1/7: Peroni Nastro Azzurro

I found myself with a few other beer drinkers at an Italian establishment tonight, so I asked the bartender for a Peroni.  The Peroni Brewery is in Rome, and is now owned by SAB Miller.   Wikipedia says that it is the most recognizable beer brand in Italy, and that their Nastro Azzurro (Blue Ribbon) brand is their "premium pale lager."  Mine was served to me in the green bottle without a glass, so I really never got to see it's true color.  But I did get to taste it.



Being a lager, it is light and refreshing when it first hits your taste buds.  It was thirst quenching.  Then comes the aftertaste.  This is where the flavor is located.  I am not sure if it from the hops or the water, but the aftertaste reminds me of many other imports that I have had; I immediately thought of Heiniken and another said it reminded him of Moosehead.  The aftertaste is somewhat "skunky" but not in a totally unpleasant way.  If you've had a few import lagers, I think you know what I am talking about. 

It was ok.  I'd have another.  So that rates it a "3" on my scale.  

Jim from Milwaukee

1/6: Berghoff's Straight-Up Hefeweizen

I continue my way through the sampler 12 pack.  Berghoff makes a version of my favorite style of beer - the hefeweiss.  As I have mentioned, the yeast (hefe) usually gives this style of beer a lemon-y/citrus-y flavor.  Berghoffs version does have that flavor, but not enough of it to rate it above a 3.  It is a pleasant enough version of a hefeweiss.  Pleasant; but not special.  There is no "wow-factor."

Three Bergoff's rated and three "3"s awarded.  I don't foresee a pilgrimage to their brewery in Monroe in my immediate future. 

Wikipedia said this about the 2006 sale of the Joseph Huber Brewing Company...

"Berghoff beer, Huber's most popular label, will be produced by a new company called Berghoff Brewing Co., which will contract with Mountain Crest to brew the beer at the Monroe plant. The brewery was renamed Minhas Craft Brewery."



 

The Minhas Craft Brewery's website doesn't mention Berghoff.  But the label still says made in Monroe.  I can't find a website for a Berghoff Brewery, either.  Apparently this is a brand that does little to no marketing and inspires little enthusiasm.  The "Berghoff Brewery" page on facebook is pathetic, with only 104 likes.  In contrast, Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee has over 33,000 likes, and Sprecher in Glendale has over 8,000. 

 

I bought my 12 pack out of a need to supply beer to my New Year's Eve party guests.  It was a mix of interesting sounding flavors at a good price.  The price was kept low in part by limiting marketing.  And while no one wants to pay for marketing campaigns, a total lack of a marketing campaign (no website in 2013?) might lead one to guess the manufacturer has a total lack of enthusiasm for their product.  I believe I am tasting their lack of passion in every glass.

 

Jim from Milwaukee

1/5: Berghoff's Sir Dunkle Dark Lager

Yesterday's Dormunder came in a mixed 12 pack of beers from Berghoff.  Today I enjoyed the Sir Dunkle Dark Lager.  The beer was medium bodied, not too heavy, it had coffee and creamy caramel notes. 

Referring to yesterday' periodic table graphic, Munich Dunkles is one square below Dormunders.  And while the color and flavor are different, there are similarities.  These two could be every day drinking choices, and a drinker might want to follow one with another.  These aren't beers that you need to sip like the the porter. 

According  to MJ, in Companion, dark lagers are associated with Munich and Bohemia.  "This style combines the dryish coffee and licorice notes of dark malts with the roundness and cleanness imparted by a lager yeast."   He goes on to list 5 producers of dark lagers.  Two German, one Czech, and the last two are from... Milwaukee County.  Apparently you don't have to go all the way to Monroe to get a dark lager.  Sprecher's Black Bavarian and Lakefront's East Side Dark Lager are two more examples of this type of beer. 

I liked Berghoff's Sir Dunkle.  I'd have another, so I'd rate it a 3.  Which is good because I have one or two more of these in my 12 pack.

-Jim from Milwaukee

1/4: Berghoff's Dortwunder Lager

One of my readers pointed out that I erred yesterday when I classified porters as being distinct from Ales.  Ales are top fermenting beers, while bottom fermenting beers are lagers.  The table above does make this distinction; I-IX are Ales,  X-XIII are Lagers, the bottom varieties are Mixed.  And as you can see porters (VIII) are a subset of ales.

While I will find this classification helpful from here out, my main source of beer knowledge to this point - the King of Hops: Michael Jackson - breaks things down in groups like the roman numerals above do.  There are Wheat Beers, Lambics, Belgian Ales...Scottish Ales, Brown Ales, Porters, Stouts, etc.   I encourage comments on the blog.  Thanks Dan.  Also thanks to Gene for sending me the link to the above "periodic table of beer."

