Author Archives: Rob Nesbit

About Rob Nesbit

Beer drinker and all round annoyance. Likes drinking, football, cricket and having a good time.

Appenzeller Quöllfrisch Lager Hell, Brauerei Locher AG, Appenzell, Swiss Beer

Appenzeller Quöllfrisch Lager Hell

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Appenzeller Quöllfrisch Lager Hell 

www.appenzellerbier.ch/

Brewed by Locher Appenzeller Bier
Style: Pale Lager
Appenzell, Switzerland

Brauerei Locher AG is a Swiss based family business located in the town of Appenzell, near the Alpstein Alps. The brewery is in the hands of the Locher household since 1886, and presently now running into the fifth generation of family ownership.

Swiss Alps, perfect for beer making!

Hell

Their Appenzell Beer is known throughout the country as one of Switzerland’s finest beers, due to the traditional methods of production and use of the local fresh spring waters that produce lovely clean natural beer. Also the fact that the small independent brewery is still standing after all these years, and still producing top quality beers is a testament to how popular the brewery is. Something that hasn’t changed since 1886 when Johann Christoph Locher bought the brewery over a hundred years ago.

Appenzell beer is available throughout Switzerland with the Quöllfrisch and Vollmond brands being particularly popular. Apart from the wide variety of speciality beers they also make whiskey, a beverage one doesn’t perhaps associate with Switzerland.

Review: Can of Quöllfrisch hell 4.8%ABV

Swiss Alps, perfect for beer making!

Nice froth

Quöllfrisch Hell Lager is generally considered to be one of the best beers in Switzerland, coming from the spring waters of the Alps which guarantees a pure and natural brew.

The aroma was of sweet grains, hops and lager yeasts, a really great beery smell, magnificent!

Pours a nice pale clear golden yellow colour forming a nice frothy white head which sits perfectly making the beer look very drinkable. Good lacing was apparent and with a good body this beer looked the part.

Swiss Alps, perfect for beer making!

Smooth!

And now for the taste!

For the taste buds it was mildly sweet at the front, and a good bit of a creamy flavour in the finish with a mild bitter hoppy aftertaste which I enjoyed.  A well balanced beer, that had a nice clean fresh feel to it.

Think this beer is a great session brew, one of the best I have had in a while. Could imagine downing a few of these easy enough when hitting the town on a Friday night! Very smooth, not particularly strong but drinkable all the same, a lovely clean lager that does the business.

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Tannenzäpfle beer "Little fir cone"

Tannenzäpfle Beer: “Little fir cone”

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Tannenzäpfle Beer: “Little fir cone”

                                                         Rothaus Pils Tannenzäpfle                                                          http://www.rothaus.de/
Brewed by Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus
Style: Pilsener
Grafenhausen-Rothaus, Germany ABV: 5.1%

The Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus (Rothaus, State Brewery of Baden) is located near the village of Grafenhausen high in the core of the majestic Black Forest. The Black Forest is a forested mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany that has a length of 160 km (99 mi) and breadth of up to 60 km (37 mi). So it’s amazing to think that at the heart of this gigantic forest lies Germany’s highest brewery. Standing at 1000m (3300 ft.) above sea level, we find the small brewery of Rothaus.

The small regional brewery doesn’t do advertising, relying on word of mouth to increase sales, and owned exclusively by the state of Baden-Württemberg. Yet despite all this the brewery has, particular with its Rothaus Tannenzäpfle brand, one of the most popular beers in the whole of the country.

