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.

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. 

German Lagers and Wild Raspberry Ale

Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel has an ABV of 5% and pours a nice dark tan with a head that quickly recedes.  This was poured in a Bavarian-sytle Pilsner glass.  Ayinger is a brewer in Bavaria and is close to Munich.  Altbairisch Dunkel translates to "Old Bavarian Dark Beer." [and] This is the most traditional style of beer in Bavaria.”  I enjoyed with roasted pork tenderloin, roasted potato, and a salad.  This is a great beer to have with food and it paired nice with the pork and potatoes.  I think it would go great with sausage and any German food for that matter.  While I typically pick ales, I wanted to sample some German lagers.  Lagers have a different taste profile compared to the ales and I am sure it is due to the different yeast used in the brewing process.  The German beers I sampled also were lightly hopped, with just enough to balance the sweetness of the malt.

Paulaner is based in Munchen, Germany and Salvator is a Doppelbock with an ABV of 7.9%.  This is a nice beer that pours an orange / tan with a head that quickly recedes.  This was poured in a Bavarian-sytle Pilsner glass.  The taste emphasis is malt and with hints of dark fruit, chocolate, and smoke.  Paulaner Salvator is known as the beer that represents Doppelbock I enjoyed it.  Paulaner’s website describes Salvator as “The Paulaner monks used to drink Salvator as a food substitute during Lent” and since beer is “liquid bread” it makes since the monks would brew and drink Salvator during Lent.

Great Divide’s Wild Raspberry Ale has an ABV of 5.6% and is a raspberry infused ale.  I am not a big fan of fruit beer, but I appreciate Great Divide making this beer for people who do enjoy fruit beers.  I poured this into a no-nick pint glass and it was clear with a pink hue, which has to be attributed to the black and red raspberries used in this beer.  It has a nice head and you can easily pick up raspberry in the aroma.  Great Divide uses descriptors of “Flavorful” and “Refreshing” on the label and the website states, “Wild Raspberry Ale is a unique, thirst-quenching ale fermented with real red and black raspberries. Its balance of malt and fruit flavors make it a beer lover’s fruit beer.”  This beer has won a few awards and I think it would compliment a chocolate desert with raspberry sauce nicely.