Ayinger (Cont)

 Back in February of 2022, I posted an article on Ayinger pils, a popular Bavarian brewery that imports to the US. Most recently, I picked up a 4-pack of Ayinger Oktoberfest-Maerzen (5.8%). I liked it or I wouldn't be posting this, would I?

Arcobraue Mooser Liesl

 

Moos, Bavaria

Today, I was at the Old World Village in Hiuntington Beach. While shopping in the grocery, I came across a beer I was unfamilair with. It is Arcobraue, Mooser Liesl from the Bavarian municipality of Moos (see map above). I picked up a bottle and just finahed it. It is a lager at 5.3%. The taste was smooth and in line with what I have come to expect from German imports. The cost was about $4.00 for a single bottle. That's why I didn't get a six-pack.

The Arco Brewery produces several varieties of beer, too long to list here, but you can check them out at their website.

Helen, Georgia: A German-Themed Village

 

Oktoberfest in Helen

We recently returned home from a two-week trip to the South, Nashville, Myrtle Beach, Helen, Georgia, and Greenville SC. I want to focus here on the two days we spent in Helen, Georgia a small village in the Appalachian mountains of northern Georgia close to the North Carolina state line. Helen, a former logging town, reinvented itself beginning in 1969 when it became a Bavarian-themed town. Virtually every building in the town is of German design.

There are several  German restaurants in Helen, the Bodensee, Old Bavaria Inn, Hofbrauhaus, and Old Heidelberg are the biggest. We dined at the Bodensee and Old Bavaria Inn. The Bodensee, which also features a nice little bar, is owned by a lady from Konstanz, Germany. While we did not eat at the Hofbrauhaus, we did visit their bar, The GI Germany Bar.

If I recall correctly, the main beers served in Helen were Paulaner pils and lager, Muenchner Hofbrau, Warsteiner, Erdinger (weissen), Schoefferhofer grapefruit.

Our stay was from  September 4-6, and the next day, Helen began its 5-week Oktoberfest. It runs from the 1st weekend in September (every weekend) and every day throughout October.

Drinking German Beer in Cabo San Lucas

This past week, the Missus and I spent a week in Cabo San Lucas, at the southernmost tip of Baja California, Mexico. As I always do, a trip to a grocery store to load up on provisions saves us quite a bit of money as opposed to eating in 5-star resort restaurants. (We were staying at a  Hilton resort outside Cabo San Lucas.

The larger Mexican groceries, like Kresko, have German imports available, and they are all good. On this trip, I was able to buy several bottles of Paulaner Helles, Flensburger Gold,  Muenchner Loewenbrau, and Krombacher, both Pils and dark.

Since I have written before about all of the above beers except Loewenbrau and Krombacher, let me focus on these two. The Loewenbrau came in a small bottle and was fine.  Krombacher Pils and (dunkles) dark both came in large bottles and were quite good. The alcohol content was just under 5% (4.8% and 4.7% respectively). If you are an American used to drinking beer very cold, I suggest you stay with that with German imports.

Krombacher is one of the better-known breweries in Germany. Krombach is a small town located in the Aschaffenberg district of Franconia in Bavaria.

How to Make a Can of Bud Light Taste Good.

 Here is how you can make a can of Bud Light actually taste pretty good.

Step one: Buy yourself a can of Bud Light, preferably one with Dylan Mulvaney's face on it. The smaller the size, the better.

Step two: Purchase a barrel of any German beer. Preferably the largest size possible.

Step three: Open the barrel of German beer at the top.

Step four: Pour the can of Bud Light into the barrel of German beer.

Step five: Stir thoroughly for about 30-40 minutes.

Step six: Pour and enjoy.

(You may detect a slight watery aftertaste. If so, next time use only 1/2 can of Bud Light.)

Hoppebrau: A German Craft Beer Available in the US.

 

After all these decades of drinking German beer-in Germany and outside- I have finally tested a German craft beer, which I understand is a growing trend in Germany. In recent years, I have heard many German friends bemoaning the fact that many of the larger breweries have been buying up many of the smaller village breweries in surrounding areas. They use the cute term, "industrial beer", which makes me think of Budweiser, Miller, and other American brands. Perhaps, that is the reason for the growing popularity of craft beers-as here in the US.

Currently, on my forays to Total Wines and More, I have noticed two beers on the shelf with very plain-looking labels. This is Hoppebrau, both in Weisse and Helles. This week, I bought the Helles, which costs about 4 dollars a bottle. I must say, it was quite good, on a par with the brand name German beers I have been buying. Unlike many craft beers in the US, this doesn't feature any particular aftertaste, just crisp and clean. 

The Hoppe brand is part of a family-run brewery restaurant and biergarten located in Waakirchen, Bavaria near the Austrian border. It is advertised as a craft beer. As you can see on their website, they produce many varieties according to your taste.

Weihenstepaner Festbier

 The Bavarian brewery, Weihenstephaner, is the world's oldest brewery (1040). I have been trying several varieties of this brew and having good success. Weihenstephaner is one of the more common German breweries found in the US market. Many German restaurants offer it on tap or in bottles. You can also find it in dark, Helles, pils, hefeweizen, or Vitus (wheat). To be more exact, the brewery's name is Bayerishes Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Freising) near Munich.

Weihenstephan Hill (Freising)

The Festbier version is 5.8% alcohol. It is clean, crisp, and has no aftertaste. To my taste, it is just darn good. I have just tried the bottled version (,5 litter),  which cost me less than 3 dollars per bottle. It also comes in .5 liter cans in a 4-pack.