Fernseh-Pils-a-thon 2013

What? No Wernesgrüner?

I have to say, I received fresh EKU Pils as part of a beer-of-the-month club shipment. I thought it was delish -- expensive as hell over here (just like Jever), but outstanding. Probably not in the Fernseher category, I suppose.

 

Yeah, Jever does kind of piss me off with those damn green bottles. One of my strategies when purchasing Jever is that I sometimes purchase that beer by the case (which is the principle way that beer is sold in Pennsylvania) since the case is fully closed (which protects the beer from light). My local beer distributor has Jever in stock but that batch was brewed in early October. So, those beers are 7 months old at this point. Having those beers being 6+ months old is typical (for me) but I have difficulty buying beers that old. Jever is not too expensive for me; about $40 a case.

Cheers!

 

My list -- although some I haven't had in a while (at least not at their freshest) -- would probably be:

Jever
Koenig
Bitburger
Wernesgruener
Radeberger
Hasseroeder
Becks

Tannenzaepfle is in a different class IMO (though a good, fresh Jever provides a nice herb contrast to TZ's beautiful balance of sweet pilsner malt and hop bitterness (which is very different from being herb)).

 

Help me out here folks - I thought that Tannenzäpfle is/was more of a helles, so I checked online. Rothaus webpage shows BOTH TZ and a pilsner. Any ideas? Same beer?

 

Sorry, now answering my own question. From the webpage

Beim Rothaus Pils 0,5 l und Rothaus Pils Tannenzäpfle 0,33 l handelt es sich um das gleiche Bier. Um das deutlich zu machen tragen beide Füllungen den Namen Rothaus Pils.

Immer wieder erreichen uns Schreiben, in denen unsere Kunden zwischen Rothaus Pils und Rothaus Pils Tannenzäpfle Geschmacksunterschiede feststellen. Wir haben sogar schon Beurteilungen von professionellen Bierbrauern oder Biertestern erhalten, die zwar beide Abfüllungen loben, jedoch geschmackliche Unterschiede feststellen.

Wie diese Geschmacksunterschiede entstehen, können wir Ihnen leider nicht erklären. Allerdings beobachten wir das Phänomen bei unseren anderen 0,33l Bieren, dem Rothaus Hefe Weizen Zäpfle und dem Rothaus Märzen Export Eiszäpfle, ebenfalls. Obwohl wir auch hier die gleichen Biere in die 0,5 und 0,33 l Flaschen füllen.

Learned something new today.

 

Funny. When I was at friends' in Moenchengladbach over Xmas, a neighbor came over who only drank Bitburger "Stubbis," as he swore they tasted far better than the normal bottles:

 

The retailers and brewers love Stubbi's because there are only 20x0.33 in a case. I like them because you think you really have a beer in your hand. Very manly.

 

I was too busy putting away the stash of Fuechschen, Uerige, Schluessel, Schumacher, and Bolten my buddy had stocked up on prior to my arrival to worry about the Stubbis.

 

I haven't seen Wernersgrüner ever advertised on TV, but they are sadly owned by Bitburger Getränkegruppe since 2002. The fact that it's sold in Aldi is another strike against it.

However, the term Fernsehbier doesn't just mean they're advertised on TV; rather, it's a way of referring to beers owned by conglomerates, who DO advertised heavily on TV. Bitburg is one of those. Another is Kulmbacher, who owns EKU, making it also a Fernsehbier simply by being own by one of the worst offenders of TV advertising.

 

Thank you MJ for your supreme sacrifice and then writing about your trip to hell and back. Now it's my turn to venture into that deep, dark hole known as Fernsehbiere, of which I'm willing to risk life and soul for y'all, so you don't have to.

The standard disclaimer applies: do NOT do this at home, risking your taste buds' sanity is only for us experts who have decent beer to fall back on and pull us out of this peril.

I didn't have much to do today and I went out to get a beer to soak some Bratwürstchen in, and standing in the kiosk, I thought... am I up to the challenge like MJ was? Looking into the cooler of the only thing open in almost all of Germany on a Sunday , Fernsehbiere leered at me, challenging me, telling me I was not strong enough to their withstand their wretchedness, that I was too much a Sissy now that I was a "Beer Advocate" for the real gritty stuff, Fernsehbiere. My pride and curiosity piqued, I reached in, pulled the cold bottles out and paid without once wincing or displaying a sense of irony. Did I need to explain this to the woman at the kiosk? Why would he buy 3 different brands at once? Is he crazy or simply can't make up his mind, or worse, is... ambivalent about beers? Luckily, I escaped with nothing more than a "thank you."

Here's the line up, challenging my taste buds to see if they can even find a difference between them.

Below is the same line up, same order, but in the glass. Don't they look intimidating?

Now from above, same order... and you can see I labeled them below, then mixed them up to make it somewhat a blind test. Unfortunately, Binding lost it's foam almost immediately.

Finally, the results, with my taste buds and integrity intact.

I am not too proud to accept any award you wish to give me for bravery beyond the normal call of duty, an experience as harrowing and thrilling as it was educational.

 

Any more info necessary?

 

Yes, you didn't provide any tasting profiles... if there were any to provide.

 

Wasn't the written note in the pic enough?

 

my favorite was usually Rothaus, I enjoyed Jever from time to time as well as Veltins.

 

Sorry, missed that... but the brevity speaks volumes!