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.