Riegele Bier ManuFaktur Auris 19

Auris 19

0,66l
9%

Out of reasons a very short article today.... but I felt the urge to finish the series so here is 4/4.
I evaded this brew for weeks because of the high alcohol... something that is just what I need now.
Hallertauer Perle and Opal are the used hops while Saccharomyces Cervesiae 34/70 is the used yeast strain.

The brew itself is dark yellow in color with almost no foam to speak of. What little there was, was gone within seconds.

The aroma is very fresh and sweet and promises a lot. Hay and grass is present, though I can also smell the alcohol.

Now this is good. It starts very sweet with soft tart tickling of the tongue before the hops take over and explode in a flavor firework of hay and hoppy goodness. I especially like how this has 2 totally different taste sensations. Its really nice.

Ratebeer totally does not share my opinion but then again we have seldomly agreed.

Prost!
DMW

Riegele BierManufaktur Augustus 8

Riegele BierManufaktur Augustus 8

0,66l
8%
Hallertauer Perle, Opal Hops

So this is part 3 of 4 and wasn't planned... what happened was that I poured me a warm Westmalle Tripel over my steel ice balls (har har) into the nice Westmalle glass..... only to realize that it had expired over a year ago and that the color wasn't very grand anymore... it prolly was drinkable but after 2 sips I decided against it... so I used the Augustus 8... over the now partly thawed ice balls into the same glass... so suboptimal conditions but we shall endeavor to make it a good experience. Now this copper- red baby pours with a little foam which dissipates very fast again. The bottle itself has the usual Riegele hints to what one might drink it and cites the hops etc.

I must say the steel ice balls I had gotten from a kickstarter project are pretty awesome as they did the job and cooled the brew down nicely! I guess that that's partly because of the rather flat Trappist glass.

The aroma is very faint, decent. Flowery tones, mixed with a strong yeast subtone, almost like a yeast beer ... which I usually am not a fan of... But we shall see.

The brew is very thick.. oily to drink.. almost like a soup. It is very yeasty and not exactly what I expected.
I'm not a fan of the mouthfeel really.. it's almost like drinking soup. There is a very faint bitterness that I can guess to be there but the sweet yeastyness covers it. It is a very heavy drink for sure and I can imagine that the herbal aspects of it might work to a hearty dish. Still I usually prefer something more zesty, refreshing. It does get more fruity after one gets used to the yeast though still.. not my favorite brew.
Untappd does indeed call this a Weizenbock which would explain my experiences taste wise...
Ratebeer is not agreeing with me and does rate it very high... I guess it is a grand one IF you like Yeastbeers.

PROST!

DMW

Riegele BierManufaktur Robustus 6

Robustus 6

0,66l
5%
Irish Ale Yeast
Pale Chocolate Malt, Dark Chocolate Malt, roasted Barley

Hullo and welcome to part 2 of the Riegele BierManufaktur series. 2 done, 2 to come.
I chose this one as the other 2 are both rather high in their alcohol percentage and this is ranking lower.

The label follows the guidelines of the last one and as the name promises I am expecting something strong, full tastewise. I am again weirded out by the strange choice of bottle size... 0,66l

RateBeer is putting his in the upper middle field but I decided not to reat it, to not spoil my own impressions.

The brew pours very, very dark, possibly the blackest beer I have seen, with almost no foam. I used some skill to conjure the hazelnut - caramel colored foam seen in the picture. Very fine bubbles, sadly gone very fast.

The aroma is very nutty with some rather weird side tone. Dark chocolate -  nut ice cream would be the closest I could compare it with.

Ok the taste is basically ruined for me with the sweetness of it. I double checked but no added sugar at least... still it is like one of these Czech beers with added sugar. Once you get over the sweetness, the brew does have a nice balanced bitterness with dark chocolate and indeed nutty as well as berry tones present.

Actually I might want to reverse what I said as the sweetness does grow on me though it still is a bit too much. It counterbalances the bitter tones nicely actually and provides a relatively round, full taste.

It is definitely an interesting brew although I doubt I would buy that particular bottle again if given the choice.

Prost!

DMW

Riegele BierManufaktur Amaris 50

Amaris 50

0,66l (!!)
5%

Alas, I had never heard of Riegele till my beloved brother gave me a tasting set box from them. (Including a glass... soon I have a LOT of those)
The weirdest thing is that they come in 0,66l bottles, something I have never seen before. They all share the same general label design.

