Beer School, Session 1

Here’s what we’ve been drinking:

• Erdinger Dunkel Weissbrau from Bayern in Germany. This is Kevin’s favorite so far. It’s a dark wheat beer.
• Krombacher Weizen from Kreuzal in Germany. Also a wheat beer, it’s light and refreshing. We’ll definitely get this one again.
• Franziskaner Dunkel Hefe-Weissbier from Munich (a.k.a. München), Germany. There are so many reasons why I love this beer: a. the novelty of a dark Hefe-Weissen, which I’ve never seen in the U.S.; b. the jolly Franciscan monk on the label; or c. that it just tastes great.
• Franziskaners Hefe-Weissbier from Munich. Hefe-Weissen, which translates in English to yeast wheat, is not filtered before bottling. This process makes the beer is opaque because the yeast continues to act after bottling. This one is really good, but I prefer the dark.
• Lion Kölsch from Cologne (a.k.a Köln), Germany. In our region Kölsch is King. Brewed locally, it’s a clear yellow beer that is less bitter then Pils. Lion is popular but in my opinion not the top of its class.
• Konig Ludwig Dunkel from the Castle Brewery in Kaltenberg (Schlossbrauerei). I really wanted to like this beer since I find the store of Mad King Ludwig fascinating, but it was too malty. Kevin thought it tasted like chocolate. Normally I’d think that was a good think, but I this case it was overpowering.
• Kulmbacher Mönchshof Schwarzbier from Kulmbach in Bavaria, Germany. Schwarzbier, or black-beer, is yet another type of dark beer. This one is not too heavy or overly bitter. What I really liked about this one is that the top popped like a bottle of Champagne.
  

Best of the bunch: Erdinger Dunkel Weissbrau, Krombacher Weizen, and Franziskaner Dunkel Hefe-Weissbier.