This Is My Blood: Pretzel Bender

I had to dust off Tasting Beer for this one. I finally had some new beer styles to add to the list—found HERE—and they were some good ones. I'll talk about them below, and then probably sometime next week, I'll go through the rest of the list, because it's looking like there aren't too many more that I'm going to get to this year.

Today's beer:

Munich Dunkel

(#33)

Exemplified by Pretzel Bender

This beer style (and beer itself) is interesting for three reasons. One, I'm an idiot, and assumed that this beer was going to taste like pretzels. Not so—the name is more of a commentary on what culture the beer is from, and what it is typically paired with (Germany, with the Oktoberfest soft pretzels—you've been to Frankford Hall, right?).

Two, Munich Dunkels are really getting into the nitty gritty of what makes certain beers unique, in that there isn't that wide of a gap between these beers and, say, an Oktoberfest. Both are malt-forward, with very little hops. But this leads me to the third interesting thing—I found in Pretzel Bender / Munich Dunkels everything that I thought was missing in Oktoberfests. 

Wasn't I just talking about this? About how, for a malt-forward beer, Oktoberfests sure seem to be lacking in flavor? If that's what I desire, then Munich Dunkels sure seem to be hitting that button for me. This thing was malty, for sure, but the malt was full of that sweet toffee-like flavor that I love. As I drank six ounces of it, I was picturing holding a huge 48-ounce stein filled with Pretzel Bender, and imagining just how easily I could drink that thing.

I have to imagine that Oktoberfest would sell other beers besides Märzens, right? Do they have Munich Dunkels there? How many are they allowed to sell me at once?

Previous beer:

Winter Warmer

(#14)

Exemplified by Old Man Winter

Okay, so when you hear "winter" in association with beer, you probably know what the beer is gonna taste like. Dark, with a fruity/raisiny malt, slightly sweet but with plenty of hops to balance. These are the beers that go well during the cold months, hence the "warmer" part of this specific beer style (though, interestingly, you're not allowed to label something as a "warmer" in the U.S. because that would erroneously imply medicinal purposes).

As we move past the autumnal beers and into the cold-weather beers, we are going to start exploring this one final corner of the seasonal beer world. Winter beers. What makes each different from one another? Well, winter warmer is the classic—it's the oldest recipe, coming from England, aged to pick up acidity, high alcohol content.

Some winter ales, however, are actually bocks, and some are dark Belgians. This is especially true of those Christmas beers (like Mad Elf) that have cinnamon and nutmeg and all that good stuff; winter warmers might be good with those spices, but they typically stand on their own.

Anyways, I've had Old Man Winter twice, and there are two more of them in my fridge, and honestly, consider me fucking excited. This is a great beer for this time of year. I'm finding that I love the simple beers, and while this winter warmer is strong in both ABV and flavor, it is still simple. No bells and whistles. Just straight up good, dark beer.

NOTES

BEER: Pretzel Bender

STYLE: Munich Dunkel

ABV: 5.0%

BREWED BY: Ellicottville Brewing Co. (that's two from this brewery in less than a week)

LOCATION: Ellicottville, NY

PURCHASED AT: IGA

PAIRED WITH: Not pretzels, only because they weren't paired with anything besides the first half of Blazing Saddles

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

 

BEER COUNT: 431