Tasting: Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

I am preparing to brew my first lager. I have a temp. controller, and a chest freezer to keep the temps right, and I purchased a book on lager brewing, and am reading everything else I can find on the subject.

Reading about beer makes you really thirsty for beer, and reading about lagers makes me thirsty for a rich malty German beer. So I picked a few up the other day at Bevmo, and tonight I am drinking the first one.

Tasting: Chilled to ~40 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 Gorgeous copper color, nice off-white head.
Head: 3/3 Moderate head that lasts at least half the glass.
Aroma: 3/3 Rich malts with subtle hops .
Flavor: 3/3 Rich, sweet, malty. A touch of alcohol. You can actually taste the barley in this beer. Smokey, roasty, toasty goodness.
Mouth feel: 2.5/3 This beer is a bit heavy on the palette, still quite nice though. Moderate carbonation.
Overall: 2.75/3 Really, tasty. Even in the summer this beer is amazing.
Buzz: 3/3 Forget about it half a glass gets you a buzz, 7.9% ABV.

So many lagers, especially American lagers, lack character. No malty taste, no hops, nothing to grab on to. German beer can be the same, but they are generally so much better.

Tasting: Altenmunster Winterbier Dopplebock

I picked this beer up mainly for the bottle, it will be great to keep yeast in, and it was on sale for 2.99. But the beer was was the real deal, a great dopplebock.

Tasting: Chilled to ~55 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 deep mahogany with faintly tan head.
Head: 2/3 medium head, light tan in color, thins quickly.
Aroma: 3/3 sweet malty smell, hints of currants, toasty.
Flavor: 3/3 sweet, full flavor rich, malty.
Mouth feel: 3/3 Very smooth medium body with light carbonation and pleasant aftertaste of malt with hints of raisins and currants.
Overall: 3/3 A very good beer, dark but not heavy, an excellent beer for the cold nights of winter.
Buzz: 3/3 At 7.2% alcohol, a winter warmer indeed.

Tasting: Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel

I picked this beer up last week since I wanted to try more lager varieties. I had this during the superbowl, so I didn't take time to photograph the beer in a glass.

Tasting: Chilled to ~50 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 beautiful deep red/brown color, clear.
Head: 3/3 fluffy, light head that lasts for the whole glass.
Aroma: 3/3 Pleasant toasted malt aroma.
Flavor: 3/3 Rich, slightly sweet toasted malt,.
Mouth feel: 3/3 Medium carbonation, medium body, smooth, aftertaste is a mildly sweet, faintly nutty.
Overall: 3/3 Very pleasant dark lager, a toasted Oktoberfest.
Buzz: 3/3 Mild buzz after 1 glass.

Another Munich-style lager that tastes great. Munich is on the list for a future trip to Europe!

Tasting: Spaten Munich Octoberfest

I have noticed that not many American Craft brewers brew lagers, they are more difficult, take longer, and there is lots of big-brand competition could be some of the reasons, I am not sure. I think that it may be an opportunity for our brewery (should we ever get that far), so I was interested to try a good Octoberfest beer.

I went down to my local BevMo and took a look around. I found several good beers including Spaten Munich's Oktoberfest. What a great beer, I am trying to figure out how to taste and log beers I try and found this guide to tasting beer online from: RateBeer.com. I added a bit to it, and simplified it.

Tasting: Enjoyed (after initial tasting) with some great potatoes pan fried with Ham; worthy of an Octoberfest feast.

Appearance: 3/3 Honey rich color, with rich light head.
Aroma: 2/3 Light Malty Aroma, very light hops, I gave it a 2 because there was nothing notable, it is good though.
Flavor: 3/3 Rich malt, light hops.
Mouthfeel: 3/3 Smooth, rich mouthfeel, light carbonation
Aftertaste: 3/3 Light fiz, then a pleasant malt that fades quickly for a clean finish.
Overall: 3/3 An amazing beer, my favorite lager so far.
Buzz: 2/3 good buzz after 1.5 12 oz bottles.

This was an amazing lager, I think I will try an Oktoberfest as my second all-grain brew.