Pubcast from The Brit and Yankee – Show 2

November 5, 2006

We celebrate Oktoberfest – yes it’s a little late! – at our local German restaurant, Schnitzel Platz.

It a fun time with our friends, with some beer drinking, some German music, and some German music.

Meet Dave Glezewski, our Wisconsin brew-master, and chat about German brewing styles.

Spencer’s Report

Music from Margot and The Nuclean So and so’s – “On a Freezing Chicago Street” from ‘The dust of Retreat’

http://www.margotandthenuclearsoandsos.com/

Elections! A mini-rant on the constant bombardment of literature and vmail messages, and the lack of real information for the voters. BUT….get out and VOTE!!!

Beers on Tap for this show:

The Landlord was drinking Weihenstephaner Kristal Weisse

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/weihenstephaner-kristall-weissbier/4584/

The Cellar-master was drinking Weihenstephaner Dunkel Weisse

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/weihenstephaner-hefeweissbier-dunkel/4583/

Brewmaster Notes:

On the second episode of the Brit and Yankee podcast I wandered into the pub and talked to the guys about German beers. I thought I’d write up a little bit about the different styles of German beers.

There are many different styles of German beers but many are hard to find in the US. The most common styles available in the US are Pilsners and Weiss beers, with Oktoberfest (aka Marzen) and Bock a close 3rd and 4th in popularity.

A Pilsner style of beer is what the big US brewers (Miller, Bud) claim their beers are like. The US versions are really bad examples of what a good European Pilsner really is. Now I say European Pilsner because a pilsner is more of a Czech beer but Germany makes some good ones as well. A pilsner is a golden or straw colored beer with a moderate noble hop flavor and aroma. A pilsner should have a slightly sweet malty finish. Most pilsners will have an alcohol content of 3.5 to 5.5 %

A Weiss beer is a beer that is mainly made out of wheat that has a clove or banana aroma, a slight bitter finish and high carbonation. There are different styles of Weiss beers that can be found. Hefe Weiss is an unfiltered wheat beer, so it will look very cloudy. Kristal Weiss is a filtered wheat beer. This beer when poured will have an almost amber color and you should be able to see right through it. Hefe and Kristal Weiss beers are mainly enjoyed in the hot summer months. They are normally servers with a lemon (which really annoys Germans – [And me – USBrit note!]) in a tall glass. The final Weiss style is a Dunkle Weiss. Dunkle is German for dark so a Dunkle Weiss is a dark wheat beer. Unlike its golden cousins (Hefe and Kristal) Dunkle are a malty sweet Weiss that is enjoyed more during the winter months. Dunkles are still low in ABV averaging around 4 %.

Next up are Oktoberfest and Marzens. Märzens are characterized by a medium body and broad range of color. Oktoberfest can range from golden to reddish 
brown. Sweet maltiness should dominate slightly over a clean, hop bitterness. Malt character should be light-toasted rather than strongly caramel. ABV will be in the 5% range.

Like the Weiss, the Bock Style comes in many varieties. Traditional bocks are made with all malt and are strong, malty, medium- to full-bodied, bottom-fermented beers with moderate hop bitterness that should increase proportionately with the starting gravity. Hop flavor should be low and hop aroma should be very low. Bocks can range in color from deep copper to dark brown. You will also find bocks that are called double and triple that refers to the ABV. A Double (also Dopple) is going to be about 1/4 more strength, where a triple bock will be at least 1/2 more strength than a normal bock. In the spring and summer months the bocks color will lighten up but the ABV does not drop. These paler color bocks are called Miabock and Helles. The German word helle means light colored, and as such, a heller Bock is light straw to deep golden in color. Maibocks are also light-colored bocks. The malty character should come through in the aroma and flavor. Body is medium to full. Hop bitterness should be low, while noble-type hop aroma and flavor may be at low to medium levels 

With the more common German beers out of the way, we now can talk about the lesser known styles like the Alt, Kolsch and Schwarzbier

Alt is German for old, and the Alt style of beer is one of the oldest styles of beers brewed in Germany. Copper to brown in color, this German ale may be highly hopped and intensely bitter (although the 25 to 35 IBU range is more normal for the majority of Altbiers from Düsseldorf) and has a medium body and malty flavor. A variety of malts, including wheat, may be used. Hop character may be medium to high in the flavor and aroma. The overall impression is clean, crisp, and flavorful often with a dry finish 
Kölsch is warm fermented and aged at cold temperatures (German ale or alt-style beer). Kölsch is characterized by a golden to straw color and a slightly dry, subtly sweet softness on the palate, yet crisp. Good, dense head retention is desirable. A 
light fruitiness may be apparent, but is not necessary for this style. Caramel character should not be evident. The body is light to medium-light. This beer has low hop flavor and aroma with medium bitterness. Wheat can be used in brewing this beer. Ale yeast is used for fermentation, though lager yeast is sometimes used in the bottle or final cold conditioning process. 
Schwarzbier is a dark brown to black beers have a roasted malt character without the associated bitterness. Malt flavor and aroma are low in sweetness. Hop bitterness is low to medium in character. Noble-type hop flavor and aroma should be low but perceptible.

Well I hope this has given you some information on German beer styles and that you go out and try one, if not all of the styles listed above. Cheers!!!

Dave G.

daveg@thebritandyankee.com