Notch Brewing (2020)

Dude when I was there a decade ago-it was amazing. I had spent 3 weeks Germany doing an amazing volunteer project working with a community theater in North East Germany and after it was done, the German girl I was sweet on suggested we go to Prague for a few days since I had some time before my flight home. Being a young 21 year old college student, I didn't have much cash, but once I looked into the cost, I felt like a high roller. Amazing beers were less than 50 cents in pubs. Our hotel room which was basic, but centrally located was 10 bucks a night. We had such a good time, I called American Airlines about changing my flight by a few days. Back then, it was just a 25 dollar change fee. Spent one of the best weeks of my life in Czech. When I got back home to Texas, one of my friend commented that I had gained weight. Yeah, I definitely did with all that amazing cheap beer!

 

I did not come across your post just now but I did come across this beer coaster from Bitburger from the early 1900s. They made it a point that their pilsner matched the specs of the original pilsner, i.e Pilsner Urquell. The "calculated original gravity" ("berechnete stammwürze") for both beers is 11.99%, the alcohol 3.51% (clearly abw, so 4.4% abv). So 12% plato and 4.4% abv. I bet most countries brewing pilsner in the early 1900s would have recognized those specs. Notch is doing a public service with their adherence to brewing tradition.

 

Drinking one right now. Without question one of the best lagers I've ever had.

So happy Notch is doing curbside pickup during this difficult time. Got a mixed case today and thankfully bought three 4-packs of this bad boy.

I'm trying to lose weight (a LOT of weight), so Tree House, Trillium, and higher ABV stouts are out the window. But I'll be happily replacing those amazing beers with equally as amazing lagers that are not only lighter on the stomach, but on the wallet as well. Of course, I have to cut back on drinking period, but I'll get there.

God I love Notch.

 

Fingers crossed it makes it south of Boston! I haven’t been able to make a supply run to the brewery so I’ve been living off the Session Pils. It’s such a good beer and when you combine the price and availability it’s hard to beat!

 

Desitka just dropped at Ft Point Market this morning.

 

Two 4packs Desitka
Two 4packs Loggerhead
Two 4packs Standard
Tenner quart
Alt Bier Quart

2 p.m. today.

Am I doing this right? So which one is going to accompany me while I ignore my family and grill burgers tonight?

 

Hi @ChrisLohring or anyone here that’s an expert on these things. I just had a quart of the Tenner and it might legit be the most enjoyable new beer experience I’ve had in a long time (and I still have a Desítka to drink).

what can you tell me about it’s history and all that? Never even heard of a Tenner until today.

 

You guys are so damn lucky to have those beers available in your backyard. I’m so unbelievably jealous of those that get to drink Lagers of Notch’s quality on a regular basis. Not sure you know how really lucky you are.

 

Picking up mine on Saturday!

 

I honestly don't know how I missed getting the amber lager. I know it was on the site. I know I got a confirmation email with what I got. I know I even typed in here what I got. But when I went to pick up yesterday and realized I didn't get a 4pack I was like, "WTF."

Anyone who says, "All lagers taste the same" need to run through the variety I got yesterday and see if they still agree with that sentiment. After that Tenner and the anniversary beer, I need to seriously deep dive right into nerdy lager shit (NLS, for short). I need these beers on tap.

Also, can we shout out the doppelbock real quick? My wife, exclusively a dark beer drinker, loved this beer.

 

Thanks for forwarding the info. So are the Tenner quarts and the Desitka 4 packs the same beer? Or are they two different versions of the same style?

 

I believe the latter. There might be other variations and the process for Tenner might have changed since its original release, but it seems like the differences I'm seeing are that Desitka is slightly higher ABV and open fermented. <bat signal> @ChrisLohring

 

Notch Instagram says Desitka "uses floor malted Czech barely (sic) and Sladek hops from Žatec. Process wise, this beer is as traditional as it gets in the Czech Republic; triple decoction, open fermentation, naturally carbonated and lagered forever."

The current website description for Tenner says "Floor malted Czech barely (sic) and Saaz hops. Triple decocted, naturally carbonated, three weeks of extended lagering."

(Is it a coincidence that both sources misspell "barley"?)

 

Welp ... I guess we're making sure that Altbier is consumed today alongside another Doppelbock, but I believe that's the only German styles I have in the fridge at the moment.

On April 23 every year, German breweries traditionally celebrate "German Beer Day". It was on this day in 1516 that the country's famous "Reinheitsgebot" or "beer purity law" was enacted

 

Auto-correct is not kind to brewers. Anyway, Tenner and Desítka are distinct beers in the same style, and the barley malt from different Czech malt houses. Tenner we've brewed for three years now and has pretty much stayed the same, except for some decoction schedule tweaks. We open ferment both of these beers, and Desítka had a few extra weeks of lagering. We have more Desítka lagering and will be canning that in a few weeks when the current canning batch is gone. Appreciate all the interest!

 

Music to my ears! Desitka is a freaking fantastic beer!