Fernseh-Pils-a-thon 2013

I completely agree that while a certain balance may have been maintained, an overall decrease in quality has occurred in German Fernsehbiere. However, this can't be remedied by simply adding more hops -- aroma, bittering, or both. Rather all of the things that have been abandoned must be addressed and remedied...if (and this is important) we want German macro beer to be of a higher quality. As @Crusader pointed out earlier, there seems to be a pretty clear split between those who prefer macro vs. traditional vs. "craft" beers -- so that any improvement in the first category will likely have zero impact on how these beers are viewed by "craft" (or traditional) devotees.

 

Or any German beer trying to match the great flavors it once had.

Had a Spaten Helles tonight and it had a bit of that malty character I always loved, but I can tell there are corners being cut. I wonder if I'll ever enjoy that character again.

 

Hard for me to judge as I've never had OM pilsner. But I am willing to suggest a trade, as my German IPA will be bottled beginning of December.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...r-on-nov-14-through-an-online-lottery.225068/

You could always add black truffle to your pilsner.

 

When dry hopping just isn't enough!

 

Off topic, well not to the thread. But I saw Flensburger dated "01.15.16".

Does anyone know what that means for a bottling date, and is it worth picking up?

 

That this mediocre beer won't be that much worse even 2 years from bottling date?

 

Ha, yeah I figured this meant it was bottled in January. A six pack of 11.2 oz. swing top bottles are intriguing for homebrewing though...

 

I actually think Flens is a pretty decent pilsner. Can't imagine that MHD is 2 years, but I will check. I just sold a keg that was packaged in August.

 

On the topic of German pilsners I'm currently enjoying an Augsburger Herrenpils from Riegele. It's my first time having it (it recently became available at the monopoly) and in my opinion it's really tasty. The hop taste is prominent and floral, with a good strong bitterness in the back. At 11.6% OG and 4.7% abv it isn't worlds apart from say a Bitburger in terms of mouthfeel but personally I enjoy my pilsners dry, and this beer certainly is. On the website it says that the beer doesn't leave any bitterness behind in the aftertaste but I find that it does, albeit a light one, along with a pleasant breadiness. All in all a solid beer and a good example of a German pilsner: clean, bitter, hoppy and slightly bready.

 

I think Flens is overly mild, but it isn't horrible or anything. I brought a couple back the last time I was in Munich after hearing it had a cult following. I'll have to admit that I was disappointed, but I didn't hate the stuff. The main take-away I had was how minimal the hop character was. Blind I probably would have sworn it was sub-par helles.

 

@Domingo are you sure you had the pilsner and not the low-hopped "gold" which comes in a clear bottle?

 

That's the one that just showed up at my liquor store with the "01.15.16" date stamped on the back.

Only it's not a clear bottle, it's in a brown swing-top.

 

It's definitely the Pilsner. I just pulled out some photos I took to make sure. They're in brown swing tops. I bought 2 of them at the HIT store near Rosenheimerplatz in Munich.

Out of curiosity - what exactly are those "Gold" beers you see from the big pils brewers anyway? Are those low-hopped pilsners or some kind of northern spin on helles or something else altogether? I remember seeing Beck's Gold all over the place.

 

Yes, they are low-hopped pilsners, or even can be considered then a macro lager (at least taste-wise). When Beck's was the rage in all of the discos and places where the Cool Kids were hanging out, it was a push for the female audience along with all of the Mischgetränke that popped up everywhere. At the same time, there was a push for clear bottles for some reason - I believe again it was Beck's Gold that started that too along with Desperados - and everybody simply copied what they were doing. A very lemming-like industry for sure.

 

Good to know. I've never had any of those, although Beck's Gold was probably the most popular non-Bavarian bottle I saw in Munich. Since I've only been there for a week or two at a time, I make assumptions about the popularity of different beers based upon the empties I see in the train stations and parks (before the clean-up crew gets 'em).
On my last trip most of the non-local empties were Oettinger Export and Beck's Gold, with the occasional weird mixer and what appeared to be canned wine or some kind of wine cooler.

 

@einhorn: may have asked you this already, but have you tried Dithmarschen's beers? similar to Flens but IMO considerably better.

 

I may have tried it many moons ago, not sure. I know the brand, but in the Frankfurt neck of the woods where I spent most of my days, it was not available for sure. Having also spent time in NRW area, I never saw it there either.

My sister is in HH now, maybe she can find me some.....