Tannenzäpfle Beer: “Little fir cone”

Tannenzäpfle beer Little fir cone

Little fir cone

The most successful product, a Pilsner-style beer, “Rothaus Tannenzäpfle” or “Zäpfle”, comes filled in an unusual 0.33 l bottles and is well known as a “cult beer” throughout Germany. The Rothaus Pils Tannenzäpfle has existed since 1956, and doesn’t show any signs that it will be a getting a modern makeover anytime soon, much to the chagrin of advertising executives everywhere. It’s this long tradition that is part of the appeal.
Tannenzäpfle means “little fir cone” and is an allusion to the shape of the bottle and is also a reference to the location of the brewery in the Black Forest. Its unusual name is embodied on the labels of the 0.33 l bottles, distinguished by a gold tinfoil sleeve around the top of the bottle, looking a little like a fir cone (perhaps)

Birgit Kraft

Tannenzäpfle beer Little fir cone

Birgit Kraft

The labels of Rothaus beer bottles have a friendly looking “frauline” whose name is “Birgit Kraft,” a blonde haired country girl in traditional garb of the Black Forest, holding two glasses of beer and surrounded by fir cones. Birgit’s name is something of a play on words in the local dialect, “Bier git Kraft”, means “beer gives strength”. Today, “Birgit” is the defining icon for all beers made by the Rothaus Brewery, and, unsophisticated as the image may appear, it hasn’t changed a bit since 1972.
It certainly was this unusual image and style of bottle that caught my eye. It’s a curiosity and definitely does stand apart amongst all the usual droll imagery on other beer brands.

History

The brewery was founded in 1791 in the Black Forest, by the Benedictine monks of St. Blasien monastery. In 1806 the brewery was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and now belongs, 100% owned, to the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, its legal successors. The name “Rothaus, State Brewery of Baden” has been in use since 1918, and its name still remains to this day.

Important local Employer/ State of Baden-Württemberg

Rothaus is a state owned employer with over 200 people working for the company. A popular firm in the region partly because it regularly pays out bonuses, depending on the results of yearly sales. And boy are those dividends pretty good. In 2008, for example, the brewery paid out a total of €17 million as dividends to its owner, the state of Baden-Württemberg. (Also paying out €16.7 million in tax)

Spring water from 1,000 meters

Tannenzäpfle beer Little fir cone

Deep inside the Black Forest

Deep in the iconic Black Forest, with misty valleys, soft gentle springs, and country life to the max, the Rothaus brewery stands at an altitude of some 3,300 feet. Its location certainly helps the quality of the beer. The beer is brewed according to the German beer purity law, with the water coming from the nearby springs flowing down from the majestic mountain valleys.
Not only does the location offer the purest finest ingredients for a decent brew it also helps cement the image of a traditional brewery that is in tune with its roots and homeland. This is a beer from the Black Forest, a local beer for local people!

Sales are up

The company’s beer sales have jumped, with year on year sales increasing. And this is happening at a time when the domestic beer industry has been in slow decline for decades, despite the big hoo-ha of their Oktoberfest’s and the like. Rothaus is surging ahead, and all with little or no advertising.
Today you can get Rothaus beers in all of the major cities of Germany, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.

Why Popular

Many reasons can be given for its popularity (apart from the taste, of course!)

The beer is seen as an honest local brewery thriving in the cutthroat industry of the modern beer industry where multi-national takeovers and acquisitions are all the rage. As the top of the market is seemingly run by fewer and fewer companies its refreshing to see such a small brewery do so well.

Tannenzäpfle beer Little fir cone

Tannenzäpfle

Despite doing so well the brewery has no plans for further expansion. It’s happy with its lot. Expansion might mean taking unnecessary risks and losing its traditional “homely” image that it has worked so hard to build up. One has to only look at the disaster expansion has done to the supermarket giant Tesco to show that big doesn’t necessarily always mean bigger.

Most of the customers who drink Rothaus beers outside of the home state are young ex Baden-Württembergers yearning for a taste of the homeland. Seeking the beer far away from home also introduced it to new customers.

Its unconventional outlook and lack of an advertising plan also appeals to the many, who are looking for a product that is different, one that isn’t tainted by capitalism and mass advertising. Young Birgit won’t be getting a sexy makeover anytime soon, no mini skirts and suspenders for this lovely maiden of the Black Forest!

