So, I kick of this blog with the Beer that made me think I ought to write something down about Bavarian beers.
Introducing, the Ayinger Celebrator, from Oberbayern.
This is what the beer looks like in an advertising photo.
The bottle is a 330ml, smaller that the usual 500ml for Bayern. However, the beer itself is 6.7% ABV, so it makes up for the smaller size by punching a little harder. I took my own photo of this little treat with a rather old mobile phone. So, this is how the Bottle&Glass partnership looks like when you put it on a table, in a bar, on a February evening:
Note that that bottle has a nice wee plastic horse of some description dangling from it. I was tempted to take this with me, but I figured I had no real use for it, so I left it hanging on the bottle's neck.
The beer has a confident, rounded and toffee-like aroma. I guess this is what one would expect from a Dopple-Bock. It was probably served to me a little bit cold (it was chilled) and I expect that with a little warming up to the 15 - 18 degrees range the smell of the beer would also be warmed.
The flavour was less obvious than the smell. I was expecting quite a wallop of heady hops and malt. But, in light of the aroma, the flavour of this one is rather mild. For the lager drinker, this beer would make a nice transition into the stronger-and-darker range. For me personally the experience would not have suffered in any way from a injection of more sticky (malty) and botanical (hoppy) mouth-phenomena. That said, this isn't an IPA. You don't necessarily want to be thrown off that little white horse, over-hopping a beer like this could result in ruin. So, perhaps the balance is just about right. In any event, the aroma could be described as deceptive, or perhaps one could also describe it as inviting.
All told though, this is certainly a tasty beverage. I would not hesitate to order this little pocket-rocket again. An excellent late winter drinker.
Using the "scoring system" that I just invented; I'm giving this beer a 5 out of a possible 7.
Introducing, the Ayinger Celebrator, from Oberbayern.
This is what the beer looks like in an advertising photo.
The bottle is a 330ml, smaller that the usual 500ml for Bayern. However, the beer itself is 6.7% ABV, so it makes up for the smaller size by punching a little harder. I took my own photo of this little treat with a rather old mobile phone. So, this is how the Bottle&Glass partnership looks like when you put it on a table, in a bar, on a February evening:
OK, enough small-talk; on to the tasting and smelling bit!
The beer has a confident, rounded and toffee-like aroma. I guess this is what one would expect from a Dopple-Bock. It was probably served to me a little bit cold (it was chilled) and I expect that with a little warming up to the 15 - 18 degrees range the smell of the beer would also be warmed.
The flavour was less obvious than the smell. I was expecting quite a wallop of heady hops and malt. But, in light of the aroma, the flavour of this one is rather mild. For the lager drinker, this beer would make a nice transition into the stronger-and-darker range. For me personally the experience would not have suffered in any way from a injection of more sticky (malty) and botanical (hoppy) mouth-phenomena. That said, this isn't an IPA. You don't necessarily want to be thrown off that little white horse, over-hopping a beer like this could result in ruin. So, perhaps the balance is just about right. In any event, the aroma could be described as deceptive, or perhaps one could also describe it as inviting.
All told though, this is certainly a tasty beverage. I would not hesitate to order this little pocket-rocket again. An excellent late winter drinker.
Using the "scoring system" that I just invented; I'm giving this beer a 5 out of a possible 7.
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