Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Here's a new thread I plan to update over the next few days with pics.

I'll post the list first, with prices of the internet orders, not to brag, but as an example of what's out there. Many who live in Germany may be familiar with these sites, but I'm guessing this might be informative especially to those living outside Germany. Also, this is like a good news/bad news post.

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The good news is that one can get online lots of beer in Germany from Bayern from small, family or mittelstand brewers, and thus support them without leaving the comfort of the living room or needing to search them out personally. It's also good that these smaller breweries are getting the exposure outside their small town/village and hence extra sales.​

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The bad news is the price, which when you look below, is a lot higher than the Fernsehbiers (mass produced, conglomerate brewers, named because only they advertise on Fernsehen (TV) found in the average supermarket.​

Usually, when I order beer online, I limit myself to only those that are bottled in swing top bottles because I reuse the bottles for bottling me own homebrew.

One more thing. Neither of these sites ship outside Europe, so if you're interested in ordering, you may have to have them sent to someone within Europe, preferably Germany, and have them shipped to the USA. I might be willing to do this in trade for a shipment of few bottles of USA hop bombs

Ordered from www.biershop-bayern.de (They specialize is selling only from breweries from Bayern)

• Fürst Wallerstein Winterböckle - 9 Flaschen 18,90 €
• Pax Bräu Vollbier - 6 Flaschen 32,90 €
• Faust Jahrgangsbock - 1 Flasche Jahrgang 2009 10,90 €
• Wiesener Altfränkisches Landbier - 9 Flaschen 18,90 €
• Versandkosten (Delivery/shipping costs) 0,00 €
• Netto-Rechnungsbetrag (Subtotal) 68,57 €
• 19% Mehrwertsteuer (VATax) 13,03 €
• Total: 81,60 €

Ordered from Landbierdealer (They specialize is selling only from breweries from Oberfranken)

• Sonne Eberweisse - 3 Flaschen - 1,37 € per = 4,11 €
• Rothenbach Bockbier - 3 Flaschen - 1,32 € per = 3,96 €
• Sonne Kellerbier - 3 Flaschen - 1,32 € per = 3,96 €
• Brauerei Friedenfels Zoigl Schwarzer Ritter - 3 Flaschen - 1,25 € per = 3,75 €
• Lindenbräu Gräfenberg Festbier bernsteinfarben (amber color)- 3 Flaschen - 1,40€ per= 4,20€
• Rothenbach Dunkel - 3 Flaschen - 1,27 € per = 3,81 €
• Scherdel Edelhell Pils - 3 Flaschen - 1,23 € per = 3,69 €
• Lindenbräu Vollbier - 3 Flaschen - 1,39 € per = 4,17 €
• Rittmayer Smokey George - 2 Flaschen - 1,61 € per = 3,22 €
• Wohn Naila Wintertrunk - 1 Flasche - 1,27 € per = 1,27 €
• Zwischensumme (Subtotal): 36,14 €
• DPD Versand (Versand nach DE: (2 x 6.75 kg)) (Delivery/shipping costs) : 15,90 €
• included VATax 19%: 8,31 €
• Summe (Total): 52,04 €

Pics will follow soon.

 

The site you mention above is owned by the same folks who own biershop-bayern.de

 

So for the first beer, Fürst Wallerstein Brauhaus' Winter Böckle:

A 7.5% Doppelbock, brownish-amber with a malty-sweet, alcholic aroma. Taste is quite malty, for me Munich and Melanoidin (hence the red) flavors, as well some caramel, plum and hint of smoke in the back. The beer is quite thick with lots of body, much thicker feel than most bocks or even Märzens, another tell-tale sign of Melanoidin, but not at all cloying, oily-thick like a Oatmeal Stout. Hops are somewhat pronounced, probably noble bittering hops in the back of the tongue. It's main drawback is that it has a slight burning alcohol. I find it's a real feat to hide the alcohol, but this one does it only half way.
Overall, a really good doppelbock. What impresses me most is the intense caramel aftertastes and the huge, thick mouthfeel that I love.

