Uerige Alt

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

Bottled On 14 04 Code 0515

Pours a well-hazed, melon/brown with a quick, eggshell-white head. Musty lemon-tea aroma with currant/raspberry. Strikingly bitter and earthen, like drinking cold, thin, mineral-laden soil. Very thin. Just when I was thinking this brewer was infallable...

<font size=-4>Purchased at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Chicago, IL 60638<font size=-1>

Little to no aroma, this beer poured cloudy and slightly flat. There was a heavy malt character and cloying sweetness it lacked the crisp finish I was expecting from an alt beer. It has some bitterness that lingers but that is all that is in the way of hops. It was bottled on 10/25 so it has some age on it. I would love to find a fresher bottle to see if there is more hop character with a younger beer.

Alt bier or "old beer" is a very local beer style, that is brewed in and around the city of Dusseldorf, Germany. What makes it special, is the fact that it is an ale, not a lager, and "old beer" refers to the fact that the first beers brewed in Germany, were ales, not lagers. Lagers of course, now dominate German brewing, but there are areas of Germany that never took to them. The brewers in Dusseldorf were never persuaded to change to lagers, and we as beer lovers should all be grateful. By style, alt is a delicious, copper colored, malty, hoppy beer, that is just so drinkable. Brewpubs and and breweries in Dusseldorf specialize in this very local style, and take great pride in it. Zum Uerige is a brewpub located on a busy corner street in the heart of the Altstadt, and brews what has been called the bench mark example of alt bier. When I entered Zum Uerige for lunch and took a seat, I was over come with joy and great expectations. When one of the Kobes(pronounced kerbiss) or blue jacket, blue apron wearing waiters, came by my table rolling a wooden barrel of altbier past me, I knew I had finally arrived. I have had other German alt biers, and would try other outstanding examples on my trip to Dusseldof, but this beer is without question, still my personal favorite. Uerige Altbier pours to a beautiful, bright, copper color, with a bright white head that clings to the glass, and a soft to moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic, with vibrant herbal/grassy hop aroma, paired with subtle hints of nutty malt. The palate on this beer is soft and malty, with incredible clean and nutty malt flavors. As the sea of clean malt flavor ends, this beer finishes with a vibrant burst of grassy/herbal hop bitterness that lingers on the tongue. At the brewpub this beer is served by gravity from a wooden barrel. The Kobes circle the rooms with metal trays full of 0.25L short glasses of freshly poured altbier, and will continue to replace your empty glass until you tell them to stop. They mark you coaster each time with a pencil, and when all was said and done with, my friend and I had consumed 11 glasses of altbier(I had 8, he had 3). Uerige Alt is an amazingly drinkable beer that you just can’t get enough of. It is so flavorful, clean, smooth and drinkable. The aromas and flavors vom fass at the brewery are just so fresh and flavorful, you really have to come to Dusseldorf to experience the magic of this beer. In the meantime, I am happy to say it is available in 11.2 oz brown swing top bottles, that retail for about $4 a bottle. It can even be found on draught, in select markets at good beer bars across the US. The price for this beer seems a little inflated, but for a classic like this, I say well worth it. Uerige Alt is a very food friendly beer, and would be the perfect match for grilled bratwurst or roasted pork. I enjoyed glass after glass of this beer with some delicious potato soup, a mettwurst, and liverwurst with bread and butter.

(bottle - 11.2 oz) Darkish brown color with a puffy and lasting white head. Very light and sweet aroma. Very difficult to pick anything out specifically. Bitter taste at the beginning with a malty and bitter middle and a slightly sour and bitter finish. Medium-bodied and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

heavy sweet beer. Intresting and hard to charactarize. Tasty but probabaly not much of a session beer.

easy drink, with lots of carmel and malt but also bitterness, nicely hopped, citrus. Brown with Big head that lasts, and provides creamy ball of foam on way down. Malty and citrus aroma. Finishes with pleasant lingering sweetness

Cloudy brown/amber color,small off white head that faded slowly and lef ta decent lace behind.The aroma was malty caramel with some nice hints of fruit and maybe some dryed fruit in there as well with a decent but light hop showing.The flavor came off much the same as the aroma with a nice bitterness in the end to round things out.Pretty nice brew that makes me wish these we’re more readily available in my area.

Bottled. Pale brown colour. Fruity toffee nose. Light roasty flavour along with notes of toffee and tobacco. Dry backbone. Extremely long finish.