German Beer Wars - Starkbier (the Dark & Dangerous Round)

In the German Beer Wars, we've had The Power Pils Round and this weekend played with fire by holding the Dark and Dangerous Round on a Sunday night.  I have to finish the homework I didn't do and go to morning German classes and Herr J has work....neither of which are things that go well with drinking superstrong beer the previous night. 

Our competitors this time all come from the Starkbier classification of beer. In reality, the "strong" part of "strong beer" has to do with a tax-based classification.  Beer in Germany is taxed based on the weight of the run-off that is strained off after the mashing part of the process (see here for more technical brewing and taxation info).

All four are strong lager types of beer, with 3 doppelbocks (darker, stronger lager beers traditionally brewed by the Paulaner monks in Munich for about 3 centuries).  Paulaner's Salvator (meaning "Savior") is the classic Starkbier, though many breweries make one these days. Interestingly, many often name the beer with a single word ending in "-ator." Here we have Löwenbräu's Triumphator, and you can also find other Starkbiers named Celebrator, Optimator, Maximator, and so on. This is also the beer known as the "liquid bread" that the monks could drink while fasting for Lent. See here for a good rendition of the history of Starkbier.

However, in our minds, the "strong" has more to do with the alcohol content, and not only with color and taste.  Let's put it this way...at 7.1% ABV, the Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel was the weakest beer of the group!

Next in line were Löwenbräu's Triumphator (Dunkler Doppelbock), with 7.6% ABV, and Paulaner's famous Salvator ("the original Starkbier"), with 7.9% ABV.

Leaving the first three in the dust, was our final competitor: SchorschBock 16%. You can likely guess from the name the alcohol content, and they proudly market it as "The Strongest Lagerbeer in the World." It is not, however, their strongest beer...SchorschBock's offerings proudly include the strongest wheat beer (13% ABV), the "formerly strongest beer in the world" (32% ABV), and The Strongest Beer in the World, clocking in at a liver-frightening 43% ABV.  Why make a beer with comparable ABV to scotch? "'cause Frankonian Men don't dress like girls."

We needed something to stand up to these beers, so we tasted them with our Feng Shui Texas Chili.  These are good beers to drink with a spicy and hearty chili, but the spice of the habaneros did cover up some of the flavors of the beers. So we also tasted them alone, and with only the slightly sweet cornbread.   

  Feng Shui Texas Chili with Paulaner Salvator and SchorschBock 16%

First up were the Doppelbocks:

     

 Andechs Doppelbock Dunkelr vs Löwenbräu Triumphator

These two looked surprisingly similar in the glass, and both had a lovely dark beer smell....malty, a bit spicy and chocolaty.  Though their tastes were in the same family, each had a different take on the Doppelbock variety. The Löwenbräu finished with a slightly bitter, almost hoppy ending taste; the Andechs with a sweeter, toasted caramely ending.  It's really a matter of how you want your beer to taste, but we gave the win to Andechs, as we preferred the sweet finish to the bitter.  (No worries to you manly beer drinkers... as it's a stronger, darker beer, it is not a beer you can really call "sweet," just a description of it's final taste.  Both were great beers, very complex mix of flavors, and drinkable. Perfect for drinking on a cold night in front of a fire. However, these definitely pack quite a punch and are would be hard to drink for long beer drinking sessions!

Then we moved on to the heavyweight championship....Paulaner's world famous Salvator starkbier vs SchorschBock's world's strongest lager. I remember Paulaner from the annual Starkbierfest as a really dark, meaty beer. However, I also realize that I never quite saw what it looked like, as it was served in the traditional pottery mugs. Don't worry, it's still a liter of beer, but the container is completely opaque.

So, initially I thought it would be dark like the Doppelbocks and was certain that it was the darker of the two (see the picture above with the chili). And then I tasted them. Wow. I'm going to award extra points to any beer that makes Starkbier taste smooth and light by comparison.

Both were good, in their own ways. The Salvator was a tasty (many flavors combined together) and smooth beer. The SchorschBock did have a strong and good flavor, but was quite concentrated.  I doubt I could drink much of it in a sitting as a beer, but I would definitely serve it as a sort of "beer liquer." I'd expect that's even more true for their 43% beer! But it was much more concentrated, thus tasted closer to a whisky or liquor than to a beer. but with retaining the good maltiness, cloves, burnt caramel, and other characteric tastes you may find in a darker beer.

While the SchorschBock put in a nice showing in the first quarter, it couldn't go a full game and Paulaner predictably takes another victory.

