And so we reach the end of our 64-beer tour....
After some blowouts and some close calls, we find ourselves with 8 beers remaining:
;)
The Helles Region:
Battling for the regional championship, we have Andechs Bergbock Hell (darker and stronger than a true helles) vs Löwenbräu Orginal.
It really wasn't a fair fight...Though the Löwenbräu had shocked everyone with its success, it couldn't stand up to the rich taste and extra alcohol of the Bergbock Hell and lost 2 votes to 7. The most common comment was that it tasted like water compared to the Andechs. Perhaps it would have done better against a similar beer or would have done better on a hot summer day rather than a cold winter night...but those are the rules in a single elimination bracket tourney. Auf wiedersehen, Löwenbräu!
The Pils/Export Region:
In this round, we ended up with two diverse beers - Hassröder Premium Pils (previously unknown to us, but we found tastier than all of the well-known Pilsners) vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier. This one was a close one, coming down to the last couple of votes. It was truly a back and forth game, but Andechs came out on top by one vote.
The Weißbier Region:
Interestingly, we ended up on both ends of the weißbier spectrum: the unfiltered Andechs Weissbier Hefetrüb vs Paulaner's filtered Weissbier Kristalklar.
In the end, the traditional weißbier beat out it's unfiltered cousin, by a margin of 6 to 3. The Kristalklar had surprised us all, but it couldn't compete with the real thing.
The Dunkel Region:
Here we have two powerful beers - Erdinger Dunkel (a dunkelweißbier) vs Paulanar Salvator, the famous starkbier.
Another buzzer beater, Salvator won the matchup by one vote. This one really came down to preference. As we're now in the middle of Starkbier season, we'll soon have a special starkbier mini-tournament to see if there's a better one than Salvator. Luckily Salvator is available year-round!
So we find ourselves (not surprisingly) with an all-Bavarian Final Four:
Andechs Bergbock Hell vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier
and
Andechs Weissbier vs Paulaner Salvator
;)
;)
(we had some tasty chocolate chip cookies from my chocolate chip stash!)
Andechs Bergbock Hell vs Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier:
Yet again, the monks' tasty brew blows away the competition - 7 votes to two! A pretty large margin this far in the tournament. Again, nothing could stand up to the rich (but not heavy like a dunkel or starkbier) taste of the Bergbock Hell.
Andechs Weissbier vs Paulaner Salvator
While this one wasn't quite a blowout, it wasn't so close either...There's a reason weißbier is so beloved in Bavaria - it just has a really pleasing taste, and a full-bodied feel. Salvator, of course, is very full-bodied (it originated as bread in a glass!), but it doesn't have the feel in your mouth that the more carbonated weißbier does. 6 to 3, Andechs.
The Final Match
We've loved Andechs beers in general since discovering the monastery, but we never could have predicted an all Andechs final. Remember, folks, this was all blind tasting (as best as we could), and involved many different groups of people throughout the tournament. And here we are:
As we had predicted, this final contest would come down to a matter of preference for beer type. While we do have a winner, it was another competition that came down to the last vote...5 to 4, for the Weissbier Hefetrüb.
Though the Weissbier wins the overall tournament, it could have been different with a different crowd. So, we'll just crown Andechs the winner of the First Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament. (with my crown from Oktoberfest).;)
We do realize it was highly weighted toward Munich area beers, but it makes sense that we start with learning about the beers in our area. We have some plans for further tournaments, either having mini-tourneys, or branching out into non-German beers. We're always open to suggestions, volunteers, and if anyone wants to hold a US beer tournament, we'd love to hear about it!
Here's the full final bracket (click on it to enlarge):;)