multivitamin tablet character that I personally don't find particularly enjoyable.

Sure, there some decent tropical and lighter citrus notes to this, but they just lack that vibrant juiciness that I expect from a great NEIPA, while also being a bit too grassy and floral for my personal taste. I'm not sure how well suited Triumph hops are for a NEIPA anyway, but in any case, I found this pretty disappointing, like most beers from Sudden Death. I don't know if this is due to age or not, but if a brewery sets 12-month best-by dates for their NEIPAs, they ought to be ashamed of themselves and if this is actually fresh, well I'm just gonna leave it at that.