Beer Advent Calendar - December 18th

Can you think of another country that’s good with beer? Okay, there’s several, but at the moment I’m thinking of Ireland. At least one brewer in Germany thinks so too. Today’s advent presents a beer “Irish in character, strong in enjoyment.”

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Publiner

The green can is adorned with a shamrock at an attempt for Irish style. I guess they at least made en effort. It pours into the glass a deep red color, just as I expected, building a minuscule head. I'm looking forward to this, as I enjoy Irish reds and Scottish ales.

The beer’s profile is very malt forward: caramel, dark toasted biscuits, whoppers malt ball candy. Sweet flavors are rounded with roasted hints, and the hops come through as a timid, woodchip characteristic. Something on the finish catches my attention, reminding me of oak barrels.

A noticeable warming alcohol flavor with the oak finish combine to give the impression of a barrel aged whiskey. This is a rich, strong, bold Irish ale that I find very enjoyable. It takes some of my favorite malt flavors and puts them center stage. I'd nickname this beer toasted whiskey milkdud whopper.

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Herrngiersdorf, Germany

The Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf lays claim to being the oldest private brewery in the world. If you’ve been paying attention, you might recall Weihenstephan Abbey being the oldest operating brewery in the world. The difference is the Herrngiersdorf brewery was a private enterprise from the beginning, 880 years ago. While Weihenstephan was part of a monastery and later became state-owned, Herrngiersdorf began in 1131 with a commission by nuns to supply Geisenfeld with beer.

The area suffered a lot of destruction during the Thirty Year’s War, but the castle brewery was spared out of a Swedish appreciation for beer. The brewery remained in Moniberg Castle until 1709 when they built their current building in Landshut.

In the late 1870s the brewery was buying bricks from Paul Pausinger to rebuild their stables. Financial shortcomings caused the owner to put the brewery up for auction in 1899. Pausinger sent a representative to the auction in an attempt to drive up the bidding price, because the brewery had unpaid bills for the bricks supplied by his construction company. Inadvertently, Pausinger placed the highest bid and Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf remains owned by the Pausinger family to this day.

WWII had an effect on Herrngiersdorf similar to other breweries in Germany. Operations shut down and German soldiers used the brewery estate as barracks. When the war ended, the Pausinger family lived in one room of the estate to accommodate refugees. One year later in 1947, soccer club TSV Herrngiersdorf begins operations and an area of the estate is utilized as changing rooms and showers for the team.

In 1995 Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf created the Publiner, today’s beer. It’s the first time the brewery produced a dark beer since 1948.

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_{Beer photographs by me. Pictures of Germany sources: 1 - 2}

_{Previous Advent Calendar entries: Intro - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17}