Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Lichtensteiner Schwarzbier

Lichtensteiner Schwarzbier is not actually from Lichtenstein (also spelt Liechtenstein), but from Meusel-Bräu in Dreuschendorf, Oberfranken, not far from Bamberg. In fact the nearest Lichtenstein I can find is in Sachsen about 150km away from Dreuschendorf. I'm curious as to why this is called Lichtensteiner, so I'll just have to ask when I visit.
This is a really dark beer, but does manage to show ruby hints when held up to the light. It's pretty flat looking with only a thin head managing to hang about for a bit. On the nose it's dark fruits, with plum jam and a slight roastiness. There is perhaps a little bit of a yeasty edge too. And on the tongue it's very fruity. It tastes a little like prune juice with a slight tart edge and a faint alcohol warmth. Well, at 5.9% it would be faint, but certainly present. In fact, it tastes a little like it's trying to be something from Belgium, and as you go down the tartness resolves itself into something almost sherry-like. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that, but it's an interesting combination.

I drank this on the 4th of October last year. Just in case you spotted the best before date.
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6 comments:

  1. grove31 January 2009 at 23:01

    Lichten = lights, Stein = stone. German is not my mother tongue, but that's my guess. :)

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  2. Barry M31 January 2009 at 23:55

    Well, yes, that's very true, although a beer this dark doesn't exactly bring light to mind :D

    Lichtensteiner infers from Lichtenstein (think Berliner, or Frankfurter :D), which make this really curious. I gotta get me some more and ask around about the name.

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  3. grove1 February 2009 at 00:04

    Yes, but the label hints of both light and stone. :)

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  4. Barry M1 February 2009 at 10:37

    :D This is also true.

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  5. Anonymous5 February 2009 at 23:52

    That Lichstenstein, somewhere 30 km north of Bamberg is part of Pfarrweisach (=> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfarrweisach).

    There's no relation between that place and the principalty of Liechtenstein tucked between Switzerland and Austria. Which is always spelled with an "e", never as "Lichtenstein".

    Cheers !

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  6. Barry M7 February 2009 at 22:27

    Thanks for the clarifying the "e" in Liechtenstein. I don't know how I misread the wiki entry on it!

    I was more wondering if the name was anything at all to do with the Lichtenstein 150km away in Sachsen, or is is a play on words for stone and light as grove suggests.

    It's not keeping me awake at night however :D

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