Ding Points: 60.00
Pour: 70.00, Nose: 50.00, Taste: 60.00, Mouth: 60.00, Global: 60.00
Tasting Notes:
Nice high, rocky head. Retention not great but some lace. 11.2 oz bottle as a single from Mac’s Atlanta, GA. Decent golden color with above average carbonation. Nice clarity.
Krombacher Braueri, Pils
Nose is pretty skunky, noticeably so in fact.
Tastes are better than the nose would initially suggest.
Vegetal notes in the taste and not a great deal of definition. Grainy sweetness for me and the lack of a noble hop note. I generally like to define the Pils experience by the depth of the Saaz-like (noble) bite in the back end, and this doesn’t really deliver. Simple cracker and plain, neutral grains are everywhere.
I wouldn’t describe this as crisp as such, more neutral. The beer drops off for me, and I think the age may have something to do with that (bottled, May 25, 2011, best before May 25th 2012 )- seems like quite a long shelf life for a relatively delicate beer to me. Anyway.
My guess is that out of the tanks, at the brewery, less than 7 months old, and devoid of a trip across the Atlantic, this would be probably be a much better experience, but in this context it really isn’t very good at all. I’m surprised at the shelf life attributed to the beer from the brewery.
Other: 4.8% ABV.
Krombacher is one of my least favorite German beers, and so I basically agree with everything you’ve said here. They market the stuff like mad (it’s advertised on every soccer match on the public German TV channels). The ads make it look very appealing, but it’s truly one of the lowest-quality beers I have ever had from Germany (the lowest being Oettinger).
Just had one brewed in November. Nice presence of hops in the taste, clean and refreshing. Is this “Pils” really an Ale, as the back label indicates? Any idea?
Does it say “Ale in Texas”? If so, it was just to conform to the then in force regulations having to do with the definition in Texas of beer and ale in relation to ABV (with the dividing line being 5%).
it just says “Ale”on the back of the bottle, doesn’t say in Texas, but it was purchased in Texas. I actually came to this site trying to figure out if this pils was actually an ale or what.
That’s your answer. TX (up until the very recent change), the word ‘Ale’ on bottles in TX was not related to the contents of the bottle, but some crazy, antiquated laws.