CulturAle Press

Sometimes We Just Stay Home and Drink: #2- Tröegs Scratch #362 Krausened Keller Pils

Date:  May 30, 2019  —

The Story—  It’s hard to leave Tröegs, and maybe we can give you a sense of the “want to stay all night” in these back-to-back Tröegs posts.  German brewers Krausen beers by adding freshly fermenting wort to mature beer for a final natural carbonation.  It produces a gloriously smooth carbonation.   FX Matt used to run adds featuring cartoons of Utica Club’s “tiny bubbles.” At one point that Utica, NY, brewery (now Saranac) was one of only five in the US that used the process.   Both our Hop Pocket and our Tuppers’ Keller Pils were Krausened, though, and we’re sure it played a part in their success.

We loved the Tröegs Sunshine Pils at first taste, and it was one of the beers on the table as we tried to explain what needed to happento brew the St. George (Hampton, Virginia) version of the Tuppers’ Gold and Bronze Medal winner.   The St. George beer had difficulty traveling to the DC area, but fresh at the brewery it was one of the best pilsners we’ve ever had.  We were, of course intrigued when we saw Tröegs had done a Krausened version of their Sunshine Pils.   It did not disappoint.

The Beer– The Sunshine is one of the best European style pilsners in the US but this tops it.  Exceptional balance of pils malt, smoothing yeast and a late mildly spicy bitter that commands a return.  Herbal with hints of grass in and out as it drinks.  A slight hint of sulfur really doesn’t detract much.

Value — Excellent.   To get another beer this good would cost you a trans-Atlantic airfare.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Sometimes we just stay home and drink beer — hundreds of them over the course of the year as we hunt for a new favorite.  The searching for the beer of the day never stops, so for a while, there will be fewer travel-oriented posts and just some to-the-point descriptions of beers we’ve enjoyed.

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers, and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”