Franconian Beer Message Board
Heinzlein |
| Posted by Jason on 2020-05-09 02:00:57 |
| Just to clarify, they are both different beers. Schlenkerla Hansla is 1,2% alcohol and is part of the Schlenkerla brand and therefore is brewed using smoked malt. Heinzlein are (2) beers brewed to 'traditional' recipes, a Helles and a Dunkles, from the late 1800s. They are brewed at Schlenkerla. Apparently, in those days brewed for the agricultural sector as a way of allowing people to drink 'beer' but stay sober, on account of the poor water quality. I'm not sure who 'owns' the brand, but the website is quite swanky, so I'm guessing Brauerei Heller. The water is much better now, so I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the resurrection. I haven't tried them, and I probably never will. If there is one critiscism about the beer in Franconia (and Germany in general), it is that the beer is too strong. There are well known examples such as Moenchsambacher lager and Heckel Vollbier which push 6%, but even less extreme examples rarely come in below 5% (remember what is on the label/advertised as the alcohol content can be as much as 10% lower than the reality). Maybe it's my British beer background, but I don't know why a low alcohol beer has to fall to such ridiculously low levels (aside from the term low alcohol - I mean just lower alcohol). The Czechs manage to brew some amazing beers at 4%, and I've even had outstanding 3% lagers. Now, I'm sure these are hard to brew and require some real skill, but they are very enjoyable to drink earlier in the day or if you're up for a session but don't necessarily want to get drunk. The only option here is either add water/lemonade or drink something like Hansla. Of course the Schlenkerla Helles is 4.3% and the news that it's now available on draft in the pub (I believe, haven't been in much lately) is a plus. But to be honest if I was there I would always drink the Maerzen. I'm sure there are socio-economic reasons why beer is stronger in some places than others. Industry, war time reductions and tax systems certainly played a big part in the evolution of Britain's modern beer culture. Clearly in the US the trend for session drinking was lost due to prohibition or was never there, it's more like Belgium where people drink 3-4 strong beers in an evening (I'm generalising). I read somewhere that at the turn of the 19th Century the beer drunk by the mass in Munich was actually only around 4% in alcohol. In Britain at the time I don't think you'd have got much below 6%. |
| Followups: |
 Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-09 04:34:32 |
| Heinzlein by Andrew H on 2020-05-09 12:12:59 |
| Heinzlein by Jason on 2020-05-09 12:29:33 |
| Heinzlein by JohnRatcliffe on 2020-05-09 16:37:46 |
| Heinzlein by Andrew H on 2020-05-10 03:28:56 |
| Heinzlein by Uncle Jimbo on 2020-05-19 02:05:39 |
| Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-19 02:48:23 |
| Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-19 02:48:24 |
| Heinzlein by Mark Andersen on 2020-05-19 05:50:17 |
| Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-20 03:01:43 |
| Heinzlein by Barm on 2020-05-20 16:00:10 |
| Heinzlein by Mark Andersen on 2020-05-20 19:23:25 |
| Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-21 01:01:49 |
| Heinzlein by Barry Roy Taylor on 2020-05-21 02:44:48 |
| Heinzlein by Barm on 2020-05-22 13:16:52 |
| Heinzlein by FredW on 2020-05-22 13:18:56 |
| Heinzlein by Barm on 2020-05-23 05:40:19 |
| Heinzlein by Barm on 2020-05-23 08:12:41 |
| Heinzlein by FredW on 2020-05-23 08:49:54 |
| Heinzlein is bottom fermented by Uncle Jimbo on 2020-05-30 12:00:37 |
| Most Catholic Area in Bavaria by Nick B (formerly in Erlangen) on 2020-06-03 09:33:13 |
| Most Catholic Area in Bavaria by Jason on 2020-06-03 13:30:53 |
| Most Catholic Area in Bavaria by Nick B (ex-ErlangerNick) on 2020-06-05 11:42:48 |