Advent Day 4: Husaren Trunk

It’s Day 4 of the Brewer’s Advent Calendar and right off the bat this is not my favorite so far. Husaren Trunk. Nice label with a spiffy guy in a blue uniform holding a brew. Google translates Husaren as a Hussar. I had to look it up on Wikipedia but a Hussar was a member of one of the light cavalries across Europe that adopted a dress uniform made popular by the Hungarian Hussars. But if you look deeper in the wikipedia post you find the word Husaren hear a description about some areas of German using these Hussars as policemen. Trunk translates as “Drink” so I’m having a Hussar’s Drink. (And yes, I donated a bit more than the $2.75 Wikipedia is asking for people to donate. These guys are like public radio. If you use them you should help share the cost. I digress).

Back to the beer. I surprised Mrs. Dan by setting up our little propane fire pit thingy on the back deck along with a TV so she could watch the Big 10 Championship game, which started at the ungodly hour of 8PM. She was able to sit by the fire and cheer on the Michigan Wolverines to victory. I brought out my frosty glass and my chilled Husaren Trunk. I have to admit I’m still having to bang on the advent calendar box to get the cans to pop out.

This beer is from Schlossbrauerei Rheder. I found their website and their description of this beer (once again by Google Translation): “Round, slightly bitter taste. High quality malt from our own malting barley cultivation. Exquisite hops quality. Fresh spring brewing water from the nature reserve ‘Sieseberg’.” My tastebuds aren’t agreeing with the slightly bitter. But then again one man’s bitter is another man’s happiness. Or hoppiness I guess.

While looking for this brew I found their Husaren Gold, featuring the same spiffy guy in uniform, which had a description that translates “In 1851 the 8th Hussars moved into the garrison in Paderborn and Neuhaus. Their captain and brewery owner Adolph von Spiegel is the namesake of our export beer.” So the label is in honor of a German Hussar that served in the region. I’m sure there is more to the story but I think I’ll save the questions should I actually travel to Brakel-Rheder, Germany, and visit the brewery.

Back to the actual consumption of this beer. It was like drinking a West Coast IPA but without any resins to shift the flavor profile. The malts gave it a bit of smoothness but it didn’t last long. It turned a bit dry. Too bitter for me. It appeared to be more golden than a helles but then again I was looking at it by firelight. The aroma was definitely hoppy. I was still tasting the bitter finish 10 minutes after my last sip.

I think this beer would be best enjoyed paired with something. I was too tired to get up and look to see if there was something in the fridge or the pantry to pair it with. I won’t say I totally disliked this beer. To me it’s not a cold weather beer. I’m always mad when IPAs are forced on you during warmer months at local restaurants but when it’s 40 degrees outside sitting by the fire a light hoppy, bitter beers is not on my agenda.

For the cheese advent calendar we tried the Double Clousester which tasted very similar to the Red Leicester last night but was lighter in color. Maybe a bit nutty.