Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

We did have a "show off your German glassware" thread a while back but it died out.

 

JACKPOT!

Found Schlenkerla Fastenbier, Kaiserdom Pils, and HB Maibock (new from the case) -- might be a really good weekend!

 

I'm having a bottle of the Spezial Rauchbier tonight and it's the second bottle of it from the box. It's definitely lighter on the smoke, with less heft as far as body goes, than Schlenkerla Märzen, which is understandable with its lower gravity (12%) and use of what I presume is Munich malt. It reminds me a great deal of a Swedish craft iteration of a Rauchbier which was also a mix of beechwood smoked malt (Weyermann) along with Munich, with Magnum and Tettnanger hops, with an OG in the high 12s and an abv of 5.2%. This is definitely a more sessionable take on the smoky Märzenbier style, yet it still delivers a good smoke flavor and (dry) malt body along with a good hop bitterness.

 

Actually Spezial uses 100% smoked malts from its own maltings.

 

A morning trip to my local Getränkemarkt (http://www.heinrich3000.de) to get my bottle deposits back - turned out to be 27 euro! - netted these items:

 

I thought for sure I'd read something else, but thanks for the information.

 

Partrik,

According to Shelton Brothers (the US importer), Spezial brews with both smoked and non-smoked malt:

“Brauerei Spezial • Germany

Bamberg may well be Germany’s most interesting brewing town, with more original specialty beers to its credit than any other. The most famous of all Bamberger styles is smoked beer, or “rauchbier.” The oldest rauchbier brewery in Bamberg is Spezial, which was founded in 1536.

Spezial is right in the heart of the city – a very congenial pub with the brewery in the courtyard behind. The brewery has its own maltings and barley malt is smoked right there in downtown Bamberg. The smoke of special beechwood logs burning just beneath the malt kiln filters up, imparting a natural smoky flavor to the fresh barley kernels. The brewer uses 40% of this smoked malt and 60% high quality Bavarian barley malt to make this delicious smoked beer.

Spezial’s Lager Rauchbier is a surprisingly refreshing treat – not so dark as the brewery’s Märzen Rauchbier (which uses 70% smoked malt). A malty sweetness perfectly balances the mild smoke flavor of this amber brew.

Many people will tell you that they just can’t enjoy a traditional rauchbier. Make them try this one, and it’s a fair bet they’ll end up loving it. The possibilities for creative pairings with good food are almost endless.

Read More »Brewery Website: http://www.brauerei-spezial.de/

Above is from: http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/breweries/brauerei-spezial/

Cheers!

Jack

 

Hmmm. Could have sworn if was 100%, but looks like I was wrong. Guess I was just thinking about them using only their house-smoked malt. Learn sonething new...thanks for the info.

 

Today is my bday but I thought I'd pop this bottle to celebrate

 

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

 

Happy Bday!!!

 

Danke - here's to another year of being 36

 

Happy birthday!

 

Hope you had a great day, @-N8 !

Prosit!

 

I had a bit of bayernbier the other night, i dont know if its allowed in here as it may well be borderline fernsehbier but i thought it was ok and quite interesting so ill let you know about it anyway. For the american contingent (nearly all of you i guess) i should probably explain, if you dont know, that there are a chain of rather upmarket supermarkets here in england called waitrose which is where i purchased this beer from, its their own brand "german pils" but theyre pretty honest on the label about where it comes from, memminger in, memmingen, bayern. It was a nice clean, crisp pils a bit lemony and with a decent bitterness, for the price (£1.50) i thought it was decent. shame about the green bottle but thats really down to marketing and how "premium continental lagers" are generally sold in green bottle here



one thing that i did find funny was the description on the reverse label which says the beer comes from "memmingham" i cant believe that couldve actually got past the people at waitrose

 

Made it out to a local German food/bier joint to finally try a few things on draught rather than bottle. Started with a Hofbrau Original, which had a nice lager yeast note in the nose, a malty body, and a nicely bready finish. Nothing off in the nose, thankfully, which the warm stored bottles I so often see tend to struggle with. I feel like I'm starting to be able to identify that particular malt character many German lagers have. Satisfying indeed, and in proper glassware no less... By the way, is this sort of beer served from the wood at the brewery/biergarten in Munich? Are only certain styles served from the wood?



Then moved on to a Reissdorf Kolsch. If my exposure to German lagers is limited, my exposure to kolsch is in its absolute infancy. In fact, I think this might've been my first one from Cologne. It was nice, the nose light with just a hint of fruitiness, the body thinner than the previous Hofbrau, fairly dry, though finishing a bit sweeter than I'd expected. I enjoyed it, in particular the dryness, but I would've liked less of that mildly sweet note and a little more noble hop character. Still, fun to try this on tap...and, again for all you glassware freaks, in the proper serving vessel

 

Of late I have been drinking the majority of German brewed beer on draft vs. bottles. It is always challenging to find fresh German bottled beer and all of my German draft beer drinking has been fresh beer.

IMO, draft is indeed the way to go for drinking German brewed beer in the US.

Cheers!

 

A bit less sweet/fruity with more noble hops is basically a pils.

HB isn't served from the wood anymore AFAIK -- at least it isn't at the Chinesicher Turm Biergarten. Beers that typically are served from the wood range from Helles to Koelsch to Alt to Kellerbier to Rauchbier to Festbier/Maerzen. Other styles can be served this way, too, of course; just depends on the venue and/or traditions.

 

Maybe I just misunderstood what to be looking for in a kolsch -- I'd somehow got the impression that they had a bit of bitterness to them, and I just didn't get much of that in the Reissdorf, only that lingering sweetness. Outside of Gaffel, sadly, we don't get any other German kolsch in my neck of the woods, though I do still need to track that one down.

 

Well, there is certainly some bitterness in even the lowest hopped Koelsch. Gaffel has a dry, nutty finish (to my palate) with a herbal, slightly floral hoppiness. You not picking up on any of that in the versions you can get locally?