My colleague, Henning, is a denizen of the Westerwald, and last year he gave me a bottle of
Hachenburger Schwarze, from he
Westerwald-Brauerei H. Schneider. The Schwarze was more like a Dunkel, but a nice simple beer nonetheless. Henning kindy brought me back a selection of their other beers.
Hachenburger Pils gives off a sweetish aroma, with a touch of resinous hops and sulphur.The flavour is similarly sweet, bready and has an ever-so-strange minty dimension. Following this is a slight citric quality, a bit like thinned lemon juice. The finish has a odd sweetness that reminded me of artificial sweetener (although clearly none was used) and a light lemonade, or
Radler touch. Like the Schwarze, a simple, inoffensive beer.
Hachenburger Ur-Trüb is an unfiltered pils, and it shows it. It has a surprisingly fruity aroma with a touch of grassy hops. The initial mouthful shows a really soft mouthfeel, and delivers soft caramel, a touch of pear and banana fruitiness and some earthy, vegetal notes. Surprisingly, I picked up a hint of a vinous edge to the otherwise mildly hoppy finish. I know they say it's an unfiltered pils, but while not earth-shattering in any way, it tastes like so much more than just another pils.
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And, finally,
Hachenburger Weizen. I'm always interested in Weizen's produced in the northern half of Germany, just to see if there's a different interpretation compared to the Weissbier motherland (most peoples' opinion of nordie Weizen seems to be a bit jaundiced). The Hachenburger Weizen is distinctly orange-tinged and heavily clouded. The aroma is a checklist of classic Weizen aromas, so no worries there. It then kicks in with a really zesty blast which gives way to big esters and a tongue-coating all spice and clove flavour. It's quite spicy in that regard, and backed with a vaguely soapy-ish orange flavour. As it warms a bit, more classic bubblegum flavours begin to show. Actually, a pretty decent Weizen.
Thanks for the bottles Henning! I'd be happy to have some more Ur-Trüb and Weizen!:)
1 comment:
Very thoughtfful blog
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