Ranking your favorite German breweries.

Makes sense to me. Those are probably the best American examples I know of offhand as well. New Glarus Edel Pils would be another, but I don't know if they even brew that one anymore. Zoiglhaus' would be another tasty one, but it's ugly as hell to look at. I still wonder to this day how it got a GABF gold with all of that haze.

 

Figured, to bad Suarez doesn't distribute outside the Hudson valley.

 

It's really hard for me to ignore myself, but I'll try my best.

You're wondering how a beer with haze got a gold at GABF?

It's what everyone is looking for these days, isn't it?

 

Some distribution, which mostly goes to BK

 

True I guess. I just figured pilsner would be exempt from that. There are unfiltered categories and appearance is a style hallmark. My theory is that the beer they entered isn't the same one they sell in cans.

 

Sorry I think I meant to put a winky face, as that was mostly tongue in cheek.

But you’re right.

 

I too find that Weihenstephaner is consistently fresher in Western PA. Paulaner on the other hand has been the worst. I have mentioned this before on other threads that in my neck of the woods, Paulaner in cases have been as old a 1.5 years. I love Paulaner, but inspect the dates always.

 

I'm not sure what condition they're in now, but the Paulaner Hefeweizen and Munich Lager cans that hit the US recently were fresh.

The lager in particular was stellar.

 

just picked up a 6 pack of Hofbrauhaus Freising Dunkel date code 19134. I also grab another 6 pack of Weltenburger Barock Dunkel date code 037K1336. I will doing these head to head for the next few day.
In my first dunkel head to head I decided in the end that Weltenburger was better than Ayinger, but the Weltenburger may have been fresher so.......

 

A few months ago I tried their sour Brotzeit Bier. Man, I just hated that beer. I give them credit for doing stuff like that though (and to anybody who enjoyed that particular one too... it has good reviews here). Aventinus on the other hand, that's a diamond.

 

Aventinus is one of those classics that will always be amazing.

Right up there with masterpieces like St. Bernardus Abt. 12 and Duvel.

You know, beers no one gives a shit about anymore.

 

Hopefully European beer consumers are still drinking these beers in quantity. Do you perchance have any sales figures for these beers over the years in the European beer markets? Are these still 'popular' beers in the local markets?

Cheers!

 

Never heard of that beer until you just mentioned it. Interesting concept but I always thought their Original Weissbier (or Tap 7, whatever they're calling it now) was the perfect beer for brotzeit on its own.

 

You're hanging with the wrong crowd .

 

For some reason, where I live, Paulaner had become scarce, except for the hefe. This could be the PA distribution network. However, the manager at my favorite distributor in Greensburg, PA said that Paulaner is back. Indeed, they had three cases of Salvatore that were fresh and several cases of the hefe.

 

Nah, for all I know they could be doing well in the US market.

They're just not talked about a lot on the main forums here.

The main forums here?

 

People here have called me old-school. I've always been a champion of imports and I hate to see their numbers shrinking. So on a certain level I'm right there with you, but beer nerds always have their biases. These days, it's often for their "locals." Back in the day, it was more aligned with your mentions above... all of which are strong beers (with history). So while my heart is with you, part of me realizes that there's commonality between then and now. (I know your personal tastes are much wider.)

 

1. Ayinger
2. Paulaner
3. Augustiner
4. Hofbräu

My wife and I went to Germany on our honeymoon in February and split time between Berlin and Munich. We went full (nonobnoxious) tourist in Munich. The beer at Hofbräu was good, but you go there for the tourist experience, and while kitschy, it's definitely enjoyable. The best beers were at a Paulaner cellar and at two Ayinger establishments, tops goes to Paulaner's Keller Zwickel. I never appreciated the nuance of most German styles until that trip, and we're both motivated to go back ASAP to go deeper into the more authentic side of the culture. As a happy bonus, hoppy American styles tasted waaay better after taking a palate break; total win-win.

 

From personal observations in Austria (whose beer culture is somewhat different than Bavaria’s), and some trips to Bavaria two years ago, I would say most people on the daily drink pale lagers. Only during certain special occasions or perhaps certain specialty bars do people order beers like Aventinus. Even Weißbier is confined to only a few social groups, such as younger people and older people, and tourists.

 

From my readings and personal experience this is the situation worldwide. The popular Pale Lagers per Country:

· UK: Carling Lager

· Belgium: Jupiler, Stella Artois

· Netherlands: Heineken

· Germany: Oettinger, Beck’s, Krombacher, Warsteiner

· US: Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light

· Etc.

Hopefully German and Belgian beer consumers are still enjoying other beer types as well (Duvel in Belgium, Aventinus in Germany) albeit in quantities lesser than Pale Lagers.

Cheers!