Ayinger Jahrhundert Bier
By John & Dad on February 3, 2007 @ 8 PM (No Comments)
Note: The Ayinger Jahrhundert Bier was reviewed by both John and Dad on different days and originally posted as two separate reviews. We usually do our combined reviews together in one post, so this post has been edited to bring you both reviews on one post.
Son Beer Love Review (February 3, 2007):
This is my second tasting of the Jahrhundert Bier. Ayinger makes some exceptional beer – this one is subtitled (and roughly translated to) a “Century Celebration Bavarian Lager.” The bottle is 1 pint, 1 ounce, as are most Ayinger bottles. I found it at World Market and wanted to try it a second time because my initial thoughts of it were so high I thought it may be too good to be true. Could it withstand a second scrutiny? Indeed, it does.
The pour is good – it’s golden and clear with a nice head. The head looks like whip cream and makes you want to dive in. An unassuming, but familiar smell, you don’t know what to expect as it looks like any other beer. The first taste makes me tilt my head and close my eyes. “Did I just taste what I thought I tasted?” Second taste confirms my initial thoughts – this beer tastes like Germany. And that smell? It smells like a beer tent at the Wiesn. Dad and I were in Germany for Oktoberfest in 2006 and this reminds me of that. It reminds me of being in a beer tent with a huge beer, eagerly gulping it down and eating a huge beer pretzel, waiting for our beer wench to take our order for a half roasted hendel. It’s smooth, so very smooth. Not much aftertaste – just a clean finish. It has a touch of sweetness to that makes me almost place it somewhere between a nice Munich lager beer and a Radler (our dessert beer in Munich – half beer/half lemonade). You want to gulp it down as if you’ve got a full liter stein, but you open your eyes and realize you’ve just got a frosty pint glass. Yes – this beer makes me feel like I’m in a beer tent in Munich and it makes me want it that much more.
In researching online I noticed it has won some awards – Gold Medal and World Champion – 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 World Beer Championships. A must try beer.
Father Beer Love Review (February 16, 2007):
Pours a cloudy medium gold with a nice white head. Smells clean and faintly wheatish. Slightly sweet and fairly light hops but still definitely present. Has a light to medium light finish but in this case it is a great thing as it helps me remember the wonderful taste a bit longer. Later I can catch a bit of floral aroma. The sweetness reminds me of the great radlers @ the Augustiner Keller in Munich. This is the real deal.
Only halfway through and I’m still shuddering at the taste of this wonderful bier and tears are welling up in my eyes as I contemplate the end of the bottle. God make the bottle more full than when I put it back in the icebox PLEASE. I can’t even imagine what this would taste like on tap. If I only had a real German bier pretzel this would be as close to heaven on earth as anything could be. Just tried it with some pretzel sticks (bad American bakers) and the saltiness heightened the flavor.
The remarkable thing is balance in the brew. Harmony is the key word. Everything comes together in a beautiful harmony. After I finished I wouldn’t even pour my American beer into the same pilsner glass. I really look forward to my next one.