We've learned a lot so far in this little experiment, including that generally all of the Paulaner and Andechs beers are unusually good beers.  So we knew that the Salvator vs Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel was going to be a tough matchup. It was. Again, this one came down to a matter of personal preference. We'd give both beers top marks, but found the Salvator to be a little smoother and drinkable. The flavors in both were outstanding, but the Starkbier just went down more smoothly. Something I really did not expect. I had thought it would be a little more bitter, and not so easy to drink. Of course, after half a maß of Starkbier it always goes down really smoothly. But I had always thought of it more as a festival beer, and not something you might drink with dinner or one evening. Another happy discovery, and I'm looking forward to celebrating Starkbierfest next spring at Paulaner am Nockherberg!

And to a Paulaner (Salvator) vs Paulaner (Original Münchener Dunkel) showdown for the Dunkel regional championship!

Feng Shui Texas Chili

Inspired by Toytown's Annual Chili Cookoff and motivated by the cold weather, we decided to try our hand at making chili this weekend.

I wanted a hot chili, with lots of shredded beef, so we used Kent Rathburn's recipe (see below - unfortunately I just saved it on email from an old Jasper's newsletter, so don't have a link to give).  It's a hearty Texas style chili (without beans, and often without tomato), and ours tasted a bit like Carolina barbecue after we had finished. Authentic or not, it was tasty and a really good first effort. We'll work on perfecting a good Texas/Asian chili this winter!

It's always a bit of an experiment when using an American recipe and trying to figure out what the ingredients are in German supermarkets, but we figured goulasch beef would be an excellent choice. and it was - not only did it fall apart perfectly, but we didn't have to do any cutting!

We had planned to try to make chili with a little Asian flair in the spices, but when I saw the packages available, I knew we had the perfect starting point....what could be better than using a lucky amount of 0.888kg of beef????  Hence the "Feng Shui" part of the recipe.

And, of course, it's a great excuse to make cornbread! 

We had a little accident resulting in too much salt in ours to start with, but were able to remedy it with some tasty Andechs Berg Bock Hell, giving it a nice little bit of sweetness to balance out the spices. We also added some cardamom for taste and substituted cayenne powder for ancho, as none was available here.  If you want your chili super hot, you can do as we did and use roasted habanero peppers in place of the poblanos. However, it's REALLY hot...trust me....Despite all precautions of wrapping hands in baggies and not touching my face, etc....running the knife under water managed to send all the habanero spiciness into the air, and me running outside to gulp down cold air to stop the burning....always an adventure in the kitchen around here! 

Also, we don't have a grill, so we just browned the meat in the soup pot, then removed it to cook the onions. Worked well! Cooking long and on low will make the meat fall apart perfectly.

Beer-Braised Sirloin Chili

(Recipe from Kent Rathburn)
Marinade:
2 lbs top sirloin steak, trimmed
2 Tbsp canola oil
Juice of 4 limes
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp black pepper, coarsely crushed
1 jalapeno pepper, stem/seeds removed, minced
1 Tbsp salt

Chili:
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 large onions, peeled and diced
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp ancho chile powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 bottles (12 oz each) Mexican beer
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, seeds and stems removed, diced
1 tsp salt
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1. Cut the steak into four pieces, each about 8 ounces.

2. Marinate beef in the oil, lime juice, garlic, shallots, cilantro, pepper, jalapeño, and salt for at least three hours, or overnight.

3. Prepare the grill (using hickory or mesquite if possible). Cook the meat to medium doneness on an open flame. Let the meat cool, then dice into one half inch cubes. Set aside.

4. In a large sauce pot, add the oil and sauté the onions and garlic until translucent.

5. Add in meat pieces and cook on medium heat until most of moisture is gone.

6. Stir in ancho chile powder, cumin, and coriander; then deglaze with beer.

7. Continue cooking on medium heat until meat is tender and sauce starts to thicken.

8. Add diced chilis and finish with kosher salt and lime juice. Garnish with green onions and chopped cilantro.

The United States in TV and Movies

OK, I'm a big dork and love maps, especially ones that blend together geography and pop-culture.

You've probably seen the one with the US states as Movies before (it made the rounds on The Huffington Post and other sites), but Andrew Shears has done one showing the states as TV shows. I guess "Dukes of Hazzard" is a bit better than "Deliverance" for Georgia, but still not bringing out the state's best!

The United States as Movies  

The United States as TV Shows

via Strange Maps

Lego Architecture

LEGO is now selling these cool architecture models, including a Frank Lloyd Wright Collection and other well-known buildings and monuments.

