Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

@spartan1979 I seem to remember that they've stopped making it regularly, but Chicago's Metropolitan Brewing made an outstanding Alt and I was as impressed by it as HerrB is with Olde Meck's -- which I've also had and thoroughly enjoy.

 

I haven't had great luck finding their beers. I did buy a sixer of their Magnetron Schwarzbier when I was in Chicago over Thanksgiving, but that's all I ran across. It's very good, though. They need a taproom! Or at least a listing of places to buy their beer on their website.

 

Hmm... they used to have that. Let me dig around.

This is from their BLOG, which doesn't appear to have been updated very recently, so no guarantees.

Retail: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z6NnJ50mb8kU.kdXNCvBSE6pw&ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&z=9

Restaurants & Bars: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zMLi5whcMSXA.k8zLNeUjN8Bs&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&z=7

For what it's worth, there's a restaurant on that map that has only been open a few months, so they may be updating the locations.

 

Speaking of American Beer bought and...

Binny's just sent out a news release that Urban Chestnut beers are about to be distributed in the Chicago area -- can't wait to try their lauded German styles.

 

Reacquainted myself with Victory's Prima Pils and, again, couldn't help but feel the hop heaviness just doesn't lend especially well to the style. Maybe it's the particular hop varieties used, but those spicy Saaz-esque hops, when pushed to the hilt, just overwhelm and add an almost sour/astringent character. I say maybe in that previous sentence re: hop varities because I can think of a pils that's heavily hopped that I enjoy more -- Firestone Walker's Pivo -- though I enjoy that as a beer, not so much as a model of the style.

Sort of typing out loud here, but it seems to me there are other styles that hold up well to, or serve as a better canvas for, heavier hopping. Pale ales/IPAs, obviously, though even stouts (think Great Divide's Yeti) and perhaps saisons (the aptly named Dupont's Cuvee Dry-Hopping). But with pils it seems a tricky balance to strike.

 

I enjoy drinking beers like Prima Pils and Pivo Pils.

I also enjoy drinking beers like Weihenstephan Pilsner, Mahr's Pilsner, Furst Wallerstein Classic (Pils), …

Cheers!

 

More so with hoppier American pale ales and IPAs, hops are meant to be the showcase. Personally I feel the malts take a back seat, and their primary use is to balance out the heavy amount of hopping so the beer isn't a complete bitter mess. American two-row pale malts, and caramel don't produce flavors that are particularly interesting to me. Therefore, they're chosen more for balance, rather than flavor.

But pils malt should play nearly an equal part to the hops in a German pils for my tastes. If the hop notes overpower that, it turns the beer into something else. Not something bad, I like Prima Pils a lot, and would never turn one down. But I look at it differently than a less hoppy German pils.

What's right or wrong here is up for friendly debate, and in the end it comes down to personal preference. Styles are fluid and constantly changing, one man's German pils may be another man's IPL, in the end it doesn't matter if it's well made.

 

Arrived recently for a stay in the states. I've already been through a 6 of a beer I'm quite familiar with: Prima Pils. I still quite like it, and really enjoyed the bright hoppiness that you don't get from many European beers, but after drinking German and Czech pils beer consistently over the last few years, something seems not quite right. The malt isn't as rich and full as I've come to expect from the greats.
Picked up a few more pilses(sp?) that are new to me. The Two Roads is dry hopped which should be... interesting. I'll post a little something here once I try 'em all over the next couple days, but in the meantime, what are y'all's opinions of these guys?

 

This is the point @herrburgess and I have been making for a long time.

 

Of the three beers pictured I have only had the Stoudt’s Pilsner. That beer has a noticeable malt backbone to it accompanied by Noble hop flavor/aroma.

I look forward to hearing your impressions of these three beers.

Cheers!

P.S. I hope you have a nice Holiday Season visit to the US!

 

As is the case with @JackHorzempa I've not tried the two on the left, but am very fond of the Stoudts Pils fresh. Its part of my regular rotation of Pils beers though the fridge. Allowing for the differences between bottle and tap and between drinking the beer in sight of the brewery or after its been distributed I personally found it "spot on" as the Brits would say.

Enjoy your time here in the US and hope your Holidays are happy ones.

 

Bought some Trumer Pils today for the rest of the holiday week. Having one now and the flavor balance between malts and hops is very good. I've been abstaining from beer over a period of days each week in order to re-set my palate -- I think it's working. The Trumer is a perfect Pils to me right now. Prosit!

 

All German pilsner malt profiles tasted thin in the 70s. Amazing the strides they have made in that respect in just a few decades...

 

Best friend's family brought him some New Glarus offerings, and he kindly funneled me a few bottles. Have had 2 of their Two Women "country lager" so far. Pours much darker than expected, an appealing amber color, more akin to an Oktoberfest. Nose is pretty tame, maybe a spritz of lemony citrus, and a clean but equally subdued lager yeast note. Palate is very clean, very smooth, and brimming with grain. Lots and lots of grain. Clean grain, to be sure, not husky, but almost entirely that one note. Slight noble hop character manages to sneak through, but it's awfully quiet. The bottles are around the 3-month old+ mark, so perhaps something fresher would present with a bit more hop presence.

I haven't tried the last bottle my friend gave me -- Staghorn, their Oktoberfest -- but Two Women in some ways reminded me of their Moon Man pale ale with its intense quaffability. It's not what I would call an exquisite taste, but it's incredibly drinkable. Really wish NG wasn't Wisconsin-only, but perhaps my friend can cajole his family into sending us frequent care packages

 

This beer is definitely best when very fresh; it has a big, bready maltiness from the Weyermann malts, but they seem to fade fast with age -- it also seems to get a bit sour to my palate.

Be interested to hear your thoughts -- especially since this one is pretty old too.

 

The New Glarus beer of Two Women is labeled as a Country Lager which is basically equivalent to the German term of Landbier. A Landbier is not a style per se.

I very much enjoy drinking Two Women and I personally have never noted much of a hop presence in any of the bottles I have consumed; the principle flavor is the bready malt backbone. New Glarus does indeed make some tasty beers including German style lagers.

Two Women is a pretty looking beer:

 

Good to know. I will say that the quality of the malt/brewing is definitely apparent -- even at its age, there wasn't anything "off" about it. But I'd definitely be interested to give it a runout super fresh to see how those malts present.

Will definitely report back on Staghorn. My thought is that most of the German Oktoberfests we drink here have to be at least as old as the 3-month+ Staghorn I've got, and some of those seemed to stand up fairly well (Weihenstephaner's Oktoberfestbier being my favorite this year), so hopefully the NG offering is in good shape. Of course, fresh from a wooden keg would be preferable

 

Yes, but most of those imports are Pasteurized, pretty sure NG doesn't. Also, I have never found Staghorn a great Oktoberfest, it suffers from the "Americanization" of the style: nutty and somewhat roasty -- and now I'm afraid I've influenced your opinion, but my BA review reflects my findings.

 

Two Women is a truly special beer. A brewer friend of mine gave me a couple and simply told me - "tell me what you think, but it is NOT a pilsner." I think it might be the closest thing I've had to the amber lagerbiers you get in and around Bamberg.
As always, I think New Glarus probably sold their souls to accomplish what they have done. A brewery shouldn't be allowed to make Franconian-level lagers and world-class fruit beers in the same facility.

 

So true.