The Beers of Düsseldorf

I first became acquainted with Düsseldorf  back in the late 1960s when I was a young American soldier stationed in Germany. One of the attractions of the Rhine area was that it was outside the zones where American soldiers were stationed. Not that I wanted to get away from my fellow soldiers and Americans; it was rather a chance to escape the prejudice that many Germans at the time had against GIs. In Düsseldorf, the city not only had great nightlife (the Altstadt-Old Town), but I was regarded only as a foreigner from the States, nothing more or nothing less.

One of the things I quickly picked up on was the popularity of dark beer (Altbier) in Düsseldorf. It seemed at the time that it was the standard beer. I recall breweries like Diebels (actually brewed in Issum) and Schlösser Alt, and I still have  Diebels and Schlösser glasses in my collection.

It's been 1970 since I have been back to Düsseldorf  , and at my age, the allure of the nightlife has worn off. Indeed, I have been told that the Altstadt has gone pretty much to seed. In addition, I have to rely on other sites to bring us up to date on the beer of Düsseldorf  The European Beer Guide.net has a page on Düsseldorf .

https://www.europeanbeerguide.net/dussbrew.htm



Here is an interesting article from The Independent on the city and its beer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-wunderbars-of-d-sseldorf-8482194.html

Still Stuck in US Trying to Find True German Beer

I haven't been back to Germany since 2013, and it doesn't look good for this year either. That leaves me with a dilemma. The only place I can drink what I consider to be true German beer without all the changes is the Las vegas Hofbrauhaus, which ships the beer in by kegs from Munich. The taste is authentic. Everything else is like drinking micro-brew.

Recently, I have visited the Phoenix Club in Anaheim a couple of times. It is a German social club that puts on a beer fest during the Oktoberfest season. They have a nice little Stube where you can order several German beers on tap. I have been pleasantly surprised the these last couple of times. Here is what they have right now on tap:

Dinkelacker Oktober Fesr
Schwabenbrau Keller Bier (Like Dinkelacker, a Stuttgart brwery.)
Munchner Hofbrau
Kostritzer, an east German dark beer that has caught on in the US for several years.
Bitburger, which they call their "house beer".
Veltins

I have tried the Dinkelacker and the Munchner Hofbrau, which I like though the latter is nothing like what you get in Munich or Las Vegas. The Schwabenbrau is OK, but not as good (to me) as the former two beers.

Please excuse the lack of diacritical marks on the beers.