Gaffel Koelsch

 

I am adding Gaffel Koelsch (Cologne) to my list of great German beer selection in the US. I sampled a can purchased from Total  Wines and More last week, and like so many other canned German beers available in the US, it is surprisingly good. I cannot testify how it tastes in Cologne, but as I have said before, German imported beers have improved dramatically in recent years.

As stated previously, Koelsch beer is an exclusive product of Cologne-at least in Germany. The glass you see above is the standard Koelsch glass favored in Germany, but for me, any German beer glass works fine.

Here is a description from Beer Advocate.com:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1536/4137/

Drinking German Beer in Arkansas

Last week, the Missus and I spent a week in Arkansas. Having one night to spend in Little Rock, I looked up THE German restaurant in town, which happens to be Fassler Hall located downtown a few blocks from the state capitol. The location is a combination of beerhall-sports pub with an outdoor "beer garten".

Though the menu did not have many German entrees, I picked out a pork schnitzel with gravy that was very good, a sort of Jaegerschnitzel, if you will.) My first beer was a Paulaner, which was nice, as it usually is in the US, and the second was something new. It was Hirter Brau (No, not Hitler). It was a dark beer and very nice though I don't usually drink dunkles. Looking it up on Google, I discovered it was n Austrian beer, which I had never heard of. I informed the staff and they had not known it was Austrian.

The employees are basically young American kids, so I didn't get to meet any Germans. Anyway, it was a good meal.

The rest of the week, we spent in Hot Springs. The only German restaurant in Hot Springs is Steinhauskeller, which is located, appropriately, in a downstairs cellar in the historic old town of Hot Springs. Again, I saw no German employees. The first night in town, we stopped into the bar for a pretzel and a couple of beers. (Munich Hofbrau Oktoberfest). Later that week, we had dinner there. I had a cheese schnitzel, which was great. In addition to the Hofbrau, I again tried a new beer, which comes from the Hamburg area and is called Wernesgruener (in a bottle). It was fine, and if I had had it in the US 10 years ago, I would say it was almost authentic German taste. It had the smoothness I expect in German beer with no aftertaste.

I noticed that like Fassler Hall in Little Rock, they also served Hirter, but this time I didn't order it.

Choices for German restaurants in Arkansas are limited, at least in the two major towns, but if you are there, I recommend both. 

Paulaner: "Ein Mass, Bitte!"

 

My son recently bought me a liter can of Paulaner together with the glass mug at Total Wines and More. (11$). Since I  have been trying to lose weigh, and have cut down on the beer and wine, it took me almost a week before I drank it. In short, it was outstanding.

Paulaner is one of Munich's 6 breweries, and in my opinion, it is the best. I have eaten and drank at all of Munich's brewery restaurants and found Paulaner to be the best (at least to my taste). In addition, I have had good experiences with Paulaner in Mexico and more recently, in the US.

Check it out. You might need someone to help you finish it all off.

Munich's Hacker-Pschorr Beer

 Back in the 1960s, when I was stationed in Germany with the US Army (in Erlangen), I started collecting German beer glasses, the kind you get when you dine in a restaurant and drink whatever local brand they exclusively served at that time. One of the glasses I obtained and shipped home was this glass from what was then the Hacker Brewery of Munich.

As anyone familiar with Munich and German beer knows, there was a merger between the two companies (in 1972)-hence, it is now known as Hacker-Pschorrbrau, one of the 6 recognized Munich breweries. Below is a photo of a more-recently-obtained Hacker-Pschorr glass.

 In doing some research, I learned that the merger of 1972 was actually a reunification of the two names. That goes back to 1793 when Joseph Pschorr married Theresia Hacker, the daughter of the Hacker brewery owner in Munich. In 1820, Pschorr created his own brewery under the name Pschorr. Later on (1841), the entire business was divided into two separate businesses and bequeathed to Joseph Pschorr's two sons. If you read German, you can read it all on the brewery's website.

During past visits to Munich, I have had lunch a couple of times at the Hacker-Pschorr restaurant, and I must admit, I was a bit disappointed with the beer.

So I had been reluctant to try a 6-pack (bottled) of Hacker-Pschorr at my local wine and beer market in California. But try I did, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I have gone back for seconds, and my wife really enjoys it. Could it be possible that a German beer tastes better in the US than it does in Germany-in its own brewery restaurant no less? Of course, it's all a matter of personal taste, and you may find everything different according to your own tastes. You may even think I am crazy or that I have been away from Germany too long (2013).

Erlangen: No Beer Fest This Year, but the Beer Garten Is Open

 

Entlas Keller  in Erlangen

-Nuernberger Nachrichten

The Franconian town of Erlangen has had to cancel its annual beer fest this year, but with the restaurant business re-opening as of May 19, the beer fest grounds are open to an extent. That is because the popular outdoor Entlas Keller, situated on the beer fest grounds, is open during warm weather months and is now in operation.

Most of Erlangen's "beer gardens" are located in the back porch area of certain restaurants. The beer fest grounds, located at the base of a (small) mountain (Burgberg) on the north side of town, have man-made caves built into the sides of the rock which were originally created to keep beer cool (prior to refrigeration). 

So if you happen to be in Erlangen during spring-fall and are looking for a beer garden, this is the place to go.  The Entlas Keller's menu during this time is limited (or it was last time I was there in 2013), but you can't beat the real beer garden atmosphere.

Erlangen's Bergkirchweih Cancelled for 2021

Due to Covid, the Bergkirchweih in Erlangen has been canceled for the second straight year. Next year's beer fest is scheduled for June2-13, 2022.

Of course, Erlangen is not the only city that has had to cancel its beer fest, but Erlangen is special to me. It's where I served in the US Army from 1966-1968. That aside, Erlangen has one of the best beer fests in Germany, second in popularity in Bavaria only to Munich.

Rating Beer

While putting up a post about Hofbrauhaus Wolters black beer of Braunschweig, I came across this entry from Beer Advocate.com.

 https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21505/238551/

"Best before 10/24/2021 - poured from a tall-boy can into my Ayinger Celebrator pokal.

Clear caput mortuum body supports a thin wheat head. Fine lacing, faint tears, average retention.

Brown bread, faint toast, and a hint of ceylon tea in the nose.

Sweet, malty palate entry. Mild grassy/grainy bitterness. Dry, vaguely metallic finish.

Light bodied, moderately carbonated, with low ABV.

Easy drinking, albeit somewhat mediocre overall".

This week I picked up a tall can of Wolters Black and tried it out. I am not normally a dark beer drinker, but I wanted to try it anyway. Without going into all the above rigamarole, I found it to have a nice, clean taste. I did not detect any ceylon tea. I'll stop right there.

Of course, you don't have to be a connoisseur to know that the glass is important. For example, I tried pouring a Grevensteiner Landbier (Veltins Brewery) from the can into a German Weissbier glass (Paulaner) I bought this week. The results were not as good as when I use my plastic half-liter Steeler mug which I keep in the fridge.

As always, I add that these are imported German beers. In this case, I purchased them at Total Wines and More.