Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

So... that was a blast from the past, eh? Last year's review.

Well, here's my challenge today. Pick out the Kneitinger Pils when matched up against Eichenhofener's Pils.

A taste-off: The Edel-Pils from Kneitinger vs. the Premier Pils from Eichenhofener. Damn, the marketing possibilities? So here's a pic of the throw down:

Now which is which? I've mixed them up while closing my eyes, labeling the beers with a sticky under the glasses.


First, the taste test: first, I'm going to label them bier on Left and Right, until I know definitively which is which.
Round 1 - Appearance:

About the same, the bubbles are stronger and last longer on the beer on the left. The color is just a little more golden richer on the left.
Winner: Draw.​

Round 2 - Aroma:

Left - Less malty, still not bad, but not nearly as strong. Slightly hoppier notes.
Right - Pils-maltier, stronger aroma, pushing mightily out of the glass. Really enticing, with hints of Noble hops.
Winner: +1 to Right beer.
​

Round 3 - Flavor:

Left - Front has a little bitterness, but also a tad tartness upfront. In the middle I get sweet Pils malt flavors, a tad tartness again but not verging into sourness. In the back, more tartness, but a lot more sweet Pils malt. Overall, not bad, much better than a Fernsehbier, much more flavor present. Bitterness distinctly present but it veers into lots of tartness. Overall, it's a tad more bitter and has a bang-in tartness that would go great with food, anything salty, fried or grilled. In fact, it seems to be calling out for food to compliment, because on it's own it's not ready to stand on it's own.

Right - Up front, bang bitterness, not too much but just enough to salute you hello. Just a wee bit of tartness compared with the previous beer. On the sides/middle, I get really wonderfully sweet Pils malt,... wow... not overly sweet, just the right amount to set off the tongue to brain fireworks. In the back, again, wow... it's softer, lots of Pils malt sweetness, breadiness, toasted bread, lovely just rolling around the back.
Overall, it's got the exact amount of bitterness to keep it from being overtly noticeable and full of Pils sweetness all over. This is a beer to drink with food, but it's better as a meal in itself. It's so satisfying it compliments itself.
Winner: +1 to right beer.
​

Round 4 - Mouthfeel:

Left & Right - About the same. Wonderfully thick and enveloping, having a heft that tells you it's a serious beer.
Winner: Draw.​

Overall winner - the beer on the right... and the winner is: Kneitinger! Duh, coulda' told you with the pic, eh?
They're aptly named. Eichhofener's Premium Pils is just that, PREMIUM, a definite cut above the rest, but Kneitinger's Edel-Pils is also just that, EDEL, "noble" and head and shoulders above the masses and even the king over the others.



Here's the Eichenhofener on it's own:

 

Last week, Kneitinger put a beat down on Eichhofener, now it's going to defend its title form the 2 of the best of the Bamberg brigade: Keesmann Bräu's Herren Pils and Mahr's Bräu's Pilsner. A 3 ring match of heavyweights. I'd read so much from y'all praising Herren Pils and Mahr's Bräu that I had to order them and pit them against each other. (Not to worry, Scott, Mahr's Bräu's Ungespundes is coming up in the near future for my review.)
First, no one has ever, to my recollection, posted a pic of Keesmann Bräu's Herren Pils. Sure, y'all talk about it, yet I haven't seen much visual evidence on this forum. Ditto with anything from Mahr's Bräu. I've come here to rectify this slight of hand and post pics of their bottles in all their glory so people know what they really look like:




And now on with the match. Here are the contestants lined up ready to battle it out over my taste buds.



In the glass, they follow the same order as above, left to right in the bottles.


Appearance:
All roughly the same, yet the foam and head on the Kneitinger's Edel-Pils iss both stronger out of the bottle and longer lasting. +1 for Kneitinger.

