Stash Killing as a Service

The reason I was in Heidelberg was as a base for paying a visting to Barry and the Kertelreiter brand home in Schefflenz, an hour away via some stunning scenery. Trees were examined, ciders and perries were sampled and it was all rather a grand day out. Barry also took the opportunity to open some sharing beers from his cellar, with which I was quite happy to assist.

The first is from Brauerei Faust, situated in Miltenberg, just inside Bavaria where it meets Hesse. Rather than giving it a name, they tell us directly what it is: Holzfassgereifter Eisbock 2011, so a barrel aged eisbock. It's 11% ABV and a dark brown colour, smelling of chocolate, raisins and fortified wine. It's incredibly smooth, with either time or expert brewing having shaved off any hard edges. The complete lack of alcohol heat was its biggest surprise. Dark chocolate and caramel are the flavours, like a liqueur. For such a powerhouse it's very easy drinking and moreish.

The previous time I went to visit Barry it was in Münster, when we went to drink Münster Alt at the last brewery making it: Pinkus Müller. Now, not far away, another brewery has taken on this highly endangered sour style.

Kemker Kultuur's version is called Aoltbeer. It's barrel-aged on grapes and finishes at 8% ABV, pouring a rich autumnal gold. There's a big grape aroma backed by an eye-watering mineral spicing. The wine barrels had been used for red wine previously and there's a richness to this which says red wine to me. The flavour is every bit as complex as Belgian grape lambic, showing apple and pineapple lusciousness balanced against fun funk and acidity. The whole picture is beautifully complex and rewards slow and considered sipping.

From the same brewery (and the same cellar) came Stadt Land, a saison, but really a sort of table beer, at just 3.5% ABV. It's a hazy blonde colour and is as light as expected. Set on a luxurious soft texture are flavours of pear, passionfruit and mango, given a balanced backing of peppery farmhouse spice. It's a gorgeous little number, easy drinking but far from watery and devoid of the harshness that these often have.

Kemker claims to be the only brewery in Germany making these sorts of beers. There should be more.

A few miscellaneous beers before we wrap things up. Ahead of one train journey I plucked a bottle of Beck's Unfiltered from the fridge at the station shop. I'm not averse to Beck's though it's not the beer it once was. Could an unfiltered version be its redemption? In short, no. Passing by the insanely skunky aroma and ignoring the fine head, I found a medium hazy lager with a certain wholesome biscuity crispness but no extra hop wallop, which is what I miss about Beck's from the old days. This is an improvement on the original, much like Carlsberg Unfiltered was when that was around. On its own merits, though, it's really not much good. Distress purchases only.

I only know the Welde brewery from their wibbly longneck bottles, but they have something rather more sensible looking in Welde Pale Ale. It's 4.8% ABV and brewed with Simcoe, Cascade and unfamiliar hop Pekko. Pouring a clear deep amber colour, it smells of orange-flavoured boiled sweets, promising a sticky citrus experience to come. That's not what arrives, though. Instead of analogue candy fruit it's quite a real juiciness, low on the bittering, like a mandarin. There's an accompanying sandalwood spice for balance but otherwise it's a pretty straightforward, medium-sweet chap -- uncomplicated but quite charming. All credit to the Pekko, I guess.

From the same supermarket in Heidelberg I picked up Dolden Sud, an IPA from Riedenburger Brauhaus in, well, Riedenburg (between Nuremberg and Munich). It's a medium-pale yellow colour, lightly hazy and 6.5% ABV. There's a strangely detergent-like aroma, part fabric softner, part cosmetics of the elderly. It's exceptionally bitter, and not in a typical US-style IPA way. This is a harsher affair, more minerals, vegetables and weeds. I suspect some German hop varieties have been involved and they do not suit the profile. There's a floral side to it, and even some tropical fruit, but they don't get enough of a look-in, largely drowned out by hard talcum and fetid fruit. This is perhaps a noble effort at brewing IPA from a brewery not accustomed to doing so, but they should have stayed in their lane.

The journey finished up with a night in Frankfurt, where I got to do a little exploring of apfelwein and apfelwein bars (thanks to Barry for the directions). I enjoyed the time off from notetaking and almost forgot to drink any beer, and that wouldn't do at all.

The ubiquitous local macro is called Binding, part of the Radeberger conglomerate, and their flagship is Römer Pils. I caught up with it shortly before heading for the airport at the pub bearing its name: Römer Pils Brunnen. It's a charming place, in the heart of the bustling city though still frequented by locals, in to read the paper and pass the time of day.

Römer Pils is a middle-of-the-road 4.9% ABV, clean-tasting with a mildly herbal aspect. The finish is nicely dry and there's a Munich-like softness to the texture, conspiring together to make something extremely drinkable. There are worse ubiquitous pilsners to have as your city's example.

The brewery also makes a seasonal doppelbock for the winter called Carolus, and fortunately it was still around in April. Served in a clay mug, its colour looked properly dark from the top though it's impossible to be sure. An aroma of chocolate and liquorice doesn't quite follow through into the flavour, making this smooth and accessible, I guess, but somewhat lacking in character. Doppelbock for people in a hurry then. How appropriate.

It was homeward bound after that, with the feeling that I had covered a substantial bit of ground over the nine days. Special thanks to Barry and family for the hospitality and information. Germany is such a fascinating country to explore and I haven't seen a fraction of it yet.