Monchshof Fienes Helles Lager

This week's review is for Monchshof's Fienes Helles Lager, their everyday beer.  I've mentioned it before but the beer that majority of beers that you see in this huge German beer steins are more than likely a helles.  Here's what I thought:  The beer pours a pale golden yellow with a delicate foam head that quickly dissipates.  The aroma of fresh cut flowers penetrates even my impaired sniffer.  The taste is crisp and light with just a hint of bitterness and finishes with a faint spicy aftertaste.  This a great beer for drinking on a hot summer day and one that I could easily lose track of how many I've had.

Monchshof Kellerbeir

This week's beer is the Monchshof Kellerbier.  A kellerbier is an unfiltered lager normally brewed for local consumption from casks only. They are also known as Zwick'l beirs.  Read more about them here.

You can see two things from the picture.  1. This kellerbeir didn't come from a keg, it came from a bottle. and 2.  There isn't much head to the beer.  If you clicked on the read more link you would have read that is a charactistic of a kellerbeir.  The color is a deep caramel that is slightly cloudy.  The beer was crisp with a taste of roasted malt, not too overwhelming though.  A very drinkable beer and one that I liked much better than the related Veldensteiner Zwick'l from a few weeks back.  I'll probably add this one to the repeat beer list.

Monchshof Maingold Landbier

I picked up another variety rack of beer from a brewery, this time it was the Monchshof line from Kulmbacher brewery in Kulmbach, Germany.  Today's review beer is a Landbier.  Landbiers or "country beers" are not a distinct style of their own, rather they are just an easy drinking beer whose characteristics vary from brewery to brewery.  Read more about them here.

The Monchshof Landbier pours a light golden yellow.  I know the picture is a little blurry but check out the head that crests and rises above the glasse.  This is something that I've noticed with German beers but especially with this one, it amazes me that the head doesn't spill over the side, like you get with American mass produced beers.  The aroma is fairly malty and the main flavor is a smoky roasted malt flavor with just a hint bitterness, it doesn't finish as cleanly as I'd like but it's still good.  Not as good as the Veldensteiner Landbier that I had earlier but still pretty good. 

Happy Anniversary Shantel

Today is mine and Shantel's ninth wedding anniversary (and the third one that I have had to miss).  Shantel's a long suffering Triathlon (and Army) Wife who endures early wakeups before the sun comes up, long periods between transitions, and being the designated driver on the way home after a race as I zonk out.  She's gotten to be an outstanding sports photographer, something that she knows will come in handy when Macen starts sports and she's fully supportive, with limits of course, of the demands of both my beer drinking and triathlon habits. 

She's definitely deserving of a shout out on our Anniversary.  I LOVE YOU Babe!!!!!!!!

Kulmbacher Radler

Look closely at the picture.  Looks like a beer doesn't it?  Well it is but it isn't.  It's a Radler.  OK so you are wondering what that is, well radler in German means cyclist and a Radler beer is a mixture of carbonated lemonade, sometimes with some limeade, and pilsner.  This mixture is about a 60/40 split.  It's a low alcohol alternative for when you want a beer but don't want too much alcohol , like when you are cycling.  It's also something that you can order in order to give the impression that you are keeping up with your hard drinking German friends, only you and the waitress will know just how big a wuss you are! 

This Radler is from the Kulmbacher brewery and I really like it.  It pours a very very pale yellow and has a decent head, the aroma is one of fresh cut lemons with a hint of lime and the flavor is all lemon/limeade.  If I was able to get out on a long ride this summer I'd definitely be looking for a gasthaus with a Kulmbacher sign out during the ride so I could stop, take a break and enjoy one of these Radlers.

If you want to try one of these are on your own I know there are some breweries in the states that make a Radler.  If you can't find one already mixed then look for carbonated lemonade and use a light beer, Bud Light or Miller Light would work, or find your favorite Pilsner and do a 60% lemonade and 40% beer mixture.  If you can't find carbonated lemonade then use 7-Up or Sprite.