Füchschen pils

Wow, this seems weird and out of nowhere to me, absolutely. How??Why??
There was "Diebels Pils" not too long ago btw, which I could at least explain myself somehow how someone at inbev thought it was a good idea...
What's next, Füchschen "Kölsch"?

 

I think they've always produced a Pils. I remember seeing it when I visited 3 years ago and also 10 years ago. I may have had it, but I was focused on the Alts of Düsseldorf usually, so I don't remember it. It's on the menu for those who don't want an Alt or are foreign to Düsseldorf and must have their run of the mill Pils. The times I'd been to zum Füchschen I never saw anyone order it. You'd notice it if they had, for the glass they serve it in wouldn't be a Stange for Altbier. Everyone just keeps getting their refills of full glasses changed out as soon or even before your present glass is empty. They then mark your Bierdeckel.

Maybe someone remembers I posted this a million years ago? A friend of mine went there and this was the damage at the end of night for 4 people.

I noticed they now have a Wiezen, their Silberfuchs. This might be new, though I can't imagine anyone ordering this except as a lark.


BTW, zum Uerige has produced a Weizen forever. I've tried it and it was memorable in a bad way.

 

The started to advertise it half a year ago when it came out - and it's in the bottle-shops all around. I tried it and (for me) I don't even remember how it was - ordinary Pils for people who just drink beer - nothing to think about - very sad but that's what the mass-customers want to have... and that's what they are aiming.
I think it is also important for their pubs - as Füchschen now produces a Pils, their tied pubs now have to serve this instead of other brands. With the Weizen it is the same I think...

Here in German the vast majority of normally "independent" pub-owners have long-term contracts with breweries. Thats just tradition here - the pub-owners get the beer much cheaper than without such contracts and benefits from a cheap advertisement for his pub on the outside, cheap interior like furniture from the brewerie's warehouses etc.
That's why it is so difficult for independent craft-breweries to serve their beers in German pubs or restaurants.

Fiege in Bochum f.ex. has an Alt and a Weizen produced for them (they don't brew the two on their own) just to have no advertisement for other breweries in their tied pubs. And I think with Füchschen it is the same. Even if it sells bad, it is important for their corporate design.

And Diebels belongs to InBev - they have lots of InBev-Pils to choose from. I think there the marketing aimed at customers who like Diebels to stay away from non-InBev Pils - and as this was not as sucessful as InBev hoped, they just dumped the plan. But here with Füchschen it might be like Fiege - just having it to fit the gap in the pubs with a corporate design...

 

You're right. Both using Altbier-yeast. It is the same with Sünner in Cologne, using Kölsch-yeast for their Weizen.

If they would use the Bavarian yeast, they would a) have to cultivate another yeast string in their brewery or b) have the beer contract-brewed. But both is (much) more expensive than making it this way.... Especially as they are not really focused on a success of this product. It seems like they are just doing it to keep the large Bavarian breweries out of their tied pubs. I know people who like it as they don't like the typical "Bavarian" banana/clove yeast, but I think even if they would use Bavarian yeast it will remain a niche-product... If you could use Pils-yeast for a Weizen (which is illegal in Germany as a Weizen is only allowed to be brewed with Ale-yeast by law), you would see many other examples of Weizen with the "wrong" yeast around here....

 

I remember! I remain in awe. My favorite part is that you only spent €4,50 on food.

Silberfuchs has been around for a while, I remember it being available when I was in Germany, which has been a few years now. Never had it, though.

 

Was it you who said, "Looks like we're going to need a bigger Bierdeckel!"?

I remember someone else commented that you can clearly see where the Kellner started. The first strips are in the top left corner = 4, then 4 more to the right of that, and THEN he/she realized they'd be drinking A LOT more and the marks needed to me make much much smaller to be able to accomadate just one Bierdeckel.

 

Sounds like it was an experienced Köbe. As he/she would say if they were from Texas: This is not my first rodeo!

Cheers!

 

Just looked through some of my pictures from 2015 and I don't see any mention of Füchschen pils anywhere, but there are a few bottles in their case that I can't see clearly. I think alt and weizen were the only options for ordering on premises at the time.
I wasn't a big fan of the Uerige weizen, but there wasn't anything wrong with it. It was just a little boring. Widmer Hefeweizen would probably be a fair comparison, although the Uerige was drier and probably hoppier. Expectations probably played a role, too. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. How popular is Erdinger? While certainly maltier than the Uerige, their typical yeast is pretty neutral, too.

A good friend was just there last week so I'll have to ask about his experiences.

 

When I was in Düsseldorf last October my contact at Füchschen asked if I had tried their new Pils (I hadn't and didn't) -- so I take from that it is fairly new.

I pretty sure the Uerige Weizen has been around for at least the 20 years I have been going there. An interesting piece of trivia is that Widmer got their yeast from Uerige (the Widmer Ur-Alt is the best US brewed Alt I've tasted -- don't know if they still brew it) so I guess you could call the Uerige Weizen the first German brewed American Wheat

I seem to remember one of the Kölsch breweries making a Pils as well -- Mühlen. I know Mühlen has been brewing their "Champagne Beer" for a few years now.

 

Hellers make a Pils, but they also make an Altbier, so take from that what you want
I always liked Süners Hefeweizen more than Ueriges or Füchschens attempt.

 

BTW, there are several Kölsch brewers that used to make a Pils and an Export-remember, a lot of Pils and Export was being drunk in Cologne. There was stuff like Reissdorf Pils,Sester Pils, Dom Pils..I remember drinking and enjoying the latter.

 

Side note... Inbev recently sold Diebels Alt and Hasseröder to a private investor by the name of CK Corporate Finance. Of course investor groups always think they know better, time will tell if they can turn anything around.

As a bit of background, here's an article (albeit in German) which gives good insight into the sales and problems involved with the beer market in Deutschland. In 2001 Diebels was bought for 100 million Euro and they were selling 1.6 million HL of Altbier. Today they sell 350,000 HL of Altbier which is still Altbier market #1 with about 50% of the Altbier market. Just goes to show how much this style has died over the last 15 years.

https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/...Selbst-die-grossen-Brauer-muessen-bangen.html