Review: 0.33 l Bottle of Rothaus Pils TannenZäpfle, 5.1%ABV

The great classic Germany pils with the super cool “old school” style label on the iconic 0.33 bottle format. This is a very popular beer, a cult brand, this beer from the Black Forest.

Tannenzäpfle beer Little fir cone

Zäpfle

Aroma was quite strong to be honest, took me aback a little, wow. The grassy hops and citrus hitting the senses very quickly. A strong and clean earthy and grainy smell picked up. This aroma woke me up alright!

On the appearance side of things the beer looks pretty damn good. Very clean and pure looking, pouring a nice pale yellow colour. Head is pretty decent, nice and frothy, with a little lacing. A real good looking pilsner, with a nice crystal clear body.

The taste was very interesting, strong with a slightly malty initial taste to it, which lingers in the mouth. Some cereals, a hoppy finish and an equally strong bitter hoppy aftertaste. The beer had a very strong depth to it, and a lovely crisp feel in the mouth. The beer definitely grows on you and after a few more scoops I started to enjoy this beer. Was a good well balanced tasting beer, from the start to the finish, an interesting experience from the Black Forest.

Review: 0.33 l Bottle of Rothaus Hefe Weizen , Weizen Zapfle 5.4%ABV

Bottle of Rothaus Hefe Weizen , Weizen Zapfle

Weizen Zapfle

The Rothaus Hefe Weizen Zäpfle,  a typical wheat German beer with alcohol content of 5.4% but with an interesting  and refreshing fruity flavour

On pour a very large foamy head appeared and took forever to settle. Once it eventually settles you are left with a dark cloudy colour of a beer, which has a good head that leaves a good bit of lacing on the glass.

 

Bottle of Rothaus Hefe Weizen , Weizen Zapfle 5.4%ABV

Nice head!

On smell I get a lot of citrus and banana tones with the expected yeast and grain smell that is particular to Hefeweizens. A nice citric fruity smell!

Even though I am not a huge fan of Hefeweizens I found the taste was very smooth and creamy and quite enjoyable. The overall taste was sweet, with fruity flavours and a sour depth to the beer.  The aftertaste was pretty bitter as you’d expect, the citrus kicking in. I enjoyed it and its a very drinkable and good tasting beer.

Review: 0.33 l Bottle of Rothaus Eis Zäpfle, 5.6%ABV. Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen

Tannenzäpfle beer "Little fir cone"The Rothaus EisZäpfle (“Icicle”), called after the labourious process where in the old days these beers were brewed. Before refrigerators and ice machines, the last batches of bottom-fermented beer could only be brewed in March (März) at the latest, where naturally forming ice, cut in blocks from the ice sheets of local ponds and lakes, were used to cool the brews.  Stored in cellars, large wooden scaffolding was sprayed with water so that icicles (“EisZäpfle”) would form on the beams, which would be knocked off to further cool the beer.

Tannenzäpfle beer "Little fir cone"On pour, nice clear golden yellow colour with a pretty decent sized foamy white head, a good looking beer. Some lacing. Can hear the carbonation as it fizzes away, magic!

Aroma: strong smell of the hops, citrus, very malty, sweet malts

Taste: Sweet grainy maltiness at the start.

Back end taste of the hops was nice.

Felt stronger than the 5.6 for some reason…..

Tannenzäpfle beer "Little fir cone"A very subtle taste, has a good balance of malts and hops, quite tasty, nothing amazing but boy was it easy to drink…. Perfect balance in flavour, clean, crisp and very refreshing.

A very easy beer to drink, very sessionable, could drink a lot of these easy enough as it was very smooth. Liked this beer a lot.

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Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Interlaken, Joesph Hofweber, Switzerland, the Alps, Bern

Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer

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Rugenbräu Beer 

http://www.rugenbraeu.ch/

Brewed by Rugenbräu
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Interlaken, Switzerland

Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Interlaken, Joesph Hofweber, Switzerland, the Alps, Bern

Nice and cold

Rugenbräu is an independent Swiss brewing company, headquartered in the lovely surrounds of Interlaken (“Between the lakes”) in central Switzerland.

