Released every November, I reviewed this superbly hoppy Heller Bock less than two weeks after bottling. The aroma is absolutely gorgeous, perfectly clean, showing bright notes of lemon, persimmon, herbs, honeysuckle and dandelion with a background of faintly toasty Pilsner malt. The yeast is lightly sulfuric-eggy but not in an unpleasant way, more than made up for by the high minerality that is so typical of Franconian lager.

It’s full bodied, rich, sticky, full of savory melanoidins, semi-sweet to off-dry, made apparently drier in the mouth due to the strong hop bitterness. Not a touch of alcohol noticed, and the dryness and hoppiness work astoundingly well. Overall a singular Heller Bock, hoppy as can be, mineral-forward, bitter, malty and exceptionally clean.

Bottle-conditioned 750ml is effervescent hazed amber-gold with a permanent rocky head. Aroma hops manifest as mandarin orange, flowers, kiwi fruit, gooseberry, and lime, with faint grassy menthol touches. Yeast is lightly doughy and musty moderately phenolic (pepper, minerals) with an emerging dough and fabric staleness that becomes more apparent as it opens. Malt is toasty and honey-like with cracker-y bread crust touches.

In the mouth it’s soft and silky, malt is moderately sweet, acidity is low, bitterness is measured, and it finishes with some lingering doughiness and a touch of autolyzed yeast (mud and nuts) amid the green-leafy hoppiness. The aroma is pretty nice, but it could be more expressive and powerful, that punch is more missing in the mouth, where malt and hop are surprisingly dull, no doubt suffering from age. Why they would release this beer so long after bottling is beyond me. Let’s hope the 2016 hits shelves in a fresher state.

From bottle it’s hazed amber-orange topped by a fine off-white head. Hops manifest as nectarine, wood resin, green leaf vegetables, raw pellets. Malt manifests as honey and sugar-glazed pastries, but there’s also some wet cardboard oxidation notes (bottled July 2015 so 9+ months before hitting the shelves).

While it actually does smell somewhat like HOTD Fred, it’s affected by oxidation as well as some quiet yeasty-musty BO notes, and the hop character is kind of crude. After 10 minutes of breathing (and approaching 60 F), the spoiled fruit character becomes overbearing, taking on a harsh malt liquor ethanol and rotting fruit quality (I’ve never had Pruno but there are certain smells that trigger the thought).

In the mouth it’s medium-full bodied, sweet, malty, and chewy, with relatively quiet finishing bitterness. Carbonation is low and as a consequence the texture is flabby and limp, where a lush burst of CO2 would do well to balance the sugar. Overall a pretty crude beer.

Hazed honey with a sticky and lasting white head. Aroma is phenolic and peppery with captivating notes of French Strisselspalt hops (herbs, flowers, honeysuckle, orange rind, persimmon). Lovely impression and depth to the nose, honey-ish and hay-like malt, noble hops, rustic yeast, which at first smells like the Blaugies strain but after some breathing it seems more like Thiriez with that rubbery phenolic note.

Though the commercial description mentions brettanomyces, there’s no brett in the nose, and no signature tartness in the mouth, and if I were assessing this blind I would not say brett at all (no band aid/plastic, nothing “funky”, no tropical gum brett notes, none of that – this seems entirely sacc-derived). It’s medium bodied and succulent with an impressively silky and velvet-like mouthfeel, finishing lightly tart and strongly bitter with a lingering green and herbaceous hop note. It’s actually overly bitter for its sweetness and size but the effect isn’t ruinous.

This is a top-tier hoppy Belgian-style Golden Ale that shows its Thiriez and Blaugies influence more than De la Senne / Saint Somewhere. In fact I’m really surprised that this came out of Saint Somewhere, I’ve never found their beers all that intriguing, but this has that signature elegance of the Thiriez yeast strain that I love so much.

The De Ranke house yeast exudes its rubber cork and basement must rusticity… aromatic malt is toasted grains, baked seed bread, fall leaves; hops are green, apricots, flowers, orange. Carbonation is lush and fine, rich and savory and lip-smacking maltiness contested by bitter and sticky and green hops, wrapped up in the yeast character that defines De Ranke. From draft at The Sovereign in DC. No doubt this is the fresh 2016 batch, but it’s unknown if the base malt profile is still the same year-to-year (it used to vary between Père Noël, Saison de Dottignies, and XX Bitter). The last few releases seem to have a consistent malt base.

Gradl Leups is well-known for their Bayrischer Anstich Dunkel (from gravity barrel), which you could spend an entire day sipping on at the gasthof, and only see other folks doing the same. But Gradl also serves this exemplary Pilsner from tap.

The intense Hallertau hop aroma manifests as lemon oil, persimmon, honeysuckle, and dandelion. Malt manifests as crusty baked French baguette, and the mineral water quality is remarkably expressive, maybe the strongest and most enjoyable mineral character that can be found in Upper Franconia.

Medium-light bodied and moderately sweet and perfectly balanced by bitterness, it’s oily and juicy hop oils linger in the mouth, and the baguette malt quality even translates into a sort of intoxicating saltiness after a few pulls.

This is world-beater Pilsner, easily one of the best in Franconia and the world as a whole, and may be the best mineral and noble hop expression I’ve ever experienced. Both the Dunkel and Pils are world class examples of Franconian character and Franconian brewing precision, and unlike so many other breweries in Oberfranken, the bottles actually compare very well to tap in terms of quality. No visitor should pass up either beer on tap, though both are available in bottle at the brewery and at getränkemarkts in the nearby town of Pegnitz.

Clean and hoppy aroma is floral, tropical-fruity, orange, gum, flowers, turning more green-herbal, plant-like and a little resinous as it blossoms. Medium bodied, rich and savory with fine natural carbonation turning to sharp and green bitterness in the finish. It’s trying to be XX Bitter (or maybe XXX Bitter) with a more neutral yeast and western hops.

Heller Rauch-Doppelbock. Smoked India Pale Lager. India Heller Bock?

The newest beer from Andreas Gänstaller is made for export to Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà in Rome. Made with a combination of American, German and New Zealand hops, this beer is not fit for Franconian tastes. Sweet, full-bodied, bitter and smoky. The first sample I had at the Zoiglstube was bottled from bright tank, young, fermented out at the time to 7% on it’s way to the final 9.5% ABV.

At the Fränkisches Bierfest Nürnberg the keg was unsettled after being driven from the brewery in Schnaid. This was the most expensive beer at the entire festival, a €5 price tag for just 30 centileters – a maddening price for Germans accustomed to €1.80 mugs at the local gastette. But perhaps this was the Franconian version of our State Fairs back in the US, with their exuberant prices at the excuse of convenience, captivity and sideshow? It’s a savory bacon and pineapple pizza beer, only it’s a lagered Imperial IPA, or a Smoked IPL, or a Rauch Doppelbock. It doesn’t matter, style names are useless. The citra and nelson aroma hops showed their bright citrus / grapefruit / tropical fruit character to go with the meaty rauch malt ham back fat savoriness, but I don’t know if it was completely understood by the 19 year old boys standing next to me in the rain drinking.