Thursday, July 15, 2010

German Beers

Man can not live by hoppy monster's, imperial stouts, or other high alcohol beers alone. Of course I love them, but there are times and places for more sessionable beers. I normally don't seek them out for one reason or another but a week or so ago I was paid a visit by some friends from Germany who came carrying gifts for me. Gifts of beer! These were good every day German beers, nothing extreme just extremely tasty! A wheat beer and a keller beer were included in my gift package!
Mönchshof Kellerbräu: Brewed by the Kulmbacher brewery, this is an unfiltered lager that weighs in at 5.4%. It pours a cloudy light brown with a thick dense head of foam. The nose is full of noble hop aroma fruity estersy, pale toasted malts. THe mouthfeel is full, much fuller than I expected. Caramel malts, noble hops, flavors of minerals, earth and floral notes as well. Toasted malts, delicious and easy drinking. Clean and crisp, this one gets a B from me.
Kapuziner Weisbier: Another beer brewed by Kulmbacher this one is of course a Hefeweizen that weighs in at 5.4%. THe beer pours a hazy straw yellow capped with a tone of frothy white foam. The nose is full of bannana, cloves, and citrus. This time around the mouthfeel is a little lighter than I expected. Flavors of bannana, spices, cloves, citrus including strong notes of lemon. Somewhat light, very refreshing, crisp. Smooth and very tasty. The lemony notes make this really refreshing. Drinking this beer makes me think of sitting in a German biergarden on a beautiful Summer day. An above average wheat beer that gets a B+ from me.