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 - 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 - 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.

Hacker-Pschorr Munchener Gold (Export Bier)

Today's beer doesn't normally stray as far north from Munich as some of the other Hacker-Pschorr beers.  I picked up when my parents were here and we were wandering around Southern Germany.  It's Hacker-Pschorr's Munchener Gold (Export Bier)

It pours a yellow gold with a thin head that quickly dissippates leaving very then lacing on the sides.  The aroma is slightly hoppy.  The taste a balance between malted barley and hops with the hops winning out in the end, although not overwhelmingly.  The finish is crisp with a slight lingering after taste.  Not a bad beer but definitely not my favorite Hacker-Pschorr.

Kulmbacher Export

Today's beer is the Kulmbacher Export.  Export beers are a pale lager developed in the Ruhr valley region of Germany  as competition to the Czech Pilsner and the Munich Helles, this brewing type also allowed the beers to stay fresher longer and be "exported" further from their breweries.

It pours a very pale golden with about an inch of white foamy head ( I missed it in the picture because Shantel had taken the battery out of the camera to charge.)That leave a fine tracery on the edge of the glass.  Lots of carbonation is visible throughout the body.  The aroma is faintly sweet and the taste is initially malty with a light hops finish.  Not a bad beer but also not one of my favorites.