Beer of the Week

The beer: Maximilian

Brewed by: Hofbräuhaus Traunstein, Traunstein, Bavaria, Germany

Description (from the Brauhaus Schmitz website): "Dark fiery color, velvety soft to drink. An unforgettable intense malty flavor of toasty aromas, caramel and a delicate hint of chocolate. Dark – strong – powerful. Already a beer legend."

Would I buy it again? This is the second doppelbock I had at Brauhaus Schmitz, and this one is much more traditional than Aventinus. Very dark, very malty, very good. Everything you could ever hope for in a doppelbock and more. If I ever see it out in the world and not at one specific restaurant, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Aventinus

Brewed by: G. Schneider & Sohn, Kelheim, Bavaria, Germany

Description (from the Brauhaus Schmitz website): "For golden moments by the fireplace: 'Mein Aventinus' - the wholehearted, dark ruby coloured wheat beer, intensive and fiery, warming, well-balanced and tender. Bavaria's oldest wheat 'Doppelbock' - brewed since 1907! Its sturdy body in combination with its sweet malty aroma is an invitation to profound indulgence - an ingenious blend with a strong body. Perfectly matches rustic dishes, dark roasts and sweet desserts."

Would I buy it again? One of the benefits of living in a large city is access to a wide variety of excellent cuisine. One particular restaurant that happened to catch my eye is Brauhaus Schmitz, a German restaurant that boasts (according to them, anyway) the largest German beer list in the country. I don't know if that's true, but they have 30-plus German beers on tap. And that's quite a few.

Best of all, they have several different doppelbocks, including Aventinus, which is actually classified as a weizendoppelbock. What this means is that, while it has the heft and maltiness of a doppelbock, it also possesses a sort of mild fruity spiciness, similar to a hefeweizen. The result is quite simply one of the best beers I've ever had. It is pricy ($10 for 0.5 liters), but as an occasional treat during return trips to the restaurant? I don't think it could be beat.

This Week in Non-Coronavirus News

Yes, late again. But it's hard to come up with stuff when literally the whole world has stopped to deal with COVID-19. But on occasion some unrelated stuff does happen, like a Venezuelan patrol boat firing upon and ramming a German cruise ship. Now you might be thinking, uh oh, this sounds like an international incident in the making, but wait ... the cruise ship won this little engagement. Turns out, cruise ships are made to handle collisions with icebergs (no idea why), and the little patrol boat crumpled and sank because of its rash decision. That's probably not the result they were hoping for.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Celebrator Doppelbock

Brewed by: Ayinger Brewery, Aying, Germany

Description (from the website): "A beer that has a dominant malty taste. This beer’s origins in a monk’s recipe are reflected in its heartiness. The Pope of Beers, Conrad Seidl, describes it as: 'Almost black with a very slight red tone, a sensational, festive foam and truly extraordinary fragrance that at first summons up visions of greaves lard. The first taste is of mild fullness with an accompanying coffee tone, which becomes more dominant with the aftertaste. There is very little of the sweetness that is frequently to be tasted with doppelbock beer.' The Ayinger Celebrator has been ranked among the best beers of the world by the Chicago Testing Institute several times and has won numerous medals.

Would I buy it again?: It's just a few days before Christmas, and this feels like as appropriate a choice as any for the season. I love double bocks, and this one is quite arguably the best in the world. And I won't argue with that. It is absolutely delicious, smooth and thick and tasty. I fully admit that this beer is better than a Troegenator, comparing bottle to bottle. But this is only available in the winter, and it is significantly more expensive for one four pack of this than a six pack of Troegenator. So yes, I'd get it again, but outside the Christmas season, Troegenator is still my favorite beer.

Germany Is Running Out Of Beer Bottles

Talk about a strange problem.

It's been a hot summer in Europe this year. Well, hot for them. A 90 degree day there is like a 100 degree day here in Maryland. Those Europeans are just less tolerant of the heat, so they've been fighting against it by drinking lots of beer. I can think of worse reasons to drink. But there's a problem in Germany with the heavy drinking: They're running out of beer bottles.

There is a good explanation for this issue. Well, there is an explanation. Germans don't do canned beer (I don't care much for cans either, so I can sympathize). They prefer bottled beer (again I can sympathize, I even prefer bottled to beer from a glass). Germans also like recycling their beer, but they have a very specific system to handling beer bottle recycling, which I won't describe. The point is, there are a limited number of bottles in the country, and most of them are sitting in people's homes. Smaller breweries are starting to beg people to return their bottles so they can be reused.

Now, I don't want to criticize the German commitment to recycling, there is certainly a very good argument for being environmentally friendly. But, guys, this is a really dumb problem to be having.