July 7th, 2010 by Nate

YET Another Weiss bier from me. I know, I know, I really can’t help myself. I honestly have to force myself to buy and try other biers!

Today’s Weiss comes from Kuchlbauer“Der Weissbier Spezialist” as they say. This is the first time I’ve actually come across Kuchlbauer and am surprised that a weissbier fan such as myself had not tried any of their biers previously. It could be that by being a Bavarian Brewery I may have overlooked them thanks to the hundreds of other Bavarian Weissbier breweries. None the less, these guys ONLY brew wheat beer and from the looks of it they’ve managed to brew a few variations of the weiss too.

The above is their “Alte Liebe” (Old Love), dunkel weiss. I was actually drinking it whilst cooking some Lamb on the BBQ. Summer time cooking and eating of meat all while enjoying a bier is such a fantastic experience.

So to the bier. Well those who’ve been here before know, I like my dunkel weissbiers, so I was quite excited to try this. Unfortunately this just wasn’t up to par with others that I have tried. The one key thing that got to me was that it was just too bitter for a Dunkel Weiss. I did expect more and that could also be why I was disappointed, so maybe I’ve got to hold back on setting expectations, especially for those biers from regions where you’d expect nothing but perfection.

In the end it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE
It turns out that the folks at Kuchlbauer not only brew beer but they have a beer theme park as well. From the looks of things it’s not up there with Duff Gardens, but it could be interesting. So if any of you out there have visited Bier Welt (beer world), please let the community know about it.

Otherwise the next time I’m in Bavaria and get a chance, I’ll be making the visit.

Bavaria, Bayern, Beer world, Bier, bierwelt, dunkel, German Bier, Kuchlbauer, Weißbier, Weiss, weissbier

June 3rd, 2010 by Nate

43%

Yeap you read that right.. 43 freaking %. Now I’ve not actually come across this bier until today. I was reading the article in Business Week about the competition for the worlds strongest beer. Now I was aware of Brewdog‘s efforts, but had NO idea about Schorschbräu.

The best thing for me is that they are a Fraconian based Brewery and I’m back Germany next weekend, so guess what I’m going to hunt down?

Still I wonder how much is too much?

Bier, Franconia, German Bier, World Strongest Bier

April 26th, 2010 by Nate

Following my previous taste test of the smokey Märzen from Aecht Schlenkerla (remember that “Schlenkerla” is actually derived from the Frankish word “schlenkern” which essentially is an expression for ‘not walking straight’), it was time to review their Weizen.

Exactly like their Märzen, the Weizen has a very predominate aroma of smoke, which to be honest can be a little off putting. However like a good Fromages Français, the initial trepidation leads to an experience of pure tasting pleasure.

I am a fan of Weizen/Weiss Biers. There are no shortage of them on this site. So when I come across something that completely challenges my perspective and interpretation of what a bier can be, I’m always interested. However beyond the simple of interest of trying this bier, this bier rocked my thoughts towards what can be done with wheat biers.

I will say no more than, I really liked this bier and I think that like it’s Märzen cousin, I would very much like to spend more time getting to know it. So I guess it’s off to Bamberg.

Do you have any experience with Aecht Biers? Then please share your thoughts, stories or adventures!

Aecht, Aecht Schlenkerla, Bier, Fanconia, German Bier, Nürnberg, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Rauchbier, Schlenkerla, Smoked Bier, Weißbier, Weiss, weissbier, Weizen

April 24th, 2010 by Nate

No BS’ing around today. I’ve already outlined the brewery details in a previous review of their pils (here), so we can skip that. Plus no deep and meaningful diatribe about quality and texture. Simply I was given this bier by a family friend and oooooh how good it is.

As you might know, I’m a fan of Weißbier and this one is up there as one of my favourites. If you can get your hands on it, I highly recommend it and in fact insist that everyone tries this bier!

Altenmünster, Altenmünster Weißbier, Bier, German Bier, hefeweizen, Weißbier, weissbier

April 22nd, 2010 by Nate

Those of you who regularly visit my site know that I am currently living in Switzerland. You will also note that I have a particular affinity for German Bier and tend to drink that more often than Swiss Bier. Weird eh?
However I assure you there is reason behind my general prohibition of Swiss Bier. Basically the mass produced and popular biers are complete shite.

Yes there are plenty of great brews and I have found some some of them. But unlike Germany where pretty much every bier is good (and the bell curve is completely skewed), Switzerland does take influences from all parts of it’s surrounding neighbours. Unfortunately not all of them have a similar Reinheitsgebot law. Thus we get quite the varied collection of bier companies, biers and well tastes.

Now one of the most popular brands in Switzerland is Feldschlösschen. The also happen to be the largest brewery in Switzerland and yet most of the bier they produce is something on par with say an Aussie VB or an American Bud light. I actually made a conscious decision to not review their normal bier on this site and I will only drink it if I’m completely limited to it (such as at the wonderful Paleo Festival), so that is where I leave the main bier alone. What gets me about this brewery is that is located right on the boarder with Germany in town called Rheinfelden. I mean you can literally walk across a bridge to it’s sister city (Rheinfelden… yes you read that right) in Germany. So proximity to the home of great bier, you would expect better.

