What’s reddish-copper color, hoppy, translucent and caramel-malty? It’s an Altbier – this one from Enegren Brewing in Moorpark, California!
Alt beers are just that – “Alt” meaning “old” – they are beers made in the old European Ale tradition before lagers came into dominance. As such, Alts have a lot of heritage, and are best known for their primary point of origin, Düsseldorf, Germany - in the North.
What makes Alts different from American Amber Ales is the use of European malts, hops and a special Ale yeast which ferments well down to about 55F. Alts are then lagered for several months to clean up and clarify the beer. What you end up with is a crisp, super-drinkable, clean, malty, hoppy beer – hey our ancestors knew what they were doing!
I’m really surprised at how few Alt beers are actually available here in Southern California. I’m counting only 4, and one of them has been out of production for a while. With the hundreds of IPA’s that are being dumped on the specialty beer market, it is no wonder that some of these classics get pushed out. It’s a shame because these are terrific beers and have a huge place of importance in our brewing history.
Today’s delicious 6.2% ABV Alt is being drank out of a "becher” or beaker, the official glass used in Düsseldorf to drink Alts. Pathetically small and wimpy compared to some of the Bavarian Maßkrugs, Alts traditionally had lower carbonation being served from wooden kegs – therefore as the thinking goes, you need a LOT of these sissy and wussified little infantile baby glasses to keep up with your beer going flat. All I can say Düsseldorfers is - MAN UP! These dinky glasses are TOO SMALL!!!!! What are we, a bunch of babies? Prost……
" Wishful thinking.
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