We previously tried the Sylter Hopfen champagne-style beer and have talked about German brewery Weihenstephaner's collaboration with Samuel Adams to create the Inifinium champagne-style beer.
Finally, we tried it over Christmas. There are two versions available - one produced in Germany and one produced in the US (Boston, of course).
We tried the US-made one, which we found at the wonderful Charleston Beer Exchange. This is a little beer store in the historic distric of Charleston, which has a wide selection of craft and international beers (they have Augustiner Edelstof Exportbier!!) and holds monthly beer tasting dinners.
The first thing we noticed was the color, a rich amber hue. Like champagne, it maintained its small bubbles. It poured with quite a significant head, though it's settled down significantly in the picture.
As expected, it definitely had a yeasty flavor. While the smell was a bit more complex, the malt and yeast were what we tasted most. And the "beer" part of the taste was much more of an ale than a lager. Overall, it's not bad and we're glad we tried it. But it probably isn't a beer we'd buy again. It's more of an interesting idea and something fun to try than a good beer of which you'd want to drink a whole bottle. (And btw, it's best served cold)
I'm not sure exactly what you're supposed to pair with champagne-style beer, but as we were at my parents' house we tried it with some great Corky's ribs and Dad's famous homemade onion rings. Yum!