Interlaken is a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps, and the town is located between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.

In the year of 1866 in Interlaken,  Christian Indermühle,  started a brewery, from which his sons Carl and Albert eventually took over on his death in 1875. In 1880 after taking on too much debt the brothers converted the brewery into a public limited company, to help ease costs and the day to day running of the company.  From there, in 1892, the brewery was acquired by the Bavarian brew-master Joesph Hofweber. Hofweber already owned the successful Schloss Reichenbach brewery and eventually in 1968 the name Rugenbräu was given to the long standing family brewery, which has remained in family ownership for well over a hundred years.

Review: Can of Rugenbräu Lager hell 4.8%ABV

Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Interlaken, Joesph Hofweber, Switzerland, the Alps, Bern

A pure taste

The Lager hell is Rugenbräu’s most popular beer and is exported internationally.

Lovely faint notes of sweet pale grains, a nice soft smell of malt and hops but not overbearing.

Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Rugenbräu, Pure Alpine Beer, Interlaken, Joesph Hofweber, Switzerland, the Alps, Bern

Rugenbräu

 

The beer looks absolutely fantastic, you can definitely see what fresh pure Alpine air and water can do for the quality of a beer, the beer is so clean and clear. I honestly don’t think I have seen a cleaner beer than this, looks so great in appearance. Pours a light and absolutely clear yellow colour forming a good frothy head which stays and some pretty good lacing left around in the glass. Lucky for me to have this straight from a nice cool fridge.

Tasting had a light feel to it, with a strongish bitter hoppy aftertaste. A little bit of acidity, crisp and clean, faint flavours of malts and grains, but its the aftertaste that is the taste for this lager, lingering for a little while in the mouth. Overall was a very smooth drink, a good session beer. I liked it as it did the business and that’s all you can ask for in a beer, hit the spot. A decent refreshing everyday lager, scores high on drinkability.

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Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

St Pauli and Astra Bier: A football special

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Next up for a review is the famous Astra beer from Hamburg.

But I can’t write about Astra unless I also write about St. Pauli football club. The two are synonymous.  A football special and a soccer club that’s often described as the most left-wing team in the world. Unique.

St. Pauli

Fußball-Club St. Pauli was founded on the 15th of May 1910, based in the lively St Pauli quarter of Hamburg, an area known for its docks, its left-wing activism and for the infamous neon-lit strip clubs of the “Reeperbahn”, Europe’s largest red light district. Nicknamed the ‘Brothel of the League’, the club represents the dockers, punks, prostitutes, anarchists, and all the rest who live and toil in the city’s working-class St Pauli enclave.

The club is widely recognised for its distinctive left-wing culture and has a large popular following as one of the country’s “Kult” clubs.

The history bit

Before the Eighties, St Pauli was just your regular lower-league club averaging crowds of less than 2000, and living in the shadows of their hated neighbours, HSV Hamburg.  It was in the mid-1980s that St. Pauli’s conversion from a traditional club into a “Kult” club began.

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

The docks

With Nazis and hooligans ruling the terraces all over Germany, St Pauli was seen as an alternative.  Through the local dockyard losing workers and the district falling into dereliction, squatters, artists, anarchists, prostitutes, students, punks and other alternative types all flocked into the district to fill the void. And they started going to the football!

FC St Pauli suddenly became swamped, with the terraces of their old dilapidated Millerntor Stadium full of the disenfranchised roaring out anti-fascist and anti-capitalist chants. But unlike other teams, St Pauli embraced them reveling in its new found ‘underdog’ status. By the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground.

Skull and crossbones

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Loyal fans

The Skull and Crossbones (the Jolly Roger flag) is a symbol which had long been associated with the district of St Pauli on account of legendary pirate Klaus Störtebeker and his statue. It became the club’s unofficial emblem.

The emblem first appearing after a few squatters from the docks brought it onto the terraces. The idea stuck and now it’s very closely connected to the club and the area.

