Sunday, May 22, 2011

Anchor Steam, Spaten Dunkel and Upslope Brown Ale

I had a steak last night and wanted to pair Anchor Steam (4.88%ABV and ?? IBU) with it.  Anchor Steam is considered the oldest craft brewer in American and I am glad Fritz Maytag purchased the brewery in 1965 to keep brewing the beer he enjoyed.  Anchor Steam pours gold / amber / orange with a nice frothy head.  Take your time pouring it.  It is called steam beer because of a nickname for the beer and some say it is attributed to the old days with steam rose from the beer during cooling using cool ships.  Steam is a trademarked by Anchor and it is a tasty beer that went very well with my steak dinner.

After dinner I decided to taste a Spaten Dunkel from the Fatherland.  Spaten Dunkel is Munich Dunkel Lager (5.5% ABV) and pours tan / brown with a nice two-finger head.  Very nice taste that reminds me of pilsener – biscuity / bready malt, nice sweetness, just enough hops to balance it out, and a crisp finish.  I have had a few from Spaten and Dunkel is not bad at all.  One complaint – use amber bottles, not green.  The use of any other container other than amber bottles or cans just baffles me. 

On Sunday, time for a Colorado brewer.  Upslope is a new brewer based in Boulder and they currently offer three styles that I am aware of – Pale Ale, IPA and Brown Ale.  The Brown Ale (6.7% ABV and ?? IBU) pours brown with hints of amber and has a two-finger head that quickly recedes.  Upslope has “tweaked” the recipe a few times on this and added more specialty malts and American hops.  It is a Brown Ale, but it is probably outside of the style guidelines (not sure, but I am guessing).  This is tasty beverage and I will have it again.

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