Beer Of The Week (Vol VI)

[ Volume Six in the recently expanded beer tasting series. Once again, today's post is made possible by the fine folks at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits. That establishment has generously agreed to provide beer for weekly reviews and every brew featured here is available at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits. These reviews will be an expansion of the beer rating that I've been doing for years and will be more in-depth look at particular beers using the same rating criteria. And in addition to the just the beer itself, I'll be examining the whole aesthetic package; the bottle, the label, the name. ]

We once again head back across the pond with this week's beer review. This time for a little flavor of Deutschland with Bitburger Premium Beer:

Bitburger guarantees premium quality and enjoyment. Drawing on almost 200 years of expertise, the full-bodied, light, Bitburger Premium Beer is of course brewed according to the German Purity Law. Its popular, dry-finished, hoppy taste has secured Bitburger Premium Beer position as Germany's no. 1 draught beer.

My wife and I spent nearly a month traipsing around Germany back in the fall of 2002 and I don't recall ever seeing Bitburger offered on tap anywhere. Perhaps we just weren't looking in the right places.

Anyway, on to the review. While Bitburger is available in bottles, the beer that I sampled this week came in a unique eight-pack of half-liter (16.9oz) cans. Pretty standard fare on the can design with white background and traditional looking font. No widgets inside to replicate the draft experience like Guinness has.

Beer Style: Pilsner

Alcohol by Volume: 4.8%

COLOR (0-2): Light golden, but weak. 1

AROMA (0-2): A bit soft. 1

HEAD (0-2): White with strong bubbles. 2

TASTE (0-5): Comes on strong with some sharp edges. 3

AFTERTASTE (0-2): Poor finish. Bitter in a bad way. 0

OVERALL (0-6): Not among the top European pilsners, but for those less adventurous beer drinkers looking for something different but not too different from the big dog American lagers this could be a good option. It's also an intriguing package and you do worse than showing up for a party this weekend with a eight-pack of Bitburger on your arm. Just remember that those eight half-liter cans equal 11.3 of the standard variety. What? I only had eight beers last night. 3

TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 10