I'm not good at picking out individual tastes like beer tasters/judges, so this is as good as I can do.

 

Onto the 2nd beer, and it's the first from the Landbierdealer: Scherdel Edelhell Pils. On the back of the bottle it mentions "finest hops and traditional recipe makes this hop-spiced beer a unique enjoyment." Ok, it's marketing speak, but the taste is close to what they say. The ingredients list is the usual suspects for a beer "brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot," but in addition to normal hops, they use hop extracts, which I find not only poor quality, but disappointing in following the Fernsehbiere (conglomerates).

The beer pours thick and foamy, nice head as usual for a Pils. Aroma is very strongly suggestive of Pilsner malt mixed with a little noble hops. The taste doesn't disappoint the aroma, for it's full on Pilsner malt, maltier than a normal Pils, which suggests a little Münchner malt. The flavor is extremely malty, very full mouth feel, both things I love. This is not a thin conglomerate Pils, but a thick Pilsner-malt bomb. It's also quite hoppy, especially in the back of the tongue, very strong noble hop character of Saaz, Hersbrücker or Tettnanger. Malt flavors dominated the first few sips, but with not half the 0,3L glass gone, I'm getting lots of bittering hops, in fact, it's now the predominate flavor. Noticed on the pic of the label it says "Feinherbes Pils?" Herb translates as herbal, but in German beer vernacular it denotes hoppy, vegetal aromas/flavors of noble hops. Again, the warmer this Pils gets, and the more I drink, the more hop has overpowered the malt flavors, but all while being wrapped in a thick, satisfying, almost cozy mouthfeel. When I say hop flavors, it's not thin, dry nor sharp like a north German style Pils, nor is it the dumbed-downed flavor of a Fernsehbier. However, nearing the end of the glass, I miss the Pilsner malt flavors which have been bullied away by the hops. Nonetheless, a cozy beer to sip with a noble hops smack, not as much a refreshing beer, at least on this winter day a week before Christmas.

 

You're right, and I knew that already, but I wanted to give more of a sense of the word. I know Gewürze is herbal, but when I think how the word herb comes across in describing beers, I get the feeling when it describes beers, it leans towards to some of the "grassy" notes of noble hops, as well as just being bitter; however, that's just my interpretation of daily usage of the word. Thanks for being more percise.

I knew it was too good to be true. Thanks for doing the research I should have done.

 

Here we go again, The 3rd day of Bayernbiere, and today's winner is Wiesener Altfränkisches Landbier, at least today's beer is a family business, according to their site. Their Keller Bier has won quite a few awards, but I haven't tried it yet.

It's 5.6%, yellow-gold in color, unfiltered and "süffig," (meaning "drinkable", as in "goes down well" - one of the best complements I get when I ask Germans to try my homebrew) and that's all they say on their page to describe their beer.

The aroma is full-on Pilsner malts, very enticing, almost bready. The taste is quite like it's aroma, Pilsner malts to the forefront though a little bitter, too. It's not a thin beer but also not overly thick like yesterday's beer. With all the malt flavor, it's still has quite a lot of bittering hops in the back as well as front. Obviously, I detect very little aroma hops and mostly bittering hops, for being labeled a "drinkable" beer, I find it almost a tad too bitter, especially as it warms up. I had to get some Gelbwurst and Butterkäse

[Sorry, couldn't resist adding this pic.] This took some the edge of the bitterness off and now allows the taste of malts to come through again, which goes to show that food pairing make beer better.

Overall, a good, very good beer, an above average beer, but, though I'm a hop head, I find the use of bittering hops a tad overdone. I have 8 more bottles of this stuff waiting for and I think I'll try more salty foods when I drink this again. Nonetheless, the bitterness is starting to grow on me and I'm starting to enjoy it.