Very cool!

via WANKEN

Guggenheim Museum

 John Hancock Center 

Fallingwater House

Dragon Sunsets

It was our last day on Rangali Island in the Malives.

For our last sunset here, we were treated to THREE different dragons in the clouds as the sun went down.

Thanks to a storm blowing in across the lagoon, the depth of the clouds was unusual, and the sky as if it were on fire. A good way to end a wonderful vacation!

Chinese Dragon

Disney Dragon

Mean Dragon, about to eat a puppy

And a couple photos of that evening's sunset

Happy Gummi Thanksgiving!

We've skipped fall here and gone straight into winter, but I'm wishing all you a beautiful fall day full of friends, family, food, and football...you know, the good things in life!

The (evil) Zahlteller

In the article on my Corporate Cafeteria, I noted that my company has a small convenience store on site.  It is here that I met my arch enemy.  The old check out lady with the “zahlteller”.  I will battle against her and the forces of crappy customer service until my last breath.

The On-Site Convenience Store

First I will say that it is nice to have a small convenience store on the corporate campus.  If someone has a birthday, there are cards, streamers, paper plates/plastic utensils, and snack foods & drinks available.  Breakfast buns and muffins are available, and if you miss lunch you can get a sandwich and something to drink.  There is an ice-cream freezer for summer treats and a generic section with toiletries too.

Actually, the beverage section is pretty interesting for its location on a corporate campus.  Check out the wine & prosecco selection - it"s probably 15% of the entire tiny store!  

The beer cooler is not huge, but they do have major brands of Helles, Weissbier, Pilsner, and alcohol-free.  Even better, you can pre-order cases of beer for an office party.  I’ve attended a few where the celebrant ordered three cases of Augustiner, another three of Fransiskaner, added six bottles of prosecco, and had the cafeteria cater with some warm snack food.  Nice!

 

On-site convenience, decent selection of goods… so what’s the problem?

The Zahlteller Experience

Let me introduce you to the “zahlteller”, literally, the “counting plate”.  The zahlteller is near the end of the conveyor belt on which the groceries move, between the belt and the scanner in reach between both the customer and the cashier.  (Of course, you do know that in Germany you always bag your own groceries, right? And hurry up, the customers behind you are waiting impatiently!)  You'll see it at the bottom of this photo:  

 

This plate comes in many shapes and sizes, and usually has a brand or product printed on it.  In this case it is for a German brand of chocolate, Milka.  Some acrylic ones allow stores to change the advertisement.  I’m guessing the stores get these free or possibly even receive a small stipend for using a specific type or ad.  Some are flat, some curved, some simple, some fancy.  

               

The theoretical purpose of the teller is to make counting money easier, especially coins.  One party would place either payment or change on the plate, and the other can quickly count it and slide it off onto their hand.  Basically a process step for quality control.  I don’t have a problem with the concept, it’s the implementation.  My first experiences went like this.

Cashier:  [your total is] 5 euros and 40 cents (puts her hand over the plate)

Me:  (puts the payment in her hand, 6 euros)

Cashier:  Danke.  (slams the change on the zahlteller)  Next please!

I scrape the coins off the plate and the person behind me gets on my ass to encourage me to move along (no matter how fast you are, it’s never fast enough).  I’m left wondering:  is the plate only for her to use?  Why not me?

So the next time I purchase something, I blatantly stretch out my arm with an open hand to get the change.  Without looking, the cashier slams the change on the plate again.  The time thereafter, I place my open hand DIRECTLY OVER THE PLATE, and she takes considerable effort to slide her hand under mine and put the change on the plate again.

Finally, on the fourth go-around, I prepare lots of small change (rather than pay with a bill) and when she tells me the total, I went under her hand and slammed the change on the plate.  Her look was daggers, and the exchange went like this:

Cashier:  Put it in my hand next time.

Me:  But I always have my hand out and you never to that for me.  Why is it good enough for you but not for me?

Cashier:  (Glowering)  Next please!

It’s funny that when I was looking for pictures for this post that I found this from Switzerland.  That’s all I wanted!  I later found that this is similar in Italy... and those in the industry have a different take altogether. 

          

Links:  Change Plates in Italy, and thoughts on Point-of-Sale Chang Management 

Not surprisingly, the American firms here don’t do this mutch (e.g., Starbucks).  Many German shops also have let the practice go, so perhaps it was a generational thing.  Or perhaps this specific store had some customers complain about getting wrong change so they force their cashiers to stick to such a process.  In any event, for the next time you see a zahlteller, you have been warned.