Beer: Hacker-Pschorr Weisse

Hello friends,

I recognize that it has been a while since my last post. You may not know this about me already, but I’m a really good procrastinator. I’m also forgetful and not always good at prioritizing. Thus, these things all contribute to my sporadic posting. I may try to work on it, but I don’t know how far I’ll get.

Anyway, it’s time for a beer…post.

Currently, I am working my way through wheat beers and I seem to like this category more than the pale ales. The wheat beer I tried most recently is brewed in Germany (the apparent capital of wheat beers) by Hacker- Pschorr. http://www.hacker-pschorr.com/en

They have a great website with lots of good pictures and process explanations. They, too, brew in accordance with the German Law of Purity of 1516. I’m tired of typing this without knowing it means so I did a little research. It turns out that this is a real “thing”. Sometimes the law is called Reinheitsgebot which translates to “purity order”. Basically, the Germans were beer purists aka snobs. Initially, the beer could only include certain ingredients, and for the most part, that’s still the case with just a few exceptions.

So, how does it taste? I didn’t like it as much as the Franziskaner but it was still tasty. I used a Weizner glass in order to accentuate the taste and features of the wheat beer. Honestly, I can’t tell if it made a difference. The beer was slightly cloudy but had a pretty, golden color. Overall, it had a good smell (smelled like wheat) and went down smoothly. I had the strongest urge to cook a bratwurst and have it with it – which makes sense given the beer.

Have you tried Hacker-Pschorr before? What were your thoughts?

Next up: Weihenstephaner.

This Beer Tastes Like Bread!

The next phase of my beer conquest introduced me to wheat beers. “Wheat is a terrific base ingredient that provides brewers the opportunity to utilize additional ingredients to influence aromas and flavors” (from Total Wine & Beer’s Total Guide to Beer). And even in my non-expert opinion, I agree.

Altogether, I’ll be trying 3 different wheat beers and the first one I tasted was Franziskaner Weissbier, brewed by Spaten-Brau in Munich, Germany.

This brewery has been producing fine beers in accordance with the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 for over 600 years. Here’s what it looks like and here’s a link to the site. My initial review of the site is that it has a lot of good info in a very crappy layout.

Anyway, keep reading for my [brief] review.

http://www.franziskaner.com/

I thought that the beer tasted very “beer-y”. It was also very “bread-y”, like, it totally tasted like wheat bread…which I loooooove. Lastly, it was very smooth and clear at the same time. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot more complexity to its taste or texture.

I’ve tried a few different pale ales and wheats, and the wheats are definitely winning for me so far. This beer was more cloudy as it was unfiltered and created an immense amount of head. And the head stuck around a lot longer. This is because of the higher levels of protein in wheat beers. (See? I’m learning).

Have you tried Franziskaner before? What were your thoughts?

Next up: Hacker-Pschorr Weisse

Beer: Agave Wheat

I asked the waiter to give me something similar to Shock Top and he recommended Agave Wheat – an unfiltered wheat ale. I like it! It smells good and tastes very smooth, almost kinda sweet.

Beer: Fuller’s London Pride Review

This was my favorite out of the first three. It smells good and isn’t bitter like Dale’s. Also noticed it created waaaaay less head than Dale’s – must be due to the carbonation.

Beer: Dale’s Pale Review

Billy suggested that I start with pale ales. So, I tried Dale’s Pale Ale first.

I did NOT like it.

I don’t have a big beer vocabulary yet, so the words I use to describe it may not be the best. Nonetheless, it tasted bitter, strong, and very sharp. When it first hits my tongue it doesn’t taste bad, then it just tastes horrible all of a sudden. My beer buddy, after hearing my description, believes that I do not like “hoppy” beer (which is apparently what Dale’s is). I also worked on pouring the beer the right way. The pic doesn’t look great, but I did my best.

Oh – and I bought my first 3 singles from Total Wine. They have LOTS of singles for sell and the associate who helped me was very friendly. I highly recommend the Chantilly location for beer.

Beer 101

A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to learn more about beer. I feel as though I am well-versed on spirits and I don’t care to learn much more about wine at this present moment. Thus, I took to the internet to get some advice. Billy has a program that is designed for beer newbies and I’ll be using this blog to share my progress (among other things).