Brewery:      Schlössle Neu Ulm, Germany  Abv 7.5

Schlössle High Five Hop Ale Breaks New Ground in Neu Ulm

Schlössle High Five Hop Ale is a wonderfully typical example of the lengths traditional brewers are going to break new ground and capture new drinkers.  The end of Reinheitsgebot import restrictions meant that big flavorful ales were not hard to obtain, and the same beer geek younger drinkers that have pushed the market from New Zealand to St. Louis to Scandinavia have been drifting away from the gardens and halls that can’t offer anything more exotic than a hefeweizen.

Brauerei Schloessle in New Ulm is a traditional brewery making very untraditional beers

The traditional brewers are striking back – see our main (Just Go) post for the week for a wider view of the movement.   The Schlössle High Five Hop Ale shows enough early malt to take the 5 hops a minute or two to win the rumble.  Lots of oil and resin and a range of stone and tropical notes swarm over the malt and some citrus hops come along for the ride.  Shows some metal as it drinks and some pepper as it warms.

Ellie and I both liked it, but to different degrees.   I thought it was a match for a typical brew pub IPA in the states and rated it 4 stars.  Ellie thought it was too sweet and the malt was too biscuity and rated it three stars.   You can tell who is actually entering these posts by looking at the rating below.

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

 20170116

AMAGER BRYGHUS DOUBLE BLACK MASH 2015 IS A HUGE AND HUGELY COMPLEX WINTER WONDER

Brewery:      Amager Bryghus Double Black Mash Imperial Stout        Abv  12

 20170115   Amager Bryghus Double Black Mash was one of the best of more than 30 beers we’ve had from Amager over the years.  Ironically we found only three of these Amager in Denmark despite the fact that we’ve spent a fair amount of time over the past several years in Copenhagen.

Amager is a small island that is, essentially, part of Copenhagen, but it’s a long way from the center and the beers winds up competing for tap space with the dozens of other Danish breweries.  We found it at the Øl  Baren and at our favorite hangout, Lord Nelson, but you can get their products closer to home.   Shelton Brothers distributes them in states ranging from the East Coast to Oregon and lists availability of a dozen bottles and a dozen and a half kegs.

Amager Bryghus is on an island, but you don’t need a boat — the subway gets you there from Copenhagen in about 15 minutes.

For now, one of their best is not available, al though since past brews were dated, we’re hoping for a return in this year.   Amager Bryghus Double Black Mash pours a very dark brown with a dark brown head to match.   It’s fairly clear for a beer that thick.   Cascades and Chinooks not only balance the big dark sweet malts, but brighten the heavy richness.  Huge malts throughout, but the complexity runs deeper than malt alone.   We think other brewers might be able to come close to this 12% powerhouse…if they were willing to risk breaking their brewing systems to do it.

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%

SPENCER DEVON FALL LINE WINTER PALE ALE — A TRIUMPH OF SEASONAL BREWING

Spencer Devon:      FALL LINE WINTER PALE ALE      Abv  5.0      IBU 36

 20170114 (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)     Spencer Devon has produced fine beers since the day they opened their doors in downtown Fredericksburg.   Fall Line Pale Ale is a mainstay, but it’s a moving target.  Their winter version was one of the best pale ales we had all last winter.   In a word of IPAs, it’s sometimes hard for the less forceful pale ales to stand out, but the Fall Line has a big dose of hops that uses every bit of the IBUs  to ride over the clean malt and finish with a slow cleansing bitter.   Herbal, tropical, and bitterness all play as it drinks.

•     * Skip It
•    ** Good Craft Beer
•   *** Well Above Average
•  **** Exceptional
• ***** Top 1%