To celebrate the arrival of Knut Albert to these shores, the Brooklyn and Schneider breweries got together to produce a special beer for the occasion. Yesterday evening the resultant Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen Weisse was launched in the Bull & Castle by its manager Geoff (with halo, right), surrounded by half a dozen thirsty ICB onlookers.We liked it. It's very Schneider and very Brooklyn. That is to say there's the rich full body and fruity flavour of Schneider Weisse, while the dry-hopping has left a tasty American-style front-of-palate bitterness that ends the whole experience on a high note.
Two oddities about this beer. One is the incredible amount of sediment in it: the dregs (modelled here by Irish homebrewing legend Oblivious) resemble nothing so much as a pineapple smoothie. The other is the strength: it's a whopping 8.2% ABV though really doesn't taste one bit like it. Fortunately, to minimise the risk of unwittingly chugging a few and then falling over, the price tag has been set at a phenomenal €8 per bottle. Or maybe it's a way to make the Norwegian feel at home.Good to see you again, Knut. I hope your later experience at the paddywhackery horror show didn't traumatise too much.
Well I'm too tight to pay €8 a bottle as I'd doubt that it was being charged that much for MY good!
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, I didn't either, as the management kindly donated two sample bottles to the table. But the beer is curiously interesting enough for me to go back for another.
ReplyDeleteOn an alc./vol. basis, and by extension a time-spent-drinking-it basis, it's roughly the same price as a half litre of Irish craft beer in the same pub.
Nice meeting you guys, both sampling a few Irish brews and toasting the German-American Freundschaft beer. Hope I don't have to rush off as early next time.
ReplyDeleteThe food was good on the mountaintop, the beer was, well, cold, the band was doing their best to make us sing along. I am not qualified to rate the dancers.
I visited the Schneider brewery in summer. They had this and I didn't actually try it - I am a fool. Having said, it doesn't sound great to me - a big part of the appeal of Schneider is the authenticity and the unchanged recipe.
ReplyDeleteThe only parts of Schneider that appeal to me are the taste, aroma and texture of their beers. They could make it in a cement mixer on the outskirts of Warsaw using monkey sweat and badger guts for all I care, as long as it tasted right and the label clearly stated "Made On The Outskirts Of Warsaw With Monkey Sweat And Badger Guts. Not Suitable For Those With A Cement Allergy".
ReplyDeleteThat was one of my favorite beers of last year. The amount of spicy hops made for a delicious palate. And you're right, the alcohol was hardly noticeable.
ReplyDeleteI'd gladly shell out good money (and should have) for more bottles of that stuff.