I was excited to see the black pop out of the Advent Calendar can hoping it was a dark beer. Nope. Black can, clear beer. This is a Pils similar to the earlier Pils but this one distinctly more bitter. I remember this one being more crisp that the others but I could swear this one starts off a bit buttery like an over-oaked California Chard then it slams shut to being bitter. This one has a long drawn out bitter finish. So as you sip it has some buttery malt backbone then quickly goes bitter and continues that way to the finish. A horse of a different color.
The can says it’s brewed by Egerer but Schlossbrau (or Graflich von Mengersen’sche Dampfbrauerei?) has a brewery, the Rheder Castle Brewery, that dates back to around 1750 but the brewery that eventually comes to the castle was started in 1686 (they don’t have an english version website so there is too much to translate. They’ve been around a while so they know how to brew good beer). With that much history I guess original could mean that they are one of the original German Pils brewers or they are following their original recipe from way back when. They didn’t have cans back in the 1600’s so maybe they have someone else do the brewing when cans are involved because their website shows only bottles. Maybe I’m totally wrong because on their website they brew Rheder Husaren Gold featuring the same Hussar solder on the Husaren Trunk I had on Advent Day 4. The Trunk can says it was brewed by Graflich von Mengersen’sche Dampfbrauerei which is the copyright holder name at the bottom of their website. Must be the parent company. Like I said too much German to translate to fully know their history. So why this can says Egerer and the Husaren Trunk yet another? Every beer so far have on their labels have “imported into the US by International Distillers & Vintners of Everett, WA” plus all of the deposit values and don’t drink if pregnant so I would imagine all that has to be there to satisfy US import regulations and they might reuse the cans from year to year and maybe the details are overlooked. Who actually brewed what is probably known by Kalea. I digress.
Schlossbrau Rheder Original Pils
“Rheder Castle Brewery- Tradition meets innovation
Beginnings:
Rheder Pils. Round, delicately tart taste.High quality malt from malting barley cultivation. Exquisite hops quality. Fresh spring brewing water from the nature reserve “Sieseberg.”
Product description:
The processing of high-quality malt, barley, selected hops and fresh spring brewing water from the Sieseberg nature reserve give this noble pils a special freshness and its round, delicately bitter taste.”
The can says 4.7% ABV..
My buttery description goes against their “tart” description but the bitter matches up. Despite the bitterness it went nicely with the greek-style dinner we had featuring chicken soup and chicken gyros.
Running out of days. Is there a dark beer left in there for me?
