Z and The Kidd

The Ft. Collin’s Brewery is located in Ft. Collins and one of their offerings is the “Brewer’s Lunchbox” that provides a selection of different styles from Ft. Collins.  I fixed a dinner last evening of sausages that were spit roasted on the grill and some sautéed vegetables.  I thought a lager would pair well with this dinner and since there is some “smoke” in Z, I opened up one to enjoy with dinner.  Z (5.4% ABV and 30 IBU) is a Rauchbier – smoked beer – and is a smoked amber lager.  Z pours amber with a two-finger head and a smoky aroma.  The smoke is just a hint and not overpowering and Ft. Collins did a very good job of using the smoke to give Z a nice complexity.  This may be the perfect BBQ brew as the smoke and the malt sweetness go well with grilled dishes.

Z is described on the website as, “Rauchbier dates back to the 1500’s in Bamberg, Germany when malt was often dried over the flames of a beechwood fire.  Our Z Lager was crafted to be smoky and palatable.  Slight caramel undertones and a bright amber color compliment the lingering smoke flavors.  The perfect companion to a good meal.”  Z also won a Gold medal at the 2010 Open Beer Championship. 

The Kidd (4.5% ABV and 24 IBU) is a Schwarzbier or black lager.  The Kidd pours black with a small head.  Another very tasty brew from Ft. Collins and this goes down easy.  I would consider it a session beer because of the low ABV and it is a real treat.  I usually drink ales, but I must say that I really enjoyed these two from The Ft. Collins Brewery.  I think they are doing a great job and I appreciate these offerings as they are different and I am sure it helps The Ft. Collins Brewery differentiate itself from the bigger guys in Ft. Collins.  I look forward to sampling the other brews from the “Brewer’s Lunchbox” next weekend.

The web site describes The Kidd as, “Schwarzbier was crafted to taste much lighter than it looks.  Chocolate malt lends Kidd its color while German Tettnang hops create the minimal bitterness of this brew.  We’ve added a dash of smoked malt to make our Schwarzbier slightly more complex.” 

German food and German beer

The beer tasting group met last night for good drink, good food, and great conversation at Tibor’s home last night.  At our last tasting, we agreed to taste German beers and Chris, Dennis and I each brought two different types of German beer.  I grabbed some fresh Bratwurst at Tony’s Meats in Littleton along with some sauerkraut.  I had purchased Ayinger’s Celebrator and Aecht Schlenkerla’s Weizen Rauchbier for the evening.  Nicole, Tibor’s wife, also cooked spaetzle with bacon and cheese, prepared a wonderful salad, cooked large warm pretzels, and served some nice Troberlone chocolate with sprinkles of cayenne and cinnamon to taste with the chocolate.

I grilled the Brats and then placed them on top of the sauerkraut in a crock pot with some Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen.  Tibor had really decked out the table with classic German steins, glassware, and other items he had collected in Germany during his youth and his trips back over the years to visit his father and family.  Tibor and Nicole have both attended Oktoberfest and have a great knowledge of Germany and German culture.  Tibor started with two Oktoberfest – Marzens of Spaten (5.9% ABV) and Paulaner (5.8%).  These went excellent with Brats & Kraut, mustard, spaetzle, and salad.  I preferred the Paulaner over the Spaten and the pairing was very good. 

Next up was Erdinger Dark Hefeweizen (5.6% ABV) and Aecht Schlenkerla Weizen Rauchbier (4.7% ABV).  The Erdinger Dark Hefeweizen is  classed as a dunkelweizen and was the best beer of the evening.  A Rauchbier is a smoked beer and the Aecht Schlenkerla had a deep smoky aroma and taste and we thought it would have paired excellent with smoked salmon.

Spaten Optimator (7.6% ABV) and Ayinger Celebrator (6.7% ABV) are doppelbocks and these were very nice.  I think Nicole served the pretzels at this time and these were very tasty with the pretzels.

   

We ended the evening with Warsteiner Dunkel (4.9% ABV) and Kostritzer Schwarzbier (4.8% ABV) and these were another great pairing with the Trobolone chocolate with cayenne and cinnamon.  It was great do a little trip to Germany with excellent food and drink and it was a great evening.  I really appreciate Tibor and Nicole hosting and the food Nicole made was excellent – I loved the spaetzle.  One thing I picked up from podcasts from Dr. Bill is that if you pair beer with the regional cuisine you usually will not go wrong as the regional beer and food historically go together.  This is excellent advice as the beer and food of Germany paired excellent with each other.  Next time, we will be meeting in May and we are considering focusing on Hefeweizens and Witbiers.