You said 'German Brewing", not Paulaner. I was on a Ayinger tour after Paulaner opened their new brewery. The guide said they were struggling to adjust to the water from the well at their new location. I'm sure it was eventually resolved.
In discussion in this thread about Paulaner. And I'd still put more faith in a small German brewery's product (many that I've enjoyed) than I would many small American breweries.
Many have been flawed over the last several years. Some of the ones that were excellent have been not so great the last few visits. You probably think the trains still run on time.
This is another reason why one year best before dates are not good for consumers. The OP a perfectly reasonable expectation that if both cans are still within the best before date, they should taste the same. Those of us who have been drinking and paying attention to beer for a while know that the same beer made 5 months apart will taste different, especially if the older beer was stored at room temp.
LOL at the trains. Those things used to be on-time down the the second and people would run over you to open the doors and get on/off immediately. Not so much anymore. Ditto with the smaller places even in (semi-cosmopolitan) Bamberg. Some of them are still cranking out world-class suds batch after batch. Others are just as hit and miss as the stuff I get in Denver. It's kind of a bummer because when some places like Fässla or Klosterbräu (supposedly Mahr's, too) are on their game, their beers are godlike. When they aren't, it hurts a little bit.
Or maybe I don't dwell on the negative when I'm traveling for beer and act condescending if one of sixty is not quite to my liking.
Much more than that have Diacetyl. I've had some lagers turning sour. Some of the newer breweries in Bamberg are not so good. There are ones in Bamberg and the area that are among the best I've ever had anywhere. That's what brings me back yearly. The trains are often late, or canceled these days. The train system was neglected by the government for years. Poor maintenance on tracks and rolling stock cause many of the problems. Staffing has been a problem after COVID.
Klosterbräu has been on the upswing the last several years. When Kaiserdom bought them money was invested in the brewery and building. The beers are much better. The bathrooms are now modern and clean! The fall of Mahr's beer quality was sad. Was one of my favorites. Friends say the beers are improving but not back to form. Might stop in again this fall, haven't in a couple of years. A couple of years back I thought Fässla had improved. One day the Gold Pils was a butter bomb. Sigh. Keesmann Herren Pils is usually great, but sometimes the hop aroma isn't as good. Friends that live in Bamberg say they go through some phases of Diacetyl in the beer before they get it under control. Ambräusianum? Gave up on that one. Had too many beers with defects. A new one is Ahörnla, Very much like US brewery making lagers for the first time. Zum Sternla has a brewery now. The beers are somewhat rustic, just OK. 26 years ago the trains did run on time. Several memories are getting off an ICE, walking across the platform onto another ICE, and it was starting to leave about when I was seated.
I'm just wondering if the large can format is contract brewed/canned to accommodate the large can size? I'm just throwing an idea out there. Probably not the case, but all other ideas seem to have come up empty. I remember back in the day, Lion would contract brew Stoudt's beers, and they weren't even close. Still pretty good, but way off.
The first tragedy was when Pschorr Brau was merged into Hacker. The incredibly rich Pschorr Dark (Munich Dunkel) was lost
Any chance that they were brewed at different breweries? I can buy a 473ml can of Holsten Maibock contract brewed in Ontario, or I can buy a 500ml can of the (supposedly) same beer that is brewed in Germany. They taste the same. There may be slight batch variations, but that was always the case when only the 500ml German brewed one was available.
Let’s start with photo evidence. Post photos of each pour both in the same style glass. Are they the same color? Same head and head retention? Do they both have the same carbonation once poured? Were these canned in the same facility? Are they both good and just different or is one not good? @ThePostmaster Enjoy
500ml 4pk cans have legible dates. 19.2 oz can date not legible/smeared but I got it anyway. I'll do a comp in the next few days and see how these line up to the OP inquiry.
It still exists, but they no longer export it: https://www.hacker-pschorr.de/unsere-biere/bierspezialitaeten/muenchner-dunkel At one time you could buy dunkels from Spaten, Paulaner, and Löwenbräu, too. Now none of 'em get exported and the only one from the big 6 you can buy stateside is from HB.
My A/B comp & contrast side by side test results: The 19.2 oz can with the illegible date just simply tastes older. It's just old. That simple. Its pour and resulting head are less dynamic than the 500ml can and its taste is lightly muted from age deterioration. Aroma is the same. It is a bit darker in color and has feel. Much less. IMy tip: just avoid the stovepipes and roll with the 4pk of 500ml cans or even bottled 6pks if you can get those. I hope this helps a bit.
Actually, it is still exported, but only available on draft. There are a few places in the Twin Cities metro that carry it, although the number seems to be getting smaller and smaller https://www.paulanerusabeerfinder.com/hacker-pschorr-beer-finder
That's pretty awesome. If I lived anywhere near there I'd have to hunt that one down. Weird that they do that with some of their beers. Kinda like that Paulaner 1516 only being on draft in super select locations.
I'd wager that they only want it served in places where it will get high turnover. I remember that to get Duvel Green on draft you'd have to agree to having a dedicated tap for it for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for taking the time to do that and write it up. I’m glad to hear that you confirmed my thought as to what was going on. One question, were they different enough that you can see how someone would mistake them as being two different products?
