Where have all the Altbiers gone?

Alts and many other styles have slowly faded away to make room for the FOMO neon silver can parade that makes up much of the beer aisles.

My deep empathy

 

I suspect B.United International still sells those nice brews. Ask your favorite retailer to track them down.. They are unique for German beers, which all in all, are less homogeneous than most folks really know.

 

I'm not seeing as many German beers in any style as I used to say ten years ago. With everyone chasing the bigger this, more hoppy that and barrel aged whatever, there just doesn't seem to be the shelf space for some of these classic German beers/styles. I'm also guilty of some of this chasing, but do miss seeing some of the classic German Pils I could get a decade or so ago. Thank the fates that Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock still makes it's way to my area about once a year. I should mention that a brewery relatively close to me does make a very nice Kolsch called Lugtread. The brewery is Beau's All Natural Brewing Company.

 

There's part of your answer. A lot of "craft" drinkers in the US prefer bold flavors over subtlety and balance. Any fresh altbier I've had has had plenty of bitterness, but they don't fit the profile of the more popular/trendy beers people are buying.

I'd had bad luck with the past couple of Uerige bottles I've bought. Clearly past their prime and not worth the price. The dates on the labels have been difficult to read too. If I happen to see it on draft somewhere I'd get it but I'm done gambling on bottles.

 

As @Insomniac posted "I'm not seeing as many German beers in any style as I used to say ten years ago" this is the case in my area as well. Over 10 years ago there were a good amount of German brewed beers on my local beer retailers' shelves but more often than not they were old. A beer consumer who knows that old beer is often not tasty (like me) will avoid those old German beers and they would just collect dust while they got older. I suspect that the beer retailers saw this inventory just sit and over the years order less and less brands. Now there are fewer brands to select from but the issue of the beers being old still remains.

I drank an Alt yesterdays at a local brewery (Tired Hands):

“Trendler Alt:

Altbier 5.0% The original Trendler bier, brewed as a dedication to Jean’s grandfather Joseph Trendler. Composed of German pilsner malt and a tasteful assortment of specialty malts, and delicately but meaningfully hopped with classic German and American varietals. Fermented with a yeast strain derived from our favorite Altbier producer from Düsseldorf, and lagered for 3 weeks. This is a perfect beer for the colder months ahead.”

On a related note I had a chance to meet and talk to Joseph Trendler on a fairly recent visit to Tired Hands. He is a great guy!

Cheers!

P.S. Another option here is to homebrew an Altbier. My ingredients for an Altbier will be arriving tomorrow and sometime next week I will be brewing my annual batch of Altbier.

 

Imho, the 70s were the heyday err...heydecade of German beers in the US. Goes for beer from the UK as well.

 

FWIW I have totally stopped purchasing beers brewed in the UK many years ago - I could never find those beers fresh.

I do occasionally purchase German brewed beers when I can find them fairly fresh (e.g., less than 6 months old). It is a rare occasion but I can sometimes find fresh Jever and sometimes I find fresh Weihenstephaner beers as well.

Cheers!

 

Ayinger's Altbairisch Dunkel is still readily available up here. The problem is finding bottles of it that aren't blown out and busted old.

 

Regarding beers from Weihenstephaner, I am fortunate to have some of their beers on draught at the local Old Chicago. 1516 has been filling my glass and Stein for last month up to the present.

 

You live in MD and I was going to mention the Union Altbier which is solid. Brewer's Alley over in Frederick makes a spring/summer seasonal called Wedding Alt every year that they bottle (and I think can as well) and distribute to stores. Runs about $9-$11 a sixer. Really solid for the style as well.

 

I was shopping for some Bourbon County in a Food Emporium in NYC yesterday and stumbled across a display with 4-packs of 16oz. cans of Jever. Thought I'd hit the jackpot (having never had Jever). I figured, if it was in cans it couldn't be too old, right? WRONG. Expiration date was Nov. 10 2019. Passed on it. One of these days, somewhere, I'll find some at least semi-fresh.

 

Thanks for that input. I have never seen Jever in cans, I have only seen bottles (green - yuck!).

Of course Jever in cans that are too old isn't worthy of purchase.

Cheers!

 

Maybe in number of different brands (tho' I doubt it, too ) but by volume, the 80s win out (based on the stats from various years of the USBA/Beer Institute's BREWERS ALMANAC).



"What about the 1990s to date?" you ask? Well, they started listed imports in "US Barrels", so too hard to do the conversions. (Before the 1960s or so, imports were so small the were listed by in "Gallons").

 

Well, I lived in California in the 70s right up to November 1980 so it was a cultural shock moving to Wyoming. Where have all the imports gone, I asked myself. The one(?) saving grace was finding MacAndrews Scotch Ale. Never saw it in California; it was *probably* there and I overlooked it. Still, that's the decade that I do remember having the most variety of imports.

 

That's a Dunkel though, not an Altbier. The name translates to "Old Bavarian Dark." Great beer!

 

That was the first style I brewed after a 5 year home brewing hiatus. Love all variations (northern German, Düsseldorf, sticke etc.) but it is becoming endangered. Too bad.

 

Old Meck in Charlotte has a flagship called Copper--a true alt.

"It is real and it is spectacular"

 

That's not an "Altbier," per se; it's a Munich Dunkel based on an old (alt) Bavarian (Bairisch) recipe.

I'd recommend Metropolitan Brewing's Altbier to the OP, but I don't think it's distributed beyond the Chicago area.

*Missed Jacobier's similar reply...

 

Enegren makes one that should see wide distro, unless I'm mistaken and spoiled.
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