German craft beer

Lidl is about to jump on the German craft beer bandwagon, next Monday they will be selling 3 speciality beers as part of their Deluxe range. The beers are:

Maltus Barley Blanc, a 6.9% abv bock beer.

Maltus Barrique Style, a 7.6% abv dopplebock.

Maltus Paradiso Zwickl, a 5.0% abv Zwickl brewed with Mosaic hops.

It seems the beers are brewed by the Eichbaum brewery in Mannheim, who already brew the beers under a slightly different label. They are sold in packs of 3, priced at €2.49. An interesting development to keep an eye on.

 

Will this be in all Lidl or just select ones? I ask because it seems that Lidl south of the border have a much bigger selection of "Deluxe" beers than the Scottish ones, or at least the 4 or 5 Lidl nearest to me.

 

Is anyone seeing the Köstritzer offerings in anything but the annoying sampler packs? I had kind of figured that would fade as time went on but I haven't seen any for sale individually.

 

I don't really see a reason to buy them. I can get, for instance a proper locally brewed tasty 7.1%abv pale Bock for 3,99 a sixpack, so why should I buy those, esp. since Lidl lies and cheats about their origins......
And the whole campaign and design for them is just......silly.
I mean, seriously?? MALTOS?? POWERED BY PERLENBACHER??
Lidl lohnt sich nicht!

BTW, Aldi Süd in the cologne area has started carrying Früh Kölsch in cans! Somehow, this is better news for me.

 

This is only in Germany at the moment, but as most Lidl products end up in the UK stores, I presume you might see them at some point.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

I have seen the Witbier in 4-Packs.I heard the Pale Ale is available in crates,but only at the Brewery.
Yeah, it kinda sucks ,since i love the PA while the Wit and Red lager i didnt much care about

 

The yellow Netto store had no problem with me ripping the package open and just taking the Pale Ale, but I think they were just happy to see someone buy it.

 

Ha, I believe that. My local Späti is selling the Becks "craft" options on clearance. Granted, I think the Köstritzer ones are much better than the Becks ones.

 

I discovered this when I was in Cologne a few weeks ago, a very pleasant surprise!

 

I dont recall BaufactuM being mentioned before, but I recently enjoyed their Roog. A smoky dark beer. I am looking for more and hoping to try their other offerings. Brewed in Frankfurt.

http://www.braufactum.com/

 

Are you sure about that?I was pretty skeptical when Braufactum first appeared. I mean, given their marketing they tried to get the image of "gypsy brewers" across, but the presentation and everything screamed THERE IS A BIG COMPANY BEHIND IT. And I believe that still, in their marketing and everything, they try to hide that they derive from the Radeberger Gruppe.And yeah, my understanding is that under the Braufactum label, stuff is brewed at different breweries from the Radeberger-Oetker-conglomerate.
Anyway, back when they were new, I bought a few and really liked only the Oskur. But it was also a novelty back then, in 2010 or so. Nowadays, I see no reason to buy them anymore-overly expensive, and there are usually better options around in the same style.Plus, you don't have to support the Oetker Gruppe...Somehow, Braufactum to me feels as dishonest as Lidls "Maltos-powered by Perlenbacher"...

 

I can't forgive them. They've taken over distribution of Mikkeller in Germany and it's gone from me being able to find an interesting selection of Mikkeller stuff right down the street to going to Karstadt to find just the boring Peter, Paul and Mary. Plus I find most Braufactum stuff to be boring.

 

The stuff they distribute says a lot about Braufactum I mean, I imagine how they decide i which beers they put in their fancy ass fridges:
"So we can put any nice belgian ale in there, let's see......Mh, De Ranke, no, De Dolle, no, Struise, no, Fantome, no no no......Hey, how about Palm!!!Look at the nice green label!"
(ok i know they also distribute Boon, which is kind of amazing, but still...)

 

hmmmmm,guess i shouldve tried that (or ask).

 

Ive only had Braufactums "affordable" Beers (355ml bottles).

