Beer of the Week - Becks Non-Alcoholic Beer

Today was Superbowl Sunday and my friends and I made the trek to Ajax to watch the game at Craig's (that's Alfred's head in the shot and, yes, the wings were delicious!). As I knew I would be driving, I was very aware about what I drank.

I had a couple of 3.5% Mill Race from Grand River Brewery during the first half of the game and at half-time switched over to Becks Non-alcoholic Beer. I have had non-alcohol beers in the past and they have been pretty awful. Having heard good things about this beer, I was willing to give it a shot. 

From what I have read, in the old days, a brewer would make a beer, then bring it back to a boil in order to boil off the alcohol. Alcohol boils at 173F (78.3 C), where water boils at 212F (100C). Of course, reheating the beer cooks it again, which would change the taste of the beer which maybe why it was so awful.

These days new techniques are used. One is called reverse-osmosis where, according to Chow.com,  beer is passed through a filter with pores so small that only alcohol and water (and a few volatile acids) can pass through. The alcohol is distilled out of the alcohol-water mix using conventional distillation methods, and the water and remaining acids are added back into the syrupy mixture of sugars and flavor compounds left on the other side of the filter. Bingo—a nonalcoholic (or dealcoholized, as winemakers call it) brew.

Another method used that does not require boil is called vacuum distillation where the beer or wine is put under a vacuum. The change in atmospheric pressure allows the producer to boil the liquids at a lower temperature, or in some cases with no heat at all, and distill off the alcohol.

I do not know what process Brauerei Beck & Co uses.

How about the taste?

It pours a very light, pale yellow colour that can be easily seen through, with a white head that although it dissipated rather quickly, lasted longer than I thought it would. The beer had a surprising hoppy aroma which I assume comes from dry-hopping at the end. (adding hops at the end of the boil for aroma).

The beer does have a very watery mouth feel with a little flavour in the beginning and a pleasant slight hoppy bitterness in the end.

Would I buy it again?

Yes, anytime I am driving to an event like a Superbowl party, where I can;t drink because of driving, I would not hesitate to bring a six pack of this. One reason I prefer living downtown, though, is that we can transit or cab everywhere so we don't have to worry about drinking and driving and alcohol free beer.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 225 
Breweries 205 
Countries 43

Beer of the Week - Hasseroder Pilsner

Thursday I stopped at the Bier Mrkt on King West to sit on their great patio, have a pint or two and read a book.

On tap they had a beer that is new to Canada, Hasseroder Pilsner from Hasseroder Brewery in Germany.

I could not find out much about the brewery except that it was originally opened in 1872 in Wernigerode, Germany, and in 2003 was acquired by the Anheuser–Busch InBev empire. I saw pictures of Wernigerode and what a beautiful place. One day I want to go to Oktoberfest in Germany. If and when I do, I want to take a side trip here.

As usual for the Beer Mrkt, my server, Kati,e was friendly and quick in bringing me my beer.

And how was it?


The beer was light yellow in colour and fairly clear. I had no trouble seeing through it. It did have a great frothy appetizing head on it which dissipated slowly.

It was good and refreshing. Much better than the lagers and pilsners we have here but not outstanding for a European or Germain pilsner. It did hit the spot for a very warm May afternoon but really was nothing special.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 202 
Breweries 184 
Countries 38

Beer of the Week - Hacker Pschorr Weisse

Today is the end of the 2012 Oktoberfest in Munich Germany, in the province of Bavaria, a province known for beer.

I wanted to do a German Oktoberfest beer but could not find any on the shelves of the LCBO. Instead I decided instead on a German beer from Hacker Pschorr, a brewery that has taken part in every Oktoberfest since the very first one in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of  Ludwig I who was then the Crown prince of Bavaria.

So instead of doing an Oktoberfest beer, I will be doing a Weisse beer from Hacker Pschorr, one they are quite well known for.

As I said earlier, Okoberfest started in 1810 but the brewery's history goes back much further than that, to 1417. It was in 1793 that a change started in the brewery when Josef Pschorr married the Hacker Brewery daughter, Therese Hacker, and then bought the brewery from his new father-in-law and grew it into a very large brewery.

Jose was far ahead of his time.  Many years before beers were lagered (stored and aged) in caves, Josef created his own "beer fortress", a series of caves which kept his beers cool so they could be sold all year round

Not entirely happy with the expansion of his brewery, he bought a second one in 1820. Before Josef passed away, he had a mini lottery to determine which son would inherit which brewery. Matthias inherited "Hacker" and Georg took "Pschorr". They shared the beer fortress.

