Over the last 2 weeks I've come across 4 NEW beers to add to my worldwide sampling list. Two were Hofbrau beers. The Hefeweizen is great. The Dunkel is not really my taste but still pretty good. Brand three is Konig Pilsener. Two words, Light, Refreshing. Brand 4 is Benediktiner Helles also good and refreshing. This review is being made through IPA colored eyeglasses. LOL
What Jack said. Glad that you could find some new beers very enjoyable, not sure if warrant of a new thread. Welcome, though. The New Beer Weekend party starts on Friday eve, do join us!
It’s worth noting (since OP is new here) that New Beer Weekend—or NBW as it’s commonly referred to—is located in The Bar and is open only during weekends (Friday afternoon/evening through Sunday). An example NBW thread can be found here.
Be sure to stop in at the Virtual Bar a.k.a. "What beer are you drinking now?" and post a photo or two. That one's open 24/7/365. There's a different thread every day, and you'll find plenty of other folks posting through their IPA-colored glasses there.
Welcome to the BA site where we all try to help new members. Since it looks like you're aiming for imported beers for your tastings experiences, you should be aware that these beers arrive here in the U.S. by slow boat and can be fairly old when you find them. Age can make a great difference is the taste of a beer. Most breweries apply a 'Packaged-on' date or a 'Best-by' date on the bottle/can that can help your purchase decisions. There's a thread that gives you date codes for German beers, so this may help you. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/date-codes-for-imported-usa-german-beer.658248/ But sometimes you have no choice but to accept old-ish beers just to help you learn what the taste of that particular style is all about.
Permit me to provide an alternative viewpoint in that there are US brewed brands of various German beer styles that are true to style and I can find them fresh (in my area). For example, when it comes to the Helles beer style there are plenty of locally brewed Helles beers in my area but to the OP I would recommend Wiseacre Helles beer (and I enjoy the Wiseacre Pilsners as well). I enjoyed the Dunkel and Kolsch beers of Yee Haw. I recently read on BA that Live Oak beers make it to Colorado so maybe they are in Tennessee as well? If so, I highly recommend Live Oak Hefeweizen. When it comes to German style beers I waaaay more often than not purchase US craft brewed brands since in my area they are of high quality and I can find them fresh. Prost!
Those are all very solid beers, and get high marks for value, too. As far as Hofbrau goes, Oktoberfest season is nearly here, and they pretty much own it, imo, so make an effort to get some
OP, along the same vein of locally-brewed beers as Jack's post, if you are in the Nashville area, check out Barrique Brewing and Blending. They make excellent, true-to-style European beers. (Their wild ales are great too!) https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58947/
May I ask why you disliked the hofbrau Dunkel. Have you had the warsteiner Dunkel? They are very different and I'm curious as to why hofbraus didn't do it for you. Also do you like the schwarzbier?
"IPA colored eyeglasses." FWIW -- the HB Dunkel is the best of the style to be imported, IMHO built from drinking Dunkel around Bavaria on many trips. That said, it really is all about freshness and understanding of the style. There may be a small, local brewery out there making a great Dunkel, but I haven't found it yet. Urban Chestnut's Dorfbier comes close, but I'd choose HB first if I wanted that good, bready malt character.
Yes sir. The hofbrau is the best and only the second dunkel to make an appearance at my local wegmans.
I'm not a freshness nut by any means, but yes this has been my problem with Hofbrau Dunkel. Almost every time I see it I check for reasonable code and have yet to come across any in a long long time. Finding an acceptable six pack in the heart of fall would be a dream come true. Putting it out there so it happens
I am a fan of Ayinger Dunkel and that beer is available at my local Retail Beer Distributor. I would buy it more frequently if it wasn’t so pricey. My Dunkel beer money mostly goes to locally produced versions (e.g., Von C). Cheers!
HB is dating with clear best by dates these days. I can't help your local distribution or sales, but around my area HB can often be found fresh
Wow! That is news to me; all the bottles I’ve checked still had the lettering code with day of year #. Guess it’s time to check again…
