Schumacher Alt

Schumacher Alt (4.6% abv) is from Dusseldorf's oldest altbier brauhaus and has been operating since 1838, so in otherwords a bloddy long time! This is the one beer that most people associate altbier with and also a beer that I didnt have the pleasure of sampling during my last trip to Dusseldorf. The basics of the beer is thats its malty, brown with a slight fruitiness. More so than other alts, but Schumacher is generally is the style defining beer for Alt, much the same as Urquell is the style defining Pilsner. It was also the last Alt I sampled during the German beer festival at Zeitgeist and was also the last beer I sampled. I am really grateful to Stonch and Bier-Mania for hosting such and event as basically these beers are very difficult to track down outside of the regions where they are brewed. Hopefully they will host a similar even in the future?? BTW, you can find more info on Schumacher at their website: http://www.schumacher-alt.de

Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel

The first Dunkel of the festival was Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel (5.5% abv). This beer was a dark amber/brown colour with really delicate aroma. Its malty, but the hop character is sharp with a mild caramel flavour coming through. there was a slight chlorophenol tang to it, but it didnt taste like I was sucking in a band aid! Overall it was a good tasty, roasty, chocolaty beer with a pleasing clean and dry finish. A beer I probably won't stumble upon again....

Bolton Ur-Alt

Next up was Bolton Ur-Alt. I am not exactly sure what the difference between Alt and Ur-Alt is, but the beer was definetly stronger flavoured than previous Altbiers I have had, and was more in line with bier I have had in the Uerige brauhaus in Dusseldorf's Altstadt. The beer is darker, thicker, heavier and more malty than yoru everyday Alt, it also has a prominant hop aroma (my guess is that its Spalt hops? any other opinions?) I have not been able to source to much information omn teh beer except that the Bolton brewery is located in Korschenbroich, North Rhine-Westphalia which is close to Cologne. This is definetly one of my all time fav beers, but it still doesnt compete with Uerige!

Klosterbräu Schwärzla

Klosterbräu Schwärzla (4.9% abv) is a black Franconian Lager with a slightly tart mild roasted taste. Again this was sampled at the German beer festival organised by Stonch. Thi sbeer is significantly different to other exampels of this beer style like Kostrizter and has retained the classic Schwarzbier taste – mild, roasty and very soft. Not so schlank as often today. More like in the bad old days, when the style flourished behind the iron curtain. I can just see a little Kaiser like Prussian man sipping on omne opf these whilst reading the Volksnews through his monacle!

Füchschen Alt

Recently fellow beer blogger Stonch organised a German microbrewery festival in conjunction with Bier-Mania at Zietgeist a new London German venue which is housed by the Jolly Gardners pub in Lambeth. The first beer up on the evening was Füchschen Alt (abv 4.1%) a beer that I have enjoyed previously on a trip to Dusseldorf at the Rot Fuchs. As I was sipping away at the bier I was taken back to that evening and the new friends that I made, especially a guy who is now infamously known by my mates as 'Big Head Man'.
The beer itself is a pale brown with a malty caramel finish, and can easily be accommodated as a session beer. One of my favourites!
Below is a photo from my trip to the Rot Fuchs (Red Fox). Big Head Man is third from the left!