It took 'til 1972 for the two breweries to finally be merged together as Hacker Pschorr. Interesting that it is Georg whose face is on the label, which is a combination of both breweries labels. I wonder how that came to be? A nice touch is that the red circle which surround the "P" on the label is supposed to represent Josef's unending love for Therese.

The Hacker Pschorr beer tent is a place I want to visit at Oktoberfest one day.  It is one of the largest at the festival with seating for 10,000 people. Definitely on my "to do" list.

And the beer?

The beer pours a cloudy deep yellow/golden colour with a white head. It's a very lively beer! The head sprang up instantly when I poured and stayed a long while, leaving behind thick lacings as it dissipated. Later when I went to top up, the head tried to take over again. There is lot's of banana in the aroma.

My first sensation when sipping is a instant flavour on my tongue is a combination of many fresh flavours plus a slight heavy banana flavour throughout. This is a heavier, more full tasting Weisse than I am used to having.  Weisse lovers would really enjoy this. Myself, I prefer lighter tasting Weisse beers.

I am enjoying this and am glad I tried it but would not buy another. Tasting the quality in this makes me really want to try their Oktoberfest beer!

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 182 
Breweries 159 
Countries 37

Beer of the Week - Köstritzer Schwarzbier

When I do a Beer of the Week, 99% of the time it is a beer which I've never had before and from a brewery that I have not researched and written about.

This week is exciting for me as not only have I fulfilled those first two requirements, but I trying a new beer style, one which I've never heard of before, a Schwarzbier!

Schwarzbier simply means "black beer" in German. Although in a glass it looks much like and English Ale, it is a black lager, one that usually comes in around 5% APV. It is supposed to be a malt-forward beer with very little hop bitterness, being described as "soft, rich and mild". Schwarzbier is supposed to be to lager, what porters and stouts are to ales.

The style is not new. In fact, it was in 1543 that the original Schwarzbier was first mentioned in written records when it was brewed in the tavern of an inn in Bad Kostritz in central Germany. In 1696, the tavern was taken over Counts of the House of Reuss as ""Ritterschaftliche Gutbrauerei" (Knights Manor Brewery).

The company became Kostritzer Brewery in 1791.

The style started to die out in the early decades of the 1900s. With the first world war, it was unpopular to drink German-style beers outside of Germany. The Kostritzer Brewery kept up its limited production of the style.

In the 1920s, Bitburger made a bid for the company but was turned down by the family owners.  Despite the second world war and 40 years of Communist rule, the company still plodded on. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and a year later Germany was reunified. In 1991, Bitburger Brewery bought the brewery but kept its name and facilities.

With reunification came a new found popularity in the beer style, unknown to Western Germany for decades. In 2009, over a million barrels of Schwarzbier was produced in Germany. About a third of that was brewed by Kostritzer.

Enough talk. Time for a taste!

The beer pours black with a brownish head. Due to its darkness, I expected aromas of coffee and chocolate but none were present. There is a faint maltiness but not much else. The head disappeared fairly quickly leaving behind nice lacings.

Surprising, this is a light tasting beer. There is some light chocolate taste and some sweet malt. A very slight bitterness comes in on the very short clean finish. Had I been blindfolded when I first tasted this beer and then asked to say what colour it was, I certainly would not say black!

I am unsure what to think about this style of beer. Its very light taste suggests a 4% but comes in higher at 4.8%. Its mild flavours would have me pass on this beer but I am sure glad I tried it. I would like to try other Schwarzbier's to see how they compare to this one.

It's light and refreshing for a warm Saturday afternoon. I must say that I enjoyed the second one more than the first but still there are other beer styles I would enjoy more on a day like this than a Schwarzbier.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 176 
Countries 36 
Breweries 153 
Provinces 9 
Territories 1

Beer of the Week - Spaten Original Munich Beer

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. So what does this have to do with beer, or even the Beer of the Week?

At the end of March, I was reading that the original menu from the last first class lunch, in fact the very last meal served aboard the Titanic, was up for auction. It survived because one of the passengers, Mrs Dodge, slipped it into her handbag as a souvenir. It sold for $120,000!

