Schlegel Privat

Formerly brewed at Brauerei Schwelm
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Schwelm, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

On tap:Sweet-grainy nose with a shy bitterness; quite full bodied, sweet-malty and light bitter flavour; short, bitter-sweet finish with some citrousy notes. A well rounded brew....

(33cl bottle) Pale golden colour with diminishing white foam. Sweet malty nose; light to medium bodied; Sweetmalty, slightly papery taste with a shy bitter hoppy finish.This one is a recreation of a former widespread beer, once brewed in Bochum and Recklinghausen until 1980. I had the opportunity to ask some older people about their memory of Schlegel and all of them told me it was awful. Brewed with cheap raw material, it was an industrial beer for industrial people during the period of heavy industries in the Ruhr area; it was rather to quench the thirst of masses of coal miners and steel workers cheap and quick than to be enjoyed. Now we have this “private” labelled recreation, which is very expensive for a 330 ml longneck bottle, available only in in-crowd pubs, representing right the opposite of the old clientele.

Bland, watery Export. A bit unbalanced for an Export, because the hoppiness is a bit more prevalent than it should be in a Dortmunder.