Professor Good Ales

Written by Franz Hofer

In between evenings of losing myself in my annual “big book” (Don Quixote this year), I’ve been reading Terry Theise’s What Makes Wine Worth Drinking: In Praise of the Sublime. Theise makes a compelling case that people who write about wine or who sell wine for a living be forthcoming with their readers and customers about their tastes.

WHY ACCOUNT FOR TASTE?
It’s a simple premise: writers and critics should examine their taste proclivities so that their readers know where they stand. As Theise asserts, this is the first obligation of the critic, whether that person is writing about wine, beer, art, or music. It’s what buttresses our credibility. And, I’d add somewhat paradoxically, it’s what makes our judgments and pronouncements that much more “objective.” (More on that below.)

Unlike Theise, who’s a wine merchant, I’m not in the business of selling my readers beer. But like Theise, I’m also subtly (or maybe not so subtly?) trying to sell you on a particular vision of what beer is or can be, along with the kinds of experiences that make beer worth drinking. That’s why, I think, it makes sense to give you an account of what has shaped my tastes — the beer gardens, Wirtshäuser, beer hikes, beer regions, and beer cities I write so much about — in short, the places that transform the liquid in the bottle or glass into something more.

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Overrated can be a loaded word, and it’s often hurled at whatever style the latest tastemakers have deemed to be on its way out. Among them are some of the more hype-y styles shaking up the industry since the craft beer boom. Some people scoff at these popular beers, while others line up to snag the first tastes of them. Some brewers just see them as filling up tank space that could have gone to something more exciting and innovative.

The beer industry had a difficult year in 2023, and perhaps some of its stalwarts are beginning to feel a bit stale. Is beer simply facing massive growing pains? And if the industry is entering a new stage, does it need to leave behind some styles to make room for the new? Here, we asked 15 brewers which beer styles they feel are the most overrated. From hazy IPAs to pastry stouts to smoothies lactosed within an inch of their lives, here are the ones the pros believe have been given more credit than they’re due.

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Elevate your brews and ciders to global acclaim at The International Brewing & Cider Awards – the ‘Oscars’ of the industry. Submit your entries by January 31, 2024, for a chance to gain worldwide recognition, enhance brand visibility and showcase your products.

Time is running out to seize the chance to catapult your beer and cider to worldwide acclaim at The International Brewing & Cider Awards – often hailed as the ‘Oscars’ of the brewing and cider industry. The registration window for this prestigious event closes on January 31, 2024.

The Awards offer an unparalleled opportunity for brewers and cidermakers to have their creations evaluated by a panel of globally renowned, actively practicing professionals in the field. Committed to acknowledging and rewarding excellence within the brewing and cider world, these experts bring a wealth of experience to the judging process.

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It had been ages since I’d been to Freiburg. Good wine was the order of the day back when an old friend studied law here in the 1990s. But now I was back to pay more attention to Freiburg’s beer scene before venturing into the Black Forest for some beer hiking.

Close to Switzerland and the Alsatian region of France, Freiburg is a city of gabled roofs and brownstone buildings famous for its delicately wrought Gothic cathedral and its brooks (Bächle) that crisscross the Altstadt. The Münsterplatz, which wraps around the cathedral, is a bustling square lined with stately buildings and home to a farmers’ market held every day except Sunday. Shaded courtyards and narrow cobblestone lanes provide respite from the crowds and also from the summer sun in this, Germany’s warmest city.

The heat is one of the historical reasons for those Bächle burbling through town in their narrow stone channels. Once used to extinguish fires and provide water for livestock, the channels were constructed mainly as a form of cooling. Even if these valiant brooks may not be as effective against today’s temperatures, the sight and sound of them are refreshing, enough to cool you off by dint of suggestion. But watch your step as you wander through the Altstadt after a few beers. Local lore has it that if you accidentally step into a Bächle, you’ll marry a citizen of Freiburg!

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Written by Franz Hofer

Hi everyone!

Last time I sent out a trio of blog posts, the northern hemisphere was melting. The same couldn’t be less true today in Vienna, where a blanket of snow has cast a hush over the city. Even if next spring or summer seems far away, it’s never too late to start planning your next beer travel adventure. If you prefer armchair travel, this German-themed trio has plenty for you, too.

Most folks who head to Germany for beer make a beeline for Bavaria, and with good reason. But German beer is much more than Bavaria. This trio introduces you to two large cities (Cologne and Dresden) and, via a beer hike, a regional brewery in the Black Forest (Rothaus). You can click on the links at the top of this email, or the ones right below.

Cologne and Its Kölsch: A Rough-and-Ready Guide

Dresden, Beer City on the Elbe Continue reading “Blog Post Trio: Cologne, Dresden, Rothaus”

Written by Franz Hofer

The rush of cool mountain air was bracing as I stepped off the train on the banks of the Schluchsee. A short bus ride later and I’d be in front of an old beer wagon laden with barrels, the coral-coloured Rothaus brewery rising up in the background. By then the fresh air was starting to warm, mingling fragrances of the forest with the aromas of brewing.

Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with German beer knows Rothaus, the Black Forest brewery with colourfully labeled bottles depicting a young woman in traditional dress. What fewer people know is that Rothaus is a short train ride from Freiburg, southwestern Germany’s city of Gothic spires, cobblestone lanes, and medieval gates.

Whether you’re coming from Switzerland in the south or points north in Germany, Freiburg makes for an ideal day or two of beer explorations before you venture into the heart of the Black Forest. After you’ve had your fill of Freiburg, it’s a mere 2 hours by train and bus to Rothaus.

The ride up from Freiburg is a like a curtain lifting on the hiking that awaits you in the region. The train traverses meadows tucked up against the rolling foothills of the Alps and trundles through narrow valleys with rushing waterfalls. Black Forest houses with distinctive sloped roofs and carved balconies dot the fields and cling to hillsides overlooking pristine lakes. Before the train ends its journey in the town of Seebrugg on the Schluchsee, you’ll pass the steely blue waters of Titisee and its resort village as well. It’s worth stopping off at either of these places if you have time. If not, get the bus that climbs up the steep and winding road to Rothaus.

A MORNING BEER AT ROTHAUS

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In the four-plus decades of craft brewing, arguably no other style has more profoundly changed what and how we drink than the opaque, fruit-smoothie sweet IPAs New Englanders started brewing in the mid-2010s. Thanks to a flood of juicy new hop varieties bred for their tropicality, brewers used hazy IPAs to make us reassess bitterness. The colorful, geometric pint-sized cans sold over the counter of taprooms prompted us to rethink the beer bottle. And the weekly stream of new releases at our local brewery caused us to reconsider familiar old flagships.

But nearly a decade on, something has changed. Hazies haven’t gone away, but they don’t seem to cause the same giddy delirium they once did. In some quarters, they’ve even caused a counter-trend back to lip-smacking bitter IPAs or clear, sparkling lagers.

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It is also easily the most misunderstood major style of beer, exceeded only by Steinbiers and Kvieks and Grisettes and oddities like those, of largely foreign origins.

In my now thirty years in the beverage trade, here are a few of the explanations I’ve heard, first-hand of what “barleywine” means:

“It’s beer that fermented with wine yeast.”

“It’s beer that’s partially blended with wine.”

“It’s a beer but not a beer because the alcohol level makes it a liquor.”

“It’s another term for a weaker brandy.”

“It’s a form of barrel-aged Stout, mixed with grain alcohol.”

“It’s a beer made from a base of alcohol, instead of water.”

“It’s made from grapes and then distilled, like Grappa, and then is aged with barley and hops.”

These are just a few.

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