One might expect that champagne would be featured on the menu, but no. Instead the menu offered Iced Draught Munich Lager in 2 different sized glasses. The first lagers were dark but in 1842 in Pilsen, Bohemia, Pilsner Urquell came out with a golden coloured pilser style lager that became quite popular throughout the world. Chilled pilsner went very well with a meal.  Munich pilsners in the early 1900s were considered the finest in the world so it is not surprising that First Class passengers were served an Iced Draught Munich Lager with heir evening lunch.

Josh Rubin from the Toronto Star wrote a short article on the Munich Lager served. Unfortunately I did not keep the article and it was never put online. I did write down from it, though, that Mr. Rubin said that if one wanted to taste a Munich lager much like would have been served on the Titanic then Spaten Original Munich Beer, a lager from Spaten Brewery, would be a very good choice.

Why Spaten?

Spaten Brewery has been around since the 1397 and was bought by Gabriel Sedlmayr in 1807. It was his son, Gabriel, that made the company a success.

According to the Oxford Companion to Beer, Spaten "is regarded as the most significant German brewery in the development of lager brewing". In fact, Gabriel came out with its own golden lager just a year after the pilsner style was invented. Spaten became so popular that it started exported its lager overseas in 1909.

So time to taste the style of beer served during the last first class meal aboard the Titanic!

The beer pours a very light golden colour and is clear enough that it is very easy to see through. The head is fluffy and white and leaves white lacings on the inside of the glass. After pouring, the beer is not very effervescent as it sits rather flat in the glass.

The beer has a little bite to it and there is not really a finish as much as there is an after taste. I am disappointed as there is very little to this. Perhaps it is because this lager uses a "hop extract" along with regular hops. In any case, this beer is not crisp and refreshing.

Hopefully the Munich Lager served aboard the Titanic during its last meal was a far better one than this one.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 157
Countries 31
Breweries 135
Provinces 8
Territories 1

Beer of the Week - Schloss Eggenberg Doppelbock

It wasn't until I brought home 2 bottles of Schloss Eggenberg Doppelbock that I realized that I had not yet done a beer from Austria.

This brewery was not built yesterday. They have been brewing beer in Eggenberg Castle in Vorchdorf, Austria, since around the 12th century. It was in 1681 that the property was purchased from the Monastery of Kremsmunster and the beer started to be produced to be sold commercially. As transportation was an issue in those days, the beer sold was to the local pubs, taverns and inns of the area.

In 1803, the brewery was bought out by the Stohr family, who has owned it ever since. Where most breweries have sold out to international producers, this one has been keeping it in the family for 209 years.

So what is a Dopplebock? According to the German Beer Institute ... "Doppelbock is a stronger and usually darker version of the Bavarian Bockbier. It is exceptionally malty, with very little bitterness. Standard Doppelbocks may have as much as 7% alcohol by volume.

Doppelbock emerged in the late eighteenth century as a powerful lager variant of the old monastic strong beer, the monks' "liquid bread," which they traditionally brewed for Lent , the 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

Because the monks believed that liquids not only cleansed the body but also the soul, they would make plenty of liquid instead of solid bread from their grain, and then drink it in copious quantities...the more, the holier."

Time to give this a try!

The beer pours brown with an off-white head. There is a slight malt flavour to this. The beer has a bit of a creamy mouth feel like you would with a stout. At 8.5% APV, I had expected a little bit of an alcohol burn in the taste but do not find it here. This is very malt forward but not sweet. It starts heavy with the malt taste, then surprisingly, the flavour falls away quickly in the finish.

On occasion, I enjoy a nice Dopplebock beer. Not too often, just once in awhile. Next time I'm in the mood, I would definitely have this one again.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 151
Countries 30
Breweries 129
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - The Beers of Hoss Brau-Und

Knowing that I love trying new beers, my sister Judy and her husband Doug gave me the Bavarian, Alps Collector Bottle Gift Pack for Christmas. Back in April 2009, one of my Beers of the Week was Doppel Hirsch Doppelbock which is in this set, but there are two beers I have not tried. It should be interesting re-trying the Dopplebock to see how my tasting this year compares to then.

When I originally researched the brewery I could find next to nothing on it's history. The brewery website is all in German with no English translation. This year is no different. The most I could find is that the brewery is one of the oldest privately owned breweries in Bavaria, perhaps 350 years old and is located in Sonthofen in the Alps. A very scenic town I would love to visit! It is pictured in the bottom of this review.

So it's time to try their beer.

