Schneider Weisse Aventinus

Given that Lent is almost at a close, I thought it only sensible to taste a Starkbier. Today I sampled the Schneider Weisse Aventinus, which is an "Eisbock" strong beer. This beer is also known locally (very locally) as "killing me softly".

A professional marketing image for this one looks like this, deep ambery glow in a mysteriously frosty glass dripping with condensation:

My own photo of this beer and a glass, perched on top of an old wine box in the sun looks like this:

The colour is a cloudy tar-brown. The pour has yeasty sediments in it and it is low carbonated. It should be left in the glass to settle out before drinking in order to let the sediment drop away. A mouthfull of that can be a bit gritty.

The nose is sweet malts with honey and caramel. The nose is almost hop-free but there is just a touch of fruity high notes in there. Ding!

The flavour goes like this, in fairly rapid succession; Cereals. Honey. Mango. Sweet milk and Toffee. Bitter buttery biscuit base. It is heady heavy and flavoursome. This beer is also strong. It will quickly put you on your arse if you don't pace yourself. Killing me quickly might be more appropriate for a nickname. It is a small-quantity beer and very good for its type. I award it 6 out of 7.

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Brandys Braugarage - Tropical Sun 8-Hop IPA

Introducing the "Tropical Sun" from Brandys Braugarage. Brandys is one of the new breed of smaller (micro) breweries that have sprung up throughout Bayern in the past few years. Slightly behind the rest of the beer-drinking world chronologically, but this has not hurt the development of the product at all.

This particular brew is hard to come by. A managed to get a tasting bottle from the owner of the best pub in Bavaria (location a secret).

The poured "Tropical Sun" has a solid flower which persists for a decent amount of time. The beer is an opaque reddish-amber colour, it's dark for an IPA.

The nose is springy and bright. There's toffee and passion-fruit in there, with a touch of green grass.

Then the flavour. Tangy and sweet all at once. There floral nature of heavy hops is evident, but it is balanced and not overpowered (a temptation for many IPA manufacturers). I had some of this beer with a curry and the compliment was spectacular.

Incidentally this beer has a twin, which I tried over Christmas - The "Outrigger" Pacific Pale Ale by Tuatara Bewing in New Zealand. Half a world away, and I was amazed at how similar the two beers taste.

Overall Brandy's have pulled off a winner with this beer. If I can get my grubby mits on a few more of these I will be set for some hot summer drinking in 2016.

This one easily scores a 6 out fo 7.

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Hohenthanner Schlossbrauerei Grünhopfen

Working my way through Sunday's little mix of craft beers, I opened the Hohenthanner Schlossbrauerei Grünhopfen today. This is the same brewery who produce the Hopfen-Cuvee which I also drooled over in a previous review.

The Grünhopfen (Greenhop Pils) has had some nice marketing effort thrown in its general direction. Note this rather sexy poster design. The bottle itself has a beautiful monochrome label with an attractive, classic motif.

Sexy marketing like this can sometimes be a bit of a distraction, so I tried not to linger too longingly over the packaging. Here's how the bottle and beer looked when poured into a Somelier glass (courtesy of Bierschau, Landshut) and placed on top of an old wine box next to the dirty window shutters on a winter's eve.

The beer itself is a bright, straw-orange, and the head is clean, bouncy and bold.

The nose.. oh the nose! Hops crushed in the hand! It's unmistakable. This beer smells like the Hallaertau during harvest. I can imagine the citizens of Kent, long since having turned their hop-fields over to strawberries, crying with nostalgia at this aroma.

The flavour itself leaps out instantly. First to break cover is a poignant acidity. The line is quickly broken, to be followed by a smooth butteryness - I can't quite pin it down so I'm going to suggest bananas and peaches. Then the bright hops arrive bringing with them the sweet bitternes of victory only to fade and make way for the light malts and toasts of an enduring peace. From aroma to rest, this beer is a five part journey that I would happily revise on many occasions.

I cannot but give this one a 7 out of 7. Delightful.

