Ayinger Jahrhundert

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Aying, Germany

This is one fine brew! Pouring the beer throws a large , dense, white head. The color is a hazy yellow. Classic "Bavarian" taste. Reminds me of Spaten helles, or Wurzburger helles, but, MUCH better. I would love to replicate this beer in a homebrew recipe, but, those lager yeast strains are a pain to work with. Those Bavarian folks are sure lucky to have these sorts of brews available as every day beers!

Hazey sidewalk chalk yellow with a loosely placed thin white cap that dissapates quickly. Earns its keep with some sticky strings of lace and a thin collar. Aroma has a fair amount of slightly baked biscuit, sweet bread doughy malts are mostly prominent with nice ascents of grassy herbal hops. Taste comes across richer then you’d think with a nice malt base with pleasant sweet bread tones, sticky and creamy throughout the duration. The munich malts do their thing with a healthy dose of tender breads with a baked in warming. Hops are soft and supple in their supply with slight herbal spice and grasses. A very nice little taster. Great balance and feel which is nearly full for a Helles with a great smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Crisp little edge to the finish with nice lingering qualities of bread and grass. This is a fine dandy drinker of a beer. Perfect for warmer weather days, or even any Ol’ time as a session brew.

In the bottle. The best part of this lager is the aroma. Smells like newly mown hay. Take your time. Sit down with this beer and remember those summers when you would sit on the side of Mrs. Southern’s hill and watch Dewey Burdine mow the fields with his blue Ford tractor. Poofy white head that hangs in there the way those Simpsons clouds did on that same day of making hay. Smooth and mellow to drink. Soft, in fact. As soft as the hillside fescue and clover mix I’m sitting upon on that summer day. It must have been a hundered years ago...

Brite golden color with a thin white head. The aroma is very subtle like putting your head in a bag of two row barley. Crisp clean barley flavor with a very slight bitterness for a refreshing finish.

Slightly over dark color. Mild nose, though balanced between malt and hops, isn’t really knocking me over. Lightly malty with a little bit of a hay or straw flavor. Hops are there, but not very bangin’. Very crisp and clean finish. Well balanced, but unimpressive, especially for Ayinger.

Bottle. Very pale straw color with a HUGE white head. Not much aroma, but what’s there just gives a little freshness (mild malt and spiciness). Good malty/bready flavor that is balanced with spice and citrus hops. Low key, but very well made. Finishes clean except for a nice lingering bitterness. Much like a pilsner.

Pours a very light gold. Large foamy head, and nice lacing. Pilsener malts and citrus hops in the aroma. Spicy hints as well. That spice comes out a bit more in the flavor, maybe cloves, not sure. Citrus again along with the pilsener flavors. Nice and sharp, a bit acidic. Dry finish.

(Bottle) Pours a golden yellow with a thick foamy, long lasting head. Has a refreshing grass, banana, and lemon aroma. Flavor of malt, citrus, and some hops.