First up is Neuschwansteiner Das Echte which is a Helles lager. According to the German Beer Institute website "Hell is the German adjective for "light," while Helles is a noun used in the sense of "a light one." But unlike in North America, this designation refers to color only, not to the beer's caloric or alcoholic strength. If there is one beer style that typifies the greatness of German, and especially of Bavarian beer-making, it is this straw-blond lager"

This beer is 4.7%

On the label is a picture of a castle, and it is not fantasy or Disney but a real castle in the Bavarian Alps. The bottle is a 500 ml tall with a swing top cap. I am looking forward to this!

True to it's description the beer is straw coloured with a white head. There is a slight hop aroma to this. At first the beer tastes a little weak and watery, but then the delicious lager hop presence makes itself known. This is no North American big brewery tasteless lager but a lager made the way one should be.

A fabulous beer to start my tasting.

Next up is the 5.2% APV Holzar Bier. I found this Many websites call this a Munich Style Dunkel which the German Beer Institute describes "Like all Bavarian-style beers, Dunkel tends to be very malty with only a gentle hop accent for very little hop bitterness. It has almost no nose. Today Dunkel is still made primarily in Bavaria," I like dunkels. This should be interesting.

The beer pours brown in colour with a with a white head perhaps with a slight brownish tinge. As said above, there is no aroma to this. This beer like the last one, starts off a little tasteless and watery, then the malt comes though. There is a slight bitterness to this, which I believe must come from the roasted malt as I do not detect any hop bite to this. To me this dunkel is a little weak tasting but still very enjoyable.

Last up is the Doppel Hirsch Doppelbock weighing in at 7.2% APV. "Bockbiers rank among the heaviest and maltiest, yet smoothest, brews in the world. Doppelbock (literally "double bock") is a stronger and usually darker version of the Bavarian Bockbier. It is exceptionally malty, with very little bitterness." Dopplebocks were originally made as liquid bread for monks to drink during their periods of fasting.

This beer pours very dark in colour with a brownish head. I can smell the malt in the aroma. It definitely has a thicker mouth feel. No wateriness here!

It is not a bitter beer but one which is very malty. This is a full flavoured beer! The taste is immediate. A slight bitterness comes from the malt, and the flavour is full from start to finish. I really like this beer.

What was my original review? I haven't looked at it till now "I popped the top and had a pour. The beer does pour with a nice head. It is a dark coppery colour with a inviting fragrance.

In tasting it, I can see why this is considered a cold weather beer. It has a heavy, sweet, malty taste which reminded me of caramel. It is an excellent sipping beer, not one you would have too many of."

Caramel! That is the flavour I was having a hard time describing today.

All three beers in the package were enjoyable. I love how they were all true Bavarian beers (biers?) of different styles.

Thanks Doug! Thanks Judy!

I had fun giving these a try!

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 141
Countries 27
Breweries 123
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Krombacher Pilsner

My friend of mine from work, Martin, has been telling me how much he enjoys Krombacher Pilsner. He loves it. It is the only beer he drinks. I have never had one before and thought I should give it a try. I had high expectations for this beer as Germans really know how to make great lagers, pilsners and beer in general.

Krombacher Brauerei is a privately owned brewery located in the scenic town of Krombach. It is the 2nd largest selling German brewery with Krombacher Pilsner being the best selling German Pilsner.

Impressive!

The brewery was launched in 1803 by Johannes Haas whose father owned a tavern in Krombach. The brewery was relocated to its present location sometime between 1858 and 1882. At the site, the brewery created 2 large caverns in which to lager their beer.

In 1890, the brewery started experimenting with brewing Pilsners. The beer style was still fairly new in the beer world as pilsners weren't created until 1842.

In 1896, the Haas family sold the brewery to Otto Eberhardt who turned it into a corporation in 1905. The brewery has continuously produced beer even during the war years. The town and brewery endured heavy bombing in 1945 but still made a limited amount of beer.

Today Krombacher beer is exported to 48 countries including Canada.

Krombacher Brauerei states that it brews Krombacher Pilsner according to the Reinheitsgebot (pronounced "Rine-Hites-gaBoat") also known as the German Purity Law, so there are no additives. Water, hops, barley malt and yeast are the only ingredients allowed in its beers.

The beer pours a golden colour with a nice white head. The head dissipates fairly rapidly. Loads of lacings line the glass as the head disappears and the beer is sipped. There is a very nice aroma to this beer. I love being able to smell hops in my beer!

