Eight days is not Enough!

Today I went for another Dinkelacker.  This time I had the Dinkelacker Privat — surprise, another Pilsner … and in the brewery’s own words:  “Mild in der Hopfenbittere und mit leichter Malznote. Eingebraut nach traditioneller Rezeptur.”  An excellent beer to cap my first week in Deutschland.


You will notice in the second picture how nice and clear this beer is … and the color is excellent.  You will also see another Garden Salad to go along with it … what you don’t see is the second course … Cordon Blue with Pommes … yummy!


Now the challenge becomes more difficult … I will have to extend my area of operations to continue to add new brews.  Stay tuned!

Beer Mentor

One week into the “Bier Fest”

I am now at seven days of different beers.  I once heard that if you do something for two weeks straight it will become a habit — so, drinking a different beer every day for 14 days will make me a habitual beer drinker.  Darn it.

Today’s beer is an Export.  This picture shows the name and options for drinking it at this locale.


So you can either use a glass mug (that’s what you’ll see me drinking in the pictures) or you can use a ceramic mug (the other picture).  Of course, if I was smart enough to read the sign BEFORE I started drinking, I would have been enjoying this Dinkelacker Volksfestbier a little cheaper!

Until tomorrow (Bis morgen),

Beer Mentor

Pilsner goes well with Schwäbisches Wurstsalat!

Here we are at Day 6 … and the sixth different beer.  Today I had a Pilsner — “Dinkelacker CD Pils.”  This is an excellent representation of the Pilsner style.  The CD stands for “Carl Dinkelacker.”  instead of taking another picture of me drinking, I took a picture of what I ate while drinking this pilsner … a Schwäbisches wurstsalat.  If you’ve never had a big pile of sliced up with baloney combined with a few chunks of blood sausage you don’t know what you are missing!  I highly recommend this wonderful meal … and the Pils.

Beer Mentor

I taste that beer 5×5

For day 5, I had a friend sampling with me.  This beer is also a Hefe-Weizen … but it is called Vario-Weizen.  When you look at the label, you see a tractor and the name “Fendt.”  This is the German equivalent to “John Deere” and the word Vario is the premium model of tractor … see the website here.

But for the Beer, see this website.  This beer comes from allgäu.  The Brewery in Allgäu dates from the early 14th centry (1315ish), and the current “brauerei” was built in 1807.  Just a bunch of young pups brewing beer!

Beer Mentor

Day 4 – Lösch-Zwerg

We went with a funny little beer this time. Lösch-Zwerg: The Little fireman … the picture should look like a Garden Gnome, but like fireman … see inserted photo.  I also found the pull-tab top on the bottle pretty interesting.

This beer still meets the full Reinheitsgebots … so, only malt, hops, yeast and water are in it … but it still tastes good!  This is a very light Pilsner with “Tettnanger Aromahopfen.”  You can’t find it very far outside of Bavaria either for some reason…

Beer Mentor


Bier UND Tag nummer drei

Ok … third day … third beer.  This one is from the same brewery as the first day’s beer — Sanwald.  It is also a Weizen … however, today’s was a Kristall Weizen (as opposed to the Hefe from the first day).

Notice the clarity of this beer in the third picture.  Something else you will notice in the picture — something the German’s call a “Garden Salad.”  If that was an American Garden salad, it would be Iceberg lettuce and one tomato.  This salad even had some potato salad included too … I love Germany.

Beer Mentor.

Sanwald – Weizenkompetenz seit über 100 Jahren

The Sanwald Brewery specializes in Wheat Beer.  That is all they make.  They were purchased by Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu (around 1977) … however they have been making Wheat beer for over 100 years.  They have four primary beers — the Hefe, the Kristall, the Dunkel (the dark) and a Low calorie Weizen.

As you will know from reading your BJCP style guidelines, “These are refreshing, fast-maturing beers that are lightly hopped and show a unique banana-and-clove yeast character. These beers often don’t age well and are best enjoyed while young and fresh. The version “mit hefe” is served with yeast sediment stirred in; the krystal version is filtered for excellent clarity. Bottles with yeast are traditionally swirled or gently rolled prior to serving. The character of a krystal weizen is generally fruitier and less phenolic than that of the hefe-weizen.”

I really liike that banana bread flavor you get with the Hefe, so it is my preference.  You will see in some later posts that I also like to mix my Weizens with some fruit juices (lemon-lime or grapefruit … maybe even banana!) … that combination is called a “Radler.”  The German word “Radler” roughly translates to “Cyclist.”  When I lived here before, I rode with a group of Germans who would stop halfway through a ride, have a couple of Radlers, and then ride back.  The juice have a little sugar kick and the mix kept the alcohol consumption / content down.    Have I stated lately that I love Germany?

Beer Mentor

Day 2 – Beer 2

Woooo Hoooo!  Ok, so I haven’t really entered the information about the first beer yet … but I will … promise.  Here’s my second new beer in 2 days … Stuttgarter Hofbrau Pilsner.

Oh, and my brother Derek and I played the “claw machine” and “rescued” 5 stuffed animals from certain doom.  See below for the pics of my second beer…

Beer Mentor

Beer Day 1 – Das Vaterland!

Ok, I said on this trip to Germany that I was going to have a new beer every day for the time I am here.  See the included pics providing proof that the first day’s beer was a Hefe Weizen! (from Sanwald).

I will provide a description and rating of the beer tomorrow…

Beer Mentor!

Big Seamus’ Beer Force

To kick off my trip to the heart of Beer Country, I’ve composed the Lyrics to a new “Beer Ditty” … I call it: “Big John’s Beer Song” (to the Tune of the Air Force Song)… the inspiration for this is coming from an Allagash Dubbel Reserve. (update #1: Changed the name to “Big Seamus.”) (update #2: Changed the name to “Big Seamus’ Beer Force.”)

Off I go into the wild beer yonder, Diving down into the suds; Here beer comes zooming to me in wonder, At ’em boy, Drink with your buds! (Drink with your buds now!)

Down the side, spilling the foam all over, Off with one helluva pour! I live for beer and all that’s Dear, (Hey!) Nothing’ll stop Big Seamus’ Beer Force.