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Giesinger Doppel Alt

Today I tried the Doppel-Alt from Giesinger Brewery in Munich. This brew is one of 8 craft beers I bought from Getränke Fleischmann in Ergolding, which has an outstanding rage of Craft beers, many from Bavaria.

So, Vorwärts, Männer, to the beer!

The Doppel-Alt has a deep muddy brown hue. The head is smooth and light, reminiscent of the crema on a well made espresso. 

The nose is floral, with a complex mix of coffee and citrus. The full hop notes are matched by toffee or honey at the end. Overall the nose promises much.

The flavour is light with enough room for malt to come through. There is a mild bready, toastiness to it. The above average 7% alcohol does not overpower the mouth, masked by the readily apparent smoothness. That said, the flavour does not quite live up tot he expectations aroused by the nose.  Despite that moderate contradiction, there is enough bitterness at the long-end of the flavour to balance things off.

Overall, a quality craft ale that could do with just a touch more punch in the mouth.

I hand the 5 out of 7 award to this one.

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Schlossbrauerrei Au-Hallertau Hopfull Dark Ale

Next up is one of the increasing range of Craft beers that have been emerging in Bavaria in recent years. Still slightly behind the craft-beer-craze-curve that has already swept most of the English-speaking beer world, Bayern is now playing a little bit of catchup.

This beer is brewed in the Hallertau region, and it is a Dark Ale.Unsurprisingly, the colour is dark, but the reddish hue is obvious. The brew is slightly opaque too, and the colouration comes through into the head which takes on a creamed tone.

The nose is a combination of hops, some heavy malt and something I can't quite pin down that could be citrus of some kind, or a bitter metallic note.... The slight drawback of this combination is that there is a touch of the old used-dishwater tone about the aroma.

To taste, the bitterness is prominent, skewed with the acidic note that is detectable in the nose. There are the classic nutty flavours in there too, with some of the dark-beer coffee bean piercing the darkness also. However, this is not a "coffee beer", far from it.

The later parts of the flavour linger mostly on the citrus elements. This beer would cut through a mountain cheese perfectly. Based on my own observation above, I promptly opened the fridge and sliced myself some smokey northern Italian cheese. Combined on the taste buds with this beer, I found what can only be described as a win situation.

Overall a nice craft beer. Let down by the aroma somewhat, but made up for by the cheese combo.

4 out of 7.

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Schneider Weisse TAP7 Original

Back in July I posted that I was going to review some of the schneider series. Well, I finally got around to typing this one up, the Tap7 Original Weizen.

This wheat beer has a deep and slightly turbid reddish brown colour. The head is very solid, and it hangs around for quite some time. A classic weizen, as far as appearances go. As per usual, here is my photographical representation.

The nose is yeasty like sweet bread and there is a small amount of a vegetable aroma, reminiscent of a small fruit and veg shop.

The flavour is springy, well hopped, with a tart/ sour element. It leans ever so slightly in the direction of a lembic beer. After this zesty start there is some sweetenss, and then tropical fruit. Then, right at the end it goes on to matching the aroma from the nose, a yeasty sweet bread. This one could almost pass for a winter beer in that respect.

I was quite content with this flavoursome, if not oustanding beer.

4 out of 7

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Kaiser Heirich Urstoff

Well, well, well, the beer reviews have been neglected fro a wee while, but don't let that fool you into thinking I ain't been drinking! And, the fruits of my labours are to be laid before you know!

Behold! the Kaiser Heinrich Urstoff.

This is an amber coloured "Helles". The nose on this is nutty and dry. When I tasted this one, I wrote "autumn grass & a tad dusty" in my notes referring to the aroma. For flavour, I scribbled down "light honey & toffee", a "mid range sweetness, perhaps even banana if you can convince yourself of it". The bitterness is only present at the long end of the flavour and it is not strong. I identify this as a cross-over between a summer and autumn beer, which wasn't ideal when I tasted it in mid-July, and might be much more suitable now!

I hereby grant a 5 out of 7.

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I also noted that this beer had an "English-ale" tone, but without the added dishwater!