The one I shall start with, is Amaris. Hopped with Hallertauer Perle, Opal, Hersbrucker and Tettnanger Mittelfrüh, the brewers even include the type of yeast used. Impressive, but just a stunt? We shall see.

Ratebeer shows itself unimpressed.

The yellow brew pours nicely with a lot of very fine white foam. Nice head indeed.
By now the head is dissipating and it's time to tackle the aroma, High amount of bitterness, fruity sidetones and tart facets. The hops are there but very faint.

Middle high carbonation, very nice mouthfeel. It starts fruity, only to explode into a bitter taste bloom. My initial expectation that this might only be a generic Pils have died. This is a very, very great Pils. Maybe one of the best I have had. The aspects are manifold. The bitterness is a nice extra and not as bad as expected as it dissipates very quickly. The yeast is not much noticeable and the flowery tones nicely mix with the bitterness. All in all, definitely worth it!


Prost!
DMW

Weibersud

Paulaner Braumeister Edition
Weibersud
0,5l
5,5%

And another random encounter of the Dr. H. series. He sure knows how to cough up these dusty bottles from somewhere.
So Weibersud would translate roughly to women's brew... celebrating the female brewers.  This top fermented baby is brewed with Bravo and Cascada Hops  and was cold hopped (Whatever that means...) it also says that it is limited... alas no mentioning of how limited but hell.. limited always looks good on a bottle right?

The label is a wall of text, explaining the tradition of female brewers, mentioning Hildegard of Bingen. It also tells me that it is a yeasty baby of the Weißbier tradition. Now those of you who follow me for a while know that I am not the biggest fan of Weißbier but I love to try new stuff and as Dr. H. has praised this one I definitely will give it a try.

Yes, this belongs into a Weißbier glass - alas I already had my tasting glass out and didn't want o get up to dirty another glass so the Weißbier tasting glass that came with my Schneider Weisse Box it shall be.

It was rather foamy... sadly some of it ended on my terrace. It pours with nice, very fine creamy foam, producing a very nice head.

Colorwise it is a dark orange red, very cloudy like a good unfiltered yeast baby should be.

The aroma is very spicy, pepper with very distant berry tones. It's super interesting aroma wise and rather mouth watering though the usual umami tones are missing that would usually bring out the mouth watering effects.

Now this is definitely very rich and complex taste wise. The hops are nicely noticeable which gives it an alnmost IPAish quality. The yeast luckily is not very recognizable so it doesn't disturb but rather help the nice spectrum of taste. It starts sweet on the tip of he tongue and as it rolls down the tongue the hops develop more and more, getting the strongest once oxygen is added. It holds about the right balance between tartness and bitterness that would make it to a grand beer.

What should I say? Apparently women can make grand beer! *ducks and hides*

Prost and thank you Dr. H.!

DMW

Brewfist Bionic

Brewfist Bionic
0,33l
6%

Now when I saw this baby I was skeptical out of 2 reasons.
1. The label looked like it was some beer made for a movie.
2. Brewed in Italy? Now A lot of good stuff comes out of Italy... but beer?
3. Brewfist? The whole logo reminds me too much of Brewdog...

RateBeer hinks it to be good I guess so maybe I should give it a chance at least.

The label is... well flashy, special... at first I thought it is some themed beer for The Matrix or some SciFi Horror movie.. which fits the hailstorm outside. It shows a cyberpunkish woman in the best Shadowrun style.

I am informed that the Malt used is Pale, Munich, Melanoidin, Crystal, Pale Chocolate, while the hops are Simcoe and some 'experimental hop variety 366'. So yes I am skeptical but maybe the brew itself can make me happy.

Colorwise this is very red, golden, unfiltered. A LOT of light caramel colored foam that lingers for longer than I would have wanted.

Though this is called a celebatory IPA the aroma is not very IPA-y at all. Very artificial candy like tones hovering above everything else. Very faint medicinal tones that might come from the simcoe hops - at least I remember it to smell that way. Fruit jam with very soft tart tones.

Though this is labeled as an IPA I can't find it. The overall taste reminds me more of a nice stout, prolly stemming from the Pale Chocolate malt. The first taste is a tad bit medicinal which then changes to strong toffee and even dark chocolate tones. Faint bitter aftertaste.

