July 1st, 2010 by Nate

Summer is good.
I love stating the obvious, ha! No seriously the reason I’ve not been posting so often is that I’ve been out enjoying a few drops of the good stuff whilst enjoying some Sun.

But I have been tasting some new beers that I’m keen to share. Above it the Edel Pils from the Brauerei Hebendanz, who’s been doing their things since 1579 . So I hope they know what they are doing.

For those non-German speakers, “Edel” is a similar word to that of the English “Noble”. An interesting name for a Pils, none the less this Forchheim located Brauerei has quite a range of beers from the obvious Pils through Weiss and even Radler bier (I’ll cover this one day.. one day).

So to the beer itself, it was great drinking this on my balcony in the summer sun and normally this would allow me to have a ‘higher’ rating for the bier. But to be honest, in the end this was just a mid-range Pils. Maybe not so noble in the end, but enjoyable on a HOT day.

Bavarian bier, German Bier, N, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Pils

April 4th, 2010 by Nate

It is always good to partake in a selection of biers from a single brewery. I say this as I’m currently drinking the above Andechser Bergbock Hell from the Andrechs Monastery Brewery in Bavaria.

You may recall that I’ve already tasted the Andechs Spezial Hell, which I found to be a mid-range lager.

Now as I was saying, trying or testing different biers from the same brewery allows you to understand or at least experience some of the similarities between biers, such as water and other ingredients. It also allows for an exploration as to how a brewery can brew different biers from the same resources. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the German Reinheitsgebot (purity law) breweries.

So this time around I was trying the Andechser Bergbock Hell and although it was different to it’s sister Spezial Hell, this is just barely better than it. The alcohol content was slightly increased to almost 7% (6.9 actually), which was not at all noticeable, thus it was a benefit. It was a refreshing bier and one I can recommend to be consumed in the sun. I can’t fault the bier, but it barely scrapes into the 4 stein area. FYI: Bier advocate’s rating system suits it better, with a B+. It was a good beer, not a great beer, but it was perfect for drinking in the sun during a lovely Spring Day.

Have any of my readers tried this bier? Or do you have some Spring time Beer recommendations?

Andechs, Andechser Bergbock Hell, Bavarian bier, Bier, German Bier, hell, Helles Bier, Lager

March 8th, 2010 by Nate

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a little bit of a fan of Weisse Biers. So when I get the chance to try a new variation, I dive in clothes and all. In a recent trip to Zürich I visited the lovely and albeit kitschZeughauskeller. It’s a typical ‘Bavarian’ bier und essen halle (beer and food hall) full of ornate woodwork and middle age weapons and armor.

In fact I had actually visited the Zeughauskeller way back in 2007 with a mate of mine and that is where I tried for the first time the Schneider & Sohn Aventinus. So it’s not short on good bier.

I had not previously tasted the Hofbräu Schwarze Weisse. In additional I also happen to be a fan of other Hofbräu brews. So this was a must. At first appearances the bier actually looks similar to that of a Franziskaner Dunkel (which has been discussed in depth over at the Brew Club site). But looks aside the Hofbräu is a little different. I found it to be a quality experience, from the dark pour and the aromatic sweetness and finally the lovely mouthy, chewy feel to the bier. This is certainly up there with the best Weisse biers around.

My only issue with this bier, especially when contrasted against other ‘dark’ weisse biers is that the taste just couldn’t compete with that of the Franziskaner. Specifically there was an almost salty finish to the flavour. Look it’s not bad at all, in fact if I had not previously tried the Franziskaner Dunkel, this Hofbräu Schwarze would probably be getting 5 steins. However as this is not the case, I didn’t like the Hofbräu as much as the Franziskaner. In the end this is simply a matter of individual taste. So this gets a 4 stein +

Hell just writing this review makes me want one right now….. should invest in some on my next trip to Deutschland!

Bavarian bier, German Bier, Hofbräu, Hofbräu Schwarze Weisse, Weisse Bier, Zeughauskeller