The Kaiser's Beer Reviews

This was one of my
favorite beers when I still lived in Germany. But this was also a
time when I didn't know much about beer styles in general.

Hasseroeder has a
surprisingly dark golden color compared to many other German
Pilsners. Given the low color pick-up in modern brew houses (low O2
exposure and boils 60 min or less) I would suspect this color to come
from the addition of specialty malts (crystal malts) or highly kilned
malts like Munich malt. But that is only speculation at this point.

The beer has the typical
hop aroma of a German Pils. It is present shortly after pouring and
again once the head has subsided a little. There seems to be a little
malt aroma present as well. The taste starts malty and is quickly
followed by a bitterness that seems fairly low for a hop centered
beer like a pilsner. The bitterness doesn't linger but I would still
consider this beer to be balanced towards hops because of its hop
aroma and flavor.

Hasseroeder seems to be a
an example of a southern German Pilsner, which tend to be more malty
and less assertive in their bitterness. A little less hops and I
would consider it a Helles.

This is a very nice
classic German Bockbier. Dark amber in color with an off white head.
It has a nice strong aroma of Munich malt. There are no hops present
in the aroma and the aroma is strongest once the head subsided a
little. The beer starts with a sweet, but not cloying malty taste. At
that point it also develops a slight sharpness on the tongue that
stays all the way through the finish. I would contribute this to both
higher alcohols and hop bitterness. But despite the presence of this
sharpness, the beer hides its almost 7% abv very well. Which is
generally a sign for well brewed Bockbier's. It's bitterness does not
linger long after swallowing.

Koestrizer Schwarzbier is considered the origin of the Schwarzbier style in Germany. And to this date it is also the most popular Schwarzbier. Some of that might be the result of a strong marketing campaign, though. Brewed by the Koestrizer Schwarzbier Brauerei Bad Koestriz. The listed ingredients are water, barley malt, hops and hop extract. No yeast, because it has been filtered. All of the German beers I had so far were brewed with hop extract, which makes this the most popular use of hops in German brewing.

The beer pours with a tan head and is almost black with ruby highlights. There is little aroma initially, but as the head subsides, a slight aroma of munich malt appears. None or only a hint of roast is present in the aroma. It starts with the malty taste of Munic malts, but not as stong as in a good Dunkel beer, and finishes fairly dry with a hint of roast. No noticable hop bitterness is precieveable. I would describe its body as medium as it appears to be fairly thin. There is no hop taste or aroma noticable even though the brewer bothered to complement the hop extract with hops.

This is the 2nd
Schwarzbier I had on my trip. I got it close to Kulmbach itself, so
it should be fresh. It pours with a tan head, which seem typical for
Schwarzbiers. A roasted malt aroma is clearly noticeable thought it
is only mild. The beer has a malty sweet start that is followed by a
mildly roasty finish. But it is roastier that the Koestrizer that I
had before. Once the head subsides a little some underlying Munich
malt aroma becomes evident and is an indication of significant Munich
malt in the grist. I would charachterize the body of the beer as
medium, similar to many other southern German beers like Pils, Helles
and Maerzen.

This beer is bolder in
taste than the Schwarzbier classic Koestrizer and the bitterness
(roast and hops) linger longer as a result of that. In preference I'm
torn between this one and Koestrizer. I like a little more roast than
Koestrizer, but I don't want this taste to linger as long as it does
in the Moenchshof Schwarzbier

Kulmbacher is the main
label of the Kulmbacher Brauerei AG, which also brews the Moenchshof
beers. After pouring a whiff of hop aroma appears, but it is less
than the other Pilsner that I had so far (Holsten and Hasseroeder).
Its taste starts sweet with a mild bitterness prickling on the
tounge, but that bitterness doesn't linger after the finish. A hop
taste is present, but it is different from the beers I had so far.
According to the label this beer uses Hallertauer Hops, whereas I
suspect that most of the other Pils beers use Tettnang or Saaz hops
for finishing.

I would consider this a
typical Bavarian interpretation of the Pils style: sweeter and much
more subdued hop character. Almost a Helles.

Holsten Pilsner is a
nothern German Pilsner. It shows a slight hop aroma after pouring and
has an almost assertive bitterness, which is comparable to that of an
American Pale Ale, from start to finish. It is definitely not as
sweet as Hasseroeder but despite the stronger bitterness it lingers
only slightly. Although being the drier beer, its body is also medium
which is similar to Hasseroeder. This shows that the level of
sweetness of a beer has little to do with the perception of body in a
beer.

