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 -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 - 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 - 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 - Regensburger Spital Brauerei

I had visited the Regensburger Spital Brauerei while home on R&R last year (You can read about it here) but I didn't really review the beers. So here's an opportunity to correct that, especially since I liked the beer when I had it in the restuarant.  The label proclaims it to be the oldest brauerei in Regensburg.  It's a shame that I'm probably not getting back down there since they have several other varieties that I wasn't able to pick up.

Regensburger Spital Helles - This beer pours a brillant golden amber with a what seemed to be a thin head that dissolved quickly, although there were generous amounts of lacing left on the side of the glass.  The aroma was very subtle and missed my nose.  The taste though was a pleasant surprise perfectly balanced with a hint of citrus, I actually had to check to make sure I hadn't picked up a Radler by mistake.  The finsih was wet with just a hint of bitterness and left you wanting another drink.  Yep, just as good as I remembered it from R&R.

Regensburger Spital Dunkels - This beer pours a dark amber brown, almost a black with hints of amber.  The generous beige lasted awhile before dissolving into lacing that coated the side of the glass.  The aroma is of malts and sweetness.  The taste is chocolately sweet with maybe some hints of coffee?  The finish has a touch of bitterness but not overwhelming, just enough to counter the sweetness that the beer started with.  Probably a little stronger than your typical dunkel but definitely not bad.

Regensburger Spital Weizen - This beer pours  the typical cloudy golden amber of a weizen.  The head is generous and lasts a while and leaves lacings that stubbornly stick to the sides.  The aroma is of cloves and spices, while the taste is of cloves spices and definite hints of bananas.  There is just a touch of bitterness in the finish.  An interesting weizen since there is probably a more powerful flavor of cloves and bananas then what I've typically seen. 

Regensburger Spital Pils -   I found this in a .33L bottle, although I think it does come in a .5L bottle.  It pours a brillant clear yellow gold with a generous white head that dissappeared fairly quickly with only some lacing on the sides.  The aroma is definitely hops.  After the aroma I expected this beer to taste very hoppy and bitter.  I was surprised, hoppy yes, bitter no.  In fact there are hints of other spices in the flavor.  A slightly different take on what I'm accustomed to from a German Pils and I actually like it. 

One of my favorite steinkrug's, plain but distinctive looking.

Special Beer Review - Schlossbrauerei Hirschau

This week is one of the local breweries, located about 15 minutes down the road from our house is the Schlossbrauerei Hirschau.  Even though it's only 15 minutes away.  I have to drive it to get the beer.  The local Getrankemarkts don't carry.  That should give you an indication of how regionalized some of these beers are.  It should also explain some of my excitment when I come across another new beer and those discoveries are really what I'm going to miss when we move back to the states in a couple of months.

Here is a picture of the castle inn that's associated with the brewery.

The crest on one of the brewery buildings.

The loading dock area.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Radler - I'll start with the Radler here.  It pours much darker than other Radlers I've had lately, almost the pale gold of a helles, and has a little more of frothy white head.  Does this mean it has a little more beer in it?  If so then it doesn't manifest itself in the aroma or taste.  The aroma is all lemon with maybe just a hint of hops lingering underneath.  The taste is pure lemon and is a good break from beer.  I had this one on a day where I'd already had several beers and this was a refreshing break.  I'll probably ride out to Hirschau and stop and have a Radler or two when I do.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau 1812 Original - This is the helles from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau.  The body is an amber gold with a thin head that quickly disappeared.  The aroma is subtle and eludes my sniffer.  The taste is crisp and more hops than malt.  The finish definitely carries a reminder of hops. While not a Pils I'd say that it's hops level almost approaches Pils level.  I'm not a fan of hoppy beers.  I prefer more balance and I normally get that in a helles.  Not here though.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Johannibier  - I'm not sure what kind of beer this is, I think it might be a bock, maybe?  What I am sure about is that it pours goldish orange with a generous off white head that hung around for awhile and continued to leave lacing down the sides.  The aroma slight but I can detect the malts.  The taste is slightly sweet with more malt than hops and leads to a dry finish.  Pretty tasty and a very interesting beer.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Hirschauer Spezial - A Dortmunder or Export type beer.  It pours a cloudy orangish yellow with virtually no head.  The aroma is underwhelming and eluded my sniffer.  The taste is malty with sour undertones and a shadow of hoppy bitterness.  The finish is dry and demands another drink.  An interesting brew.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Pils - The German Pils offerring .  The body is not as pale as some other Pils coming in a more golden color, slightly reminiscent of apple juice.  The head on this Pils was non exsistent, not even any lacing on the sides. The aroma was hoppy and earthy.  The taste was only slightly hoppy even for a Pils, slightly surprised there.  German Pils tend to be too hoppy and bitter for my taste but this was pretty mild, almost closer to a helles. 

