brew dog blog

Beer Advocate has an amazing events list, which keeps track of beer-related get-downs in various cities.  Between that, subscribing to several mailing lists, and having a bit of an inside track with a few beer-employed friends and cohorts, I usually hear about the good events in plenty of time to know what’s coming.  For some reason, first reading about the “No Joke” Oktoberfest at Spuyten Duyvil (my favorite North Brooklyn bar that normally specializes in Belgian and just plain awesome beer) I was completely confounded, stoked, and surprised all at once.  It crept up on me, because as hardcore of a list as they published, these beers just aren’t what you would call trendy or popular in the craft beer world.  Not know almost any of the beers on the list myself, I was just in it for the prospect of learning.  I knew I’d try a bunch of new, authentic and handcrafter beer, and that was enough for me — but there wasn’t the kind of buzz around it that you’d expect, like with the Brett Festival at the same place, or say any random Dogfish or Sierra related event at the Blind Tiger or The Gate.

So a few friends arranged a chance going away party for a very close friend who is off to the left coast in his greasecar to occur in the backyard of the bar, and the chilly October day provided the perfect backdrop to the array of mindblowing beers that were to come.  I personally tried 10 or 11 beers for the first time, as a nice sized group of us went several rounds, trying to diversify our selections and share.  Spending the day drinking almost entirely German Lagers is something I’ve never come close to pulling off, and it shows the amazing dedication of the SD people to bring things in that are different, rare, and unique.  Check out their Grocery Store or the bar on an average day and you’ll be shocked. Here’s a rundown of some of the things I drank, remembered, and enjoyed (Note: I took these names from this list – posted by the Bar – http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/20776) :

Weissenohe Klosterbrauerei Monks Dunkel - Coincidentally enough, on the morning of hitting the bar for the festival, Stinky had accompanied me on an errand which involved going to a local brewery.  Getting dropped off around the corner, we remarked at how awesome it was that we could smell the mash for several blocks around the brewery.  I mention this because sniffing, tasting, and sniffing again, this beer reminded everyone at the table who had brewed of the smell of “mashing in.” The fresh, you-know-you’re-making-beer-now smell that happens when you heat up water and add it to malted barley.  This was a very dark, mildly carbonated Lager with an awesomely focused malt taste with the right amount of Lager crispness to make it insanely drinkable and actually interesting.  My first offering from Weissenohe and a stellar endorsement for a brew I might never have again.

Weiherer Rauchbier – One of my favorite styles of German Beer is the Rauchbier, that is a Lager made with a portion of smoked malt, or smokiness acheived by some other means.  This Rauch was an awesome example — another surprisingly subtle take on the style that allowed all kinds of action to shine.  Definitely not the kind of Rauchbier that kicked you in the nose with smoke flavor or reminded you of drinking liquid bacon (hardly a bad thing), the Weiherer Rauchbier (brewed, I believe by Brauerei Gasthof Kundmüller) has a mild hop and malt presence, with a good amount of smoke on the nose and a bready maltiness besides.  A good introductory beer for the style, perhaps, or a great beer to help kick off a session of Lager Drinking.  Would have gone great with the sausages they were selling outside at the SD — I think of Rauchbier as a killer food beer.  Not sure how this one is out of the bottle, it was served here on cask.

Pine-Tar Pitch Lined Wooden Cask of Weissenohe Klosterbrauerei Altfrankish – Definitely the most bizarre beer of the night, and actually in the top 3 most bizarre brews I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming, this Altfrankish, which I believe is a Keller beer, an obscure, unfiltered style of amber German Lager, was served out of an imposing looking pine-tar pitch lined wooden cask, which was hanging out at the end of the bar.  Stinky started out with this beer and our friend Alex, who loves sour and Belgian beers, couldn’t get enough, ordering two consecutive pints.   The Altfrankish poured a cloudy, hazy brown with zero carbonation or head.  Served at slightly colder than room temperature (or maybe it was the cold outside), I’m having a hard time conjuring up the right adjectives to describe this one accurately.  There was a maltiness, both “bready” and “caramelly” whcih was not erradicated but rather supported by a funked out sourness that verged on the “vinegary.”  Kind of sounds like someone’s failed homebrew Lager, but in reality, it tasted ancient and just right — Franconia has the largest number of small breweries on the planet, and at one time more people were drinking beer like this than the Pilseners that dominate today.  A pure glimpse into a historical method of serving a historical beer, I felt very lucky to have tried this beer and major props to SD for going through the trouble of transporting or helping in the transport of such a fragile product.

Mahrs Der Weisse Bock – Stinky admonished me for ordering an “available” beer, but I really didn’t give a shit.  I wanted to drink a familiar style from a familiar producer at the end of my beer “flight,” and this was perfect.  Besides having arguably the label with the drunkest goat of all time, this Weisse Bock, probably my favorite German Ale style, and the only Ale I believe I drank all day, is a perfect capper for a long cold day.  Insane amounts of dried fruit and malt are present in this dark, beautiful beer.  This is widely available in bottles and I feel no shame for finishing the day with it – it was a great counterpoint with its dark richness to the other beers we were drinking, and had the right amount of bright fruit notes to keep me going.  Plus, drinking anything while starting at that goat will just make you feel better.