One of the most interesting beer styles to come out of Germany is altbier, which translated from German means old beer.
Don’t let the thought of drinking old beer put you off though. The term ‘old’ relates to the traditional brewing methods used to produce this beer rather than the best before date.
Altbier is a fortunate result of a geographical happenstance. Before the advent of refrigeration where you were at dictated what and when you could brew. The cooler temperatures of the Rhineland region of Germany meant brewers could effectively stick two fingers up at their Bavarian brewing buddies and their Reinheitsgebot purity law of 1516 and brew beer all year round.
When lager yeast was introduced in the early part of the 19th century it was quickly adopted by most of continental Europe, including Bavaria, but the breweries around Düsseldorf were having none of it.
They stuck with their top-fermenting yeast (although they did begin cold-conditioning their beers at temperatures closer to lagers than ales) and continued brewing copper-brown full-bodied beers with a distinctly malty character and heavy use of hops.
Having set the stage, enter Schlösser Alt from Germany’s largest altbier brewery in Düsseldorf. It pours a rich orangey brown and throws out smells of soaked bread, syrup and figs. The nutty malts more than hold their own with the fruity hops (which get noticeably more intense as the beer warms up) and carbonation is on the medium to low side.
Schlösser Alt is a good example of a ‘crossover’ beer between lager and ale. If you’ve never taken the leap from lager to the darker side of beer perhaps now’s the time to try.
Schlösser Alt
An altbier from Schlösser Brauerei in Düsseldorf, Germany
4.8% ABV
Article Number: 1551-03
Footnote – I drank this beer with a bowl of homemade French onion soup. The sweetness of the red onions worked well with the caramal-like malts. Unexpectedly good combo!
