Think Global, Drink Local

... was the motto of this year's What's Brewing, a yearly craft beer workshop at the Carl-Schurz-Haus. The CSH beer workshop was directed by Frank Geeraers (Flanders/Freiburg) and changing partners. This event is undoubtedly attaining cult status in its third edition. This year Joe Stange (Missouri/Berlin), a proven beer expert, was the second master of ceremonies who likes to drink locally but always thinks globally. The requests to attend the event were so numerous that the workshop had to be repeated the following evening.

The exchange of brewers between the two continents is flourishing. In the beginning, Americans came to Europe learning and trying hard to overcome the beer without flavor from their large breweries. The resulting craft beer boom in the States then swept back to Europe with brewers "pilgrimaging" to the States, in turn learning how to brew beers different from the European Einheitsplörre (uniform dishwater) within the limitation of the German Reinheitsgebot. In the meantime, craft beer has reached a 20% market share in the US.


Let us start. The first beer the workshop participants tasted was Mahrs Bräu Kellerbier hefetrüb ungespundet (cellar beer yeast clouded unbunged), i.e., the CO₂ pressure is kept low during the brewing process. Founded in 1670, the Mahr brewery at Bamberg was initially spelled Mahr's Bräu according to the correct German orthography valid in the 19th century.

Old historical label	New orthographic label

Although they could have kept the historical apostrophe (cool (!)), they did not want to be called Deppen (goofs) and slowly changed their name to the now orthographically correct Mahrs Bräu. That, however, should be no problem for the visitor drinking Mahr's beer local at Bamberg; just ask for a "U," and the waitress will bring the right stuff. The "U" is a yeast-turbid specialty beer with a full-bodied, smooth malt character. Pleasantly tart and lightly carbonated.

It was a good start, and we were looking forward to Citrilla Maisels and Friends, an IPA wheat beer (!), or Bavaria meets California. In fact, Citrilla has flavors of fruity hop (Citra and Amarillo) and yeast combined with pineapple, lime, citrus fruit, and ripe banana. Citrella is likewise refreshing and a full-bodied beer.

Number three served was Berliner Berg, a lager beer in the German tradition brewed in Neukölln borough of Berlin, looking, smelling, and tasting like a lager. You could call the beer global, brewed by an "American in Berlin" using a new German aromatic hop.


There was a short drinking pause and suspense when the door opened, and Frank and Joe entered the room with trays full of plastic cups filled with dark beer. In fact, we were served two different beers that we had to keep separated, placing them to our left and to our right. Were we supposed to drink beidhändig (two-handed)? Not at all; we simply were asked to compare two dark beers.

Not to be confused

Red Baron likes Schwarzbier, and we learned that there is more of it than just the Thuringian Köstritzer* served all over Germany. On our LHS, we tasted Bräunlinger Black Lion; on our RHS, we drank the New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Lager. Founded like Freiburg by the Zähringen dynasty, Bräunlingen is located 60 km east of Freiburg in the Black Forest. For me, the Black Lion was a local beer, while the Enlightened Black Lager from Fort Collins, Colorado, had traveled nearly halfway across the globe.
*Not to be confused with the Saxon dark beer brewed in Krostitz Red Baron drank in Leipzig

Both beers were aromatic, the Black Lion quite subtle, not sweet, and keeping with my taste. The Enlightened Black Lager was slightly sweet and had, in my opinion, too much flavor.

When I traveled in the States in the 80s and 90s imbibing soft drinks and lite beer, I always wondered why the Americans did not jump on a drink that is sparkling, slightly sour but adjustable by adding fruity syrup, low on alcohol, and which above all goes down well, i.e., a drink in the style of Berliner Weiße?

Red Baron loves to drink Weiße mit Schuss (woodruff syrup) when in Berlin, i.e., local, but is Berliner Kindl Weiße all there is to it? Did the white beers my father, born in Berlin, once drank taste different from today's Weiße?

Doesn't it look beautiful?

My two questions were partially answered when Joe presented a graphic drawn on a coaster showing that the onset of Berliner Weisse-type beer in the States started as late as 2007. Since then, the number of breweries and white beer lovers has increased exponentially.

Not forgetting the straw in his drawing (©Joe Stange)

Is there a Weiße beyond the mass-produced stuff you are generally served in Berlin? We tasted Schneeeule Marlene (Snowy Owl Marlene Dietrich) without Schuss. According to experts, yeast is the crucial ingredient. For Snowy Owl, it was recultured using traces of yeast discovered in 40-year-old Berliner Weiße bottles from the former GDR. After the two dark beers, Schneeeule Marlene was a refreshing surprise.

The workshop continued on a sour note with Otra Vez. You will find the following text on the brewer's website: On our search for the perfect warm-weather beer, we wanted something light-bodied and thirst-quenching yet filled with complex and interesting flavors. We stumbled across the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, native to California. This tangy fruit is a great complement to the tart and refreshing traditional gose-style beer. Otra Vez combines prickly pear cactus with a hint of grapefruit for a refreshing beer that will have you calling for round after round. Otra Vez!

In my opinion, Otra Vez had too much taste. What is a great flavor for some people is sometimes obtrusive for me. It seems that some craft brewers put their pride into beers with rich content because the market asks for this. Red Baron likes soft notes both with drinks and food. I still remember the first workshop when Frank warned that taste buds, once saturated by intensely hopped beers, become unable to sense subtle notes in milder beers served later. The same is correct for cheese tasting: Eat your Roquefort last!

The Alaskan Smoked Porter 2013 served next was over-flavored too. Somehow the Berliner Weiße history was repeated when the brewers stated that German-style Rauchbier, i.e., a smoke-flavored beer was virtually unknown in the US until Alaskan Smoked Porter was developed in 1988. The porter is produced in limited "vintages" each year around November 1 and, unlike most beers, may be aged in the bottle, much like fine wine. The beer we drank was brewed in 2013, and, as stated on the label, it is best before the end of 2026 and counting.

Finally, there was even more taste. The imperial stout Evil Twin Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room brewed by Evil Twin Brewing, Brooklyn, NY, has an intense black color topped by a very fine beige head. The nose is complex with molasses and licorice aroma, but also notes of espresso in a perfect balance. On the mouth, you can taste roasted malt and licorice flavors. In the finish, you will find fine notes of chocolate! Sorry, but when even the nose is "complex," you are no longer drinking beer but a liqueur with 10% alcohol. Covered up by all those intense flavors, I did not even taste the alcohol. I could not drink more than half a liter of Evil Twin Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room without asking for a "normal" beer for diluting.

The workshop's bottle parade

This flavor bomb from New York ended the official part of the workshop. Still, Frank being homesick (?), opened a final bottle brewed in his home country called Deux Amis (Two Friends), a product of cultural exchange between Belgium's Brasserie Dupont and America's Lost Abbey Brewery. Deux Amis is brewed in Belgium using techniques perfected over almost a hundred years and receives its decidedly state-side flavor from the addition of American Amarillo and Simcoe hops. The result of this kinship is a dry, refreshing Old World Saison* full of peppery spice that finishes with New World flavors of floral orange and earthy pine.
*Copied as such. French for season

This propitiatory drink summarized the think global motto of the workshop well. Joining the traditional beer style from the old world and refreshing new ideas from the other side of the Atlantic results in the most unique brews, as some of those served at the workshop illustrated perfectly.

Thank you, Frank and Joe, for this entertaining and informative evening.

*