Ah, Munich

I tend to quote the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he's kissing Dr. Elsa Schneider and he looks up and proclaims "Ah, Venice." The problem is that I usually fill the spot used for Venice with just about anything.

The most recent usage of the phrase was when I read this post on a beer blogger's trip to Munich, Germany. I'm sure you've already figured out how my phrase was put together. I want to follow in this blogger's footsteps.

I've had many Civil War battlefield escapades as thy are somewhat close to me here on the east coast. A World War II tour of a few European spots is also on my bucket list. I'd start in Normandy, France and check out the beach heads )Operation Overlord took place later tonight back in 1944) and certainly make it to the Munich/Berchtesgaden/Bavaria area of Germany. People tend to hate the Hofbrauhaus we have here in Pittsburgh. I certainly hate it on Friday and Saturday nights as t turns into a douchebag fest. The food and beer is very tasty, in my opinion. Then again, I love German food. I'd definitely want to get to the original one in Munich.

I'm in no way a beer/food pairing expert. One thing that I do know that pars excellently with multiple beer styles is a bratwurst. This happens quite a lot in Germany. No bratwurst? Sure, just get me a nice Bavarian pretzel. The blog post I linked mentions that some might look at the beer selection in Germany and frown upon it. There isn't a lot of variety as there is here in the States, but if I had to try just Helles Lagers the entire trip I'd be perfectly fine.

There's A LOT of Helles over there, too.

Hey, Sunshine

Yesterday I decided to pop open a few bottles of the beer that's stocked under my kitchen table and around the washing machine. Yea, it's got to that point. The two lucky brews? Hofbrauhaus original Lager and Troegs Sunshine Pils.

The Original Lager is a Munich Helles Lager and was the official German response to the creation of Czech Pilsner. I guess the Germans felt that they needed to counter in some way? Sunshine Pils is a German-style pilsner. I'm guessing that this came much later than the first brewing of the Munich Helles. Just in case you ever need to tell German Pilsner from a German one, the latter is usually spelled just "pils."

I used to really enjoy the Czech style, but I've recently found myself enjoying more and more of the two styles that inspired this post. The Munich Helles is a lot maltier and the pils is a bit more hopped, but has a citrus-like zing to it.

Luckily, I had a case of Sunshine Pils drop into my possession late in the season last year. I'm still working on it. Thus, that's how I was able to open one up. If you follow the Troegs Twitter account, you might have noticed that it's a bit closer to being the time of the year for Sunshine Pils.

@troegsbeer #sunshinepils began shipping to our Central PA market today and cases, sixers & singles are now available in our General Store!
— Tröegs Brewing (@TroegsBeer) March 25, 2013

Beer Review: Hofbrauhaus Original Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.1 percent

Appearance: Hofbrau Original Lager is a very light shade of gold. It almost appears as if it's a more of a lighter beer. It's very transparent, which enables you to clearly see all of the bubbles float their way to the top of the glass. The head was pretty bubbly, not too thick and dissipates after a few sips. There was a lot of retention. So, expect a ton of caked lacing inside your glass

Smell: This beer smells somewhat yeasty and grassy. Reminds me of being in the back yard after the lawn was freshly cut. I realize that there isn't ever salt in the brewing process, but for whatever reason this beer smells kind of salty (in a good way).

Taste: So heavenly. It tasted very zesty and crisp. It had that tang on the back of the tongue that hop heads love, but it wasn't dominating to the point where someone like me would despise it. This beer also featured that biscuity-taste that dominates the back of most Pilsners. That's fitting since the Helles was the German response to Czech Pilsner.

Overall Rating:  

Truly one of my favorite beers. Every time I can get a glass of it I take it as it makes me feel like I'm sitting in a German beer garden every time I drink it. If there is a negative thing about this beer it's that it causes me not to try any of the seasonal offerings when I visit Hofbrauhaus on the South Side. I can't help it. I always order a stein of this when I'm there. It pretty much pairs with food, in my opinion.