Pic(k) of the Week: Rothaus Tannenzäpfle Pils, on draught

The Rothaus Tannenzäpfle ¹ is the absolute classic among our beers - and has been since 1956. That is why it is also the namesake and figurehead of the Gäpfle family. The best aromatic hops from Tettnang and the Hallertau as well as local malt made from summer barley and the purest spring water from the Black Forest give Rothaus Tannenzäpfle its uniquely spicy and fresh taste.

— Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus ² (Baden State Brewery Rothaus)

Rothaus Tannenzäpfle Pils — served out-of-doors on a spring afternoon, on draught in a brewery serving glass, on the pub patio at My Parents Basement ³, in Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA. 7 May 2023.

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Yes, but how does the beer taste?

For having traveled so far, the beer was in good form. Brilliant clarity under a long-lasting white collar of foam. Slightly grassy nose; subtle cracker-wafer malt; hints of honey and green apple; subdued tree-sap and mowed-grass hops; dry, slightly sulfury finish. A glorious German pilsner. Delightful.

A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

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Drinking, again! Euphonia Pilsner, from new New Realm Brewing, reviewed.

Not quite four-weeks-old, New Realm Brewing sits along an eastside segment of the BeltLine, the not-yet city-circumnavigating paved park of Atlanta, Georgia. There, on weekends, just beyond this brewery/brewpub's upstairs and downstairs patios, it's a constant people-and-their-dogs parade. Whereas, inside and on the patios, the beers ain't bad, either.

Pictured is a draft pour of Euphonia Pilsner: "a brewers' beer," the brewery calls it. A local Twitter-er, relying on American-centric beer-styling, asked me if it were a German-style or Bohemian-style pilsner. I replied, "Neither." I called it a stunning first shot for a just-opened brewery.

In appearance and demeanor, Euphonia Pilsner is a bright thing, with a new-age herbal bouquet sprung from a melange of Hersbrucker, Huell Melon, Saphir, and Sterling hops, a cracker-malt backbone, and a finishing slug of those hops as drying balance. The beer contains 5% alcohol-by-volume (that's "ABV," in the accepted, lazy parlance). It contains no fruit or superfluous hoo-ha. "Just the facts, ma'am."

And the beer has a great pedigree. Euphonia Pilsner's creator, Mitch Steele, is the award-winning past brewmaster for Stone Brewing (in California, et al.), renowned there for his hoppy India Pale Ales (IPAs). Now, here, at his own brewery on the East Coast, he's brewing...a lager.

Not to 'worry,' though. Mr. Steele —the man who wrote the book on IPA, literally— is brewing several IPAs at New Realm, as well. And they're spot-on.

A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

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