Kloster Plakstetten (Riedenburger) Naturtrüb Dunkles

Today we try the Kloster Plakstetten Naturtrüb Dunkles. this beer is brewed for the Benedictine Abbey at Plankstetten in the Oberpfalz. This is an abbey that I have visited a number of times and thus the beer is not a new one for me. This beer is brewed by the Riedenburger brewery, but it bears the name of the Monastery for which it is made.

The advertising people have produced this image of the bottle.

My dodgy photographic skills, in the lounge at 7pm on a Friday night, have produced this image, which also includes the beer in a glass. Ripper.

This Dunkles is quite dark. It is closer to the Stout end of the colour scale I would say. If you shine a light behind it or hold it up to the sun, there is plenty of rich red in there though, depending on how bright your light is or how close to the sun you go (a journey during which I am led to believe it gets very cold for a while, and then extremely hot again). The pour has a quickly flattening head. I don't know if this is noteworthy.. but I noted it. In my notebook.

The nose is lightly astringent with some toasted smells. There's a tiny bit of grassiness in there too, perhaps something floral, but not nearly as floral as Euan Roger's glasses.

The taste backs up the nose, almost 1:1. This is what I have cleverly named "WYSIWYG" (What you smell is what you get). This is an entirely new concept that bears no creative relationships to "WYSIWYG" (What you see is what you get). The taste is relatively long, revealing a bitter biscuity finish (as opposed to a buttery biscuit base). The aforementioned toastiness is well done without being smokey and I expect this beer would make an excellent accompaniment to a plate of Surf'n'turff.

Solid drinking. I award this one a 5 out of 7.

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Riegele Bier Manufaktor - Ator 20

Introducing the Riegele Bier Manufaktur Ator 20.
The company that produces this beer, the Riegele Bier Manufaktur, claims to have been in existence since the 1300s. So this is not one of the upstart basement brewed IPA type breweries that we see popping up in every middle class suburban neighborhood these days.

The Ator 20 is one of their range of numbered beers, such as the Simco 3 the Auris 19 the Robustus 6 and the Audi A3 (not the Audi A3).

Ator 20 comes to us in a pint bottle. 660ml  of Dunkles Bier that looks, according to the marketing team, like this:

In my world, where the advertising department probably has greater budgetary constraints, the beer comes out looking like this:

The Ator 20 is a full looking Dunkles. The head takes on a pale brown hue and the beer itself is a deep, rich brown with a touch of amber hiding in its midst.

The nose provides both fresh and roasted grains. There's some coffee in there for those with a broader imagination (or an addiction to coffee.. or who smell coffee everywhere anyways) and on top there is a little space made for the smell of berries and cocoa, depending on how dreamy you want to get with this kind of thing.

Flavour-wise, the Ator 20 is sweet, rich and creamy. The carbonation is markedly light, allowing one to hold this in the mouth for an extended period of time, sans the prickly exaggerations you might get from a less refined beverage. At the onset there is not much bitterness, but this arrives later. You don't have to wait for long. British trains might not run on time. German beers (and pretty much everything else in Germany) do.

Overall the Ator 20 is a very solid Dunkles. Better than most of what your going to find in the Supermarket and well worth getting your hands on . Next time I see this beer for sale, I wil be sure to snap up a couple of bottles. I grant this little number a very solid 6 out of 7.

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St Erhard Kellerbier

A week or so ago I opened and tasted the St. Erhard Kellerbier. This brew comes from the town of Hallendorf, near Bamberg in Oberfranken. The brewery itself is new, and still describes itself as a "young start-up".

The Kellerbier itself is a wonder to behold. The bottle design and labeling are exquisite. This excellent visual stimulation has been recognised by their inclusion within the 2014 German Design Awards. Their obviously talented marketing people present the beer like this:

When I put the bottle and glass in front of my window, and left the exposure open on my camera, the combo came out looking like this.

Both the bottle and the contents are visually stunning. The beer is a rich orange/ amber tone. It pours a marvelous white head and the bottle is so cool, I just had to leave some sitting in there to stare at whilst drinking the first pour. The only problem I can see with this kind of attention to packaging, is that it sets up a very high expectation. Would the same level of quality be found in the beer? Because at first glace it promises a lot...

The nose is light, balanced, but light. There is some malt in there, but it is not a heavy roast and the nose provides the first clue.  It is lightly carbonated, which is good. If the carbonation cat were calling, it would do so with one whisker.

The flavour is grainy and touched by the honey-caramel angel. There's a nice creamy texture too. However, and here's where I felt a slight disappointment, the flavour is not bold. It's a subtle beer in an unsubtle bottle. When drinking this, I couldn't help feeling that there just needed to be a touch more hops in there. A little kick, jut to let you know that she's not all about the bottle, but she likes a little bass.

Overall, a very nice Kellerbier, better than most, but perhaps hamstrung by its own appearance.

I give this one a very solid 5 out of 7.

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