I Swear, Honey! I'm Only Going to Drink ONE CAN OF BEER TONIGHT!
Written: Feb 10 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Soft, chewy, rounded malt character with big hop bouquet
Cons: Few and far between...
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a beer with enough flavor to satisfy a purist, but average enough for swill drinkers too, Warsteiner is an EXCELLENT compromise.
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| mrkstvns's Full Review: Warsteiner Premium Verum |
A few weeks ago, I was moseying through my local beer warehouse when a stack of 5-litre Warsteiner cans caught my eye. $10 -- that's a pretty good deal for what works out to about 15 bottles worth of classic German pilsner beer. Not only is it a decently crafted beer, it's also of a type that's not likely to offend the palates of unadventurous folks, and it's a heck of a lot better than buying a 12-pack of some ordinary beer because the can itself makes for a GREAT conversation piece.
It also lets me promise (without crossing my fingers) to only drink a single can of beer. 5 litres. Yeah, I think that's a limit I can usually live within.
A Towering Tall Glass of Classic Pilsner Good Looks...
A right glass for every beer, and Warsteiner's a pilsner, so grab the tall pilsner glass. Glasses in hand, it's time to figure out how the can works....hmm...pull out, turn, release gas thingy. I can handle that! Let's pour!
Appearance:
"It's a perfect 10!"
Seriously folks, these days, most pilsner beers deliver stunning good looks -- it is hard to do, but with the level of today's technical mastery in pretty much all major industrial breweries around the world, there's really just no excuse for any pilsner beer to be anything less than a perfect 10.
Breweries know how to limit proteins that might cause haze. They know how to settle out sediment, lager beers, and if all that's not enough, to fine filter the products before bottling, which is also down to a science these days.
Warsteiner is Germany's biggest brewery -- it's a technocratic brewery -- one that's thoroughly grounded in precision engineering. Warsteiner beers are going to be as mechanically precise as a 2004 BMW 740il (though the two products are best enjoyed at separate times).
The beer is brilliantly clear without a trace of haze or sediment. It's a light golden yellow color that's just about perfect for a pilsner, probably close to a 3 on the SRM scale -- it's not anaemicly pale, like Bud is, but instead, it leaves enough golden color to entice and create an appetizing appeal.
Warsteiner is a thoroughly beautiful beer, especially when poured in an appropriate glass -- like the classic tall pilsner glass -- a glass that showcases the beer's thin trails of microfine carbonation, streaming their way topwards to the creamy layer of white foam, as it trails fine fingers of Belgian lace all the way down the glass. A beautiful beer -- precisely perfect, as a pilsner should be.
Aroma:
Strong floral hop aroma makes a great first impression, especially when it's laying over the top of the scent of firm, fresh, dry pale malt -- the scent reminds me of being in a brewhouse as the grist is being added to a wort kettle -- it's just so fresh and sweet, carrying with it images of luscious shortbreads and cookies.
I enjoy the aroma of a good German pilsner, and although this aroma is substantially different from the strong Saaz aroma of a classic Pilsner Urquell, it's still a beer whose scent just cries out, "Drink me, Uncle Mrkstvns, Drink me!" And so I shall...
Flavor:
Lip smackin' good stuff!
Warsteiner is crisp, it's refreshing, it's light yet flavorful. It starts out with a nicely sharp hop flavor with a lemon pepper spiciness and a nicely lingering bitter hop aftertaste. The hop flavor is very nice, and while it clearly has notes of noble hop character, I'd hate to hazard a guess as to which varieties. When I swirl the beer around in my mouth, the impression is one of soft pale malt with a bit of biscuit-like roundedness (I'm not implying the use of biscuit malt though, but I'll bet it does have a dash of something more than pale malt to bring it extra depth and complexity -- maybe cara-Munich?)
The beer is very smooth and well balanced -- for a pilsner anyway (good pilsners should be tipped decidedly towards hops).
Overall Impression:
While this beer lacks some of the distinctiveness of Urquell, it is still a very good, cleanly brewed pilsner and I think it's an outstanding option for anyone who might normally reach for a Heineken, a Bitburger, or any other mainline German or Dutch pilsner.
Give it a try, and if your S.O. is trying to convince you to cut back, assure her that tonight's the night you limit yourself to just one can of beer. Just do like me and get a big enough can...
Until next time, see you in the beer store! Just look for the guy whose cart runneth over...
Closely Related Reviews...
* What a "PERFECT" Pilsner Should Be...
* Balashi Pilsner
* DeGroen's Pils
* Bohemia
Recommended:
Yes
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