Fernseh-Pils-a-thon 2013

I agree... spill the beans, please.

 

Seeing MJ's link in the Belgian beer thread bumped an old memory of Fiege Pils (it's one of the beers advertised at the store in the link).

I have an old friend in Germany who grew up in that area and told me that was his favorite beer -- he even sent me a cap some time ago. Anyone have an opinion on that brew? I don't recall ever having tried it -- on either side of the globe.

 

Here's their website. I've had it a few times when I visited the Ruhrgebiet. It's brewed in Bochum, and I had it a few times in Essen. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about the Pils, so it means it was a normal 08/15 (unoriginal, average, boring) beer, though I remember it being above average. I would like to try their Alt, though, for that would seem a good comparison with the beers down the road in Düsseldorf. Anyway, they're still family owned and independent, which isn't an common thing today.

 

A new "Teuer gegen Billig" discussion, this time Krombacher vs Oettinger. The result of Einheitsbrei, whereas I believe the same result would happen with Natty Light vs Corona/Bud/Miller.

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beit...1914578/WISO-Duell-Krombacher-gegen-Oettinger

 

And Oettinger wins! I never liked Krombacher -- one of my least favorite German beers (and, yes, I bought it after seeing a commercial on TV during a soccer match). Anyone ever had the Oettinger Hefeweizen? I bet that one, due to the yeast in suspension masking some of the husky-graininess typical of the brand, might fool a lot more people.

 

Thanks for that link to the video. I don’t speak German but my understanding is:

· Oettinger won the rounds for price and flavor and tied for production

· Krombacher won the round for image and tied for production

A few comments/questions:

· The control room at the Krombacher Brewery was awesome in scope. I have visited US electricity/utility control rooms (Nuclear power plants, electricity distribution centers, etc.) and the Krombacher control room (by appearance) kicks butt!

· I thought the Oettinger trucks looked cool!

· Does Oettinger utilize Polyclar in brewing their beers? If so, doesn’t that violate the Reinheitsgebot ?

· What was the purpose of interviewing the brewer at Kronen Brewery? Were they discussing the various formats of hops for brewing beer?

Prost!

 

Yes, you understood correctly about who won which category.

As far as your questions go, the moderator compared the Kromabcher brewery to a nuclear power plant. In a bad way, as most have a different idea about who brews and how the beer is brewed (perception vs reality) and that most Germans are against nuclear energy plants (in their own country). Most German breweries utilize PVPP for achieving clarity, it is not against the RHG because it is filtered out completely. This has to do with the food laws (Lebensmittelgesetz) and the use of additives which are not present in final product (Hilsstoffe). The interview at Tettnager brewery Kronen was to show contrast between how many perceive their beer to be brewed and with which ingredients - they use whole hops. While this may seem important, I think that any brewer or homebrewer can attest that the use of pellets is not detrimental to brewing good beer.

And in the taste test on the street, there was Tettnager pilsner in BOTH glasses, not Oettinger or Krombacher. Interesting to see that most perceived Krombacher to taste better due to the logo glassware they used.

Herrburrgess, I am in agreement, Krombacher is/was also one of my less favorite Fernsehbiere.

 

Fiege is a great Pilsner indeed, nice hoppy aroma that many German Pilsners are lacking. They also have a nice Dunkel. Best brewery in the Ruhrgebiet.

 

Well, sort of:

Fine? Fine? A ringing endorsement.

 

I can't equate "enthusiastic" with, "Eh, the flavor was fine."

Sounds like he's describing his day at work!

 

For those interested: sales numbers for May 2013 are in, and they are nothing short of disastrous. Of course, these numbers are all about the Fernsehbiere, so I realize there are some out there who will say "Why are we discussing this anyway?" From Google Translate

German brewers are experiencing the worst year in a long time. According to recently released figures from the Federal Statistical Office and the relevant sales month of May remained far behind the previous year's figures. A total of 749,381 hectoliters or 7.6% have been lost.

Mind you that current yearly consumption is at 96.5 million HL, so losing 3/4 million HL in one month alone is pretty huge.

One solution is to re-position your head in the sand and add pink citrus to your beer.

 

What the...?!?!
It keeps getting worse and worse. The latest hype for the major brewers (and even for some regional players like Pfungstädter) is producing not mixed beers, but straight lemonade which they call Fassbrause. They all present it in retro-design as if it were the greatest tradition they have! So sad...

I wonder, do they not have business consultants? Or do they have the wrong ones? I guess, many people would really appreciate some decent new brews by the big companies. There are even some slight hints in that direction like the Warsteiner Herb (just a really small hint, I'll admit).

 

When I saw the graphic for Paderborner Pink all that I could think of was Bud Light Straw-ber-rita.

The humanity!

 

I have seen a lot of buzz about the Fassbrause idea, so typical German. One brewer has an great idea (I believe Gaffel was the first? Please correct me) and all others come out with me-too products. Granted, making brause is as easy as possible, mix water, concentrate, sugar and CO2 and *voila* a new product, so it has little to do with creativity in brewing.

I said in the past, this is how interesting beer styles will probably be introduced into the market - one big player has success with a witbier or pale ale, and the rest follow suit like lemmings.

 

The "Unique Selling Point" that one brewery is actually pointing out in a radio ad I heard recently (not sure, which company, maybe it was Krombacher), was that "aus Gerstenmalz hergestellt, und nicht aus alkoholfreiem Bier" (=> made of barley malt and not of alcohol free beer).

I agree. As I tried to say before, why don' they just do it? Do their very well paid consultants really don't see a need for a higher quality beer? One reason why consumption has been going down for as long as I can think (I'm 31), may well be the corresponding decline in quality. But it certainly has to be a "big" player that comes out with something new. It will possibly even help the craft brewers in the long run, as they already get a little more attention now.

 

Why don't they just do it? Lots of reasons, I suppose. I assume the number one reason is that the average German is a pilsner drinker and believes that it is the highest form of brewing (as opposed to the average BA). As we know, the Bavarians prefer hefeweizen & some bocks, but in the market as a whole, it's (still) a pilsner world.

As Tony and others have posted, there are smaller breweries being experimental, but the volume they sell and markets they reach are minuscule at best. But it's a start.