Showing posts with label Altbier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Altbier. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Moon Under Water Maxminer's Altbier

Sticking with the Moon's signature brewing style we have another German influenced beer; the altbier. This is also another collaboration, which is something Clay and crew do a lot of.  Altbier means 'old beer', which could be applied to almost every German and European style of beer. When one mentions altbier, they are generally referring to a dark, lagered ale from Düsseldorf. Think of this as a dark Kolsch. Typically the alt style expresses some dark ale characteristics: caramel, dark fruits with a mild hop floral and spiciness. Extended cold conditioning (lagering) tends to smooth out the edges and cleans up the finish. How does the Maxminer stack up? Brilliantly.

Maxminer's Altbier =7/10


The nose is a tad restrained but enough clean, caramel maltiness floats up. There might be a little floral spiciness too. Alt beers are never flavour powerhouses. Each sip is clean with great balance between tame chocolate, caramel, bread, raisins and floral/spicy noble hops. True to form is hits all the marks and just tastes... well, good. The finish holds a slight tongue coating of sweet caramel. A very enjoyable beer, sadly it is only a seasonal.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5.3%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (always better from a growler in a proper glass)

Glassware: The altbier uses the stange style glass, but generally it is a bit larger (330ml). I picked this smaller size because it said 'Alt'. You could also pick a Willibecher.

Food Pairings: Anything caramelized and restrained in flavour will pair nicely. Would work well with grilled chicken, all things pork or a BBQ portabello mushroom burger. Mushroom caps with young Gouda sounds darn tasty.

Cellar: Nope

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Sticke Alt (Les Trois Mousquetaires)

"Sticke" means secret in some circles. I guess every beer could be called "sticke', since most brewers do not post their recipes. Except for Stone Brewing; every year they post the complete recipes for their EPIC ales. It could also refer to a slightly stronger alt that is brewed in limited release.

Sticke Alt (Les Trois Mousquetaires) = 7/10

Ratebeer 3.53 95th percentile
Beer Advocate 87 (Hey no letter grades anymore)

The secret is out, this beer is pretty good. The roasted, fruity nose is not unexpected from this dark brown pour. Each sticky sip provided ample toffee, roasted coffee beans and resinous hops. Even the herbal hops and slight green apple - not tart-  flavours did not seem out of place.

Taste +3
Aftertaste 2
Alcohol Content 0 6%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Uerige Doppel-Sticke

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Uerige Doppel-Sticke


Uerige Doppel-Sticke
Strong Altbier

Ratebeer 3.75 96th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Altbier is style originating from Düsseldorf. It is an old style of German beer, similar to the old British ales. They were both cold conditioned for longer periods of time to help mellow some of the flavours. Apparently Holsten Festbock is also an altbier.

Taste +4
If nothing else this beer has one of the coolest bottles I have seen. One cannot mistake the nose for a weak beer, heavy on the caramel, raisins and alcohol. Straight away the first sip tingles your tongue with caramel sweetness and alcohol. After the tingle fades the second line of plum, dark fruits and a little earth reveal themselves. Very similar to a barley wine.
Aftertaste +2

There is a long mouth and throat coating, mostly burning and earthly fruits with undertones of sourness.
Alcohol Content +1 8.5%

No hiding the ethanol anywhere, it is upfront with every taste.

Value +1

If nothing else just for the bottle.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Tried the demo for UFC on the PS3 tonight. It was nice and pretty, but $70 is a little much for a fingermasher.
Overall 9/10

It is different than any other beer I have tried; rather like a big Belgian and a barley wine mixed. Did I mention the cool bottle?

Duckstein