Schlenkerla

Helles Schlenkerla Lagerbier - The helles from Schlenkerla.  It pours a clear straw gold with a decent head that quickly dissipates.  The aroma is subtle, giving no clue to the taste that will hit you.  Smoky flavor permeates every sip with just a hint of hops bitterness.  The finish is crisp and clean and leaves you wanting another drink.  The Rauchbiers (Smoke beers) are a little different taste but I like them and they would definitely go well with a smoked brisket or chicken.

Aecht Schlenkerla Weizen - The smoked weizen from Schlenkerla.  It pours a dark cloudy brown with hints of reddish amber.  A generous beige head slowly dissolves into a fine layer atop the beer.  This beer really looks like a dunkel weisse.  The aroma is pure smoked malts.  The taste is smoky with some hints of spices...a touch of cloves.  There is virtually no taste of citrus, bubblegum or banana that is typically found in a German Weizen, just the smoke and the hint of spices.  The smoke on this is almost overwhelming, it's tasty but it might be just a little too much for some folks.

Hacker Pshorr

Hacker Pshorr Braumeister Pils - The premium pils offering from Hacker-Pshorr.  It pours a brilliant clear straw gold with a thin generous head that dissolves quickly into lacing that clings to the side of the glass.  The aroma is sweetly hoppy.  Taste is hoppy without too much bitterness.  The finish is crisp, clean and wet.  Not too bad for a German Pils.

Special Beer Review - Schlossbrauerei Naabeck

Naabecker Hell - This beer pours a clear yellow with hints of darker gold.  A generous head slowly dissolves leaving lots of lacing on the sides of a glass.  The aroma is hoppy and mild.  The taste wars between slightly bitter hops and sweet malts with the hops just edging out the malts, although the bitterness is really mild.  The finish is crisp and wet and leaves you wanting another one.  A fine example of a helles.

Naabecker Marzen - This marzen pours a deep gold with hints of copper.  The head is generous and dissolves slowly into a thin layer with some lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is malty sweet and so is the taste.  The mouth feel is substantial and the fiinsh leaves a slight aftertaste that quickly goes away.  Marzen's are one of my favorite varieties of German beers and I like this one.

Naabecker Pils - A clear pale gold with a generous head that dissolves quickly leaving lots of lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is mildly hoppy.  The bite of bitter hops slaps you at first swallow.  Hops drags into the crisp finish and is still finish in the after taste.  I can handle a hoppy beer but I don't like it when it's still present after I swallow.  Definitely not a Pils I'll repeat.

Naabecker Bock Hell - This orangish red beer develops a decent three finger head that quickly disappears with almost no residue.  The aroma is sweet malt.  Taste is malty with hints of caramel and some traces of alcohol, 6.4 %.  The finish is crisp and dry. A pretty tasty bock.

Naabecker Bock Dunkel - This Bock Dunkel pours a dark chocolate with hints of amber and red.  The head is a generous beige that lasted quite awhile but eventually dissolved to nothingness.  The aroma is overwhelmingly malty.  The taste is chocolately well roasted malts with a clean finish and just a hint of an aftertaste.  Another pretty tasty version of a bock.

Special Beer Review - La Trappe Belgian Trappist Brewery

La Trappe Blond - The Belgian Blonde offering from La Trappe.  It pours a dark yellow gold with hints of reddish amber.  The head is slightly off white and dissolves quickly into nothingness.  The aroma is sweet caramelly malts.  The taste is caramelly malts with some hints of spices.  The finish is crsip and wet.  Interesting.

La Trappe Quadrupel - 10% alcohol by volume.  This trappist brew pours an amber reddish with a beige head.  The aroma is malts and alcohol.  That theme carries over into taste where malts predominate and you can always the alcohol.  The finishdry and all alcohol.  This one packs too much of a kick and doesn't bother to disguise it for me.

Special Beer Review -Brauerei Fuchsbeck

Fuchsbeck Hell - The standard helles from Brauerei Fuchsbeck.  It pours a pale gold with a thick two finger head that quickly dissipates leaving some lacing on the side of the glass.  The aroma is subtle but hoppy.  The taste is mild malt with hints of hop bitterness.  The finish is dominated by hoppy bitterness.  This helles is a little more hoppy than what I like, so I'll pass on a second.

Fuchsbeck Export - This Export or Dortmunder style beer pours a clear amber gold with a thin white head the dissolved quickly leaving no tracing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is malty.  The taste is malty with some hints of hoppy bitterness.  The finish is clean and crisp with no after taste.  This isn't a bad beer but there is just something about that I don't like.

