Love German styles, but live in the US: What do you drink?

In Oregon you simply drink Heater Allen all day, with a side of Upright Engelberg Pilsner

 

Seeing that you're a Mass resident... Last time I was in New England I mostly resided to Red and Amber Ales. That was closest to my preferred Bavarian styles, Dunkel and Märzen.
I recall particularly liking the Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale. We also went out several times to Buzzard's Bay and the offerings they had were pretty good. Other names I recall fondly are Otter Creek up in Vermont (but I read they've changed owners since so I have no clue what they are like now) and the Pioneer Brewery. But then, you probably know all those anyways, right ?

 

I think I'm going to have an adjustment period when I go back. There are a lot of favorite beers I am never going to see again, I think. When I go back I imagine I'll try to be as economical as possible. I'm lucky in that I like Spaten (sorry Stahlsturm!). I'd probably seek out Weihenstephaner when I go back if it's not too expensive. Some of those PA brewers seem to like making German styles. Troegenator comes to mind, and I liked that one a little bit. I'd probably look for quality American made German styles and fresh(-ish) imports like Hofbräu or Augustiner's Edelstoff.

 

I try to homebrew Koelsch year-round, and to have Rauchbier and Kellerbier on in seasonal rotation. Olde Mecklenburg is now available here at my local Whole Foods, so I supplement the above with their (excellent) Alt and (good, but not great) Pils...plus the Maibock in Spring and Oktoberfest in Fall. If all else fails (including my bank account, since OMB is pushing $11 per six-pack), I drink Spaten products (Helles, Franziskaner Hefeweizen, and Oktoberfest; which go for around $7-8 per six pack here). Every now and again, I try a new U.S. "craft" offering, but 90%+ of the time they don't come anywhere close to standing up to the above beers, so I've more or less given up on them all.

 

How much do the Heater Allen beers go for? Is it really feasible to "drink [them] all day" at their pricing? I found this to be a big adjustment when moving back to the States after living in Franconia: going from $12 per case to $12 per six-pack.

 

Very true and a fair question...I remember getting 22oz bottles, sadly no simple 6 packs, for around $3.50 - $4.50 depending on the style and sales.
at Upright you can get a pitcher of the Engelberg pils for $12, or a glass for $3, this beer is only on tap.

 

So on average $13 per six-pack (in total oz.). Pretty painful prices, IMO.

 

Yeah, when compared to the easy life in Germany, I agree
For the US, and the quality, it is pretty spot on.
Personally, I am more than willing to pay $2ish/bottle of a good beer as I am in the camp of preferring 1 good beer over 3 poor/mediocre beers, or no beer over bad beer

cheers

 

What do you find are Heater Allen's most authentic/traditional takes on German styles? Olde Meck's is definitely the Alt, but they seem to be getting closer on the Maibock and Oktoberfest. Pils still uses Saphir, which gives it a slight, but noticeable, tangerine/citrus tang.

 

In my beer closet right now:

Spaten Helles
HB Maibock
Hacker-Pschorr Hubertus Maibock
Capital Maibock
Wisconsin Brewing Maibock (best new German-style beer in the Midwest right now, maybe the U.S.)
Metropolitan Generator Doppelbock

 

I think they have kind of nailed it with their Oktoberfest, Pils and Doppelbock, but honestly I think the time they take, and their dedication to the craft and quality ingredients results in a fine line of beers across the board.. The brewer, a long time home brewer, was/is obsessed with German beers, and started the brewery mainly due to the problem the OP has.

 

I'm really spoiled with lots of great locals:

Schell's
New Glarus
Capital
Wisconsin Brewing
Sprecher
I have access to Victory , but not always that fresh so I don't purchase often

But I also drink plenty of German imports as well (runs the gambit from Hacker Pschorr to Schlenkerla and Plank)

 

In Denver the Prost Dunkel and (especially) the Pils are common, but they're draft-only for the time being.
Paulaner and H-P bottles are logically dated, so those are regular purchases when relatively fresh.
I buy Mahr's and Spezial whenever I see them, although that isn't that often. I almost always have an Aventinus in my fridge. It's both common and affordable.
The recent New Belgium Summer Helles has been a pleasant surprise. You won't mistake it for a German one, but it's at least passably authentic and far fresher than most imports.