The beer starts with a bit of a watery mouth feel but then all the flavour kicks in. A very pleasant low bitterness finishes the beer. I have not been disappointed. This is an excellent pilsner, one that would really make its mark on a hot summer afternoon. It's making its mark with me right now as I sip it and watch my Ti-Cats take on the Montreal Alouettes in the eastern Semi finals.

Thanks, Martin. Excellent recommendation! I think I owe you a beer. Let's make it a Krombacher!

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 137
Countries 26
Breweries 119
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Bocks and Doppelbocks used to be the beer of Easter. Brewed as a liquid bread, it was made to sustain monks through Lent which runs from Ash Wednesday through to Good Friday, a period of about 40 days. During this time, monks fast and their nutrition comes mainly from beer.

This is where Doppelbocks come in. They are "typically even stronger and contain enough malty goodness that they’ve been considered a meal in a glass for centuries. Generally they have a very full-bodied flavor and are darker than their little Bock brothers and sisters and a higher level of alcohol too. They range in color from dark amber to nearly black, and dark versions often have slight chocolate or roasted characters."

Bocks and Dopplebocks are now brewed for the Fall/Christmas season as well as Lent and Easter.

Now that the temperatures are getting cooler, I picked up a couple of bottles of Ayinger Breweries Celebrator Doppelbock to try.

Ayinger Brewery was founded in 1878 by Johann Liebhard in the Bavarian village of Aying. It has remained an independent family owned brewery ever since although for the past four generations the family name has become Inselkammer. I do not know whether this is due to marriage or sale of the company.

In 1999, the brewery, after 121 years, was moved to a larger, more modern site outside of town.

Two goats are on the label of the Celebrator Doppelbock and a goat ornament for the Christmas tree hangs around the neck of the bottle.

Why?

Many brewers of Bock beer use the goat as Bock was originally created in town of Einbeck. The style of beer was called Einbeck which most in the region pronounced as "ein Bock" which in German means "billy goat". This is a Doppelbock so two billy goats adorn the label.

And the beer?

It pours black in the glass but I see red in it when I hold it up to the light. I can smell the roasted malt and do expect this to be a very malty beer. It has a good brownish head and lacings remain on the inside of the glass when sipped.

This is a full tasting beer and very malty as expected. It does not taste so much as toasted malt as in a stout but more of a burned malt taste. There was a slight hop bitterness in the long finish.

Overall I was not crazy about this beer. The burnt taste put me off. It was a beer I am glad I tried and I do have my two billy goat decorations hanging in the wall unit, but it is not a beer which I would have again.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 134
Countries 25
Breweries 116
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier

This year in Munich they are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest which runs this year from September 18th to October 4.

The original Oktoberfest took place on on 12th October 1810, to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. So with this in mind, I was excited to find Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier sitting on the shelf of my local LCBO.

HofBräuhaus has been brewing beer since 1589 and the HofBräuhaus was built in 1897, a place that is definitely on my list of places to visit. At Oktoberfest, Hofbrau boosts that they have the largest beer tent and serve over 550,000 liters of HB-Beer over the 16 day period.

And what about the beer?

The beer pours golden in color with a good head, which leaves excellent lacings as it dissipates. There is a pronounced floral note from the hops in the aroma. This is a fabulous tasting beer. A hop presence throughout but not overpowering. Very clean taste.

This is a quaffable beer which at 6.3% APV could present a problem. Still, it is worth having more than one of this excellent beer.

The Hofbrau beer tent at Oktoberfest

Beer of the Week - Paulaner Salvator

I love researching old beers and old breweries and this week got to do just that. Paulaner Salvator has been brewed for more than 375 years. They say they still use the original recipe. It is the highest selling double bock beer in Germany today and at 7.9% APV is the strongest beer brewed at Paulaner. The brewery itself is Germany's 8th best selling brewery.

375 years?

Back in 1634, the monks in the Munich Neudeck monastery were making a strong beer they called Salvator to help get them through lent. Any beer they did not drink is given to the poor or sold at the monastery tavern. Private breweries wrote a letter to the town council complaining about the competition from the monastery. The letter was saved and is the oldest document at Paulaner brewery.

A fun little story.

The beer was a Bock style and was permitted to be sold only on holidays but in 1780, the monks were allowed to serve their beer without any restrictions. In 1799, the monastery was closed and the state bought the brewery. In 1806, the state sold the brewery to Franz Zachel.

