Schlüssel Alt

Brewed by Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel
Style: Altbier
Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Draught at the brewpub. The aroma reminds me of flavour hops. Clear copper colour, OK tan head. Low bitterness. Caramelly, roasted aftertaste. The aroma hops also come out in the aftertaste as a sweetish, herbal note. Mild and pleasant. Quite drinkable and very clean.

Bottle. Clear light amber color with a large good lacing off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, hay, toasted, light yeasty, earth. Initial flavor is ligth to moderate sweet and bitter, finish flavor is ligth to moderate sweet, moderate bitter with a average duration in a good balance. Body is ligth to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft to lively.

Schlüssel - The key
Vom fass @ a small caravan-stall at the end of Marktstrasse, Düsseldorf, Germany (June ’06).
Second day here, what more to do during the World Cup than, sadly, shop! Having none of that, I protested with a bevvie break, a lucky find I might add. This poured a paled, chestnut brown, bright and sparkling, sweating outside the glass in the searing heat. Some Schinken Scheiben to accompany it, I was hungry. Woody, though toffeeish, biscuity malts on the nose. A hint of cola, light roasted malt twitch and just a sprinkle of old, dried herbs on edge. The aroma failed to desist as I quaffed, always prominent, pronounced. It is smooth on the tongue, sweet and juicy, arousing the salival glands, exciting the nerve endings. Big malts in this one, woody, earthy and biscuity, clean and free of tannins. Munich malt seems in essence. Light spice mid-palate, remains sweet until it fades into musty, earthy hop heaven in the very back. Finish is floral for all of one second before it drops off sweet, bitter and slightly citric. Shows good length, doing the palate justice. Tasty no question, balanced beyond belief and lip-smacking good. Now where’d the wife go!!!!

Tasting of 10 albiers. Wow, this is good. It was very different from all other alts. Very light on color, clear copper brown. I thought someone had slipped an irish or british ale to the tasting. This was very unlike every other (mostly major) brand of alts. And it was good! Tasty, flowery, fruity. Beautiful head. I was lucky to find this from a drink market in Essen. I will have another one.

At the brewpub. Deep copper color with red tones, very clear with a thick lasting head. Very malty aroma. Rich malt flavor with slight roasty notes, solidly bitter which lingers into dry finish. Generally light in body and highly carbonated, but strong maltiness adds creaminess and gives impression of being heavier than it is. Rich balanced beer that gets better with each one.

Typical "Alt"-beer slight caramel taste, roasted, malty. Once you get used to the interesting flavour and dirty colour you might love it. Bright white head, quite good beer though not my favourite...

I struggled to find fault with this beer, but have to stick with the high numbers, as it was just fabulous and is from one of my favorite styles of beer. The aroma was malty, caramel, nuts, although not easy to pick up. I thought I detected a touch of bubblegum too. The appearance was beautiful, pouring as pretty as any altbier, light copper color with a nice fluffy head, and superb lacing on the way down. Flavor was tilted more to the malty side than Uerige of Fucshcen, but as with any fine alt, still with some display of the hoppy bitter balance. Touches of nuts were behind a fruitiness that was quite pleasant. Wood barrells easily detectable and very pleasant in the flavor. Mouthfeel was perfect, smooth, tilted a touch to the moderately heavy side for the style. I had to stop after 3 of these only to save some steam for the next two stops of the night, but if you hit Im Schlussel in Dusseldorf and nothing else, you’ve done just fine. I’m glad to have finally hit this one on my fifth or six trip to the area.

At the brewpub in Dusseldorf. Rich copper color, big pillow of head. Almost looks like a nitro charge. Big caramel malt flavor, light hop flavor. No where near as bitter as Schumacher, which is across the street. Due to the lack of bitterness this comes off a bit sweeter than the others.