Introduction to German Beer

I believe if I took my fermenters and cut the tops off them, the beer would taste nearly identical to the way my beers taste now. But when you buy an open top fermenter, they're normally wider shallower vessels for the same volume and that with a wider, shallower vessel, the beer is significantly different. It sounds like Bill is describing traditional open fermenters with their shallow, wide dimensions.

When we do shallow fermentation, it's in a closed vessel that I allow to build pressure and I use that to mimic the effect of a tall fermenter. It I let it ferment with normal blowoff to atmospheric pressure, I believe the result would be basically the same as open fermentation. Theoretically, we trap more sulfur by spunding, but in practice I haven't seen that to be the case.

 

We toured Augustiner Salzburg. However, they didn't show off the open fermenters. We saw the ground floor of the fermenters from which you can't see the tops. I assumed they were closed because they were pretty narrow. They did show off all their other traditional brewing methods and, while fascinating, I thought their beers were pretty bad and that was a widely held consensus among my classmates. I actually recently asked our class if anyone remembered some things from that brewery and the comments were pretty funny with one of them describing the beer as tasting like pretzels. I just remember them having a very creamy mouthfeel that I associated with being dispensed from casks. That was probably the most memorable brewery that I've ever toured though... They used aluminum lagering tanks that they fumigated with formaldehyde, they used coolships for the first stage of chilling followed by an open frame heat exchanger with ice water running through it, they pressed their own filter pads since they used their original filter press, and they lined their own casks.

Edit to add- I said "recently" and when I went back to find the post I noticed it was actually 4 years ago that I asked the question... I guess I'm getting old!

 

That's the only way to describe Horrocks, and I can't emphasize the "plus much more" part enough. And Lansing is double what I have in Battle Creek!

 

I'm traveling in No. VA right now and had a good Maibock this afternoon (pale) at a 'mountain top' brewery with an easterly view where you could almost see DC from 40 miles away. (Bear Chase Brewing) I I wish I could find more.

My local German-inspired brewery, Territorial, doesn't release theirs until Mothers Day, but I can hold my breath that long.

 

Nooooo - Don't trade just for the sake of trying German beer. At least not yet. By doing that, you're just adding to the cost of the beer... perhaps significantly. You're also exposing the beer to more transit conditions.

This is all you need to get started (keep in mind that nothing below is gospel, some is hearsay and anything can change):

Some German beers have clear dates on them. Keep in mind that some are written as DAY/MONTH/YEAR rather than MONTH/DAY/YEAR. Look for #s higher than 12 to be sure on the format. More often than not, a clear date (rather than a code) on a German beer will be the brewer's "best by" date rather than a packaging date. German brewers will not put a short shelf life date on an export, so when in doubt, assume that the best by date is 1 year after packaging. Some are less (Rothaus uses 6 months), some are more (Jever uses 15 months).

Codes will generally tell you packaging dates. They can be confusing but aren't difficult once you get used to them. Plan on using your phone in the store. Here's how to crack some popular ones:

(when a #=year, the # is the last number of the year, for example: 1=2021... if the code uses two numbers, it's the last two numbers of the year, for example: 21=2021)

(when 3#s=day of year, the number is the ___ day of the year, for example: the 263rd day of 2020 was Sept 19, the 045th day of 2021 was Feb 14)

Hofbrau:
first 3#s=day of year
last letter=year (T=2020, U=2021)

Ayinger:
first #=year
last 3#s=day of year

Schneider:
first 2#s=year
last 3#s=day of year

Andechs:
first 3#s=day of year
last #=year

Augustiner:
first 3#s=day of year
6th and 7th #s=year

Weihenstephan (bottles):
first #=last number of day
middle 2#s=week of year (works like day of year)
last #=year

 

Copied and pasted into my Notes that I can access from my phone. Thanks.

 

I wrote them in such a way that they are very brief but still make sense to me. Others might find it more helpful to rewrite them in a way that makes more sense to them.

 

Hofbrau is much clearer like this:
first 3#s=day of year
last letter=year (T=2020, U=2021)

@deanzaZZR @jonphisher @BigIronH

 

@FBarber - Would you mind editing my original post but leaving these posts for the paper trail for those who already read it?

 

Look at the impression section here. I have no idea what it looks like. I just had some beer there in the Keller.

https://www.salzburg.info/en/travel-info/infos/brewery-augustiner-brau_az_12138

 

*Looks at my own avatar picture* Yikes.

I guess I figured that the ceramic mugs impacted the taste there. I also once had Weihenstephaner Helles in a liter mug, poured from two bottles, and found the taste muted compared to glass. You're right though, the atmosphere is certainly memorable, more memorable than the drink itself perhaps!

 

I'll look forward to that.

 

Just being realistic.

 

I was referring to the casks that you mentioned. Hence the What?

 

Sorry.

Both amazing beers. Pretty Things did the best cask I've had in the US.

 

100+ beers a week?

 

And at 100+ beers a week the plumbing of that house will be seriously tested!

Unless he has a:



Cheers!

 

To me, that was one of the rare instances where it didn't matter to me that I didn't care for the beer... I'd go back in a heartbeat.