German, If You Please

Sometimes, I just get a real craving for some solid German beer, and in my area, the best place to find it is The Munich Haus in Chicopee MA. I stopped in after work for a couple of my favorites of the many they have. (But the best time to visit, in my opinion, is in the Fall when they have 4 of the 6 official Oktoberfest beers on tap.)

The first today was a Paulaner Salvator, a bottom-fermented Doppelbock with a recipe that dates back to the late 1700s. It has that interesting twist of flavor that I associate with Paulaner, and really hit the spot today for winding down after an intense week at work. Potato Pancakes were a good accompaniment.

Number two was a truly old favorite, the Hofbrauhaus Freising Dunkel, a dark wheat style that is actually almost difficult to taste after the flavor explosion of the Paulaner (note to self: reverse the order next time!). Still, there’s a lovely bit of caramel in the taste and it’s long been a go-to when they have it available. If it’s not available, then I’m all for the Spaten Optimator, but this is a lower ABV and therefore less dangerous in the afternoon 🙂 It’s also surprisingly dark even for a Dunkel:

Munich Haus