The Brown ale is really good imo.
The Colonia was quite good as well
The PA was o.k
The Schwarzbier i found pretty bland

 

I just picked up some Darkon, Marzus, Brale, and Roog from BraufactuM. I've only had the Roog so far and enjoyed it! Excited to try the others. They also had the colonia there, but I'm usually not a bitter beer fan, so I skipped it. I bought two of each of the others they had. Plus some Andechs.

I know nothing of the background of the Braufactum brewery. All I know is I liked the Roog and I am excited to taste the others. I did see the Palm in the bottom of the fridge and I thought that was silly!

 

BrauFactum has been discussed earlier in these forums, quite a while back so it's no surprise that the newer forum members might not recall these conversations. Yes, they are the Crafty beer. The only beer of theirs that I can even remember drinking is the Colonia, and even that was not good enough for me to buy regularly at their price point. If I can, perhaps I'll link back to some much older conversation about BrauFactum.


EDIT TO ADD: A search for "BrauFactum" in this thread alone brings 2+ pages of hits, dating back a few years now - http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/31813085/?q=braufactum&t=post&o=date&c[thread]=56918

 

Below is what I posted concerning Colonia in the other thread:

I had my first BraufactuM beer this weekend; Colonia. It was listed as being a Kolsch beer. When the draft pint arrived it was a nice light, golden color as a Kolsch should be. I immediately recognized Pilsner Malt on my first sniff and it was glorious. The taste followed the nose with a very pleasant taste of Pilsner Malt. There was something else on the flavor that I had a difficult time registering. My initial thought was perfumy? Or maybe it is a white wine type flavor from the yeast (upon further reflection I thought no). I did not recall this brewery’s name and I thought to myself: is this a small brewpub from Koln?

So, I did a bit of web surfing and BraufactuM is a brewery in Frankfort. On the BraufactuM website it describes this beer as:

“Colonia

Obergäriges Bitterbier style:

This top-fermented bitter has been brewed in true Rhenish style. It boasts a characteristically pleasant hoppy aroma thanks to the flavors released in the cold-hop process and features a balanced bitter note.

characteristics:

With Colonia, BraufactuM brings traditional Rhenish bitters to life once more. The special hoppy aroma can be attributed to large helpings of hops in both the brew house and the storage tanks. Only the rare Hallertauer Saphir hop is used.

tasting notes:

Intense golden color, good head. Extremely fresh scent with floral notes and honey. Dry taste with slight froth. Versatile, with hints of pineapple, citrus aromas, and mango – highlighted by clear bitter notes wrapped in a creamy texture. The finish is tangy.”

I am not familiar with the term “Bitterbier”; does this have a style meaning in Germany?

So, the flavor I had a difficult time describing to myself is the hop flavor/aroma of Saphir hops. I did not perceive it so much on the nose of the beer but mostly as a taste/flavor.

I personally did not pick up any of the flavors of “…with hints of pineapple, citrus aromas, and mango”. I mostly perceived a subtle floral aspect.

I also took note that the photograph of Colonia on the BraufactuM website appeared to be a darker golden color. That might just be an artifact of the lighting when that picture was taken.

I really enjoyed drinking this beer. Since it was not brewed in Koln and they used Saphir hops (including dry hopping) I suppose this is not a traditional Kolsch beer but that fact did not stop me from really enjoying this beer.

Has anybody else had the chance to drink BraufactuM Colonia? If so, what are your impressions of this beer?

I hope to get a chance to drink other beer styles from BraufactuM in the future. BraufactuM so far appears to be a quality German brewery.

Prost!

 

Ok, since it got so quiet here, not really german,but austrian, but I think beer whise the two countries are close enough and it reflects many discussions that are going on in germany anyway:
One of the first "modern craft" brewers in austria, Gusswerk, is warning us about the craft beer bubble: http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/...haus-gusswerk-warnt-vor-craft-bier-blase-bild
http://www.brauhaus-gusswerk.at/craftbierblase/

In the context of the vienna beer werk, the brewer is distancing himself from the term, because there is so much hype, and everyone is using it... I think this picture from the vienna beer week speaks volumes:

And one more thing I feel I should add: I only tried a few Gusswerk beers, but they were really good, better than what most startups and bigger companies are turning out as "craft" as well.