Ashleigh Carter, Co-founder and Head Brewer, Bierstadt Lagerhaus

Best of luck to the Bierstadt folks. Hopefully they will get more Denver area folks drinking craft brewed lagers.

Cheers!

 

They're making some of the best lagers I've had in the US.

 

I like her attitude and wish them success.

 

I second this. As a lager lover, Bierstadt is awesome to have here in Denver. Working a few blocks away means I stop by frequently. And how can you beat $5 crowlers of amazing lager!?

 

Here we go, I hope lagers become more and more popular. I agree with what she said on "beer is for drinking" I like the attitude towards it. If I lm ever in CO I'll be sure to stop in

 

I love the attitude. I hope Bill and Ron read this and it motivates them to go back to their roots.

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Sounds like my kinda place. But maybe cut the pour time on the pils ("it takes 5 minutes to pour") down a bit?

 

I think it's too late since they already sold. Their investors want more current trendy stuff. Look at everything they gave out out since they sold. Not much is great and lots of flavored things.

I still love prima and really dig vital the times I had it this summer. Not putting too much hope into Victory doing better beer.


Enjoy

 

I remember the 7 minute pours in Germany. It was for real.

When you got your first beer, 0.3 liter, it was a good time to order the second!

 

When Colorado brewers want to attempt a great lager, most of us get advice from Ashleigh and Bill. They are purists in the best sense. They never compromise on their beers and it shows as soon as you have a glass in your hand. Any beer fan who happens to be passing through Denver and doesn't make it to Bierstadt is missing out on some of the best lagers in this country. I hope to see a Falling Rock-size line at their door this year around GABF.

While I'm happy to count them as friends and I'm certainly a bit biased, the folks at our brewery are always looking for a reason and/or excuse to make it down to Bierstadt to drink the beers that they've worked on so diligently.

And once a month they have a local professional wrestling group set up a ring, which I can not recommend highly enough for a Friday night shindig. Top tier lagers and feats of athleticism? What more can you ask for?

Andy Parker
Barrel Herder
Avery Brewing Company

 

I came back to say i really enjoyed this article. I've read it several times. It influenced me to do a helles homebrew in the near future. Cheers and keeps the lagers coming.

 

I'm curious, not hating......what is the purpose of a very long pour. And how is it done?

 

Some is for show. Some is to build a large head, or Krausen on the beer. Aromatics are in the foam, and the long lasting foam releases those as you drink.

 

The way I've seen it done is the glass is held vertical under the dispenser so the beer goes straight down under pressure which kicks up a lot of foam. Glass is set aside for the foam to dissipate, then hit with another shot which will also be set aside to settle and so on until the glass is eventually full which does take several minutes total. Is that the way you other guys understand it?

 

@hopfenunmaltz

I have a few sixpoint crisp, I'm going to pour it vertically into the bottom of a pils glass in this fashion. I'm curious. Cheers.

 

@Squire123 had a good description of the mechanics. The foam is let to subside, then topped up after some minutes. The art is to have make a legal pour in Germany (they have lines on the glass), and also have the large head that makes a nice presentation, and has aromas that release as the bubbles collapse.

 

I really dug their hefeweizen collab with Comrade...would like it see it come back.

 

I remember this too from growing up in Germany, both the 7 minute pours and the correct timing for ordering your second pils. That's how my Opa did it at his local kneipe. Thanks for the memory @hopfenunmaltz!

 

I am curious, what would you like Bill & Ron to do differently as regards lagers?

Victory produces two year round lagers of Prima Pils and Helles Lager.

Other lagers they produce periodically are: Braumeister Pils, Festbier, Zeltbier, St. Victorious, St. Boisterous, Sunset Dunkel,…

Cheers!

 

@jeebeel @hopfenunmaltz @EnronCFO @Todd
Haven't we heard from many of our German members that the 7 minute Pils pour is more gimmick than anything? Just sayin' -- I don't mind at all, and I had it plenty of times in Germany, but some of the locals have decried it as showboating.

 

I can see how it could be called showboating if the bartender has flair. At home I just call it pouring.

 

So you create the big, mountainous head and nail the .25 l mark every time?

 

On recent trips some Pilsners were poured in around 3 minutes or so. Still was legal, and it had the rocky head. So I agree that it can take less than 7 minutes.

 

I pour beer straight down into the center of the glass, let the foam settle and repeat until the glass is full or I run out of patience.

 

This is what I figured.

C'mon -- now it's a law?

 

Only to followers of the true faith.

 

Impatience. It's why I switched to Helles while in Munich.

 

If more brewers thought like them, we'd have more great beer being made.

Fun and interesting article, as well.

 

The 5- (or sometimes 7-) minute pour also produces a softer carbonation in the beer that ends up in your glass. I do think there is some old-fashioned showboating/marketing involved in making a point of such set times...with arguments about which length of time being better bandied about in various taverns. Love the article. Will make it out someday to finally try their beers.

 

Legal pour, to the Plimsol line. It still has the nice rocky head. You get a good appearance good aroma and the legal pour amount of beer.

 

I liked their lagers at Prost, and want to try Bierstadt. I think you will like those too.

 

I was joking -- that you were saying 7 minutes was the law (not that I think the Bier Polizei jump in when the beer doesn't hit the line -- you've been to the Oktoberfest, right? )

Nonetheless, no one has really addressed whether or not the & or 10 minute pour is a legit thing. You mention the aroma and appearance, but Pilsner is pretty effervescent anyway so a lot of aroma comes out of those bubbles no matter what -- and yeah, it looks good too.

At one bar/restaurant (not a Bierhall or Garten) in Munich I ordered a Pils and got the 7 minute pour. After we ordered food and talked with the bar tender a while and ordered another Pils, the pour was quicker (with the same head and fill amount, BTW) -- no more showboating needed for the 2 Ami customers? Dunno. Just sayin'.

 

The late, lamented Zip City Brewery in NY poured their beers in that fashion. A good lager is definitely worth the wait!

 

Great article and I'm happy to hear everything she said about perfecting her beers and sticking with tradition. Head is super important on German beers, as is using the correct glassware. Growing up in a German household and having German parents, I always looked for an American brewery that could brew good authentic German beers. I was in heaven when I first tried Bill and Ashleigh's pils and alt at Prost, and was super happy that the pils at Bierstadt was even better. By far my favorite brewery in the US not only for the quality, but also the tradition. Thanks for bringing one of the best parts of Germany to Denver!

 

What kind of pretentiousness is this hobby/job BS? Why do I have hobbies that aren't my job?

Well because I can make a lot more money doing the more important things in life that aren't a hobby?

A good way to ruin a fun hobby is to try and make money off of it.

Other than that, I enjoy the marketing approach of the brewery. Would be cool to see Denver become like Milwaukee and have biergartens/lagers become part of the culture throughout town.

 

I rolled my eyes at that bit as well.

I like my job A LOT and I like my hobbies A LOT. No reason to make one into the other.