Aroma:
Kneitinger has by far the strongest, richest and deepest aroma of all three, which is still a blast of bready Pils malts and some Noble hops (Tettnanger is remember correctly). 2nd is Mahrs Bräu's Pilsner with some Pils malt aroma and Noble hops, but unlike the Kneitinger, I have to swirl it to get it really popping. Mahrs' is also a tad sweeter in aroma, less rich deep bread-like malty smell. Herren Pils is the laggard here with very little aroma to speak of, barely perceptible malts but a whiff or two of Noble hops. +1 for Kneitinger by a country mile.

Flavor:
Interestingly, after taking a quick swig of each to acquaint myself with their flavors, It struck me that even though all 3 are great, they all 3 taste VERY unique. This was a WOW moment for me. In itself, considering the low range of possible ingredients, to get a very unique flavor from each one is quite an achievement for all three.

Mahrs Bräu's Pilsner is good, bready, more like fresh toast. The front has some bitterness but it's in the middle of the tongue where all the giant bitter notes pop out. I've never had a beer where the middle was bitterer than the front of the tongue. On the sides, some Pils malts but not so sweet, again bready. In the back, mmmmm the Pils malt sweetness and a nice blast of caramel. In the aftertaste, more sweet Pils malts but also a bite of sharp bitterness to bring back a balance. I has very slight metallic taste, maybe not exactly metallic, but something in that direction near the end, too. Overall, very balanced and wonderful.

Keesmann Bräu's Herren Pils is also great. It tastes more like a traditional Pils, closer to beer you get from the conglomerates, and I don't mean this in a bad way. What I mean is it has more of a grassy Noble hops flavor and less malty. The front has bitterness galore, again grassy, reminds me a little of Saaz hops but I doubt they use them. It has a complexer bitterness up front but still leaning towards grassy. The middle echoes the same bitterness but the sides becomes more bready, toasty but still bitterness prevails. The end has Pils maltiness/sweetness but it's mixed in with a decent amount of bitterness, too. The aftertaste is exactly the same. It's Pils malty but not bready and toasty. This is a more hop-foward Pils, strongly relying on the hops to punch its weight, almost to the detriment of the Pils malt flavors. Luckily the back and aftertaste allow one to wallow in malty sweetness, but this beer never lets down its hop-guard. Great in a different way.

Kneitinger's Edel-Pils. I've talked about it twice here in reviews, so I'll focus mostly on how it differs from the other two. It's much sweeter malt-wise than the others. It's similar to Mahrs but here you get almost a pure Pils malt flavor, and the least amount of hops of the three. It's really sweeter, almost verging on too sweet, maybe less balanced. It doesn't have the balance that Mahrs has. It's like sucking on a sugar coated Pils-sickle, a lovely Pils malt flavor but getting close to overwhelming. If I drink it for awhile, the hops resurface and it feels perfect again, but only on its own, but only seems too sweet when I drink one or the other in comparison to the other. +1 Mahrs

Mouthfeel: tie, they're all wonderful, the same thickness, cozy, süffig.

Overall: I'm surprised how different all three are. I love all three, too, but for different reasons. The Mahrs is most balanced and managed to get caramel flavors in the mix, too. The Herren Pils is the most hop-sloppy Pils I've had south of a Jever, but still giving you lots of Pils-Franken flavors. It's really hard to choose the best here. I think depends on what I'm eating which one I'd pick, or... the mood. If I drink one for an extended period, it becomes my favorite. Ok... I can't decide. Well,.... maybe I have to choose the Mahrs for just being the goldilocks and finding a way to incorporate hints of caramel in a Pils.

+1 Mahrs for flavor, +1 Kneitinger for everything else. +1 Herren Pils for happiness.
I guess it's a tie but if I had a gun to my head, then Mahrs for the win.​

 

Not ba

i remember those. I loved those pics. Not bad, but the Herren Pils is still too small to get a close up or see it really in its full glory, and though the glass of Mahrs counts for coolness points, it isn't the bottle or label. That's why I tried to show it in its full glory.

 

Quatsch. It's drinking them side by side that changed my opinion of it slightly, like seeing it in a new light and from a perspective I hadn't noticed before. Only when comparing them in real time is that maybe possible.

 

If it weren't Christmas, I'd say, "Bah Humbug, you can better than that for a review." Frohe Weihnachten y'all!