Who lubricates the machine joints with their own beer?: Schwarzbier by Köstritzer

Allow me to begin with a couple beery observations.

First, I noticed on a recent trek to the north that the imported German bier selection at the Woodman's up in Altoona dwarfs that of the one at the east side Woodman's here in Madison. While there weren't six packs of Leipziger Gose nor of Berliner Kindl Weisse, they did have more than one brand of Helles. Plus Ayinger. Not a deep selection of brews, but a fairly wide one. I am jealous.

Tangentially, the cooler space dedicated to New Glarus was yuge! Does the distributor pay for such acreage? Or is there genuinely very high demand, perhaps because of the thirsty hordes from the Twin Cities stopping in to stock their beer refrigerators?

Second, German brewers seem to be making a concerted effort to appeal to American drinkers. Here I refer to the large ones. Brewers, that is, not drinkers. While I have yet to see Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Dunstig IPAs, I am seeing more bier in those larger 16oz cans. I think I first noticed Radlers being packaged that way but the trend has since moved on to other biers. This must drive the Germans mad as they aren't equivalent to a nice, round fraction of a liter. Surely these cans are dedicated to the American market.

I wonder why they've changed the packaging. Are they losing market share? Or is it just routine maintenance to keep the brand presentable to the ever-wandering eyes of American consumers? Is it more profitable?

One of those brands that has Americanized their packaging is Köstritzer and I now see 4-packs of their Schwarzbier on cooler shelves. On a recent trip to the beer store I availed myself of the opportunity to try out one of these new-fangled cans. Beyond it having been a while since I'd had a tasty Schwarzbier from Germany, this would also allow me to compare and contrast it with an American cousin.

After my encounter with Storm and Stress, the Schwarzbier from Milwaukee's Gathering Place Brewing, I felt that I'd drunk something almost, but not quite entirely unlike Schwarzbier. For me, Storm and Stress was a bit intense, a bit too porter-like and not dark pils-y enough for the style. (Just like Sprecher's Black Bavarian.**) And so I figured I'd get an example of the style from the Fatherland to find out if my memory was playing tricks on me.

"But," I hear you ask, "is Köstritzer truly an archetypal Schwarzbier?" That I do not know. However, it does have the virtue of being the German Schwarzbier most readily at hand in these parts, i.e. - the only one.

My Köstritzer, quite unsurprisingly poured black. I mean it was opaque just like the best Captain Beefheart lyrics. (I'm looking at you "Ashtray Heart".) The head was tan and loose and there was only a little bit of it to be had. Likely my poor pouring skills. I smelled a little plum sweetness, a hint of coffee, and roughly the same amount of grassy hops.

That first sip was simply great and made me wonder why this is such a neglected style. A blast of fresh yeasty bread was followed by a hint of plum sweetness. There was also some roasted grain and wee bit of coffee too. Actually, I could taste more coffee depending on where the beer was on my tongue. There was a spicy/grassy hop flavor in the background but the hops came out in the finish which was rather dry but not particularly bitter. Some of that coffee/roasted grain flavor lingered at the end too.

Take all this and add some nice fizz and you've got a very tasty bier.

This Köstritzer sampling more or less conformed to my memories of it which come mainly from quaffing it at The Malt House. "Dark pils" is a good description. It a medium-light body akin to that of a pils and it's got the fizz of a pils. If I moved the beer around in my mouth and got it to just the right spot on my tongue, the coffee tastes really came to the fore. But, if I didn't drink it like I had a mouthful of Listerine, that flavor was much less pronounced. In contrast, Storm and Stress has much more coffee and roasted grain flavor when consumed normally which, to my mind, confirms my earlier judgement that it had porter-like qualities that the Schwarzbier, as conceived in Deutschland, doesn't.

As I wrote previously, I liked Storm and Stress but it is really a different kettle of fish. Köstritzer has a more delicate flavor, all around. Those roasty, coffee flavors are more an accent here whereas Gathering Place's take on the style made them much more prominent.

Junk food pairing: Pair your Köstritzer Schwarzbier with Lillie's Q Hot Pepper Vinegar Kettle Chips.

**I recently had Soul Memory, a dark lager from the Hacienda Beer Company. While not billed as a Schwarzbier, it had that same portery fuliginous taste.