Friday, December 7, 2012

Advent Beer 7: Ratsherrn Freistadter

It is very probable that this example of a German vollbier (or 'full beer'), is wasted on my undiscerning palate. My tastes tend more towards ales than lagers, for the most part, so while Freistadter is representative of a very decent lager, it isn't something I would go out of my way for.

It's a very decent lager, probably a bit smoother than your more common varieties (it seems that it is all too easy to produce a bad lager; more so than ales), and the intrinsic bitterness does make it very refreshing. I think my mistake was having it without some form of sausage, preferably a currywurst, but at least I had the presence of mind to put it in the proper receptacle:

Thanks to Island Mike for lugging this mug back from der Vaterland for me; danke schoen, mein bruder!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Stephen,

    Just viewed your blog and am doing a journal on my advent calendar, not posting to anyone just saving for posterity's sake. Anyway enough about that, today beer the Freistadter is incredibly similar to Birra Morretti in colour, taste and after taste. I enjoyed it immensely as during a trip to Italy in 2008 I forged a strong friendship with Luigi Morretti. So far, i thingk the Golser on day 5 has been my favourite with today's and Day 1 also being very enjoyable. Not fond of over hopped IPA's and the stout type black ales are great but in limited amounts. Has anyone out there been trying the pumpkin beers, as that season is just ending. The St. Ambroisse Macauslen Pumpkin Ale is fabulous the best of the variety with the Elysian Night Owl a close second. Cheers and Beers, thanks for the postings, I will send in more comments through Advent.

    Jim Maletta, Cranbrook BC

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  2. Thanks for the story Jim; what a privileged acquaintance to make! I missed out on the return of Alley Kat's Pumpkin Pi (which has been my fave to date), but tried Schadenfreude from East Vancouver's Parallell 49 Brewing, and found it very nice, but maybe a little more carbonated than I like a spiced beer. Still, it's an Oktoberfest beer, so whatcha gonna do?

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  3. Hi Stephen,

    Thanks for the post, we are now into the winter ales and Granville Island's Lions Ale is a great winter ale, I am now looking to find other winter ales to try for the season, any suggestions? Being in a southeast interior city of 20,000 people it is tough to get a great selection of craft beers, I will try to acquire some Alley Kat's Pumpkin Pi as I always enjoy the adventure of searching out and acquiring a new brew.

    Jim

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