German Christmas Beers at Spuyten Duyvil

Frohe Weihnachten, New York!

The Monarchy is the experimental-revivalist offshoot of Freigeist which itself is the experimental offshoot of Cologne's small brewery, Braustelle. Brewer Sebastian Sauer and his colleagues are rediscovering and updating Europe's lost beer styles as well as creating new ones along the way. Where will the offshoots end??

This Thursday, December 19th, at Spuyten Duyvil, come try some truly unique beers that The Monarchy has brewed for the Christmas season. Taking inspiration from Christmas cookies and cakes from around German, the brewery has brewed rich beers with traditional spices. Santa doesn't need milk AND cookies; all he needs is a glass of The Monarchy! We'll be providing samples of the inspirational cookies as well. In addition, there will be other German Christmas beers. 

• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Aachen - In the 15th century, copper workers from Dinant, Belgium emigrated to the German city of Aachen, bringing with them the centuries-old tradition of engraved pastries and cakes. Today, the term Aachener Printen is a Protected Designation of Origin and all manufacturers of the special Christmas delicacies are found in or near the town. Brewed in collaboration with local traditional bakeries and based on the traditional Printen cakes of Aachen, this beer is made with “Gingerbread Man” spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cardamom, and coriander seed.
• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Dresden - Stollen, a moist, heavy German cake filled with fruit, was first mentioned in an official document in 1474, and the most famous Stollen is still the Dresdner Stollen. The official stollen is produced exclusively in Dresden, and usually contains a mix of nuts and spices in addition to the dried fruit. This beer replicates Stollen flavors with with candied peels of orange & lemon, and raisins. 
• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Nürnberg - Lebkuchen were invented by medieval monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century, and the earliest recorded mention of local Nürnberg Lebkuchen dates to at least 1395. Historically known as honey cake (Honigkuchen ) or pepper cake (Pfefferkuchen), Lebkuchen comes in many configurations, the most famous being the heart-shaped souvenier version found in German Christmas markets. Happy Christmas from Nürnberg is made with a plethora of spices and fruits, including cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cardamom, coriander seed, and candied peels of orange and lemon.  
• Mahr's Christmas Bock - A rich yet unusually hoppy & drinkable winter bock from a classic Bamberg family brewery.
• Kulmbacher Eisbock - The original. The story goes that a wooden barrel of bockbier was inadvertently left in the brewery yard in the middle of winter. By the time it was found, the contents were mostly frozen so the ice was chipped away, leaving behind a much richer, more concentrated, but exceptionally clean tasting brew with a deceptive 9.2% abv. 
• Weissenohe Monk's Christkindl - A classic dark Franconian winter lager, dry-hopped and double-decoction brewed at Germany’s second-oldest Klosterbrauerei (gravity keg)  
• The Monarchy Year of the Dragon - Happy New Year! A strong ale brewed with rice. Each year, a new version will be brewed.

Spuyten Duyvil is located at 359 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn. The beers will be on at 5pm and the cookies will arrive shortly thereafter.

Un-Oktoberfest at Mission Dolores Tuesday

When:  Tuesday, 17 September, 4pm onwards
Where:  Mission Dolores, 249 4th Avenue, Brooklyn

What:  pay-as-you-go, with sehr gut prices from 7-10pm 

Oktoberfest might not start in Munich until Saturday, but the folks over at Mission Dolores are pre-gaming and holding an Un-Oktoberfest to showcase some other German beers. Some of these are traditional German styles and others are not-so-traditional. And to make things even more fun, our own Jim "Bocky" Barnes will be spinning strange tunes from Germany and Eastern Europe. Heino in the haus! 

• Mahr's Ginger Bock - a bock, with ginger 
• Mönchshof Schwarzbier - classic dark lager from northern Bavaria 
• EKU Pils - classic pils from Kulmbach with a refreshing dose of hops  
• Freigeist Hoppeditz - doppel sticke alt brewed with smoked malt 
• Freigeist Geisterzug Gose - traditional gose brewed with spruce branches 
• Freigeist Salzpeicher Sauer Porter - sour porter brewed with salt

Tuesday Tasting - Marh's Bräu

When:  Tuesday, 18 June, 7:30 pm
Where:  Jimmy's No. 43, 43 E. 7th Street

What:  $20 for 6 beers

For this week's guided Tuesday Tasting at Jimmy's, we'll be featuring 6 beers from Mahr's Bräu.  Unfortunately, brewer Stephan Michel had to cancel his trip to New York but Joel Shelton will be there, rocking his lederhosen. You don't want to miss that!  Or the beers from Mahr's. Space is limited.

