Uerige Alt

Brewed by Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei
Style: Altbier
Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Vom fass @ Zum Uerige Brauhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany.
It was World Cup madness when I downed my first, and by no means the last, of these babies. Out amongst a few hundred Rhenish patrons enjoying ignoring the World Cup altogether, my wife sipped this, complained it was too bitter and handed the reins to me. It was now on!!
From an oak barrel in a white tent out front, and into the stunted Altbier glass. Produces a tawny copper, dark, ruddy and bright. Head grows to an inch and ebbs back to a solid spider’s web of messy off-white froth that drabs foam all the way down. Big, toffee, burnt sugar, bitter citrus fruits and layers upon layers of fresh hops on the nose. Sweet, fruity, malty, juicy. It continues into the mouth, so fruity, absorbent, juicy and salivating, panting for the next sip. Bitingly spicy, big, ripe fruit flavours, a lot of malt hidden in the depths of this wonderful furore. Its body edges medium and I guess the Alt I got was just perfect for the picking. It’s sweet upfront, and undeniably bitter on the swallow. Shows a lot of length both with sweet malts, juicy, fruity esters, bitter, floral hops, wood and even a strange note of mint leaves. Aggressive for its style, I now know why this is such a popular place, a tourist trap for people wanting the Alt vom fass. The afternoon got hazy....

Draught at the Uerige pub Deep amber to brown body with some caramelish shine. Off-white creamy head. Faint aroma of hops and malts. Moderately bitter flavour which sticks in your mouth for quite a long while. Ok balance.

At the Zum Uerige. I was a little disappointed with this after reading about it first. Very hoppy bitter and yeasty. Felt a little unfinished and home made to me. Mouthfeel was nice with good carbonation. Nice thirst quencher, but nothing more really. Travel 100 meters for Zum Schlussel for a better housebrewed alt. Re-rate, flip top bottle 0.33 l. Signifcantly less yeasty and earthy than at the brewpub. Flavor is nicely bitter, but not much more. It’s a blueprint alt, good and very enjoyable, but lacks depth.

Poured from bottle into shaker glass, it had a cloudy, dark amber body that developed almost no head. The aroma was slightly grainy, with some crisp, but mild hops. Flavor was dry and hoppy with maybe a little woodiness in there. This may have been an old bottle, I’ll be willing to give this one another try if I can find it at a different bottle shop.

At the brewpub. Very dark amber to deep red in color, thick lasting head. Rich malt aroma with a slight hop undertone. Strong hop bitterness outdoes the malt, but it is still present. Dry almost chalky finish with lingering bitterness. Somewhat light in body, could use a little more malt to balance the bitterness.

(330 ml bottle (bottled on "25.11.", "code 12 25" from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/maine/auburn/fl target=blank>Florian’s) OK but certainly not on par with either Sticke or Doppelsticke...Pours murky orange/brown tea color with a tall light tan head. Aroma is very light vanilla sweetness with a bit of brown sugar. Mouthfeel kind of watery but soft and smooth. A bit dry in finish. Spotty webby lacing. Flavor is light brown sugary but not very sweet. Lingering bitter finish. Quite bland really.

Burnt orange and clear, flat with an average frothy white head, mostly diminishing with fair lacing. Aroma is moderate malt (light bread, grain, cereal, husks), light hops (herbs, grass), light yeast (soap, mold) with notes of pear, butter, dust and soured milk. Initial flavor is heavy acidic and bitter, light sweet malt and hop with trace yeast, finish is long, light sweetness, moderate acidity and heavy bitterness. Light to medium bodied, oily texture with soft carbonation and a metallic mouthfeel.

Tap at Uerige. Et leckere droepje. Typical Alt bier that is overrated inmy opinion.Aroma is ok, you have predominatly malt, flavors are complemnetd by hops that leads to a bitter finish. A session beer for sure, but nothing spectacular.