You will see the emblem pretty much everywhere in the district, from every corner and on every street. So it’s no surprise to learn that the German media like to call the club the “Die Freibeuter der Liga” (“Buccaneers of the League“).

The team

For a team with such a huge following, their on the field exploits are nothing to write home about. With a virtually empty trophy cabinet and a team that’s regularly seen mid table in Germany’s Bundesliga 2, it’s quite amazing that they have such support at all.

A stint in the top tier in 2002, saw them finish a distant last after winning only a handful of games and the resulting relegation nearly bankrupt the club.

That relegation led to another worse demotion down into the less-lucrative Regionaliga Nord (III), where they remained for four years. These two relegations, back to back, almost killed St. Pauli.

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Party atmosphere

With the club almost bankrupt, the supporters began its fund-raising activities. They printed t-shirts with the club’s crest surrounded by the word Retter (rescuer) with well over a 100,000 sold. They also organized a benefit match against perennial German champions, Bayern Munich, and staged fundraising events such as ‘Drink for St Pauli’, with local publicans donating 50 per cent from each beer sold. Their efforts to save the club worked and also furthered strengthened the bond between club and fan. The club could not survive without its special fans.

In 2007, St. Pauli were promoted back to the 2. Bundesliga and in 2010, FC St. Pauli clinched promotion to the 1.Bundesliga, made even sweeter given that 2010 was the club’s centenary. But that also didn’t last too long, and for the 2013–14 season they were again playing back in 2. Bundesliga.

A quandary

One reason for their lack of on field success is that St Pauli sees itself as something more than just a football team. It has certain responsibilities to its fans and to the ethos of the club. Lucrative player contracts and huge corporate revenue streams are frowned upon, with many fans preferring to remain a small club that can be run within their control rather than a large one beholden to forces outside their neighborhood. They are very unusual in that many of their fans didn’t get too irate when they were relegated. For most St. Pauli fans only one thing is important: to remain as true to its progressive principles as possible. St. Pauli is a way of life, and just like in life, you have your ups and downs. Win, lose or draw, there will always be a St Pauli to support.

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

“FCSP Stay Political”

Still though it can be a challenge. This leaves the club with an obvious financial disadvantage. On the one hand staying loyal to your roots and culture while on the other hand be competitive as a professional sports club and trying to hit the heady heights of top class football. It’s a hard balance. Small reforms had to be made, if anything to save the club from going bust again. There are now VIP seats at the stadium, and the club shop sells as much expensive merchandise as any club on match days. But the soul of the club is still intact with some of the alternative fans from the Eighties now running the club and occupying senior positions on the board. The club is in safe hands.

The Millerntor

The home venue of FC St Pauli is the Millerntor- Stadium, in the heart of the St Pauli district. The very old style stadium has a capacity of 29,000 with the club getting higher attendances than most Bundesliga 2 teams. The stands are basic, with a concrete and unaesthetic feel. It gets as real as this, it’s not the Emirates or the new Wembley. Supporters, like in a lot of clubs in Germany, have standing room only areas, beer is allowed onto the terraces, and shouting obscenities at the ref is expected! This is a throwback to the good old days of football: beer (Astra, naturally), football and dodgy haircuts (that would be the punks!).

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

The Millerntor

“Hells Bells” by AC/DC, greets the teams on their arrival onto the pitch and every home goal is celebrated with “Song 2″ by Blur.

After consultation with the fans, it was decided that the club would never sell the naming rights of their stadium. Take note Mike Ashley and his “SportsDirect.com@StJamesPark”.

It’s also important to stress that St. Pauli have more season ticket holders than many Bundesliga teams, proving that fans can be loyal if their wishes are respected, even when the team is not a success on the pitch.

But what about the fans

Visitors to St. Pauli are assured of having a good time, as long as they share the same ethos of the club and its supporters.

Most supporters have a politically left-wing stance and regard themselves as anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-homophobic and anti-sexist, and this has brought them into conflict with neo-Nazis and hooligans at away games, and also the boys in blue on occasion.