I am inclined to praise this brew though I wouldn't have called it an IPA really. It is a very nice brew with a multitude of tastes available. Now if it only would be more IPA-ish...

Prost!

DMW

Störtebeker Atlantik-Ale

Störtebeker Atlantik-Ale

0,33l

5,1%

So now I am on a diet and a beer between meals shouldn't be on the list of things I should do... a lot of "should" so I'll just have a nice ice cold pale ale.

I chose Störtebeker Atlantik-Ale for it, which according to RateBeer should be decent enough. I also wager a guess that I'll be drunk after 2 sips as my breakfast consisted of 1 small slice of bread...

The bottle design goes along with the other 'specialties' this brew series makes.The front label depicts a ship while the aft label holds useful information.  I have to admit that the other stuff I had by them didn't exactly blow my mind so I am a tad bit skeptical. 

The homepage of this baby informs me that it is hopped with Tradition, Perle, Cascade, Amarillo and Citra and that it should be drunk at 10° .... well my fridge has 8° that has to do. Added information on the bottle informs us that the malt used is Crystal-, Distilling-, Pilsener-, and Wheatmalt.

It pours nice and easy with not super much but at least some head, consisting of mixed sized bubbles that dissipate reasonably fast. It's of a cloudy dark golden color. Nom, nom, unfiltered!

The aroma is surprisingly sweet, hop blossom mixed wit the typical IPA scent, very mouthwatering fresh hop aroma, not tart or stinging my nose like some IPA does. 

It starts a tad bit watery, gets very nice hoppish bitter for a moment, then sadly fades away very fast again, leaving a nice but faint bitter aftertaste. The watery part is really what makes this a meh for me. Somehow Germans still haven't found the hang to make a decent IPA. The taste simply doesn't manage to hold what the aroma promises. A pity. Now don't get me wrong, this is my no means a bad beer - it's just not a super extraordinary IPA for my taste. 

Prost!

DMW

Drunken Sailor - Crew Republic

Drunken Sailor
Crew Republic

0,33l
6,4%
58 IBU

Herkules, Citra, Cascade, Simcoe Hops
Pilsner, Munich and Caramel malts


Another out of the present my boss gave me. I like the label it's old school with some hipstery attachments. I was actually surprised to see that this is brewed in Germany as it all pointed to an American Brewer... live and learn. The label shows th name of the brewing initiative namely Crew Republic of which I admittedly hadn't heard about. And seems to be part of the grand craft beer movement. The upper label shows a classical sailors tattoo icon - an anchor. Very fitting for an IPA and that is why I chose this baby... because I want an IPA and they are hard to come by in Germany.

I like how they say which hops and malt they use. The Taste-o-meter thing they have added is probably a thing of taste... I usually tend to evade those because they influence my own sampling but I can see why it might be nice for someone who is new to beer sampling. It comes in a classical brown small bottle.

Ratebeer seems to have a high opinion of it... and now I DO wanna try it.

I will be away to Åland for a long weekend by the way so don't expect too much the next week... but maybe I'll bring back some goodies from there.

I went back to my classical tasting glass for this as it seems to deserve something classy.
It pours easy with almost no foam (like most IPA). I managed to conjure up SOME foam and it turned out to be very, very fine bubbles with occasional bigger ones.
It's of a cloudy amber with a multitude of particulates.

Instantly the room filled with a very pleasant raspberry aroma so let's get to the bottom of te aroma.

I can instantly recognize the IPA smell but it is more fruity than anything I had ever had smelled in an IPA before. The fruity tones are present and mix very, very nicely with the hop and hop blossom smell. The aroma is very full and overwhelming. I really like this aroma though I am for once at a loss to describe it.

It starts very sweet, raspberryish on the tip of the tongue then, the more I emerge my tongue into it, the hoppish bitterness takes over, Opening in a full variety of sheer bitterness, mixed with dark chocolate notes. For a short moment the alcohol is noticeable but that fades quickly.

The carbonation is pretty perfect, tickling the tongue a bit but not taking over too much of the mouthfeel. The only mayhaps small thing I can find to criticize on that brew is the alcohol taste that lingers for a bit - but as you readers know, that is something I personally dislike and doesn't make it bad in itself.

I REALLY like this one. Vast aromas of berry and melon mixed with complimenting bitter aspects.

If you find this somewhere, go get it!

