Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

While I'm not really a huge fan of their beer (relative to my Franconian favorites...), this is very informative and well-made video about Weiherer brewery and how they have transformed themselves from a very small, local operation to a global one. Prost, and enjoy....

 

One of my favorites. I've brewed a clone of this bier twice and the second time, I had a fresh bottle of the real thing to compare it to. I was pretty close!

 

Answer to the question. Being tapped today at Greifenklau.

Es ist soweit. Ab 17:00 Uhr gibt es unseren Hopfengestopften Zwickel.

In folgender Reihenfolge kommt es an den Zapfhahn.

Mandarina Bavaria - fruchtig, Mandarine, süß

Hallertauer Blanc - Stachelbeere, Grapefruit, Ananas

Huell Melon - intensiv fruchtig, süß, Honigmelone und Erdbeere

Polaris -fruchtig, "Gletschereis", Pfefferminze

Kommt und macht eure eigenen Erfahrungen. Über Feedback würde ich mich sehr freuen. Angefangen von:
Mehr davon bis hin zu: geht garnicht. (Nur so kann ich sehen ob Ihr soetwas wieder möchtet oder nicht)

Ich bin genau so gespannt wie Ihr!

Prost
Der Bräu

I wish -- as does the Bier des Tages guy -- that they would have just the base Zwickel on tap...you know, for us "boring" folks....

 

Interesting quote

"Kommt und macht eure eigenen Erfahrungen. Über Feedback würde ich mich sehr freuen. Angefangen von:
Mehr davon bis hin zu: geht garnicht. (Nur so kann ich sehen ob Ihr soetwas wieder möchtet oder nicht)".

I think that MOAR needs no translation into German.

I am sure all brewers are well aware of the new aroma hops coming from Germany, and they are trying to integrate into beers via randall or simple dry hop. I find nothing "off the wall" with that, and is probably one of the methods of not succumbing to craft craze a la peanut butter beers.

 

I really like Hallertauer Blanc a lot. Crooked Stave dry hopped a few of their saisons with it and they turned out phenomenal. I find that the flavor profile has a white wine characteristic.
It surprised me as they taste nothing like the normal Hallertauer Mittelfrueh variety I was expecting.
When I was there last summer, Greifenklau definitely felt like they had the boldest hop notes in town. Their normal Lagerbier was hoppier than any pils I had, Jever and Rothaus included.
While I roll my eyes at a lot of the craft beer trends, I'm honestly all for using experimental varieties of hops...just don't call your beer "[Adjective] IPA" if it isn't an IPA.

 

Chris, what do you think of the label German Pale Ale?

Below is a description of CBC Mandarina Pale Ale from the Victory website:

“CBC Mandarina Pale Ale

Pale Ale

A blend of German pils and caramel malts combine with German Mandarina and dry-hopped Mandarina to create a full bodied, citrus-hopped brew with a pleasant bitter finish and lots of hop flavor.

Composition

ABV: 6.0%

Availability

Special one-time release, March 2013”

Cheers!

 

On a side note: I just brewed a batch of IPA and dry hopped with combination of C hops and Mandarina - they compliment each other very well IMO.

 

I don't mind it, although I'd probably reserve that title for a beer brewed IN Germany. Otherwise we have things like New Zealand and Japanese Pale Ales being brewed in the US. That's just unnecessary and borderline misleading. Styles like Russian Imperial Stout at least have some historical precedent even if it was being brewed FOR the Russians.
I don't see why we can't just call it a pale ale and roll with it...but this is still far less offensive than making something a "Red Imperial IPA."
Either way - I trust Victory to do a fine job. I'm not sure if I've had a Mandarina hopped beer before. Are there any mainstream beers that use them?

 

That's when they call it an IPL. (can we find a way to make these eye-roll emoticons bigger? )

 

Easy Jack from Firestone uses Mandarina.

 

Hmmm. I've had that one a couple times and felt it was a fairly typical "session IPA" which I don't care for. In fact, it might be the only beer from FW I don't love.

 

Easy Jack uses a number of hops:

“hops

Bavarian Mandarina, Hallertau Melon, Blend of New Zealand, American Mosaic”

Since there are many other hops used beyond Bavarian Mandarina this is not a good ‘example beer’ for Bavarian Mandarina hops.

Cheers!

P.S. Since you are not a fan of the Session IPA style that is another reason to ‘discount’ Easy Jack as an ‘example beer’.

 

So after a look in the fridge this evening, a bottle of Celebrator caught my eye.

Obviously, I'm sure a lot the more learned Biermeister's will have their opinions on Ayinger's finest but thought I'd throw my 2p in aswell



Appearance - Dark garnet/ruby body with excellent clarity. Tan head with average retention and lacing.

Aroma - Toffee and biscuity malts, hint of liquorice

Taste - Lot's of treacle (molasses for the US cousins), with 70% cocoa dark chocolate (reason i say 70% is it still retains
a touch of sweetness in amongst the richness of the chocolate), hints of liquorice and espresso coming through fading to a sweet toffeeish malty lager clean finish, and relax!

Mouthfeel - Perhaps a touch thin on the tongue but very clean, carbonation is crisp

Overall - I love the complexity on the tongue, not at the overly sweet end of the doppelbock spectrum but retains the hallmark richness. The perfect bier to celebrate the end of the colder weather!

Prost!

 

Celebrator is hands down my favorite Doppelbock. I just wish it wasn't so damn expensive in the US.

Cheers!

 

Celebrator was #1 on the BA Top 100 for a reason...even if it was something like 12 years ago.

 

...and in (mostly) related news, it seems like Bill Eye has acquired another Bavarian Brewhouse for Denver: http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2014/05/rackhouse_pub_prost_brewing_bierstadt_lagerhaus.php

 

Yeah, I don't get the whole "session IPA" thing either. They're pale ales, for God's sake, nothing else. I find most to be uneventful, the best I have had doesn't even call itself a session IPA - Drake's 1500 - pretty much one of the best pale ales I have ever had. And, I would much rather prefer a Pale 31 over an Easy Jack any day.

 

These just arrived in our warehouse. 5.2% ABV, import via Latis LLC, CT. Best by 01/22/2015

No detailed review (boooooo) but in a nutshell....

Lighter color than one might expect, aroma more yeasty than noble hops, but smells fresh nonetheless. Active pour, lots of CO2 and head build, which I personally enjoy and believe belongs in a Zwickl. Decent grainy pilsner malt flavor, finishes a bit on the sweet side. Good mouthfeel, mostly due to sediment. 3.75/5 overall

Not a bad beer, but according to my pricing, a 6-pack will be on the shelf for ballpark $12.99+. While that may not phase some US consumers, I think it's a bit high on the price/quality scale. If you consider the price per ounce vs. 0.5 liter German bottles, this is not overpriced, but many will perceive it as so because of the multipack.

 

I won't review it now, but I just cracked a bottle of the " Arcobräu Urfass Lager" and I would bet my bottom dollar that this is the same beer as the Zwickl, but just filtered. Not sure how I feel about that...the Count is up to shenanigans.

 

Isn't that pretty much the definition of calling it a Zwickl? It's the brewery's standard beer, just not filtered clear.

That said, the Zwickel ought to be a little more yeasty and bready than the standard… but then you factor in the probability of both being Pasteurized for export…