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Dedication

The club has also taken the step to incorporate a set of Fundamental Principles (Leitlinien) to decree how the club is to be run. The Leitlinien not only reflects what happens on the pitch, but also takes into account their social and political responsibility in relation to the district and the people who live there.

The fans have also been active. They organise charity events, protest on local issues, and have also set up the Alerta anti-fascist network, a collection of football supporter groups from all over Europe.

One recent report estimated that the team has roughly 11 million fans throughout Germany and the wider world, making the club one of the most widely recognised Bundesliga sides out there. The club boasts roughly 600 worldwide supporters’ groups’, and that support seems to be growing all the time.

The bars

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Entrance to the JR

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Inside the JR

The Jolly Roger, the legendary supporter’s-owned bar near the stadium.  Founded by St. Pauli Fans for St. Pauli Fans. It’s a non-profit enterprise with all monies going into supporters projects. It’s located at Budapester Straße across the road from the Millerntor stadium and a 5 minutes’ walk (or 10 depending on how many Astra’s consumed) from the Reeperbahn.

Not so sure of the opening times, but when I was there there was a little crowd waiting for it to open at 8.00 in the morning. But don’t worry the small shop beside sells the Astra Red Light which was 6.0% vol. for 2 euros (3 Euros in the JR!), and you can easily sit outside on the bench awaiting for it to open.

Really liked the bar, the staff were ultra-friendly, and the bar had a nice chilled out vibe going on. Around match time the bar is the place to be, before and after the game, and at night it can get very crowded.

St. Pauli Eck

Simon-von-Utrechtstr. 87

20359 Hamburg, St.Pauli

A small place, very easy to pass, but when I was there I had a great time, lots of singing, some very generous locals who bought me a few schnapps, and the landlady, who appeared to be a little gruff, but was in fact very cool, and gave me a few old style St Pauli stickers. Friendly and convivial.

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Outside the Shebeen

Shebeen

Hein-Hoyer-Str. 78

20359 Hamburg, St.Pauli

Another top class bar, really enjoyed my few days of drinking in this establishment. The staff were really chilled, great fun, and always up for a bit of a talk, some even hanging round after their work shift. Plays some good music and the owner is very friendly and chatty. Recommended.

Astra Bier

Fußball-Club St. Pauli, Astra Bier, Reeperbahn, St Pauli, Hamburg, Bundesliga, soccer, football, The Jolly Roger,,

Astra red light (alc 6.0% vol..

Astra Urtyp

http://www.astra-bier.de/de

Brewed by Holsten-Brauerei (Carlsberg)
Style: Pilsener
Hamburg, Germany

Deep in the heartland of Hamburg’s St Pauli district and the Reeperbahn, and not too far from the docks, with a very loyal following, Astra (Bier) is a cult beer brand name that has on offer a series of pale lagers, and is produced by Carlsberg’s German division.

Astra Urtyp with its iconic brand of a red heart and an anchor, and its logo of “With Love brewed in Hamburg, St. Pauli“.

The beer with over a hundred years under its belt, is similar to the football club, also has a long history of strife and struggle. The brewery has seen many take overs, was close to closing on more than one occasion, and was also rescued from going out of business by the City of Hamburg.

But now the beer is back, and with its new logo, and close association with the football team, its achieved cult status amongst the many beer drinkers, of not just Germany, but further afield.

Review: Can of Astra Urtyp Pilsener 4.9% ABV

Astra Urtyp is the drink to be seen with on the Reeperbahn, the cult beer brand that is extremely popular around Hamburg. If you visit St. Pauli then you drink Astra. Simples.

Aroma of lovely sweet smelling malts and grains. A beery smell!

