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.