Die Biere: 

• Pils
• Hell
• Ungespundet 
• Saphir Weisse
• Bock
• Ginger Bock  

Tap Takeover at Proletariat

On Tuesday, 26 February, Proletariat will be featuring all Shelton Brothers drafts plus some bottles. There will be a mix of classics and new beers and we guarantee that all will be delicious!

The list:

• Baird Red Rose Amber - inspired by steam beers but instead of being a lager fermented at ale temperatures, it's an ale fermented at lower temperatures (Japan)
• Beer Here Kama Citra - brown ale brewed with British malts and American Citra hops (Denmark)
• Blaugies Darbyste - a saison brewed with wheat and fermented with fig juice. Named for John Darby, a temperance preacher whose followers enjoyed a "soft drink" made from fig juice (Belgium)
• De la Senne Zwarte Piet - a dark, 8.2% Belgian ale, formerly known as Equinoxe (Belgium)
• De Struise Svea - IPA brewed with barley, wheat, oats, and rye. To Sweden with Love (Belgium)
• Dieu du Ciel! Aphrodite - cocoa and vanilla stout. Called "Aphodisiaque" in Canada but our government says that that name is misleading. Is it? (Québec)
• Haandbryggeriet Dark Force - imperial double wheat stout? Yes! (Norway)
• Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial - a brown ale inspired by the Trappist ales of Belgium. Brewed with cacao, cinnamon, and sweet orange peel (Dexter, Michigan)
• Mahr's Ungespundet - unfiltered lager/kellerbier. An all-time Shelton Brothers favorite (Germany)
• Mikkeller Yeast Series 2.0: Brettanomyces Lambicus - round 2 of the yeast series. All of the beers are 6.4% pale ale but fermented with a different yeast strain. This one uses the Lambicus (lambic) strain of Brettanomyces (Denmark)
• Thiriez Extra - extra hoppy saison brewed with Bramling Cross hops (France)
• Trou du Diable Schieve Tabarnak - golden ale brewed with rye and Nelson Sauvin hops. A collaboration with Yvan from De la Senne (Québec)

Proletariat is located at 102 St. Mark's Place in Manhattan. They open at 5pm and Joel and I will give a brief talk about the beers around 6pm. Special flights will be available for purchase.

Shucktoberfest

This Saturday, Bierkraft will be hosting an oyster shuck and cask beer fest in their backyard and they'll be pouring 4 Franconian gravity kegs along with some wet-hopped cask beer from local breweries. The weather is supposed to clear up so come on out for some bivalves and bier.

The list (subject to change):

• Kraus Hirschentrunk
• Sauer Rossdorfer Urbräu
• Weissenohe Monk's Fest
• Mahr's Hell

When:  Saturday, 20 October, 12-11pm
Where:  Bierkraft, 191 5th Avenue, Brooklyn
What:  pay-as-you-go

Mahr's Bräu Dinner

When:  Thursday, 21 June, 7 pm
Where:  Jimmy's No. 43, 43 E. 7th Street
What:  $45 (plus gratuity) for a family-style dinner paired with beers. Tickets are limited; purchase them at Brown Paper Tickets

The man from Mahr's, Stephan Michel, will be joining us at a dinner featuring his fantastic Franconian lagers from Bamberg, Germany.

