I woke up this morning and it was a cool 60 degrees!! Man, I love this time of year! Here in good ol' Nawlins we have about one month of "fall". The rest is cold and hot. "Seasons" is what you put into your gumbo down here not the four divisions in the year which are based on periodic changes in the weather. When I say cold, I mean cold! Being right on the river brings in some seriously cold wind. Yeah, I know it's not Green Bay cold but for the South it's damn cold! And when I say hot, I mean hot. You don't know hot unless you've been to New Orleans in the summer. Take 100 degree days and add 100% humidity and you've got a hot so hot your balls are sticking to your leg.
Anyways, those ball sticking days are behind us for a bit and now we have some wonderfully cool weather. What does cool weather mean for us beer drinkers? I don't know about you but for me it means darker, heavier beers. And what is October without an Oktoberfest/marzen style brew! Well, today because of the wonderful change in the weather I opened my fridge looking for what kind of seasonals I had available. Sitting and staring at me was my six pack of "fallfest" beers I have for my "Six Picks" review I'm doing for the New Orleans local weekly paper called The Gambit. I have a deadline to meet!! What does that mean? Time to drink!! Don't you just love it when deadline and drinking go hand in hand? Man, I know I do!
So out of the beers I had in the six pack there is only one that I have never had before and it was from our local brewery called Heiner Brau which is in Covington, Louisiana. I really pull for these guys because I love to support local but unfortunately the majority of the time I have tried their beers they have been crap. Now if this is a brewery issue or a distribution issue I'm not sure but my bet is on the latter. When it comes to beer distribution New Orleans is way behind the curve. I won't get into the whys and the whats regarding this but just trust me, it's true. So I'm sure you're thinking that if I say that most of the beers from Heiner Brau that I've had are crap then why in the hell do I keep trying there beers. The answer is because I know they can do better and the owner and brewmaster of Heiner Brau, Henryk Orlik, is a passionate guy who truly knows his stuff. He actually visited the store that I work at and brought a bottle of his Kolsch which I thought was fantastic. I have never seen the Abita brewmaster walk into my store and pimp his product like that. I guess they're too big for all that. Anyways, enough talk and on to the review!
Brewery: Heiner Brau
Beer: Festbier
Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen
ABV: Not listed
Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass
Serving Type: Pint Glass
Appearance: This beer poured out a nice amber color with a decent size off white head which disappears quickly. Lacing is VERY minimal if almost nonexistent.
Smell: Nice and big malty smell. Very sweet smell with a slight hint of floral hops.
Taste: True to style this beer is malty. There is a nice balance between the sweet and the bitterness of the hops though. The hops add a nice floral character. Great aftertaste which is dry with a hint of pepper.
Mouthfeel: This is a medium body brew with low carbonation.
Overall: Decent representation of the marzen style. Very easy to drink and one of Heiner Braus better beers.
Score:
3 out of 5 Buddhas
1 comment:
One of my favorites, now to try their Maibock.
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