Altbier

ABV 4.3-5.5% · IBU 25-50 · SRM 9-17 · Serve 46-50F · Glass Becher, 250 ml

Identify

Amber to deep copper, often a bronze orange, and brilliantly clear. The head is thick, creamy and off white, and it stays for the whole glass. The smell is bready and grainy with a light peppery or floral hop note behind it. No fruit, no roast, no citrus. Medium body and smooth. Bready malt arrives first, then a firm bitterness builds through the middle and holds all the way out. The finish is dry and clean with no sweetness left behind.

Place

Dusseldorf, Germany. The Schumacher brewery, which opened in 1838, first sold beer under the name

Cause

A clean ale yeast works warm, at around 60F to 68F, which is 15C to 20C. That is ordinary for an ale. The beer is then held close to freezing for several weeks. Brewers call this lagering, which just means storing beer cold so that yeast, haze and rough flavours settle out.

Confused with

Kolsch, taught at 5.7, which is made the same way and is pale. Vienna Lager, which is the same colour with half the bitterness. Munich Dunkel, which is darker and much sweeter. American Amber Ale, which smells of citrus or pine.

Numbers

An Altbier is a copper coloured German ale from Dusseldorf. It is fermented warm with ale yeast, then stored cold for weeks like a lager. The malt tastes of bread rather than sugar, and the bitterness is firm. Swallow, then count to five. The bitterness is still there, and it is drying rather than sharp.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Dark rye bread, or the crust of a well baked loaf. That is the malt flavour, near enough exactly. Strong tea with no sugar. A drying, gripping finish rather than a sweet one. Tonic water or bitter lemon. Bitterness you can enjoy on its own, without fruit around it. Toasted nuts and hard cheese.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

What does not work: delicate white fish, sweet puddings, and anything carrying much chilli heat. Bitterness and heat sharpen each other, and the fish simply disappears. Dusseldorf eats pork, mustard and cheese with this beer, and that is a good guide anywhere. Brilliantly clear copper with a thick off white head that lasts.