BREWERY // The ancient Greek philosopher Archilochus wrote "a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing". Stephan Michal knows how to brew lager. His father taught him what he learned from his forebears through 4 generations of family ownership dating to 1895. Mahr's are known as one of the best lager breweries in Germany (hence the world) with brewers such as Stone, Lervig & Firestone Walker vying to collaborate and pick up some lager brewing magic. The brewery is located in the small city of Bamberg, aka heaven for beer fans with 11 breweries in town and another 60 in the local area, most of which date back many centuries and are committed to brewing the traditional way. The beautiful Mahr’s Bräu brewery was founded in 1670 with a cellar cut into the cliff of Stephannsberg. The cosy taproom has low ceilings and a tree lined biergarten where they serve meals of local pork, beef and bread.
BEER // This isn't a mass-produced, generic forgettable lager. It is the meticulously crafted artisanal unfiltered German lager of your dreams. The 'U' stands for 'Ungespundet' which means unfiltered, it has a bigger body than you might be used to in a lager. The malts give aU a dark golden colour and an aroma of freshly baked bread. Taste is delicate honey biscuit sweetness followed by herbal, perfume-y bitterness from the hops with a dry finish. You'll also notice a creamy long lasting head which any German will tell you is the most important part of a beer. It pairs well with hearty pork and potato dishes of several more glasses of Kellerbier. Luckily there's plenty more in stock at the Beer Jerk online store.
BREWERY // Mahr's
BEER // aU
STYLE // Unfiltered Kellerbier
ABV // 5.2%
TEMPERATURE // Cool. Around 10C
FOOD MATCH // Eisbein (pickled ham hock). Sausage. Pizza
VESSEL // Lager Glass.