The northern German Pils
style seem to be the only German Pils beers where one can still get
the most hop bitterness and flavor. The further one goes south the
more the Pilsners get sweeter and come very close to the Munich
Helles style.

After having had the
rather bland Erdinger Weissbier, this one is more like what is
expected from a Weissbier. A medium aroma of banana is present
shortly after pouring, but quickly disappears without emerging again.
It is fairly prickly in its start and shows a mild to low bitterness
that doesn't linger. It actually comes very close to home brewed
Weissbier. There is no noticable clove charcter. It also lacks a
significant malt taste other than the Pilsner and wheat malt that
were used in its grist. Later on I also started to pick up some
yeasty notes in aroma and taste.

This one showed me how
close I actually am to a true Bavarian example with my home brewed
Weissbier.

This was one of my first
Weissbiers on this trip and I later found that this was one of the
few examples that actually showed more a fruity than a phenolic
(clove) character.

Brewed by Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg.

Yet another beer from the
Moenchshof label. This time a Pilsner. After pouring a slightly sweet
and flowery aroma appeared. It almost reminded me of American hops.
The hop bitterness dominates the start and the finish of this beer
but is not assertive. It does however linger a little. There is a
medium mouthfeel with very little malt taste. It is not an
exceptionally dry Pils, but definitely drier than the Hasseroeder.
The label doesn’t mention the type of hops that were used for
finishing, but I suspect that Hallertauer hops, similar to the
Kulmbacher Pils, were used.

Finally I have this beer
fresh from the bottle in Germany. It's aroma is a slight aroma of
malt, but not as malty as the Moenchshof Bockbier, and a slight note
of alcohol is also present. The beer has a sweet taste of
melanoidens, again less than the Moechshof Bockbier, acompanied with
a slight sharpness that I would contribute to the alcohol (ethanol
and higher alcohols) and some hops. But the taste is not alcoholic.
It is more a bitterness that is reminiscent of hop bitterness, but I
think only a part of it is actually hops. This sharpness/bitterness
doesn't linger though. It is a very easy drinking beer that will show
its alcohol later, but lacks in complexity which I prefer in a
Doppelbock. There are not many German beer styles that benefit from
complexity, a Doppelbock is certainly one of them.

Interesting to notice was
that a fresh Salvator has much less of the malty/dark fruit aroma
than one that you get in the US. I suspected, and now know, that the
long travel causes aging processes that bring out this character.
Because of that American beer enthusiasts and home brewers expect a
Doppelbock to have this character.

Rumors exist that Salvator
gets its color and malt character from a very long boil. But that is
untrue. The brewer, who guided the brewery tour at Paulaner,
confirmed that this beer is not boiled for much longer than other
beers. For one would a long boil hurt the head retention and body,
but more importantly, it would not fit into the schedule of the brew
house where different batches are pipelined.

Stammwürze: 18.3 % (Plato)

Alcohol: 7.5%

Final extract: 4.5 % (Plato)

Attenuation: 75 %

I already knew this one
from the US as a fairly bland, i.e. neutral, Weissbier. But until now
I blamed that on the long travel and the fact that Weisbiers just
don't age well. Now I had it in the motherland and it is as neutral
of a beer here as well. There is not much noticeable fruit or yeast
character in its aroma. Followed by a neutral taste with maybe a hint
of fruit. The bitterness seems fairly high for a Weissbier. But it is
nicely prickely on the tounge all the way through. There is also a
more than medium mouthfeel, i.e. this beer feels "thicker: than
the average German beer I had so far. The malt taste is neutral. This
seems to be a pilsner and wheat malt only beer.

Being as neutral as it is,
this beer could also be an American Wheat. Erdinger is one of the
largest Weissbier brewers (if not the lagrest) in Germany. And
because of that they brew large scale in tall conicals which are
known to create pressure environments that suppress the ester and
higher alcohol production of the yeast. This might be one reason why
it is that bland of a beer. And that may also be the cause for its
popularity. Don't be fooled, even the common German beer drinker
likes his/her beers bland. Hence the trend towards ever milder
Pilsner beers these days.