Fuchsbeck Pils - There must be something I'm missing about German beer, because almost every pils I find comes in a .33L bottle and this pils from Brauerei Fuchsbeck is no exception.  It pours a darker amber/gold with a very thin head that dissipated quickly.  The aroma is slight and I can't pick out any individual notes.  The taste though is more hops than malt but this much less bitter than other German Pils I've had.  In fact I'd almost guess this was the helles and the helles was the pils.  Interesting.   i like this one which is not something I've said about any of the other Fuchsbeck's or even many German Pils.

Fuchsbeck Weissbier - This pours a cloudy amber brown with a generous slightly off white head that dissolved down into a constant 1 finger froth.  The aroma is cloves and bananas.  The taste is cloves and other spices as well as bananas.  The mouthfeel does seem to be a little thinner than other weissbiers.  The finish si crisp and dry with just a hint of an after taste.  Not a bad weissbier.

Fuchsbeck Kristall Weissbier - The filtered weissbier from Fuchsbeck.  I tpours a clear gold with a thin white head that disappeared quickly.  The aroma is subdued spices.  The mouthful is thin and the taste is of banana as well as some citrus and spice.  The finish is very crisp and wet.  Not a bad kristal weisse, I think I like it better than the regular weisse, even if the mouthfeel is a little light or thin.



Special Beer Review - Sperber Brau

Sperber Brau Classic Lager - These is Sperber's Ur/Urtype helles.  It comes in .33L bottle.  It pours an amber gold with slight hints of orange.  There is a generous frothy head that dissolved fairly quickly but left lots of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is negligible.  The taste is more hops than malt and the bitterness lingers but it's not overwhelming.  The finish is crisp and dry. Not my favorite Urtype but tasty nevertheless.

Sperber Brau Helles Vollbier - The regular helles from Sperber brau.  It pours a clear gold with a generous head that quickly disappeared leaving no lacing.  The aroma is sweet fresh cut grass.  The taste is slightly sweet with the hint hops bitterness.  There is a slight aftertaste but it disappears quickly.  Other than that this was a pretty good beer.

Sperber Brau Zoiglbier - Zoiglbier is typically only brewed in Northern Bavaria near the Czech border.  We are right in the heart of that region but it took me two years to discover one.  It similar in many ways to a Pilsner.  This one pours a pale gold with a very generous head and lots and lots of tiny bubbles.  The aroma is strongly of hops and the taste is of fine spicy hops with just a hint of bitterness that then explodes into full blown bitterness.  Finally it finishes smooth and without much of an aftertaste.  This is an interesting beer.  Not sure I'd search this beer out other than the fact that it's pretty rare.  Very drinkable though. 

Sperber Brau Graf Gebhard Weisse - The regular hefe-Weizen from Sperber Brau.  It pours a dark brownish amber with a very generous frothy off white head that dissolved slowly leaving plenty of lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is banana, cloves and other spices, with maybe a hint of fruit.  The taste is banana, cloves and once again some fruitiness.  The finish is tart and wet.  Not half bad.  An interesting weisse. 

Sperber Brau Rosenburg Pils - This pils pours a clear golden with a generous 2 finger head that quickly disappeared while leaving lots of lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is hoppy and spicy.  The taste is crisp with the hops predominating but not overly bitter, hints of spice take off the bitter edge.  The finish is crisp and dry.  I've said it before, I'm not a fan of German Pils but I'll take a second one of these.

Sperber Brau Steiger Schwarze - This is the dunkel weisse offering from Sperber Brau.  It pours a dark brown with hints of red.  The head is full chocolately brown and fades away slowly.  The taste is clovy bananas.  The finish is very crisp and the carbonation numbs the tongue.  A very good dunkel weisse.

Special Beer Review - Lowenbrau

Lowenbrau Original - The helles from Lowenbrau.  It pours a a clear gold with a generous foamy head that dissolved quickly into a thin layer with some lacing on the sides. The aroma is faintly of fresh cut grass.  The taste is slightly sweet with a slight undercurrent of bitterness from the hops.  The finish is crisp and slightly dry.  Not my favorite helles but definitely one that is drinkable.

Lowenbrau Urtyp - The label proclaims this to beer to have character.  It pours a clear golden with a generous slightly off white head that disappeared slowly leaving lots of lacing on the side of the glass.  There is a weak aroma of fresh cut grass. The taste is slightly sweet perfectly balanced with a slight bitterness.  It finishes crisp and clean.  I definitely like this beer and I'd have to agree more character than the regular helles.

Lowenbrau Triumphator - Lowenbrau's doppelbock, one of the few that are available year round, This beer pours a dark coffee with hints of reddish amber.  The head is a generous beige that slowly dissolves into a thin layer with lots of lacing on the sides.  The taste is sweet chocolaty caramel with little of the 7.6% alcohol showing through.  That's a lot of alcohol but not as much as some other doppelbocks.  The finish is wet and crisp.  A fine, if just a little lightweight, example of a doppelbock.