On pour a nice clear pale golden colour appears with a decent sized frothy head, looks good. The head and a lot of lacing both stick around, making this to be a fairly good looking beer, a typical Pilsner look.

beer beer beer 012The beer is very smooth, which would be expected if it is to be a football special. This isn’t a craft beer, this is to be drank by the gallon! For that reason the beer tastes smooth and very drinkable, perfect for a session. There is low bitterness and the overall feel to the beer is of a little bit of malt, a little bit of hops with a tinge of acidity. A nice beer, tastes fine, goes down well, and something to enjoy the football with, and that’s all you really want from a session beer.

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Liechtenstein Brauhaus - Brewing returns to The Principality

Liechtenstein Brauhaus – Brewing in The Principality

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Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

In the Heart of the Alps

The Principality of Liechtenstein, with Hans-Adam II as head of its monarchy, is a very small landlocked German speaking country, resting entirely on the Alps. To be found in central Europe, nestled in between Switzerland to the west and Austria to the east, with a total area of 160 square kilometres (62 square miles). It’s tiny!

It is the fourth smallest country of Europe, after the Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino, with a population of just under 37,000 people.

Despite its limited natural resources and tiny capital of Vaduz, Liechtenstein is a very rich country. The nation is known for its strong financial sector, and low corporate tax rates, making its residents enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living.

The family, from which the principality takes its name, originally came from Castle Liechtenstein in Lower Austria. They purchased the land, but it was just another piece of real estate in their collection of domains throughout the Hapsburg Empire (Austro-Hungarian). With the destruction of World War One and the subsequent break-up of the said empire, Liechtenstein got more autonomy away from Austria. After World War II, the ruling family decided to actually live in neutral Liechtenstein and from afar could see all their lands in the old Empire descent into the hands of the Nazi’s, and thus lost forever. Liechtenstein was what remained of their lands, and that’s what we, more or less, have today!

Herein I give you some really fun and cool facts about teeny weeny LiechtensteinLiechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

1. Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in the world with more registered companies than citizens. Whisper it softly, it’s a “tax haven”

2. Liechtenstein also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world at 1.5%.

Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

Official like!

3. The Prince of Liechtenstein is the world’s sixth wealthiest monarch with an estimated wealth of 5 billion USD

4. Liechtenstein has no airport, but don’t fret as Zurich Airport is an hour and a bit away in neighbouring Switzerland.

5. On the country’s national holiday all “subjects” are invited to the castle of the head of state, which eerily overlooks the capital. A significant portion of the population attends the national celebration where speeches are made and complimentary beer is served, which just sounds fantastic.

6. There is only one television channel in the country, the private channel 1FLTV which was only created in 2008. Let’s hope they get Sky Sports then.

7. Liechtenstein football teams play in the Swiss football leagues, with FC Vaduz making it into the top tier, the Raiffeisen Super League, last season. Vaduz also have a North Korean player, Pak Kwang Ryong, with them on loan from Basel FC, so now you know how little Kim back home gets his regular supply of Swiss cheese that he so craves.

8. It is the smallest nation to win a medal in any Olympics, winter or summer

9. The Liechtenstein National Police has a total of about 125 employees. But don’t let that fool you as they are armed and work closely with their colleagues in both Switzerland and Austria, just in case you try and make a run for the border! Overall the country has one of the world’s lowest crime rates and its prisons are (or should that read prison?) virtually empty, with anyone serving more than two years shipped off to an Austrian prison for practical reasons.Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

10. Liechtenstein has a policy of neutrality and is one of the few countries in the world that maintains no military. During the 1980’s the Swiss army fired off shells during a military exercise and mistakenly burned a patch of forest inside Liechtenstein. The incident was said to be resolved “over a case of white wine”. If only all conflicts were solved in this manner!

11. Liechtenstein has a constitutional monarch as Head of State, and an elected parliament which enacts laws. It is also a direct democracy, where voters can propose and enact constitutional amendments and legislation independent of the legislature. The Prince, looking for even more power and control of his tiny nation, put a referendum in 2003 to the people seeking new and improved veto laws that could dissolve parliament at any time he so wanted. Hans-Adam II threatened that if he didn’t get his wish in the referendum he would just sell some of his royal property (the property of Liechtenstein) into commercial use and just move to Austria. “I’m going to take my ball and go home”, he was quoted as saying, allegedly. Needless to say the resolution passed with about 64% in favour.

