Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

As I'll explain below in response to @herrburgess, I find the hop character quite different than Prima as well. Hoppier in the general sense, but not the same profile. In addition to that, I actually found my last bottle of Prima not nearly as hoppy as I remember it. It wasn't an old bottle either.

I like Prima a lot, I try not to bash it, it's a well brewed beer. It's simply hoppier than I find my idea of a "traditional" (whatever that means these days) German pilsner to be.

We drank the same batch, mine was also 3004! I believe I paid ~$5.

This is exactly how I perceive each beer. Jever comes out of the gate exceedingly dry and bitter, with a spicy hop character. Upon pouring Prima you get a strong smell of hops, very IPA-like, with a more fruity hop character. I also got more pils malt out of Jever than Prima.

Prima's aroma makes me think of many dry hopped IPAs, does anyone know if it is dry-hopped, and if so, with which hops? Again, I really dig Prima, just in a different way. I also fully acknowledge both beers are on the hoppier end of the German pils spectrum.

 

Nice little follow-up to the ZDF "take-down" of German beer: http://www.radio-bamberg.de/mediath...ar-die-zdf-doku-unfair/#.VP6S1Yf4lVE.facebook

 

I would stay clear from Pyraser Herzblut....
I had their IPA and their whisky bourbon whatever aged Bock.
15 Euro for 0,75l........
The IPA did not know what it wanted to be, muffled hop aroma, not my taste. The bock was decent, but for 90cent/0,5l you could get the same thing without barrel aging, so yeah.... I bought those two for my birthday, me and my friends were very disappointed. Happily,there was also some Schlenkerla and Büchenbacher

The other Pyraser stuff is OK though, i really loved their Hopfenpflücker Pils. Nice, very fresh hop aroma, plus fruity,citrusy notes from being unfiltered.
I also enjoyed their Bocks in general.
For me, it was always the german brewery with the biggest(bottled) portfolio, maybe besides Brauerei Engel. Due to the craft beer boom, not so sure about that anymore, yet their line up is still impressive for german standards: 15 regular beers(including one radler and alcohol free beers)plus 7 seasonals, all not including the Herzblut line.........

As for Jever, really,40IBUS?I always thought something like 32 or so. I don't find it that bitter, i just do not like this aroma profile personally. And yes, I had it fresh in Jever at the brewery. I thought Uerige Alt clocks in at the low 40s, and to me it always seemed bitterer, and way tastier, than Jever.

 

You are correct: it's more like 35 these days, apparently. Used to be as high as 45 in the '80s, according to Michael Jackson. And, yes, Uerige is apparently 55. Don't think a comparison to Jever is applicable in anything but theory, however, since those beers couldn't be more different stylistically.

 

Lol, in the 80ies I was not allowed to drink. I know that those are stylistically totally different beers- I just don't like the northern pilsner style with thin bodies and grassy noble hop aroma which leaves your toung all weird and nasty.Just not my taste. And I love me some proper Alt. So i may be a bit biased in that regard. I always hear from older beer drinkers that german pils, esp. the big boys like Warsteiner or Bitburger, used to be way more bitter. But I've never trusted these comments, because you know, taste buds change. But this figure from Michael Jackson puts things a bit into perspectivee.

 

It's pretty well documented that both malt and hop intensities have dropped somewhat since the 80s. Jever, with its 40+ IBUs, was always a bit of an anomaly in Germany in terms of its herb hoppiness -- especially for beers that saw any degree of extensive production. I know of only two others, Waldhaus and Vogel (both small operations), that ever came close to the IBUs of Jever.

 

I think it is also common in the UK, where CAMRA considers bottle coniditioned ale the only "real" ale for home consumption: "CAMRA has launched a logo "CAMRA says this is real ale" to clearly identify products that are the real thing: natural, living, bottle-conditioned beers."

 

Had one of these last night, date code of "3004", same batch as @AlcahueteJ as has been mentioned previously. I love this beer, so yummy. Wheat bread in a glass (or mug as the case may be).

 

Matt,

Did you ever make the pilgrimmage to the Holy Mount? I usually take a short tour of the church on arrival, then grab a Bier. I could sit out on that patio all day.....

Prosit!!

 

Unfortunately that was one of the many things I never quite got around to doing.

 

Well, now you're back in beer mecca, so I'm sure you don't feel like you missed anything...

I mean, can you even get other beers -- like IPAs -- at Andechs?

 

The interesting part about it is that they admit that they are all very close in taste, and also say that the average beer drinker may not be astute enough to discern the subtle differences. Again, this is why the price aggressiveness works. Why pay double or a few Euros more for the expensive stuff?

Finally, the discussion came down to the real difference that needs to be hammered home - supporting the small, local guy. This is the trump card for US craft beer, like it or not. I realize that local does not equal good, but it makes people feel good to support a local business and/or someone they know personally. Plenty of threads about that topic.

 

It's the trump card for Franconian beer, too. Bonus is that there, local almost assuredly does equal good (as well as traditional, fresh, and affordable).

 

The ability of the brewmasters to pick out their beer and sort out those of their competitors is telling, when you analyze the beer you drink, and drink different beers over and over thinking about its taste, you learn to pick up on the differences within a style. The average consumer wont have this kind of experience and will have great difficulty in distinguishing between brands and more importantly identify a flavor with the right brand. Drinking ice cold beer in a group setting where the focus is on something other than the beer does not prepare one for such a task, even if it happens on a weekly basis. In this environment price and or image will be more important. The cheapskate gets the cheap stuff, the image conscious person gets the brand name, whilst both brands in actuality might have alot in common taste-wise. In this market the more distinctive local brands will have to rely on local pride, habit, and passionate consumers. One intervening variable here might be a local culture around beer which supports a more thoughtful approach which aids in developing a more discerning taste.

Whenever I talk with most people, whether with friends, family or complete strangers about beer the conversation stops after name dropping a few mainstream brands which taste "good" and maybe also a few that taste "horrible", there's not a single description of what the beer actually tastes like, what is good about the flavor, or bad about the flavor of a particular beer. People who dislike beer will offer up that it is bitter, people that like beer can't, or wont explain why they like it (the people that I've spoken to that is). The other day I was browsing through the selection of my local monopoly store online and counted to about 90 different pale lager beers which I had tried out of the 98 different brands sold in that particular store. The outmost majority of those I have tried on more than one occasion and there's not two beers out of those which I would claim tastes exactly the same, even within the relatively narrow style parameters which most of those beers encompass. The taste descriptors might sound alot alike, and group into a number of similar taste profiles, but the differences are apparent to me, but will be lost on most consumers I would imagine.

 

There's a decent-sized getränkemarkt near the base of the hill, so you might be able to come very close!
I remember that shop had a huge Rothaus sign on the side of the building, which I always found amusing since it's in the heart of Bavarian beer country.

 

A few cold Rothaus for the hike?

 

i think most bigger bavarian getränkemärkte now carry 1 or 2 ipas at least,so.........

 

Is that the base of the hill in Herrsching itself? Before the long walk to Andechs? Because I recall a small Imbiß-type place at the bottom of the hill right at Andechs itself which sold all the Andechs Bier.... Prosit!!

 

It's actually near the base of the Andechs hill/mountain...probably less than 1/4 mile from the parking lot in the little surrounding village that you pass through if you take the bus or a cab. I think it might even technically be considered the village of Andechs. I know the snack place you're talking about, too. Never stopped in, but I recall seeing the Andechser labels on window, kind of close to the bus stop.

 

thats true yep, even in our supermarkets you'll find a good selection of bottle conditioned beers, there are also a lot of ales in bottles that arent bottle conditioned though