Beer Review: Stoudt's Gold Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: This Helles Lager had a lovely straw gold color to the body. There was some form of a haze gradient. It started in the upper portions of the brew and faded away to something a bit more transparent down below. The head was quite thick and had an attractive white fluffiness to it. It didn't appear to be fueled by many carbonation bubbles, but it did end up caving in on itself to leave some web-like sticky lacing inside my glass.

Smell: This smelled quite clean. I also noticed a grassiness as well as a bready backbone. Very crackery and a slight hop nose.

Taste: I mainly tasted crackers and bread for the most part on each sip of this beer. Those flavors were especially dominant from the front to mid portions of the tongue. An additional flavor on the mid portion was a touch of sweet caramel to offset some of the stronger savory flavors. The finish was very herbal, crisp as well as hoppy. The caramel in the middle helped to counteract with the bitterness I caught on the finish. Very clean and crisp, overall.

Overall Rating: 

I really enjoyed this. A really quality Helles Lager. A very clean beer. Good cracker flavor with a hint of sweet caramel. It also had a nice hoppy bite on the back. This was very balanced in all aspects of flavor. If anything it did play a bit light. Carbonation was also a tad lacking. Still, those aren't huge reasons to deduct points, in my book.

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.

Beer Review: Maui Brewing Bikini Blonde Lager

Serving Type: Can

ABV: 4.5  percent

Appearance: Bikini Blonde Lager pours a dark gold. The body is mostly hazy, which is sort of uncharacteristic for a Helles Lager (at least in my experiences with them). I was still able to notice a good multitude of rising carbonation bubbles. The head of the brew was a crisp white and foamy. it also slightly receded after a few seconds, but there was a nice creamy layer of foam for the duration of the drink.

Smell: The aroma consisted of a touch of sweet malt and a strong yeast presence. There was also a small bit of floral hops that made this feel very spring or summery. It was a crisp, fresh smell.

Taste: This was very sweet and malty up front, initially. The floral hoppiness of this contributed to a clean, crisp and bitter finish. I also caught a fruity sensation in the aftertaste a few sips into this beer. Still, that wasn't enough to make me classify this as a fruit beer. It still compliments the rest of the product quite well. We can't forget about that appetizing layer of foam that was atop the beer. It provided a touch of creaminess.

Overall Rating: 

I really enjoyed this beer. If anything was wrong, it was a bit too malty. I would have preferred a bit more balance. This is a goody for beach drinking. Especially if it's hot outside. I've heard and read rumors that this beer is no longer brewed as well as that it's still in existence. Whichever the reason, I was lucky to finally come across this. I'll continue to look and see which of the two aforementioned rumors is true.

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