 The beers: 

• Leicht - only 2.8% AND full of flavor  
• Pils  
• Hell  
• Ungespundet - the classic unfiltered lager 
• Weisse  
• Saphir Weisse - hoppy wheat beer with Saphir hops 
• Der Weissebock  
• ETA Hoffman - dunkel
• Unfiltered Pils - special gravity keg

Franconia, in Northern Bavaria, boasts more breweries per square mile than anywhere else in the world and 9 of these breweries are located within the city limits of Bamberg. The Mahr's Gasthaus has been around since 1670 and is one of the most picturesque places to have a beer in Bamberg and well as our favorite.  Mahr's Brau brews small batches of beers that are unpasteurized and full of flavor and character; most of them are unfiltered as well. Come to Jimmy's for a taste of Franconia! 

Holiday Beers at Blind Tiger

When:  Wednesday, 7 December, 3 pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

If St. Nicholas didn't leave any gifts in your shoes today, or if he left you coal, dry your tears over a festive holiday beer tomorrow. There will be plenty of Shelton Brothers' drafts to choose from.

doesn't everyone have a Bavarian weissebier ornament?

To the list! 

• Mahr's Christmas Bock  
• De Ranke Père Noël  
• Nøgne Ø Winter Ale   
• Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper
• Mikkeller Ris a la M'ale
• Mikkeller From Via To
• Mikkeller Red/White Christmas  
• Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'Hiver  

Oktoberfest at Spuyten Duyvil

While the traditional Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich are over with, Spuyten Duyvil keeps the party going with their annual Oktoberfest this Saturday, featuring German gravity kegs from Franconia, in Northern Bavaria.

When:  Saturday, 22 October, 12 pm onwards
Where:  Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

Gravity kegs are unfiltered, unpasteurized, and naturally carbonated. They are typical of beers that are served in the beer halls and kellers of Franconia and have much more character than many of the beers from the rest of the country.

The 20 liter kegs are tapped and poured directly from the bar.

The beers:

- Mahr's Ungespundet

- Mahr's Unfiltered Pilsner

- Mahr's Hell

- Mahr's Bockbier

- Weissenohe Monk's Fest

- Mönchsambacher Unfiltered Lager

- Bayer Theinheim Landbier

- Löwenbräu Buttenheim Kellerbier

There will also be regular kegs of other German beers including Mahr's Saphir Weiss - a wheat beer brewed with a hefty dose of Saphir hops - and Weissenohe Monk's Fest, a classic version of the malty märzen style, brewed using the traditional decoction mashing technique.

To learn more about the beers and kellers of Franconia, check out our video of Brother Daniel's visit from a few years ago (part 1 of 3):

 

The Pilsner Event at Blind Tiger

Each month, Blind Tiger has been featuring a specific style and they kick off the month with a style event. This month, the featured style is pilsner and we've got a bunch of tasty offerings on tap. Don't turn your nose up thinking you don't like lager; instead, come to explore the range of flavors found in this style which is very unforgiving to any brewer making mistakes. The clean profile that make pilsners so refreshing also offers nowhere to hide any off flavors.

When:  Wednesday, 3 August, 3pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street

We find that pilsners often tend to get lost next to quadruple-hopped, barrel-aged, imperial beers. Not that those beers don't have their time and place - sipping a glass while parked on a couch, perhaps - but when it's hot out and you want something thirst-quenching yet flavorful that you can drink several of in one sitting, true pilsners brewed with 100% malt are hard to beat.

Originating in Pilsen, in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), in the 1800s, the light color and delicate flavor of this new style were quite novel at the time and its popularity quickly spread to Germany and beyond.

Blind Tiger will be pouring 12 pilsners, both imported and domestic (I must profess a fondness for Victory's Braumeister Pils), including 6 Shelton Brothers beers (see the full draft list here):

- Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils - voted the #1 pils in 2 blind tastings in Germany sponsored by the newspaper "Die Zeit"
- EKU Pils - a little maltier than northern German pils but with more hops than a southern Bavarian pils - the perfect balance between the two
- Mahr's Pilsner - unpasteurized pilsner from Franconia in northern Bavaria
- Christoffel Blond - robust, dry-hopped pilsner-style lager from the Netherlands
- Mikkeller Dream Pils - originally known as "The American Dream" in Denmark, this is Mikkeller's version of a Danish pils brewed with American hops.
- Mikkeller Draft Bear - an 8%, hop-charged, imperial pilsner? Why not! Just make sure you're comfortably seated on your bar stool.