12. In 2006 the country actually grew in size! New surveys using more accurate measurements of the country’s borders in set its area at 160 km2 (61.776 sq mi), with borders of 77.9 km (48.4 mi). Thus, Liechtenstein discovered that its borders were 1.9 km (1.2 mi) longer than previously thought! A handy trick!

Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

Backyard vines

13. Liechtenstein is a largest producer of false teeth in the whole world.

14. Currently, there is only one hospital in Liechtenstein, so be careful when climbing the Alps on a winters days as I am not so sure they will have enough man power to send out the few ambulances they have to rescue your sorry ass.

15. The gross domestic product (GDP) on a purchasing power parity basis is $5.028 billion, or $141,100 per capita, which is the second highest in the world. Which sounds pretty bloody good. When I was there I noticed that most people had a vineyard in the back garden. There is wealth and then there is real wealth!

(All facts and figures thanks to good old Wikipedia!)

Liechtensteiner Brauhaus Hell’s

http://www.brauhaus.li/

Brewed by Liechtensteiner Brauhaus
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Schaan, Liechtenstein

So let’s talk about beer then. As Frank Zappa famously said, “You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer”, and even though Liechtenstein is small it does indeed have a decent brewery.

Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

Hell’s

World War One caused a shortage of raw materials (barley and malt!) on the continent of Europe, and with that seen the closure of Liechtenstein’s last brewery in 1917. That’s was until 2007 when Bruno Güntensperger opened up The Liechtensteiner Brauhaus. Güntensperger was a dreamer who always had a passion for brewing, and while studying at the Institute of Food Science at ETH Zurich, the notion of a brewery in Liechtenstein was evoked when he did an internship in an actual brewery as part of his studies. Due to work commitments and everyday life his dream was put on hold until during a wedding celebration back in his home country, he started chatting about his idea with some old friends. The idea started to gain legs and he went for it, and on the 23rd of October 2007 the brewery was a reality. Liechtenstein was a real country again!

Located in Schaan, the brewery produces a traditional lager, a darker malt beer and a wheat beer. The brewery also produces seasonal specials that are created especially for the carnival season, and a fruity beverage popular during the summer months. Despite a young history and a relatively small operation, the beers are winning awards: Swiss “Newcomer of the Year 2009” and its wheat beer “Weiza” was “Swiss Beer of the Year 2009”.(IG small and medium breweries of Switzerland).

Review: Bottle of Liechtensteiner Brauhaus Hell’s, 5%ABV

The beers produced by the Liechtensteiner Brauhaus are brewed with the best craftsmanship and using only the finest ingredients. A special mashing process, partially handed, using natural hops, a slow fermentation process and a long cold maturation in low temperatures ensure the highest quality clean and fresh beers. When you think that the Alps and the Rhine is the backdrop to this brewery then it would make sense to have a good high expectation for this beer.

Liechtenstein Brauhaus, Hans-Adam II, Bruno Güntensperger, Liechtensteiner Brauhaus, Vaduz

Hell’s

Pours a lovely golden colour, with a very good sized frothy head with some lacing. This very clean beer looks pretty damn good. Top marks for appearance.

The aroma was also very enticing. I got notes of sweet grainy malts, some fruitiness, and a very rustic kind of smell (the smell of the Alps perhaps?). Again top marks, this time for the smell.

On taste I got a nice light flavour of grainy malts, some sweetness, a bit of caramel

The aftertaste was interesting, a touch of hops biting at the end.

Overall I liked this beer. I had it straight from a cool fridge and it tasted really smooth and very drinkable. Each mouthful had a lovely feel to it and had a lot going on with a nice mix of flavours, making this beer a favourite. Not a very strong drink but very drinkable, and it would be a decent session beer. A good refreshing beer.

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