Ranking your favorite German breweries.

My bad, andechs vollbier hell was the beer I was thinking of.

 

I love the HB Dunkel, such a clean and easy drinking beer. I always think of it - along with Ayinger's Dunkel - as benchmarks for the style. They're actually great beers for the summer, in my opinion. People don't usually associate Dunkels with summer drinking because of the color, but they can be pretty light in body and pair really well with barbecue and grilled foods.

There is definitely room for competition from other breweries. My BA reviews tell me I've only had 7 different Dunkels before (and one of those was Negra Modelo). I think that's pretty accurate. Would love to see some more brewers attempt the style.

 

I did a head to head last night:
Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel 330ml bottles VS a 500ml bottle of Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel.

It was close, I thought the Ayinger was better at first, but the second bottle of Weltenburger I drank at room temp and it tasted much better than the first (colder) bottle. So..I am not sure which is best. A draw maybe.

Off subject: Which German breweries are independent and are not communist breweries?

those weltenburger bottles are heavy......

 

Top 10 most consistently good breweries (though I am sure the order would change depending on how I feel that day...):

(1) Andechser
(2) Weihenstephaner
(3) Ayinger
(4) Gänstaller
(5) Schneider
(6) Frau Grüber
(7) Crew Republic
(8) Grohe
(9) Rothaus
(10) Weltenburger

 

Agreed on their Festbier. Used to be a perennial favorite, now it's a perennial disappointment. I still try it every year though out of nostalgia.

Was the Pils fresh?

Cans, draft or bottle? Or have you tried all three and dislike all three? (The Helles)

What do you consider it?

I haven't had their Dunkel or Bock in quite some time. But I recall liking their Dunkel and Helles the most. I've had their Helles many times. I don't seek it out but it's serviceable.

Otherwise I really dig their Trosten and their IPL is actually kinda good.

I'm curious how their new Natür Helles is.

 

Oh, nothing in particular; I was just making the point that there's a Munich Dunkel (which is a more specific, "stylized" version), and there are the more general regional brown/black beers, landbiers, etc. that many of these beers are derived from.

For all I know, or would surmise, the Von Trapp would be an Austrian variation, but I'm not familiar enough with the area to make that classification. I just see it as a 'dark lager'.

 

I had a four pack of the Ayinger Pils when it first hit the US, and I’ve had it since. Nothing wrong with it, but it just doesn’t click with me.

I’ve had the Schlenkerla Helles all three ways you mentioned plenty of times. I might have even had it on draft in Brussels (can’t exactly remember). To clarify - I don’t dislike it. I like it, it’s just not my first choice for a Helles.

 

I can get behind this, maybe not in that exact order but it's a great "template" I think. These are my slight tweaks:

1. Weihenstephaner
2. Ayinger
3. Aecht Schlenkerla
4. Hofbrau
5. Paulaner Augustiner
6. Schneider Riegele
7. Spaten
8. Hacker Pschorr
9. Andechs
10. Erdinger Mahr's Brau

 

Don't think I've had Augustiner and we used to get Mahr's but I haven't seen it in a while

 

I bought some pretty old Augustiner Edelstoff (helles) and Augustiner Maximator (dopplebock) @ One Stop gas in Gilbert a very long time ago (2013??). They probably don't carry it anymore but it's worth a shot. Fairly pricey but great beer.

 

I'll keep that in mind, always down to try more German beer

Cheers

 

Earlier today I posted a similar comment in another thread:

“This discussion on Mahrs got me thinking: it has been quite some time since I drank a Mahrs beer (e.g., Mahrs “U”). I used to drink this beer fairly often in the past with one of my local beer bars having it available several times per year (I even had it on cask a few times).

I clicked on the above Beer Menus link to find that the closest place to me that has Mahrs “U” available is over 75 miles away (in Staten Island, NY).

I guess Mahrs did not sell well in the Philly area beer market and therefore is no longer available for sale?”

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pilsner-decline-in-2019.619390/page-2#post-6571736

Cheers!

 

I like it better than their regular Helles (which I also like) and, given what I know about your tastes, I'm going all in and predicting you will have similar feelings.

If you don't, we will simply never speak of this again.

 

Andechs
Schlenkerla
Hackar-Pschoor
Ayinger
Paulaner
Weihenstephaner
Kulmbacher

This is definitely not a definitive list but these are the ones that have really made an impression

 

Given your guys' knowledge and experience, I'm curious whether you thought they simply weren't accurate representations of their styles and thus weren't what you expected given their reputation? Or whether you just found them not very good in a more general sense? Or both?

 

But what about a smoked helles?

 

I think they are pretty well-made beers. Not "accurate" when compared to what I know (and love) from Germany/Austria. I'll also admit my expectations were particularly high for these beers, so I'm sure that influenced my perception. I'd def try them again....

 

I appreciate your review. Helpful, informative, and gets right to the point.

No seriously, I'll probably pick some up this weekend.

For what it's worth, these have always been my feelings, even down to the part about trying them again.

I always give them another shot from time to time because they receive such high praise.

I think overall they're an average to slightly above average Germany style brewery. You and @hopfenunmaltz are the only two members of this site that I recall not liking multiple offerings from Von Trapp.

They don't brew BAD beers by any means, but they're not even close to my top tier for US brewed German styles.

 

Same here, Weihenstephaner tends to be the freshest available with some looking, and the same with Urquell. But I just as easily get Red Oak a few days old, or a Mason Jar a month old, sometimes a very fresh Pivo. Fresh counts and a fresh Red Oak Hopgarten beats a 4 month old Urquell any day.