But I think you know that. What I mean is that the beer is a means to and end, and if you show up with an open mind, (and a wad of cash as the 1 litre steins cost 12€ ) you can have some deep meaningful conversation with strangers from around the world. As an ex-pat from America, I got a bit choked up to see and hear this tent full of Europeans singing “Country roads” * at the top of their lungs. Maybe there is hope for the world. Or maybe I just should have quit after 3 litres.
Anyway, the beer they serve is called Oktoberfest bier, and it is basically a mildly jazzed up lager with a little Munich or Vienna malt. According to the BJCP, the Oktoberfest beer that gets served is authorised by a Munich city committee. It goes down easy though, and as I overheard a tour guide say “remember, it’s a marathon not a sprint”.
I did get to try some Kölsch while we were up north near Cologne (Köln), and while it was more elegant and malty than the Bitburger lager, which tasted like corn, I think Hallertauer’s version is better.
The beer I really want to tell you about is Lindemans Faro lambic. While still a family owned brewery, Lindemans’ output has grown tremendously over the past 25 years and they are now putting out ~85,000 hectolitres annually. According to Wikipedia, only 7.5% of this is Faro. Most of what Lindemans puts out are the fruit flavoured Kriek, Framboise, Cassis, Pêcheresse and Pomme. These are quite popular and widely available in Europe but cost about 5€ for a 250ml bottle.
The bottle I was served was less than 6 months old and had mostly a lactic sourness initially. Had to wait a awhile for it to warm up, and then it started to shine. The flavours became more complex, with slight acetic acid and funky characters detectable. Not really any Brett character. There was some light fruit or honey sweetness which balanced the sour acidity nicely. Light to medium body with moderate carbonation. Low bready malt flavor, no hop character detected. If you come across this exotic in your travels, I recommend you try it. Overall, a delightfully different,complex, refreshing Belgian gem that I would love to try and replicate. Looking forward to getting back home to the basement and pouring over my notes to use for future batches.