Lowenbrau Dunkel - This beer pours a dark coffee with hints of amber.  A slightly offwhite head dissolved quickly into a very thin layer with almost no lacing.  The taste is of well roasted malts with a very slight sweet undertone.  The finish is crisp and begs another drink.  I like dunkels and this is a good one.

Lowenbrau Oktoberfestbier - The lion's brew, that's a rough translation of lowenbrau. Their Oktoberfest/Marzen offering pours a coppery gold like the others but the head seemed to disappear a little faster, although the lacing remained on the sides. The aroma is still malty. The taste is malty sweet with a more pronounced hoppy bitterness. Interesting. The finish is crisp and wet and with that extra hoppy kick. Tasty but not my favorite.

Lowenbrau LowenWeisse - The hefe weisse from Lowenbrau.  It pours a dark cloudy caramel with hints of gold.  The head is a thick white that dissolves quickly donw to nothing with only limited residue.  The aroma is citrusy and sweet.  The taste is more citrus with hints of clove. The carbonation makes this beer very crisp on the tongue.  The finish continues to be crisp and there is minimal after taste.  This is a good hefe. 

Special Beer Review - Augustiner Brau Munchen

Augustiner Lagerbier Hell - This beer pours a crystal clear god with a generous head that dissolves fairly quickly but leaves plenty of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is one of fresh grass.  The taste is not as balanced between hops and malts as other helles and it finishes quite bitter.  I'm almost tempted to say this is more a German Pils than a helles.  Definitely not my favorite helles.

Augustiner Dunkel - The dunkel offering from Augustiner.  It pours a dark reddish amber with an off white beige head that dissolved fairly rapidly leaving lacing on the sides of the glass.  Caramally roasted malts fills the nose and the taste is sweet with hints of coffee bitterness, the finish is smooth and leaves you wanting another drink.  Another slightly different from normal offering from Augustiner.  I do like this one better than the helles but not one of my favorite dunkels.  I'm starting to wonder if the slightly different theme will persist throughout all their beers.

Augustiner Oktoberfest - This Marzen is one hard beer to find.  It was the only one that I couldn't find in the run up to Oktoberfest.  I lucked into a vendor at the post bazaar who had a stockage of it.  It pours a clear straw yellow with a white light bodied generous head that quickly dissolved into lacing that stuck to the sides of the glass.  The aroma is slightly sweet and the first swig reinforces that sweetness.  A second drink reveals an undercurrent of bitterness that wars with the upfront sweetness for predominance.  The finish is crisp, wet and makes me want to take another drink.  This is a good beer and I'm much more impressed with it then the two preceding beers.  There must be a reason it was hard to find.

Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier - This is the Augustiner that is the easiest to find in my area.  For all of the other varieties I've had to head closer to Munich.  It pours a clear straw gold with a generous head that quickly dissolved leaving lots of white lacings on the side of the glass.  The aroma is predominated by sweet malts.  The taste does demonstrate slightly more bitterness then sweetness but is overall a good balance.   The finish is subtle and clean and quite good.  I like this beer.

Augustiner Pils - There must be something about German Pils and .33L bottles.  Most of the ones I come across come in bottles that size.  Interesting.  This beer pours a brillant clear straw gold with a generous head that quickly dissolved leaving just a hint of lacing on the sides.  The taste hits you straight up with hops bitterness, leaving you no doubt that this a German Pils.  The bitterness fades to a crisp finish that actually makes you forget the bitterness and leaves you wanting another drink.  This is a good German Pils

Augustiner Weissbier - This weizen pours a golden toned amber with a slightly off white head.  The head dissolved rapidly but left lots of lacings on the side of the glass.  The aroma is bananas and slight cloves.  The taste is bananas and tart spices.  The finish is crisp and dry.  Something seems just a little different from some of the other weizen's I've had, I just can't put my finger on it.  Doesn't matter anyway since if you know me, you know I like my beers just a little bit different and this one definitely fits the bill.

Special Beer Review - Hofbrau

Hofbrau Original - The Hofbrau Helles, it pours a golden amber with a generous head that crested the glass but didn't overflow and then slowly dissolved, leaving significant lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is slightly sweet.  The taste a balance between hops and malts with spicy sweet overtones.  After several sips the hops seems to win out in the ending dry finish.

Hofbrau Dunkel - This beer pours a reddish amber with a generous beige head that slowlly dissolved leaving plenty of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is heavy roasted malts with overtones of caramal, almost made me think of a Coke.  The flavor is malty sweet hints of dark chocolate swirl around and the finish is wet and lingering.  Not a bad dunkel but I'm not as impressed with it out of the bottle as I was out of the tap in the Hofbrauhaus itself.

Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier - This beer pours a dark amber with a slightly off white head that starts off generous but slowly dissolves but leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is straight up malts with maybe, just maybe, a hint of hops.  The taste is sweet malt and this beer finishes with a slight tartness that calls for another drink.  I'll happily oblige.

Hofbrau Maibock - A Munchner Bockbier according to the label.  I picked this one up right after I got back from R and R and I'm glad that I finally got to it since the use by date is early November.  Right up front this beer packs a punch 7.2% alcohol by volume.  Read more about Bock substyles and their differences here.  Basically though this is a helles lager that is brewed to bock strength, typically in the spring time for fests in May.  It pours a copper with hints of red and an off white head that dissolved quickly leaving significant lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma is malty sweet.  The taste is malty with a touch of smoky caramel and a slightly dry finish in which you can taste the alcohol.  Definitely different from a doppelbock or a regular bock  but pretty good in it's own right.

Hofbrau Munchner Sommer - A summer keller beer specialty with a touch of wheat thrown in to make it interesting..  This one pours a cloudy dark straw gold with an off white head that dissolved quickly but left persistent lacing on the sides.  The aroma is slightly clovy and spicy.  The taste is balanced  with a hint of extra spice and touch of that hefeweizen breadiness. Interesting.  Not my favorite but not a bad beer.

Hofbrau Schwarze Weisse - The Dunkel Hefe Weissbier from Hofbrau.  It pours a dark caramelly brown with a generous beige head that slowly disappears.  The aroma is one of baked bread with a hint of cloves and other spices.  You can definitely taste the well roasted wheat malt.  A bit of spicy sweetness is followed by a nice wet finish.  Once again a pretty good beer. 

Special Beer Review - Thurn und Taxis Brauerei

Thurn und Taxis Hell - This beer pours a brillant clear yellow gold.  There is a foamy white head with big bubbles that clings to the sides and is constantly refreshed by the carbonation.  If you take a big whiff you get a slightly hoppy aroma.  The taste is a fine balance between malts and hops with a slightly honeyish sweet malty finish.  Really a pretty good beer and an excellent starting point for the Thurn und Taxis brauerei.

Thurn und Taxis Pilsner -  This seems to be Thurn und Taxis Flagship Beer.  At least it's the one that I come across the most and is the one whose banners you see in Regensburg.  The bear pours a clear dark gold with a thin head that dissolved fairly quickly.  The aroma is hoppy.  The taste is lightly hopped with a hint of sweetness and a touch of spices that I just can't quite put my finger on.  It finishes wet and crisp and leaves you wanting more.  Let's be clear here.  I'm not normally a fan of German Pilsner's but this one is a definite like with it's interesting spice and it's hint of bitterness.

Thurn und Taxis Dunkel Weisse - A Dunkel Weisse.  This one pours a dark chocolate with an off- beige head.  The body actually kind of reminds of the same color as a Tootsie Roll.  The head dissolves quickly leaving a smaller layer above the beer and some lacing.  the aroma is all cloves and spice.  The taste is sweet, caramalley, and bready.  Just a hint of cloves and something else, not citrus or bananas, the typical flavors that pop up in a weisse.  Once again another beer that I like. 

Thurn und Taxis Weissbier - This Weizen pours a dark cloudy orangish amber.  A soft white head disappears rapidly leving just bits of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is spicy with hints of fresh hay.  The taste is mild with hints of spices and citrus.  The wet finish lingers and satisfies.  I had this one after a 17 mile run and it was very refreshing.

Thurn und Taxis Roggen - You are probably going what the heck is a Roggen beer.  I know I was.  It's a beer made from rye instead of barley or wheat.  This is a real treat since it is the only Roggen beer that I've come across. I've seen it served at a restuarant in a wine like glass.  I put it in weizen glass, closs enough right? It pours a dark reddish/brown with a very thin beige head that dissolved quickly leaving little to no lacing on the sides.  The aroma is sweet and smells slightly like licorice.   That carried over into the taste where it definitely tastes like black licorice, very interesting.  I've had this one sitting around the house for a while and now I really wish I had bought a rack of it when I found it.  Darn the luck.

Special Beer Review - Aktien

Aktien Zwick'l Kellerbier - This beer pours a dark amber with a generous slightly off white head. The head dissolves into fine lacing that coats the side of the glass as you drink. The taste is malty and robust, while the finish is is crisp and lingers. Pretty tasty.

Aktien Landbier Franjisch Dunkel - Pours a dark brown with glints of copper. An off white head that lingers and leaves fine white lacing on the side. The taste is strong caramelly malts. The aroma is smoky roasted malts, not overwhelming but persistent. This a beer to savor and not gulp.

Aktien Original Helles - This one pours a pale, pale golden with a soft white head that leaves lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma of flowers and grains. The taste is light and malty but not overwhelming, a good balance between hops and malt. I really like this Helles.