Interestingly enough in 1837, King Ludwig declared Paulaner Salvator a luxury article. Why? There were strict pricing on beers at the time and by declaring this beer a luxury item, meant it was free from any government price controls.

In 1994, the brewery was bought by the Kulmbacher brewery group and now Paulaner belongs to the BHI (Brau Holding International AG).

Now, time to crack it open for a taste.

The beer pours a light brown in colour with a head that quickly dissipated, and I found it to have a nutty aroma. On tasting it, the malt sure comes through. At 7.9% alcohol, I had expected to be able to taste the alcohol and feel a bit of its burn. I was not disappointed to discover that was not the case. The flavour of the darker malt comes through.

It is a very tasty beer. With the alcohol being as high as it is, not one to sit down to have a few while watching the game. It is a nice warming beer that would be good to come home to on a crisp winters day.

Beer of the Week - Gaffel Kolsch

I saw a Kolsch beer on the Bar Towel when they published the list of LCBO limited summer releases. I have never had a Kolsch before and this would be my opportunity. So at lunch that day, off to the LCBO I went and picked myself up a couple of bottles of Gaffel Kolsch to try on the long weekend

I thought that before taking a sip, I should find out what style Kolsch is. German beers are mostly lagers and Kolsch is one of the few German ales brewed. According to the German Beer Institute, it is of of the palest German beers made and is Germany's only true, all-barley, pale ale.

After lagers swept through Germany and Europe, there were only two ales left in Germany. The Weissbiers (wheat beers) and the Kolsch, which was brewed in and around Cologne. There is a reason for this. In 1603, city officials in Cologne passed a law stating that only top fermented beers were allowed to be brewed in Cologne. The lager was outlawed.

Germany seems to be a stickler for beer laws. First they came out with the Reinheitsgebot, or German purity law, stating what exactly beer could be made from. Germany treated Kolsch no differently as in 1985 came the Kolsch Convention declaring that only breweries in the Cologne metropolitan area legally could make a Kolsch style beer and defining the Kolsch style.

A Kolsch is made with just one kind of malt a pale Pils malt. It also must be pale in colour, top-fermented, hop-accented, filtered and be between 3 and 5.3% APV. They are also allowed a longer period of time to ferment or lager. It too must also follow the Reinheitsgebot. So many rules for one style of beer.

Gaffel, of course, is located in Cologne and opened its brewery in 1908 when two brothers bought out an old brewery which was established in 1888 in the building of an old 50 year old tavern. It survived the second world war and is now Germany's 10th largest keg producers as they sell only 30% of their brand by the bottle.

And I have two of them to empty.

From what I read, Kolsch should be drank from a narrow straight sided glass. My glass was narrow but with curves. It would have to do. The beer pours with a nice head and a golden colour. I was not expecting there to be a floral hoppiness to the aroma but there was.

This is a nice crisp tasting beer, which starts with a slight hoppy bite that remains throughout the finish. Where a golden lager finishes quickly, this one lingers pleasantly on. This is an ale that a lager drinker would appreciate.

I really liked this beer and the style. I also picked a great day to try it as this beer seems to cry out for a hot summers day. It's 28C and not a cloud in the sky as I sit out on the terrace and taste and write about this.

Time to go relax and try another.

From Beer to There - Eastern European Beers

Last night our "From Beer to There" class met at one of my favourite pubs in the city, The Victory Café, for the night's session on Eastern European Beers.

Originally the session was called German Beers but as Mirella explained, the beer style is not just specific to Germany but more a style of the region, taking in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Austria.

We covered the Reinheitsgebot, also known as The German Purity Law, which I have written about before, and the creation in 1842 of what we now call Pilsner. The citizens of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, were revolting and dumping kegs of beer on the doorstep of the mayor of Pilsen. The mayor then took charge of the issue and brought in a German brewer, Josef Groll, to create a better beer. Kroll had learned about lagering, storing beer in a cool area for an extra long time and using a different strain of yeast, known now as lager yeast which works much longer and more efficiently and creates a clearer beer.

He also had studied about English beer and how the British had come up with a way to produce a golden coloured beer. Combined with Pilsen's soft water and local Saaz noble hops, he created a fabulous beer which took Eastern Europe by storm, the Pilsner. Other breweries caught on to this process and started making their own versions, much to the displeasure of the town. So the local brewery started to call their pilsner Pilsner Urquell, which interpreted means "source of the Pilsner". Lagers and Pilsners swept the region and still dominate the beer scene there today.

