Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Tony, you just gotta try more beers. There are now over 6,000 breweries in the US and every day another 1-2 new breweries open up.

The pFriem beers I recently had during my Oregon trip had an excellent maltiness to them. In my area the breweries of Root Down, East Branch,… have only been open a year or so and they make German style lagers with excellent maltiness to them; a BIG bready character. There are a number of others as well that have opened within the past 5 years that have this character as well.

Maybe on your next trip to the US you will have better luck here? As you well know the US is a very BIG country.

Cheers!

Jack

P.S. Just yesterday I re-posted the below:

“A number of months ago Jeff had on tap at TJs Everyday Pilsners from Root Down, Tired Hands and Rothaus. I ordered three 8 ounce glasses of these beers and did a side-by-side-by-side taste test. That evening the hands down winner for me was Root Down with Tired Hands and Rothaus being 2A and 2B.”

 

The Pils at pFriem was excellent.

 

If anyone wants to send some Märican Pils to Germany for my evaluation, I'd certainly be thrilled beyond belief. But I won't hold my breath.

 

My advise is that you construct a list for when you next come to the US to visit (e.g., visit family). If there are beers that are not available in your visiting area (e.g., Texas) I would be happy to ship some beers to your visiting location.

Cheers!

 

FWIW the best two pilsners I have had here in the US are Pivo Pils and Trumer. Scrimshaw is also solid. I've heard a lot about Industry pilsner from Texas, have not tried it. Just my personal thoughts, but I believe that most US breweries probably use 2 row for their pilsner and the use of proper German (Weyermann) pilsner malt is a big part of the flavor profile that I personally prefer. Except for the two noted, I rarely buy US brewed pilsners - I've been disappointed too many times.

 

Douglas, you might be interested in knowing that Weyermann Pilsner Malt is a popular choice for the small, local craft breweries in my area (Philly area). I often homebrew with Weyermann Pilsner Malt but I have had good success with other Continental Pilsner Malts (e.g., Bestmalz Pilsner Malt) as well.

Its all good!

Cheers!

 

Industry Pils from ABGB is excellent. Last January I was at the bar in the late afternoon, and Amos (one of the brewers) walked by wearing his red Weyermann overalls, I commented and we had a quick chat.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10150173221647055

 

Trumer proves that, using the right ingredients and brewing methods, a good German-style lager can be brewed in the U.S. I think they ought to start offering lessons.

 

@JackHorzempa I know that Weyermann malts are readily available, but they're not cheap. Brewing a 5 or 10 gal batch is a no-brainer to use highest quality hops or malt where price plays secondary role, but the larger brewer has to consider bottom line. Wondering if some use a biscuit or honey malt "crutch" in small amounts to add complexity.

 

We use exclusively Weyermann. It is quite a bit more expensive, but malt costs are a small(ish) part of our expenses. Plus, it's worth it.

 

I am uncertain what you definition of "larger" is here. The small, local breweries in my area that use Continental Pilsner Malt (with Weyermann being the popular choice) typically have 7-15 barrel brewhouses. I am uncertain what are their typical batch sizes - maybe 15-30 barrel batches?

I would guess that there is some 'line' where a "larger" craft brewery would choose to use something other than Weyermann due to economics; those breweries would likely have a finance department (i.e., a CFO) that would run those numbers.

Also, the small, local breweries near me that utilize Continental Pilsner malts typically sell on premise (brewpub/tasting room) and charge 5ish dollars per pint. There is a lot of profit via selling on premise.

Maybe @honkey can provide better input here from his brewing days at Blue Pants and his current brewery of Tombstone Brewing.

Cheers!

 

Do you do 2 or 3 step mash with all the required rests? In Germany, there are so many home brewers who do this with top fermenting brews, which I find unnecessary with highly kilned malts, that it's simply ingrained in the German brewer psyche that it must be done, Ordnung muß sein! (there must be order!) Yet I've come to conclusion in brewing with Pilsmalz that its delicate aroma/mouthfeel/flavor comes out best with a stepped mash.

I'd love to hear your experience Scott on this topic.

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen "honey malt" in the grain bill for Capital's Maibock -- and that's a beer I've always liked to-style... when fresh, that is. It has a tendency to turn diacetyl after time.

 

@boddhitree I've seen guys in Hobbybrauer forums that did 3 step mash for hopped ales, of course thinking a single infusion mash couldn't bear quality. To each his own I guess, but we all know the Germans can over-complicate stuff every once in a while.

 

One of our beers is single-infusion mashed and the rest are step-infusion. We are not set up to do decoctions.

 

I only use Weyermann malts in my lagers. Same story for when I was at Blue Pants. This week I’m brewing 3 lagers (Kulmbacher, Dopplebock, and Double IPL) using Barke Munich Malt and Floor Malted Bohemian Pils. Normally I use Extra Pale Premium Pils. I don’t think of malts as being a huge part of the expense of brewing. In fact, 20 cents a pound (which is close to the price difference between cheap malts and quality malts like Weyermann produces) will only equate to about 5 cents a pint on average or 12 dollars a barrel. If you buy 44,000 lbs of Weyermann malt, the price per pound drops drastically. I don’t know if it’s possible to get silos of Weyermann malts though if it’s possinle, that would likely be another big price break. The pricing might be tough when margins are so slim on distribution breweries in six packs. In Alabama, to get a beer on the shelves at $8.99, you had to sell the distributor a case at around $18. That is a price point that allows you to be competitive in grocery store chains. The margins on that are really low even for a Pilsener. I would wager that the average margin on that is around $2 per case if using Weyermann malts and in my calculation for the margin there it doesn’t account for labor... just ingredients and packaging materials. You could make about 90 more cents a case if you use cheap malts. Getting people to pay $10 for a six pack of a Pils is hard, but your margin goes up by 3 dollars a case in my example of Alabama pricing. Of course, with self distribution in Arizona though, we get a much better margin and customers get a good deal too. We sell our Pils for $8 per four pack at the brewery.

Personally, I don’t believe it’s worth it to cut costs on malts and brew a lesser beer. That’s how a lot of breweries get lost in the crowd.

 

Just tried 2 new, one-off, beers from August Schell in their Stag Series line. A dry-hopped Kölsch that would win gold in an APA competition and a Heller Rauchbier that could be Spezial's American Cousin.

I found the Rauchbier nice because you got the smoked flavor first off, then a nicely sweet malt character to balance out the palate. Light herbal hops finished off the drink perfectly.

Schell really seems to be hitting home-runs with traditional German styles. They have a Munich Dunkel in another mixed 12-pack, but I have to put up with some odd, tangerine Helles if I want to try it.

 

Hofbräu lists an "Intensives infusion method" for a few of their beers. Do you have any idea how this is different than the usual infusion mash?

 

It would be a multi step mash, at least Beta, Alpha, and Mashout steps. Maybe more.

 

Sierra Nevada’s Summerfest uses 2 row (not exclusively), do you like that beer?

Do you have plans to do decoction mashing in the future?

It’s interesting that you don’t use cheaper malts for your IPL. I recall Jack’s Abby saying in the past that they don’t use them in their IPLs because they’re so heavily hopped it would drown out the nuances of the finer malts (I’m paraphrasing here). And they make what many consider to be the best IPLs in the country.

For what it’s worth, they make some very good “traditional” German lagers as well. Like their Sunny Ridge Pilsner which is out right now.