Today's beer is a Dortmunder Styled Lager - #25 on the chart above in column XII; European Lager.  To me it tastes like a Standard American Lager (#24, XI).  So let me compare it to some Milwaukee Lagers you might have tried.  To me Miller High Life is much lighter, less full-bodied than Pabst Blue Ribbon - and this Dortmunder is somewhere in between - probably a little closer to the Pabst end of the spectrum.  MJ says of the style "less fragrant than a true Pilsner , but still dry; firmer in its maltiness than a Munich lager." (Companion, 1993)  He goes on to say that the style was popular in Dortmund, Germany with the men who worked in the coal and steel industries, but when those industries waned, their beer fell out of style.  It became "your parents beer" - totally uncool in the eyes of the younger generation.  It has caught on in the U.S. and Japan.

I grew up with PBR.  Berghoff's Dortwunder Lager tastes to me like "beer."  I like beer.  I'll rate it a 3.

* - Correction: I see now that the call the beer "Dortwunder."  Due to the font used on the bottle I couldn't tell.

1/3: Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Just like there is no fruit in fruity tasting hefeweisses, there is no chocolate in porters.  The flavor of chocolate comes from the malt. According to MJ in Ultimate, chocolate malts are "kilned at high temperatures without being burned." 

The label of this porter declares it to be "a perfect beer to celebrate the winter season.  Complex malt character reveals layers of coffee and cocoa."  So it looks like chocolate, and it tastes a bit like dark chocolate, but it contains no chocolate. Beer is magic.

MJ classified porters (and dry stouts) as sociable beers - meant to be lingered over in a pub.  I found it to be a good beer to accompany my dinner on a cold winter's night.  Not sweet, but full of flavor.  I will rate it a "3" - I'd have another.  It is a good tasting beer.

Since this is my first "dark" beer, I should pass on MJ's note on darker beers; they "are not necessarily fuller in body or stronger in alcohol.  There is no connection between color, fullness and potency.  Color derives from the malt used."  (Ultimate, p. 13)

Jim from Milwaukee

1/2: Franziskaner Weissbier

After not liking yesterday's ale, I selected a favorite of mine for day two: a Hefeweiss.  In German, "Hefe" means yeast and "weiss" means white.  According to Ultimate, this style of southern German beer is also known as hefeweizen. "Weizen" is German for wheat.  MJ says, "This type of beer is often served with a morning snack of bread and veal sausages.  Bavarians call it a 'breakfast beer' because it is light, cleansing and digestible." Which reminds me of the line, "you can't drink beer all day, if you don't start in the morning."

As you can tell from the picture, this "white" beer is not white in color, but it a cloudy golden brown.  It is only called white, because it is much lighter in color than traditional Munich brown beers.  The cloudiness comes from the fact that the yeast is not filtered out after the brewing is completed. 

 

Where yesterday's ale was hoppy, today's hefeweiss is yeasty.  And the yeast is the star here.  Hefeweisses are some of my favorite beers, and to me most of them taste of lemon or other citrus fruits - because of the yeast, there is no fruit in these beers.  But Franziskaner's leaves a distinct banana taste in my mouth.  The combination of wheat and banana brings banana bread to mind.  Maybe it is not for everyone, but that just means more for me.  I rate it a 4; "I'd seek this out."  I have.  And I would gladly do it again.  If other Spaten Brewery selections are equally interesting and tasty, I could consider a pilgrimage to Munich.

Jim from Milwaukee

1/1: Bucky Blonde Ale

 

Beer #1:  Bucky Blonde Ale by West Bend Lithia Beer, brewed in Glendale, WI by Sprecher Brewing.

 

I chose this one to celebrate the Badger's playing in today's Rose Bowl.  One Bucky didn't have a great game in Pasadena, and the other Bucky didn't have a great showing in my glass.  The label mentions that this is a pre-prohibition recipe of West Bend Lithia Beer, "brewed with the finest mineral containing water."  Whatever. 

 

I picked this one up at Sprecher Brewery in Glendale.  At first I thought that Sprecher was highlighting some local micro-microbrews, but in small print on the side it says, "Brewed in Glendale, WI."  So this is brewed under contract by Sprecher.  It has a nice golden color, with a good head.  It was hoppy and crisp and dry on my palate... but I don't like ales. I give it a 2; "I can understand why others drink it."  Ale is just not my cup of beer.