Prost!

DMW

Longboard Island Lager

Longboard Island Lager
Kona Brewing
355ml
4,6%

My beloved Boss gave me a mixed case of beers from around the world and I am eager to start trying them. I shall start the series with a Hawaiian baby. Apparently Kona Brewing has been busy there with quite a selection of which I got the Lager.

The small bottle depicts the Hawaiian islands and the words Liquid Aloha. A fun novelty that almost makes me want to keep the bottle..if I weren't such a pack rat.

The Label is pretty cool and shows three surfers on the ocean in a Hawaiian bay. Colorscheme is red, blue and sand and I do like it. All in all it is a really nicely combination of label, bottle and cap, which also shows the brewery's logo - a gecko of some sort.

As it's a lager I went for an old hand blown glass stein instead of my usual tasting glass.

It pours nice and easy with not a lot of foam really. The foam it has, dissipates besides a small layer of fine bubbles.

It is of a nice golden color and appears unfiltered as it is not fully clear - alas not as cloudy as I am used to when it comes to unfiltered brews.

Now let's check the aroma. The olfactory sensation is mediocre. It's watery with sweet tones and very faint tart umami smell. Floral and fruity scents are also detectable.

So I haven't eaten anything today so let's hope I can still type after sampling it -  then again it only has 4,6%. According to the added label the ingredients would even make it OK under the German purity law.

The additional label is required as, as far as I know, beers in Europe need to show what ingredients are used in them .... they don't in the US.

Now the taste was a real surprise. A true nice sensation. Hay, freshness, very soft bitterness in the aftertaste. I truly like the soft floral tones mixed with just about the right amount of hoppish bitterness. This all mixed with almost banana sweetness.

Ratebeer isn't convinced of it, I, however, truly am. This might be one of the better things I have tried in the last year or so. Funny how taste differs.

Prost!

DMW

Schokobier

Schokobier
Freigeist Bierkultur - Vormann Brauerei, Hagen-Dahl
0,33l
5%

Right, as you might have gathered, I am on a little alcohol hiatus. It wasn't really planned.. after New Years Eve I was busy and then it somehow developed into a tipaton tammikuu (An alcohol free January). I have gotten a tremendous amount of great est objects for my birthday though, so I have to start somewhere. Today's baby I owe Dr. H. again who is doing his best to find rare gems for me to test and indeed, this might be one of those. It apparently is brewed for the 20th anniversary of the chocolate museum in cologne. Now I ask you WHY HAS NO ONE EVER TOLD ME ABOUT A CHOCOLATE MUSEUM?! *wipes drool off the keyboard*

Right ... where was I. I truly am not sure what to expect from this gem. I have had chocolate stouts - or so called chocolate stouts -  but this seems to actually have cacao as the ingredient. As the bottle is dark brown I can't guess whether it's gonna be a brown brew or a golden one.

The standard bottle holds a cap by the Vormann Brewery which seems to also be over 125 years old. My guess is that Freigeist Bierkultur brewed it at Vormann Brewery for the museum.

The label itself is nicely done, maybe a bit retro and depicts a chocolate version of colognes cathedral.

I can't find out whether the cacao was used in the brewing process or whether it was added later on. To go along German Purity law I'd guess it is the latter but no idea.

I picked my standard tasting glass for it.

It pours nice and easy, not as oily as some stouts. It comes with a nice dark hazelnut finish and not much foam. I actually had to use some tricks to produce foam at all. It dissipated rather quickly, leaving a fine layer of minuscule bubbles and an island of bigger ones in the middle of the brew.

Aroma-wise this isn't the best thing I have ever smelled. I can indeed smell the cacao but it reminds me more of accidentally sniffing in a pack of powdered cacao than the nice smell of a bar of chocolate.  Once one manages to ignore the very strong main aroma, there are faint plum tones and even marzipan hues... alas all covered by the rather unpleasant main small.

Time to give it a try and see whether my sense of taste still works after months of relaxation.

All I can say that this is... interesting. the dark aroma that was detectable is covering most of the present facets. It is rather tart by itself with a bitter sidetone that takes over in the aftertaste, surely stemming from the cacao.
Ratebeer is a bit mixed about it just like me. Apparently the Freigeist people are known for weird things and yes this wins as weird.

Thank you for the bottle Dr. H.!

Prost!

DMW