Took a day to catch up on things, relax, and enjoy the day off.  Of course, by the looks of my car, you might have an idea why I took the day off! LOL

Not only was the weather cold, so was the beer.  I enjoyed another leinenkugels today — their Red Lager.  The flavor was a little confusing to me — I’m not sure what it was going for, but I can say it was a “drinkable beer.”  I guess sometimes that’s what you want — fortunately, I had a Westvleteren 12 with which to follow it up! LOL

Beer Mentor

Ha ha!  Today I broke down and bought a 12-pack of Leinenkugels.  I couldn’t pass it up — I needed my American Ale fix — it’s been wonderful drinking the Belgian and German beers, but I needed that good old American beer … funny thing is the name, but not a funny taste.  I had their Creamy Dark and really enjoyed it.

Beer  Mentor

Darn it.  Too bad about the Longhorns, but I was able to console myself with a very special beer: Augustiner Brewery’s Oktoberfest Bier.

Since 1328 on Augustiner beer had been brewed within the monastery of the Augustinian Brotherhood near the cathedral of Munich. After nearly 500 years of tradition, the secularization in 1803 and the following privatisation led to a privately owned company: Augustiner Bräu.

This was a great beer and a nice pick-me-up after the Longhorns loss to Alabama.

Beer Mentor

Today was a German Holiday … three kings day (Dreikoenigstag).  If you are familiar with the Christmas story, you will know that this is a holiday celebrating the three wisemen who came to see the new-born Messiah.

To honor this holiday, I chose to drink one of the beers my good German friend gave me as a Christmas Gift: Flensburger Pilsener.  From the wonderful flip-top bottle to the rich “herbwuerzig” taste this was an all-around excellent beer.  It helped a little in easing the sadness of my family going back to the states after a great visit.

If you get the opportunity, I recommend a Flensburger!

Beer Mentor

Today I had to dip into my reserves, so I just went for the “Gordon’s Finest Gold.”  As you can see, it is listed as a strong blond beer (10% ABV).  I even used a Weizen glass — I know, but it is not really a great beer; however, it served its purpose–a new beer for the day.  Let’s just leave it at that! LOL

I love the can, though … I hope the Red one is better …

I have to be honest with you … I didn’t think I could keep up with this blog beyond 2 weeks much less 2 months!  Wow, it has been something else.  The good beers just keep coming … I may be hard pressed to finish out the 180 cycle, but I have to be honest one more time, I feel good with 60!  So good in fact, that I tried a new beer today.  LOL

Today’s beer was a Karlsberg Ur-Pils.  Once again, a nice Pilsner served from the “Fass” (keg).  There’s something so nice and fresh about a good keg beer.  Oh, and I was enjoying it in the company of my wonderful family — that much better!

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Same place, different year!  We were visiting our great friends (Armin/Eva/Horst/Andrea/Marvin) and, once again, I had a little too much fun!  However, I didn’t have so much fun that I couldn’t distinguish one beer from another! LOL

This is actually the first Franziskaner Dunkel Weizen I ever remember having.  I consider the regular Hefe Weizen from Franziskaner to be the best Wiezen I’ve ever had–of course, I mean the ones I’ve had in Germany.  For some reason, as with the Bischoff, something is lost in the transportation of these beers to the USA.  This one was quite good too — I recommend it to you if you get the opportunity!

Beer Mentor

For the second day of 2010, I had an even better Pilsner — a Bischoff Premium Pilsner.  This is my favorite Pilsner, not simply for the taste but for the experiences I remember (or mostly remember) when I was drinking it.  I was in a German cooking club when I was in Germany before (1995 – 1999) and I had many a glass of this Pilsner — and a had a grand time while drinking it.  Sometimes the beer is as good as the experience, but sometimes the experience makes the beer good!  I had this brew in the Cellar Bar of a really good friend … one I will remember for a long time …. aaahhhh, Ein Gruenes!

Beer Mentor

We spent New Year’s Day with some wonderful friends so I thought it would be a great idea to kick off the new year with an old standby — A Parkbrau Pils.  This is an excellent Pilsner from a local Rheinland-Pfalz brewery … Prost Fruende!

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What did we do today to celebrate the last day of 2009?  We went to a Castle!  Yes, to Schloss Hohenzollern in the Swabian Alb.  It was quite impressive.

We all enjoyed ourselves, and I celebrated with a nice “Fuerstenberg Export” — “Eines der Besten Biere der Welt.”  Or so their website states–it was good … so maybe they do make the best beers in the world.  You should try it yourself and see.

Beer Mentor