Spezial Ungespundet

Brewed by Brauerei Spezial
Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
Bamberg, Oberfranken/Bayern, Germany

From tap at the brewery. Steinkrug. The aroma has light floral and malty notes. The flavour has a light sweetness and a light bitterness with a refreshing, slightly dry citrus note and some caramel. It’s nice and OK, but also somewhat anonymous.

Pours a huge, frothy head. Cloudy with bits of yeast floating. Milk and cheese in the aroma. Very complex flavor with oak, chesse, hops, vanilla and a hint of smokiness. Very unusual, but well made and pleasant lager.

Draught at the brauhaus. Light hazy orange golden colour with a big white head. Herbal, grassy, malty aroma and a sweet malty, herbal, light grassy, hoppy taste. Medium body with a dry herbal finish.

On tap at the brewery on 6/7/07: Pours a hazy golden with a wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of fresh, earthy grassy hops and light pale malt. Body starts fairly full with nice carbonation and good, lightly sweet pale malt along with big floral earthy herbal hops. Nicely balanced, full-bodied and refreshing.

On tap at Spezial Beergardens, Bamberg. Yellow gold with white head. Hoppy sweet beer, perfect for the heat in the beer garden, quite still with a wheaty, grain type note and a hint of tartness. Fresh and tasty, its good to get a hop kick.

Impressions from the Gaststätte:
-A sticky foam recedes to a ring on the cloudy golden brightness.
-Love handles galore in the mouthfeel, tons of wet hay to bite into, aided by the natural carbonation of course.
-Citrusy cereal are a bit muddled mind you, the mouthfeel is so rich, they must be in awe.
-Finishes pretty softly, with herbal hop flavors and bitterness, although slightly higher levels would have been lovely.
-Not bright enough to stand out amongst the best (in my tastes), but this landbier could not be better balanced and rich. Another high quality product from Spezial.

On tap at the brewery.

Bottle (bought at the brewery): Hazy, visible carbonation (?), thin but firm white head; sweet malty, grainy and dusty nose, a tinge of caramel and a touch of barrique, too, rounded by the aroma of hops; moderate bitter flavour, creamy mouthfeel; long and lingering hoppy aromatic finish with a distinctive touch of grains and a very, very faint touch of smoked malts in the background. Superb, great stuff. One of the best in good, old Franconia !

Mug at the brewery in Bamberg. Mostly clear dark yellow body with a white head. Up front it’s sweet but turns to semi-sour, husky grains over the middle in a hurry. Medium tartness, yeast grains and wheat germ flavors all around. Fresh tasting but it has some mold in the nose at times, resembling soggy bread. Lightly crisp, lightly sweet. Nice overall.

rerate in 2009, seems kind of bland and boring. simple, sweet, body was lacking structure and depth. rating lowered from 3.7 in 2008.