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Leicht - This is no reduced calorie offering.  When the Germans say Leicht it typical means less alcholol (sometimes it also just means ligher in color), so if you are looking for a good buzz steer clear of German beers that call themselve Leicht.  This one comes in with 3.0% alc.  It pours and looks much like it's Pils or Helles siblings and the head is thin and quickly disappears leaving lacing on the sides.  The aroma is malty and earthy and the taste is a well balanced between the malts and the hops with the hops showing up in the finish that lingers ever so slightly.  Once again another interesting brew.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Hefe-Weisse - The Hefe Weisse from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau comes in a slightly different bottle than it's lager and ale siblings, a longer necked .5l version instead of the short necked .5l bottle.  It pours a a dark brown/gold/amber, not dark like a dunkel weisse but not straw gold like some other weizen. The head is the standard frothy white though not as generous as some. The aroma is cloves and citrus.  The taste is stll cloves with a touch of citrus and overall is not a flavor explosion.  The finish is dry and leaves you wanting more.  This is an understated Hefe-Weisse, not bad just understated.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Festbier - I love Fests!!! At least that's what my son Macen says and I can't say that I disagree with him, maybe I like them for different reasons (it's all about the beer and the giant pretzels!!!)  but I still like them.  Schlossbrauerei Hirschau's Festbier or Marzan type beer poured a golden amber with a thin head that quickly disappeared with no lacing on the sides.  The aroma was sweet malty with just a hint of cut grass.  The taste was malty and slightly sweet with no hint of hops or bitterness.  The finish lingered slightly but wasn't bad.  A little less carbonated then some of the other beers not much of a tingle as I swirled around the mouth looking for taste.  

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Keller-Bier Spezial - The final beer from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau is a Keller or Zwickl beer.  It pours a cloudy copper orange with a generous white head.  The head lasted a while gradually dissipating into white lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aroma was one of malts.  The taste was crisp and malty but with a tang of hops.  It finished dry, basically begging you to take another sip.  A pretty tasty brew.

Special Beer Review - Berliner Kindl

As part of our trip to Berlin a couple of weekends ago I was on the lookout for "Berliner Beers"  I settled on Berliner Kindl, since it was the brewery that I found the most varieties of beer from.  I think I picked up one of everything except their export beer.  While not knocked off my feet I was suitably impressed.  A pretty decent collection.

Berliner Weisse Rote - I never did find the just the regular Berliner Kindl Weisse to try, just the "flavored" versions that our German Day Trips Guide Book recommended.  I ordered the red one at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was interesting.  It is flavored with raspberry syrup and the flavor was almost overwhelming, very sweet, and almost no beer flavor whatsoever.  A white frothy head that lasted a while and then left lacing on the sides.  The two best words to describe it was overwhelming and interesting.  Read about Berliner Weisse here.

Berliner Weisse Gruen - The red one was so fun, we just had to try the green one too.  This one is flavored with woodruff.  I would have to say that both Shantel and I liked this one better and waiter also mentioned it was his favorite.  A much more subtle flavoring, although you still really couldn't catch the real character of the Berliner Kindl Weiss bier.  Once again a frothy white head that lasted a while.  Really disappointed that all I found where the syrup enhanced biers (although I'm not sure you can get just a "regular" one), but if you are ever in Berlin on a hot summer day, sit outside in a cafe and order one of these, I'd recommend the green one, and do a little people watching.

Berliner Kindl Bock Hell.  I think this is supposed to be a ligher bock.  It pours a light coppery gold with a thin head that quickly disappeared, but left plenty of lacing on the side. The aroma is faint and barely penetrates my stopped up sniffer. My first impression of the taste was one that was thin and slightly watery.  Second impression unfortunately reinforced the first.  The finish is dry with some metallic after taste.  I wanted to like this bock since I am a Bock drinker from way back, beginning with my beloved Shiner Bock and lately the Bavarian Bocks, sorry but in the end this is a decent beer to try but not one I'm going to be scouring the shelves for next summer in the States.  Maybe I just missed the point of the Bock Hell.

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO BlOGGER FAILING TO SAVE HIS DRAFT

Berliner Kindl Pils - It pours a light yellowish gold with a generous frothy head that quickly devolved into persisitent lacing on the sides.  I always pour into 12 oz mug so that leaves a little bit in the .5l bottle, which I normally just drink.  Well that first swig was an almost overwhelming nutty hoppy taste.  It mellows well in the mug though where the taste was a more subtle nutty hops, not really bitter like a lot of the Bavarian Pils or Czech Pilsners I normally drink, just different.  The finish was pretty dry.  I'm not a big fan of the Bavarian Pils so this was an interesting departure and something I would definitely entertain having again.

Berliner Kindl Bock Dunkel - It pours a dark chocolaty black with a generous beige head that leaves thick lacing on the sides.  The aroma is one of well roasted malts with hints of chocolate and caramel .  The aroma's carry over into the flavor where the roasted malts dominate, more chocolate than caramel and the finish is crisp and clean with no after taste.  I like this one, enough said.

Berliner Kindl Jubilaums Pilsner - According to Yahoo Babelfish Jubilaums means anniversary.  That coupled with the foil top leads me to believe that this is Berliner Kindl's "special" Pilsner.  In other words it's supposed to be good.  Let's see.  It pours a straw yellow with a generous fluffy head that dissolves into liberal lacing on the sides.  The aroma faint but I can catch hints of bread dough and hops, not overwhelming though.  The taste is light and crisp and goes down smooth.  A faint aftertaste is where the hops hits you not too bad.  Just like their regular Pils much more subtle then the Bavarian German Pils or the Czech Pilsners I normally have.