While a bit of a departure, most of the time I order a lot of malt-forward red and blonde ales. Those are styles American brewers seem to have nailed down and I'd rather have something we've perfected than a half-assed butter bomb they decided to call a Czech pils. I think the malt profile and drinkability of a good red or blonde gives me some of the same satisfaction I get from a good /fresh German beer.

 

Fortunately, we have Urban Chestnut in town, so we get some good German-style beers. Schlafly also usually has a few on tap.

I also have been homebrewing a lot of German-style beers lately. I had four on tap last week, but the Alt and the Schwarzviertler clone both blew this week. I still have a Heller Bock and a beer based on Klosterbrau's Hefe Braun. A Kellerbier in the fermenter.

We get a decent supply of German imports here. Mahrs is new and Weltenburger just came back into town.

 

We do pretty good here: Live Oak hefeweizen and pils, very tasty versions from Karbach (year-round lager and seasonal koelsch, oktoberfest & dunkles), Hops & Grain alt, Real Ale (pils, hefeweizen, & oktoberfest), and more. Our selection of german imports is solid though not large (Schneider, Ayinger, Weihenstephaner, Reissdorf & Suenner).

I also homebrew german-styles more than any other. Made a dunkles yesterday, also have a helles bock and alt kegged and ready to drink.

 

How is the Karbach Koelsch? That's Eric Warner's brewery, right?

 

12-packs generally have a bottled-on date on them (mm/yy).

 

I do enjoy drinking German style beers.

Victory: Braumeister series of Pilsners (Hallertau Mittelfruh, Saaz, Tettnanger, Sladek, etc.), Lager (a Munich Helles), St. Victorious (Doppelbock), Hip Czech Lager (Bo-Pils), Scarlet Fire Rauchbier, Zeltbier (Wiesn style Marzen), Sommerbock (Helles Bock), Baltic Thunder (Baltic Porter brewed with lager yeast), Prima Pils (German Pilsner), Kolsch, Alt, Hefeweizen, …

Troegs: Sunshine Pils (German Pilsner), Troegenator (Doppelbock), a number of lagers as part of their Scratch Series, Dreamweaver Wheat, … And the new beer of Cultivator Helles Bock.

I am also a big fan of Sly Fox brewery: Helles Golden Lager, Charles Bridges Pilsner (Bo-Pils), Standard Pils (unfiltered German Pilsner with Spalt hops), Pikeland Pils (Northern German style Pilsner), Keller Pils (unfiltered Pikeland Pils), Oktoberfest, Rauchbier, Dunkel, Helles Bock, Royal Weisse, Maibock, …

My favorite Oktoberfest/Marzen of this season (and past seasons) is Sly Fox Oktoberfest. I even prefer it to my German brewed favorites of Ayinger, Weihenstephan and others.

My wife is a big fan of Rauchbier. She really likes Schlenkerla Marzen but she likes Sly Fox Rauchbier even more.

Stoudts brewery also makes a number of tasty German beers: Stoudts Pils, Oktoberfest, Stoudt's Gold (Helles), Heifer-in-Wheat (Hefeweizen),…

Neshaminy Creek makes an excellent German Pilsner: Trauger Pils. In Spring 2014 this beer will be available in cans.

Sly Fox had their annual Bock Fest/Goat Race yesterday. I drank a free Maß of the Helles Bock which was quite tasty. I refilled that Maß with Keller Pils throughout the day and I even had a chance to drink a cask version of their Maibock.

I also purchase German brewed beers when I can find them fresh. Some of my favorites are Weihenstephaner, Ayinger, Jever, Mahr’s, …

Cheers to German style beers!