Too Good for Epinions?
Jun 13 '01
The Bottom Line Spaten Optimator is one of my favorite beers. It's pure, it's big, it's reliable, it's a technical marvel. Even if you 'don't like beer,' find it, and try it.
Three on a match?
If you're following along at home, you know that this is the third doublebock I'm tasting tonight...at the same time. Faced with conflicting results from Paulaner Salvator and Sam Adams Double Bock, I decided to pop open a bottle of Spaten Optimator (a famous beer that is not listed on Epinions, for God knows what reason) to calibrate my tongue. Spaten is, for my money, one of the best line of lager beers in the world. They do it all, and they do it well. This doublebock, "Spaten Doppelspaten," is a great example of that mastery.
The Spaten falls neatly between the other two in color, being slightly darker than the Paulaner, but not as red as the SADB. It also has a more purely malty nose than either, being softly sweet and pure, free of any estery fruitiness. It's quite tasty, too, malty, but tinged with the licorice of the Paulaner. And the finish is the best of the three, a smooth, clean, taper of malty dryness with just the slightest smack! of sweetness at the end, a little curl.
I'm finding that I'm pretty damned glad I've got three more of these in the fridge! The Spaten just doesn't give up as it gets warmer, it's tasting better and better, and the malt is becoming more pronounced. That is, after all, what this is all about. I just wish I had an Augustiner Maximator yet, that brewery is the master of malt, even in Munich, where malt is king. God I love that beer. Sorry. Back on track. But look, three doublebocks, and digression is gonna happen!
Okay. The Spaten has decided the case for Paulaner as being the superior of Samuel Adams, but just as decisively has thrashed the Salvator in doing that. I'm not really surprised by that, I guess. Salvator's rumored to be less than it was, and... Spaten's just one hell of a brewery.
Munich is the Valhalla of malt, the Place Hops Go To Die. And Spaten has always been right out on the forefront. I know I said Augustiner is the master, but Spaten's always been well in the race, and given the better U.S. importer they have, I get their beer more often and in better shape. Spaten has a long history of being innovative and malt-forward, so it's no surprise that their Optimator is a superior product.
Don't eat anything with this beer. One of the best drinking occasions I ever had was back about eleven years ago. It was me, my new wife, and her brother Chris, who was quickly becoming my very best friend. We had a sixpack of Spaten Optimator, and we were standing on the shore of the Hudson River on a cold, windy day across from Storm King Mountain. The three of us, bound by love and blood and beer, shared that sixpack, and it warmed us deeply. I remember that day as if it were yesterday, and I will never forget that it was Optimator that we were drinking.
Memories like that are better than food, better than anything. They make our life. This is one of those rare beers that naturally belong in those memories.
Here are the other two reviews:
http://www.epinions.com/content_27013779076 Paulaner
http://www.epinions.com/content_27014696580 SADB
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Epinions.com ID:
beerfly
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Member: Lew Bryson
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 82 members
About Me:
One bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, eh? I'll take Kentucky Spirit, Scapa, and HopDevil.
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