icicles dripping!

On the eighth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Eight icicles dripping

Seven sea monsters swimming

Six owls nesting

Five malts of gold

Four avian hallucinations

Three French magicians

Two love ya dearlies

And the simplest answer there could be 

I feel confident that I have been imaginative for day 8.  Yes, there's a probable maid on the label, but it's not a milk stout and the milking isn't obvious...but don't those icicles look a little like teats?  Just what you wanted to think about with your beer, I'm sure.

Eis Zäpfle comes from Rothaus-Bräu, and I am surprised to see it is made as a Märzen.  Most of the beers of that style that I've seen have been quite a bit darker in color, but the rules were made to be broken.  

Light, straw colored beer, very fluffy head, it's very German in its appearance.  It has a little bit grass and grain in the smell, but its not especially strong.  At first the flavor is very much a German lager, a little sweet and a hint of bitter, but then a wave of bitterness breaks over the tongue, followed quickly by a sort of appley sweetness.  It actually seems right for a wintery beer, having some stimulating, perhaps even medicinal bitterness and a little energy giving sweet.  It's supposed to be enjoyed "ice cold", and letting it warm up does give it a tangier flavor.  It's not an unpleasant change, though, perhaps a little less refreshing, but perky and energetic.

festive festiness

With October in full swing we can also enjoy Oktoberfest legitimately.  Last weekend, Mad Brewing was offering an Oktoberfest menu with several German style beers, including a nice märzen.  The menu was really for sharing, but there is also a bratwurst "sandwich" and big, puffy pretzels.  Not to mention fruit pies (don't remember which, wasn't strudel).  It seems fitting to have another seasonal beer, another märzen in fact, although it comes from the States rather than Germany.  Founders Oktoberfest, off we go!

It has a similar look to La Caníbal's märzen at Mad Brewing, both of them somewhat warmer and richer looking than märzen's like Voll Damm.  The scent is malty and caramelly, with a little tingly fall feeling.  There's more apple in it than a lot of this style, something like a beer/cider blend.  It's not really bitter at all, although not sweet either.  Like apple cider, it's tangy and twisty, with beer bubbles making it cocktail-like and festive.  Eventually a little breadiness makes an appearance, but the fruit profile remains supreme.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.90

first film back

Last year was Heimkino, but this year the Film Festival is back in person.  I'm actually a little disappointed; it was so easy to just watch all the films on my couch, and now I have to go downtown and be in a theater with people... Well, at least there is a festival at all.  The first film was No Hard Feelings, about immigrants and refugees in Germany, with a touch of LGBTQ+.  I think if you don't read the synopsis beforehand you wouldn't know that the main character is doing community service as a translator for Iranian refugees, you might think he's just volunteering for some reason.  The story goes over his quest to accept himself as an Iranian-German, I guess, and a gay one.  He has trouble with different accents, and some Iranians make fun of him for his more German accent.  He starts a kind of secret relationship with one of the refugees and a firm friendship with the refugee's sister, who ends up having her case rejected by the government and her deportation ordered.  I was surprised by how little fuss people made about homosexuality - the main character's family doesn't seem to care at all about who he's attracted to, and even the refugees are not especially bothered.  There are a few comments, but nothing to make you worry about anyone's life.  The main character's parents seem to be planning to return to Iran, which he struggles to understand, but his mother tells him that they just can't let go of their connection to their homeland, while at the same time she hopes that his home is Germany.  The refugee woman ends up going on the run from the police to avoid deportation, and asks the main character to take care of her brother, who he's already started to be pretty serious with.  At the end, she's gone, and the two men are together, happy with each other, but wounded by the situation.

I did go looking for a German beer, and ended up buying one at the German supermarket.  A nice märzen, a little hilariously with the line "like in the good old days".  It's lighter than expected, clear and orangey.  Fine white head, although not very resistant.  There's a very, very mild scent of bitter, not the typical lager grain.  There's plenty of lager flavor, though, full and round, somewhat sweet.  It's kind of a thick feeling beer, not exactly sticky, but it doesn't go down completely cleanly.  It's not a bad beer for movie watching, to be honest.  Too bad I couldn't have it in the theater.

Door #13

Preparing for another week, with a bottle of märzen at the ready.  It's a genuine German one, Oktoberfest Märzen, in one of those old-fashioned kind of bottles with a pop top.  Even though we're coming close to Christmas, there's something about a märzen style beer that seems to fit the season.  Maybe it's that sweetness that they often have, or the spiciness.  Maybe it's just that it looks like it had chestnuts soaking in it.

There's a malty aroma that wafts out after popping that bottle top, and the beer pours out clear and only lightly topped with foam.  It's a little lighter in color than I expected, sort of a dark apple juice.  Maybe that influences me to pick up on an apple scent in there too.  It's surprisingly tart in taste, not sweet exactly, and a little rough around the edges.  Really not very strong on the bitter.  While it coats the tongue, it's more of a physical sensation and not a taste that sticks around.  Flavorwise it actually finishes quite dry.

It's a little scary how fast time flies, but at least there's no reason to worry about thirteen.

closer and closer

La Virgen is not Cibeles in terms of variety.  They've been more limited in scope, but definitely focused on quality.  That's why it's kind of exciting when they put out something new, especially something seasonal, like chestnut beer or märzen.  I don't know if they've been making märzen for the fall for a while or if this is the first year, but it is the first time I've seen it.

Yeehah!

Rather light on the head, but a nice rusty color.  It has a whiff of German beer grassiness, which it probably should, given its style.  It's a little bit sour, something that I've experienced in the past with Madrid beers that aren't ales, but there's a good layer of malt on top of it.  As I supposed on seeing the head, it is really a light beer, soothing in taste, but quite easy to swallow.  Märzen doesn't have to be as heavy as a black beer, of course, but I do seem to remember them being a little fuller-bodied.  Still, can't complain too much.  It does have something of a holiday taste, with that mix of sweet and beery, heralding the coming of the best holidays of the year.  Better start thinking about my pumpkin.

Supplier: Cervezorama
Price: €2.45