Bitter? Nein. Bitte ein Bit
Written: Nov 12 '04 (Updated Nov 30 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Refreshing, decent enough pils
Cons: Not exactly exciting
The Bottom Line: Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut.
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| proxam's Full Review: |
Bitburger is one of the most common, if not the most common beers in Germany. It's never been all that hard to find in the UK either, and now that it has its own category on epinions, I've been able to move it from its original posting in the ubiquitous 'hard to find beers' section.
The Bitburger brewery was originally founded in 1817 as a brewpub producing traditional German ale. In 1876, a new brewery was built specifically to manufacture cold-fermenting beers, using the first pure strain of lager yeast perfected in the Carlsberg laboratories in Copenhagen.
In 1908 the brewery launched a beer called Original Simonbrau Deutsch Pilsener, which resulted in the Pilsen brewers taking legal action to prevent the use of the term Pilsener. A high court in Cologne in 1913 ruled that Pilsener was a style rather than an appellation, but it called on all German brewers to state the place of origin of their beers to avoid any confusion surrouning their origins. The name was changed to Bitburger-Pilsener. As time went by, most German brewers simply shortened the term to Pils to avoid any confusion with the beers from Pilsen.
Bitburger, is the second biggest Pils producer in Germany and is brewed from three varieties of barley, and five different hops, and is lagered for three months.
Abridged from:
http://www.bitburger.de
And now for something completely different......
A man is sitting at the bar, minding his own business, when a shout comes from a friend at the other end of the pub:
" Haw Tam! Gonnae gie's a lend o' a sky diver?"
Translation: Excuse me Thomas. Is there any possibilty that I could borrow five pounds.
To which Tam replies, " Whit?"
Friend (slightly louder) - "Gonnae sub e's a fiver?"
Tam - "Cannae hear ye"
Friend (shouting) - " C'mon...gie's a fiver aff ye, man."
Tam - "Nut. Still cannae hear ye."
At this the gentleman standing next to Tam pipes up with,
"Are ye deaf! I can hear him perfectly well."
To which Tam replies, "Well, YOU gie him a fiver, then."
Back to the beer......
Bitburger pours to a crystal clear, straw-coloured yellow hue with streams of bubbles rising wildly to a large, blossoming, fizzy white head which is reasonably long-lasting. Lots of lace decorating the glass to the very end - always a good sign.
On the nose, the first thing I notice is a light doughy, grainy, clean aroma with a hint of spicy hops and traces of vanilla. There's some grassy, flowery, herbal hop aroma with a slight lemon note, and it's moderately malty with a very faint bready, yeasty tone. I also detected a disappointing, somewhat metallic, chemical smell.
As for the taste, well despite the very bubbly appearance in the glass, the carbonation is not overly high and in fact this beer has a very smooth and pleasant mouthfeel. Light bodied, upfront it has a clean, soft, slightly sweet, malt character before kicking in with a dry and bitter, somewhat smoky hop flavour. Towards the finish the hops become more dominant, but not overpowering, with a definite citrus tang, leaving a lingering, dry aftertaste that fades into light bitterness with a hint of vanilla.
* The Verdict *
At 4.6% ABV, this is very crisp, refreshing and easy to drink, but it is slightly disappointing and cheaper tasting compared with some of the Czech pilsners. However, served suitably chilled, it washes down those German sausages perfectly on a warm afternoon.
Would I drink it again? Did Beethoven write music?
Other beers from Germany:
Celebrator Doppelbock
Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier
Schneider Weisse
Paulaner Hefeweizen
Beck's
Furstenberg Export
Warsteiner Premium Verum
Erdinger Hefe-Weisse
Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan Kristall Weiss
Slainte
©proxam2004
Recommended:
Yes
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proxam
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Location: De Leving's Toun
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Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Don't drink & derive
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