April 19, 2012

A couple new German additions to the Foundry

If you're getting board with run-of-the-mill beer styles (come on, you're not really, we know, but play along), we've got a couple new and exciting bottles in at the Foundry! 

First is the 1809 Berliner Style Weisse.  It's got a nice, crispy, tart flavor, bordering on sour.  This is a fantastic beer for anyone who wants to venture into some sourer beers, but doesn't want to jump off into the deep end of some others that will pucker you up, or for someone who is looking for a great patio beer on a warm day.  Very refreshing, very well balanced.  5% in a 16.9 oz bottle, so a nice choice for a relaxing afternoon.  Quite possibly my favorite German beer.  Classically, a Berliner Weisse is served with a flavored syrup, but this one more than holds up on its own.

The other beer is another one from Germany, another one that is kind of tart, but has one key ingredient you won't find in any other beers.  It's the Leipziger Gose (gose, not gueuze.  BIG difference).  The special ingredient that makes this beer different?  Salt.  Yep, salt.  Not enough to make it salty, but enough to maybe kinda tell it's there when you drink it.  It's actually not too far off from the 1809, in that it has some tartness there, and is quite refreshing, in spite of what you might think with the salt.  It clocks in at a little under 5% ABV, and makes for another good warm-weather beer.

Something kind of interesting with the gose is that because of the addition of salt, as well as coriander, it doesn't fall under the terms of Reinheitsgebot, the German purity laws which stated that beer can only contain water, barley, and hops (yeast was added later, when they were eventually discovered to be part of the fermenting process).  It was allowed to be brewed only because it was considered a regional specialty.  Along the same lines, a beer brewed with syrup would have been against the law, but since Berliner Weisses added the syrup when served, and not when brewed, they were allowed.  Beer history is so intriguing!

Stop by the Foundry for either of these beers, or both, and let us know what you think!

1 comment:

  1. I WILL BE THERE THIS WEEKEND DRINKING ALL THE BEERS.

    ReplyDelete