Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Quoting cartoons now? I can’t ‘top’ that (although I am uncertain that top is the correct word ergo the single quotes).

Cheers!

 

When I first showed up on BA I believe Celebrator was in the BA top 5. Andechser Doppelbock (maybe weissbier, too), Weihenstephaner Weissbier & Korbinian, and Aventinus were in all in the top 100. Rothaus also might have been, but I'm not sure. That's back when the Belgian Trappists and Victory owned the top 10.

 

LOL!

 

Nothing like fresh Aventinus vom Faß at the Weißes Bräuhaus! This was my nightcap on my last night in München last year.... Prosit!!!

 

I had an Aventinus served properly in that glass for my first dinner in Munich (can't remember the place) and totally cracked the glass becaused I clanked glasses with my buddies the way a typical American does, at the top. Luckily I saved the beer, but our waitress who was an elderly lady and quite nice, instructed me how to properly perform this ritual. By clanking glasses at the bottom, not the top.

 

If you can get past the surly servers!

But seriously, one of my greatest accomplishments in life was to get our Schneider (very crotchety) server to smile at some silly joke one evening. Okay, it may have been more smirk than smile, but at least it wiped away the scowl!

 

You call those waiters surly?
What do you call the Köbesse in Düsseldorf and Cologne then?

 

I must have been 'lucky' somehow. Just wanted to make a photo of the casks, and whilst doing that a Köbes had to tap a round... The other Köbes (pictured) jokingly told him to go away so he could pose for me.

I had all the nicest Kölsch memories at Päffgen. Köbesse were patient, humourous and kind to us. Aventinus and the food was also nice at Weisses Bräuhaus, btw.

 

Struck gold with a Weihenstephaner Korbinian bottle just a shade over 2 months old. Threw it into a nonic pint just to piss off @Stahlsturm and off we go!

Great feel on this doppelbock, incredibly smooth, almost creamy, and a delight to look at (infidel glassware notwithstanding). Nose was actually fairly subtle, just a hint of dark fruit and light yeast notes. Palate was clean, refined, and then finished excellently with dark bread/earth/slight coffee notes. I don't think it quite reached the heights of the Andechs iteration for me, but still a darn fine brew and one I'll almost certainly snag a few more of, especially with such fresh bottles at hand. (It's easier right now to spot fresh Weihenstephaner as they just went through a label change, so the new ones stand out a bit.)

Also grabbed a Hofbrau Maibock which will be downed in short order, as well as a 9-day old kolsch from Ninkasi.

 

"...9-day old kolsch from Ninkasi." Wow, that is awesome! So fresh!!

Will you be discussing this beer in the American beer thread?

Cheers!

 

Definitely. I had a helles lager recently from Ninkasi that I really enjoyed, so I'm interested to see how they approach a kolsch. It's funny, I always knew of them as a hop-head sort of brewery, but apparently, based on their website, as well as some success at GABF, they have some interest in lagers/German styles. Glad we started to get them here in AZ.

 

Yeah, I had the Ninkasi Helles on draft a few months ago and I really enjoyed drinking that beer. It is indeed a quality Helles beer!

I look forward to hearing what you think of the Ninkasi Kolsch.

Cheers!

 

One of my two 5s in review. And I liked it better than Andechs, but I probably drank my Korbinian out of a Becher.

 

Haha, too true -- a dastardly user error on my part

 

Might also be the Firestone Walker logo...

 

Well, there was a bear on the Korbinian label as well as on the glass, so I figured there might be some measure of continuity there... To be sure, though, every time I've had a hefeweizen out of my non-branded weizen glass, I do feel like there's something missing

 

The Bavarians say that the small repository at the bottom of a Weissbierglas helps to stir up the yeast with every sip, since the bottom (where the yeast continuously settles) initially fills with, and then forces out, an extra amount of liquid as the glass is tilted and a sip is taken. Those guys think of everything....

 

Then they thought, "If we make the repository a little bigger, say -- in the shape of a boot's toe -- I bet we can fool people into thinking it's even better -- and cooler... and we'll get the greatest laugh when that extra beer splashes in their faces toward their last swallow!"

 

BTW, anyone care to provide a little more insight into the difference between a dunkel lager and a doppelbock? Is the latter just a scaled up version of the former? Korbinian's refinement and smoothness almost reminded me of a Hofbrau Dunkel I had a few weeks ago, which got me to thinking about what differentiates the styles.

 

I apologize upfront in that my response will be ‘biased’ since I often view things from a brewing perspective (since I am a homebrewer).

“Is the latter just a scaled up version of the former?” From a malt ingredient perspective there is a lot of truth to this statement. If I were to homebrew a Munich Dunkel I would use 100% Munich Malt for the grain bill; in particular a Munich Malt of a color around 10 °L. The amount of kilning of the malt (i.e., amount of color) will influence the specific malt flavor perception. If I were to homebrew a Doppelbock I would use more grain to obtain a higher original gravity (i.e., higher alcohol content in the resulting beer) but I would use a blend of German Pilsner (about 20%) and Munich Malt (80%).

The process difference between brewing the Munich Dunkel and the Doppelbock for me would be the length of lagering. I would lager the Munich Dunkel a shorter period of time (about 6 weeks) but I would lager the Doppelbock for a very long time (e.g., 3-4 months). The extended lagering time for the Doppelbock will create a differing character to the beer. The other thing I would do is make sure that I would age the Doppelbock in the bottle conditioned bottles for an extended time before drinking the bulk of the beer (something like 5-6 months). IMO, the Doppelbock style benefits from a bit of aging since oxidation processes will create some beneficial flavors like dark fruit flavors.

Just my opinion.

Cheers!