Where have all the Altbiers gone?

Best before 08/2020 is all the bottle displays.

cheers.

 

I never thought I liked Altbier until I had a chance to visit Dusseldorf. Why? All I knew were old/oxidized bottles of sticke and doppelsticke or American versions based upon those two beers...neither of which are normal altbiers. Especially doppelsticke. Either that or American versions that were based upon the sweet out-of-town versions like Diebels.
Fresh altbier would probably appeal to fans of pale ale and pilsner IMO. They're pretty hoppy, but with a round back end. If I had to choose a favorite it would be either Schumacher or Fuchschen, but they're all quite nice.
In my area Uerige sticke and doppelsticke are normal sights, but I don't think we get any normal altbiers from the Dusseldorf altstadt.

 

Amen!

The critical word here (and why I bolded that word) is "Fresh".

I am fortunate that I can obtain "fresh" Altbier from small, local breweries plus needless to say my homebrewery (I will be brewing an Altbier in a few days).

Cheers!

 

Long Trail's original description of Double Bag (still available here in Beeradvocate if not on the brewer's website) described it as a sticker. LongTrail's new description of the beer as a "double amber ale" may be more accurate, or it may be part of the general dumbing down that I see on the site. I see they've made the label more tasteful - a disgusting move.

At any rate, it is (or was) a good beer. Sadly, it's not available to me now.

 

That's sticke, not sticker.

 

Thankfully we have a brewery here in NW Washington that focuses on German styles, including Alt, and does an amazing job. I had Chuckanut Alt just a couple weeks ago on draft. Make a pilrimag.......I mean vacation out to Bellingham, WA and check them out. They package in bottles but not every beer so check ahead on their website.

I do agree the some of the old German styles are definitely not being produced much anymore outside the traditional German breweries. It's a shame.I feel like, though, recently that I have seen some more kellerbeers come out. Hopefully the lager wave is swelling for next year and the FOTM beers will go away.

 

I keep wanting to finish the title...

Long time passing.... Oh, when will they ever learn?

(different song, so I think of Peter, Paul, and Mary... or Pete Seeger... or Kingston Trio... or...)

 

Man, you must be old.

 

I bought a sixpack of Alaskan Amber as a result of this thread. I did not love the first one. Too sweet. And an odd grainy flavor I don't think of when I think of altbier.

 

This was one of my favorite beers ever brewed by New Glarus. I still hold out hope and select it in the beer vote for beers they should bring back every year, but my resolve is fading:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/45821/

 

At 18 IBUs it lacks the firm to aggressive bitterness the Alts have in Düsseldorf.

 

It is indeed true that the Altbiers as brewed in Düsseldorf have more bitterness (higher IBUs). But what about what are referred to as Northern German Alt beers (e.g., beers akin to Diebels Alt)? What level of bitterness are those sorts of Altbiers?

Cheers!

P.S. On a separate but related note I just pitched my yeast (Wyeast 1007) into my annual brew of Altbier.

Now, the hard part is waiting for the fermentation and lagering processes to complete.

 

OMB Copper, as well as the rest of the lineup is as close to German beer as you are likely to find outside Giessen.

 

Alaskan Amber tastes a lot like Diebels and Schlosser to me. Sweet and grainy - almost like a Grape Nuts character. If that's the style they're going for, I'd say it's pretty accurate.
There aren't very many US versions that taste like the Dusseldorft examples. In Denver I feel like Bill Eye's old gold medal-winning recipe has popped up at a few places (CB & Potts, Dry Dock, Prost, etc.) but that's the only one I think I've had that was dead on. In spite of also winning a pile of medals, I don't really like the one from Grimm Brothers.

As far as something with decent distro goes, OMB's is a hair sweeter, but is really really good.

 

Diebels is less bitter bordering in cloying sweet, to much CaraMunich is my guess. I'm wasn't a fan in Germany.

Edit - that's why I called out Duesseldorf alts.

 

Jeff, I fully understood you here. Just expanding the discussion.

Cheers!

 

Jever has a 15 month best by date, so that beer would have been 16 months old. That’s uh, really old.

 

It's been ages since I've had either Long Trail Ale or Double Bag, but I recall people say they weren't great examples of Altbiers.

Has anyone who has been to Dusseldorf had either of these beers and can comment on whether Long Trail Ale is a good example of an Alt, and Double Bag a good example of a DoppelSticke?

@hopfenunmaltz @Domingo

 

I lived in Germany and as far as Dusseldorf goes, Long trail is sort of an American take on it. I still think Double bag is quite good. I can recall people saying every type of beer is not good, especially on this website. There are some real cry babies. Also, I was so impressed with Double Bag it prompted me to sign up for BA and review it. It was the first beer I reviewed. Long trail ale tastes like a more malty version of a Pale Ale. Just got done hiking the Appalachian trail and the local dive had only long trail. Never tasted better. That was a long time ago -