However recently and I guess in an effort to expand their bier business (as they are now owned by Carlsberg), Feldschlösschen has begun brewing and shipping a “Premium” version of their bier. Please allow this brief tangent, however I have a slight issue with the idea of slapping a ‘premium’ label on a bier. Call me a stickler for quality, but if you are going to sell a bier it should be your premium, your best. Be it your best Lager/Pils or your best Weiss/Wheat… whatever it is, it should be your best.

Having had my little rant, I will tell you that this Premium Bier wasn’t half bad. Where the normal bier is rough to drink, the Premium was actually quite smooth and enjoyable. The Malts were noticeable and it had a good biter edge. So if you need a 6 pack of bier for an BBQ, day at the park, friends party, this is a good option.

Bier, Feldschlösschen, Premium Bier, Swiss Bier/Bière/Birra

April 18th, 2010 by Nate

Finding a new (ish) brewery in Germany is tough. Most Breweries generally have long traditions and histories that stretch back in time. Even the younger breweries go back longer than I’ve been around on this planet. So it is always nice to come across something unique and new.

As part of my Nürnberg/Franconia Bier Adventure I was presented with the above Lösch-Zwerg – Würzig bier. Allow me to break this down for you:

Lösch-Zwerg has only been around for 12 years and takes a number of unique perspectives on the German Bier industry. These guys actively advertise themselves as a cult bier, which seems quite true with their following. The first and probably initially distinct is the bottle. Bucking the trend of the major and most other brands, Brauerei Lösch-Zwerg has decided to go with a unique 0.33-Liter bottle that is not only smaller (than the traditional half-litre) but also not part German Bottle Recycle industry:

Quick tangent: In Germany most bier, softdrink (soda) and other recyclable bottles or jars are made in a way that allows for them to be collected, cleaned and then reused without needing to crush them, re-shape them, etc. This is why many of the German bottles in my photos look like scratched, this Schneider Weisse is a good example. The bottles can be reused with any brand of bier, thus quite good for the environment and for glass production costs at the brewery.

OK back from that little story. So the Lösch-Zwerg is actually quite unique in it’s bottling process and distribution.

Something else to keep in mind, this brewery actually uses Open Vat Fermentation, in which the bier sits for 7 days. Something that isn’t too common nowadays.

Now to the name Würzig: It literally translates in to “Fruity/spicy” in English. Which is bang on for this bier’s flavour. The You can smell the hoppy and fruity mix of aromas just before you sip it. The bier has been filtered and is very clear, but also has a great golden lager colour. The texture unfortunately is actually kind of soapy, yeah soapy, I really don’t know how else to describe it. The flavour is good, slightly surprising but in the end this is a variation of a lager, albeit a good – if not very good variation. Certainly a bier I can recommend.

I really enjoyed this bier, and the experience of learning more about the Brewery. I recommend checking out their website (in German, but still good to learn about them).

Bier, German Bier, Lösch-Zwerg, Lösch-Zwerg - Würzig, Nürnberg/Franconia Adventure, Spicy, Würzig

April 16th, 2010 by Nate

Image care of the SMH

Mr. Sacha Molitorisz from the Sydney Morning Herald has just posted the most whimsical story of bier drinking across the Munich Biergartens.

I highly recommend you give “Liquid luncheon” a read. Sacha has completely summed up how I feel about my regular pilgrimage to München and Nürnberg.

If you are a fan of Gemütlichkeit and cant attest to that lovely feeling of drinking a large (ein Maß) glass of bier, then this article is for you. Oh and we can be friends

I can’t wait to get back to Germany now! Oh and if anyone happens to have Sacha’s Email (as I’d love to thank him for this article), please pass it on to me at Nate (at) Bieradventures.com

Bier, Gemütlichkeit, German Bier, Germany, Munchen, Nürnberg, Sacha Molitorisz

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 31st, 2010 by Nate

For those of you who freuquent this site, you know I’m a fan of German Bier. This is mainly because the bier is great and kinda slightly because I used to live there. Anyway if there are any German Speakers who happen to be reading this site, I’ve just come across a great online German database of biers:

Bier Index

Unfortunately for me they have a Bier-Club that only ships in Germany (I need to see they can help me out, I mean I’m just on the other side of the alps!). They also have quite the collection of bier reviews: 1976 at last count (31st March 2010).

I will enjoy using this resource and learning more about the German Biers, hope you like it too.

Bier, Bier-Index, German Bier, Index

March 30th, 2010 by Nate

So Winter is done, well so we think. The other weekend I was snowboarding the Corvatsch in the Engadine of Switzerland. The mountain is 3303m above sea level with some great open pistes for boarding on. ANYWAY, this site is about bier, not Snowboarding.

During the day of boarding I stopped to have a refreshing brew. In one of the tiny huts along the pistes I had the above, Calanda Bräu. This is a very popular bier in this region of Switzerland and I’ve actually outlined their Edelbräu, however this was my first time trying their mainstay brew. This is simply a pale lager that is easily consumed. There is actually nothing special about it at all, in fact I found it to be quite bland but drinkable. Which would have lead me to giving it 2 steins. BUT….

Whilst drinking it at altitude and on a minus 25 degree day (-25), yes you read that right, the froth of the bier actually crystallised, which I tried to capture in the photo above. So purely because of this very cool experience, I had to bump the rating up. Literally and figuratively, a very cool experience.

Bier, Bräu, Calanda, Calanda Bräu, hell, Helles, Lager, Swiss Bier/Bière/Birra