Monday, December 6, 2010

Patersbier

On this edition of Me and the Homebrews, we at WBN finally get to taste our long awaited Patersbier (F.G. 1.006?).

It's been on deck since about April of this year, but we had weddings, cross-country trips, job responsibility shifts, and a host of other distractions before we could get to it - you know, important stuff.

When this beer was originally put in the carboy it seemed a lot darker than a pils-based beer ought to be. In terms of color I was thinking: Coors Extra Gold and getting: Boston Brown Ale. However, after settling for six weeks, it came out Golden Hefeweizen. It's a bit cloudy due to a last minute sediment disturbance by our rookie auto-siphon crew, but it doesn't change the taste any.

The taste is light and refreshing, with a hint of pear in the taste and bouquet. I served the inaugural pints to the Homebrews with a slice of fresh pear and a bit of Swiss cheese. Ah! Taste delight!  What amazes me is the simplicity of the ingredients and the complexity of the result.

I used the same basic ingredients as Budweizer (pils), but achieved a much superior product. Mine is an ale, theirs is a lager; mine uses a delicate Belgian yeast, theirs uses some industrial strain; mine has a refreshing taste and citrus bouquet, theirs taste like it came from the wrong end of the Clydesdale.

Patersbier: Stan Hieronymus (author of Brew Like a Monk) and Kristen England (BJCP Continuing Education Director) bring you this very special kit. "Brouwerij'ed" on the left side of the Belgian town Malle solely for consumption by the reverent Cistercian brothers. This ale is not served or sold to the public, making it one of the rarest beers in the world. Made only from pilsner malt, hops, and yeast, the complexity that results from these simple ingredients is staggering: perfumey floral hops, ripe pear fruit, sour apple, spicy cloves, candied citrus and a slight biscuit character on the drying finish ... a monks' session beer.

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