Then came my favourite part of the class, beer sampling. First one up was King's Pilsner, which is my favourite Pilsner out there. It is a Czech-styled lager with a nice hoppy bite. Note to self, pick some up for the weekend.

Next came Beau's Lug Tread a lagered ale. This is an ale which was stored for an extra long period to refine the taste. I find it more sour than hoppy.

We then changed pace to Kostritzer which is a Schwarzbier, or black beer. It was much sweeter than I expected, with a slight coffee taste from the roasted malts and after someone pointed this out, also noticed a slight liquorice taste. It was a very nice beer.

Denison’s Weissbier was up next. Ontario should be proud as this is ranked as one of the world's best weissbiers. It pours cloudy with the aroma and taste of spice (clove) with a slight hint banana and lemon. Apparently these flavours come from the yeast. Another enjoyable beer. I am starting to really enjoy wheat beers.

Our last sample of the night was a Meibock from Holstein. A Meibock is a lager which is brewed to drink in May. It was copper in colour with an apple sweetness. Mirella asked if any of us noticed a slight "cardboard" taste. With my unrefined nose and taste buds, I could not but others in the class did. Oxygen is an enemy of beer and this taste came from the cans containing some oxygen and being slightly off. Good to learn about the bad with the good.

All in all another fabulous class put on by Mirella. Next week it is English-style beers.

I'm loving Thursday nights.

German Beer Tasting at Mark and Monica's

Tonight Teena and I went over to our friends, Mark and Monica's, for dinner.

Teena wrote about the night on her blog.

Mark is of German descent so I thought it would be fun to bring along a half dozen German beer to sample. Mark thought this was an excellent idea. So here is what we had.

We started off with a Lowenbrau Original (5.2 ABV). Lowenbrau is owned by Inbev but the original brewery opened in 1383. There is a U.S. version of Lowenbrau brewed under license by SABMiller but does not use the original recipe. The folks at Lowenbrau calls this one "Original" to distinguish the one that is exported from Munich from the inferior U.S. product. I thought it was nothing special but Mark called it a "solid beer", that got better as it warmed.

Next up was Dortmunder Actien Brauerei (DAB) Original (5.0ABV) brewed by Dortmunder Actien Brauerei. The brewery has been brewing beer since 1868 and this is their premium lager. We both found this a better balanced beer than the Lowenbrau.

After an excellent supper, we then opened a Warsteiner Premium Verum (4.8 ABV) brewed by Warsteiner, which has brewed beer since 1753 and is Germany's largest family owned brewery. This is their most popular brand. Brewed under German Purity Law. We found this beer to be along the same lines as the DAB.

The fourth brand we opened was Schneider Weisse Original (5.4 ABV) – “The Original Liquid amber since 1872”. In1850, George Schneider was granted by Royalty the exclusive right to brew wheat beer in Germany . This made his brewery the oldest brewery of wheat beer in Germany. This is a bottle-conditioned beer that has been brewed for more than 130 years in accordance with the brewery founder's old unchanged recipe. It poured cloudy and was full of flavour. I thought there was a hint of orange in the taste, whereas Mark spoke of it being "citrusy" We both loved this one.

Then it was the Hofbrau Oktoberfest Bier (5.7 ABV) from Hofbräu München, a brewery which has been around sonce 1589. This particular brand was created in 1810 to celebrate the first Oktoberfest in 1810 and has served it at every Oktoberfest since. I thought it was a great beer, full of taste with a dry finish. Wish I had this one before the wheat beer as it likely would have been even more flavourful. Mark thought it was an enjoyable beer.

We finally arrived at our last beer, the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel (5.3 ABV) brewed by Weihenstephan, which claims itself as the worlds oldest brewery having started by brewing beer from its Weihenstephan Monastery Brewery in 725 AD. The original brewery still stands on Nahrberg Hill and still brews beer. It too had a hint of orange in the flavour and was a wonderful beer, my favorite of the night. Mark claimed to have lost his taste buds by then and could not comment on the taste, except to say that he liked it.

And the verdict? Not a bad beer in the lot and we had a lot of fun. I put the Weihenstephaner as my favorite followed by the Schneider then the Hofbrau. Mark liked the DAB the best, the Schneider second best, then the Hofbrau.

It was a fun visit!