Weltenburger Urtyp Helles

While we were going on the river boat to the Weltenburger Kloster brewery.  I decided to get a preview of their beers by ordering a one of their Urtyp Helles. Helles if you remember is the Bavarian everyday beer, only recently being passed by weissbier as the most popular beer.   I was ultra excited for my first taste of a Weltenburger beer since everyone had been telling me how good they were.

As you can see this beer poured a dazzling pale gold.  You can clearly see the bench on the other side of the table.  By the time the waitress got the beer to me the head had mostly dissipated.  Despite the lightness of the color this beer had an aroma that assaulted the senses, the fresh cut hay that had been rained on almost like the scent of silage for those of you who know what that is.  The taste was crisp slightly hoppy with that fresh cut grass flavor assaulting the palate.  This beer was not bitter at all, just a full bodied and flavored beer that was a great way to get introduced to the Weltenburger beers. 

Weltenburger Asam Bock

The Weltenburger Asam Bock is this weeks beer review, it's a doppelbock from the Weltenburger Kloster Brewery in Weltenburg, Germany.  If you remember the brewery tour was one of the last things that I did before I deployed and it was really cool, read about it here.

This beer poured thick with a brown almost black body and a tan head.  It definitely gave off a chocolatey aroma.  The beer went down the throat very thickly and tasted of chocolate and finished slightly dry.  A very satisfiying experience. 

I was a little shocked at how thick the beer was.  I was expecting a regular bock and not a doppelbock since most doppelbocks are seasonal and it was late May when we went to the brewery.  It was very good though and I definitely have another one when I return.

Schlichter Winkler Brau Dagesteiner Rittertrunk

This beer has a mouthful for a name, Schlichter Winkler Brau Dagesteiner Rittertrunk, so I'll break it down first before I get to the review.  Schlicter, the beer is from the town of Schlicht.  Winkler Brau, Winkler Brewery.  Dagesteiner, I have no clue and Ritter trunk means roughly knight drink.  So this is the Dagesteiner Knight drink from the Winkler brewery in the town of Schlict.  With that said the Rittertrunk is a dunkel type beer.

Here's what I thought.  It pours a rich amber with tints of red.  A light brown foam head crowns the beer and just barely crests the rim of the glass.  It gives off a rich sweet aroma that reminds me of caramel.  The taste is slightly sweet with the caramelly theme continuing.  It finishes surprisingly smooth, light and clean for a dark beer. 

I really kind of liked this beer which surprised me.  It is from the local brewery here in Vilseck and if you remember I didn't like their doppelback back in the spring time.  This is actually the third beer I've had from the brewery even if it's only the second I've reviewed here, hey I can't keep track of EVERY beer I drink, and I've liked the Rittertrunk and the other beer I've had.  So that just means I'll have to go back to the brewery when I come home from Afghanistan.

Monchshof Schwarzbier

The final beer in my variety rack from Monchshof is a Schwarzbier.  Schwarbier literally means black beer in German and as it is a very accurate description as you can see from the picture.  Read more about Schwarzbier here.

Monchshof Schwarzbier pours a dark, almost black with an amber colored head that quickly disappeared.  An aroma of roasted malt that almost bordered on chocolate assaulted my nostrils almost from the get go.  The taste was a smooth chocolately with just a hint of bitterness that finishes off a little on the dry side.  An excellent beer but one that also seems to fill you up quickly.

Monchshof Orginal Pils

On tap or I should say out of the bottle today is Monchshof Original Pils.  I've stated repeatedly that I'm not a fan of the highly hopped bitter Pils that I keep finding in Germany and I was prepared to not like this Pils.  Here's what I thought.  A pale pale yellow that poured with almost no head.  Not much of an aroma to penetrate my perpetually inadequate sniffer.  A clean crisp taste that finishes with just enough bitterness to let you know that you are drinking a Pils.  Almost a balanced taste.  I was pleasantly surprised to like this beer.  It was a nice change of pace to not be overwhelmed by bitter hops.