Guten Tag meine Freunde! If the title and the first line of this week’s post hasn’t clued you in, there is a German theme this week. Mainly because Oktoberfest was supposed to have started this week in Munich. Oktoberfest is the worlds largest beer festival, lasting from mid September until the first weekend in October. Unfortunately, like most things the past two years, the festival has been canceled. THANKS COVID. Also, (not that I need to tell you fine folk, but I’m going to say it anyway) GET VACCINATED!!!
Sorry for raising my voice there.
Anyway, I’ve always wanted to go to Oktoberfest. Eventually I’ll get there when this nonsense is over. In lieu of that, I went looking for a German or Oktoberfest centric cocktail, and came up rather empty. Germany, it turns out doesn’t have a big cocktail culture apparently. I even consulted a buddy who is a bartender, and his girlfriend, who is from Germany. There isn’t much of a cocktail scene there. I was only find a couple of “cocktails” searching on the internets, and they were beer based. Surprise surprise.
So what am I making? This week I’m making a Dark Beer Punch, or an altbierbowle. All this drink consists of, is beer and fruit. I’m certainly intrigued:
1 apple
4 ounces strawberries
4 ounces raspberries
1 quart chilled Altbier dark German beer
2 ounces sugar
lemon balm and fresh raspberries for decoration optional
Put the sugar in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.
Wash the apple, core and quarter it and cut into pieces. Wash and dry the strawberries and raspberries. Place the fruit in a punch bowl and pour the sugar syrup on top. Cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour.
Add the dark beer and decorate with skewers of fresh raspberries and lemon balm.
I did scale the recipe down since I had a dark beer. Granted it is an OVERSIZE beer, but still, not what the recipe calls for.
Aroma is Dunkel. All the way. I get nothing from the fruit on the nose. Not surprising since the beer I have is a whiskey barrel aged Dunkel, so it is more potent than your average German bier.
The Dunkel flavor leads off, which is not a surprise at all. About halfway through the sip I can start to get the sweetness from the fruit and simple syrup. That mixes nicely with the strong beer flavor of the Dunkel and adds a nice balance. For a moment. The deep whiskey barrel notes start to shine, (as does the 7.7% ABV) to immediately bring the sweet and fruit flavors back into the background. . The sip remains a mixture of deep, dark beer notes, with a little bit of sweet undertones underneath. A point of clarity is needed here I think. When I scaled down, I built the drink in the stein, rather than in a punch bowl and serving from there. Next time, I’ll either make the punch properly, or add more fruit to my beer.
I’m on the fence about this. On one hand, I do like the flavors going on here, and despite using a Dunkel and not specifically an Altbier, I think it still works. On the other hand, a beer punch, is…beer wearing fancy clothes. I like German beers as they are, and I think I would prefer the beer sans fruit.
(Banner image found here)
Until next week, Cheers!
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Looks wonderful and I would try it fo sho if someone else made it. But your assessment of dressed up beer convinced me to never do it myself. I don’t mind being fussy (I used to skin bell peppers cooking for one), but
It’s
Beer
Dammit
Loved this post.
Agreed. It was delicious – both in beer and “punch form” but…its beer. No need to gussy it up. But if offered a stein of the punch, I’d happily accept
Holy shit, that looks good. I keep thinking you are gonna run out of drank ideas, but you are a true Keeper of the Book.
I have so many more where I’m just one or two ingredients short.
If you like German beer, try a Weihenstephan Vitus. It’s a wheat bock at 7.7% ABV, but it drinks easier than that.
Have ordered this
Excited to try it out
Oooh that looks good.
I’m pretty sure the typical German would say, “Why ruin a perfectly good beer by adding something to it?”
Also, “May I masturbate while watching you poop?”
“on me”
I have been to a couple Oktoberfests, it is a blast, wonderful vibe in the big tents. Outside of those its basically a state fair with booths and rides.
I went to Oktoberfest at Busch Gardens in Tampa back when the brewery was still open and you could get beer there. I don’t think it is anymore. I was even more of a lightweight back then. It was not my finest moment. Ja, it was nacht gut. I haven’t been on a spinny ride since then, but I still love roller coasters. This is one of the many reasons Gumbygirl has a two drink limit, and mostly sticks to weed.
2 real German 1 liter steins will wreck you. They are like 7 x in dog beers…
I studied German for 4 years in high school and have forgotten more than I learned, but did an Oktoberfest for the class and that was a lot of fun. We had crusty bread, sausages, Nutella, all sorts of good German food, and root beer. That was a good time!
I did 2 tours in Germany, 5 years of mostly fun… when not in the field. And even in the field we could usually scout out a good local fest… or gasthaus… on certain down time occasions. Joe knows how to find his fun.
Reposting from the Sunday night thread a cocktail recipe I liked:
2 oz. apple brandy
1/4 oz. ginger liqueur
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1/4 oz. cinnamon simple syrup*
Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, garnish with a piece of apple peel.
Tastes like a boozy apple cider.
*bring 2 parts sugar to one part water to a boil, throw in a stick or three or cinnamon, and let steep for 1-6 hours. Remove the cinnamon and store in your fridge.
That sounds amazing
The thing about making these infused syrups is that now I have to come up with more uses for them, so if you have any ideas for cinnamon syrup let me know. Of course coffee (with or without booze) comes to mind.
Hot chocolate or any other liquid dessert could benefit from cinnamon syrup. Or maybe a little bit on top of vanilla ice cream?
For going to Oktoberfest, I’ve got a slightly easier version for you.
Come to Canada.
No.
Stop laughing
Seriously.
The second largest celebration of Oktoberfest happens in Canada in Kitchener\Waterloo every year (Covid notwithstanding). It’s about an hour west of Toronto, so not too bad travel wise. As someone that went to post-secondary there, the whole place is basically drunk for the first 2 weeks of October every year. It’s a blast, but you need to buy tickets, like, NOW for next year if you want any where good. So some planning ahead is needed.
Yeah, I’ll be going to that.
let me know if you do and I’ll try to make it out there for a joint BOTG.
For sure! Who know when it will be but it sounds awesome.
Hang on, I’m not done laughing
So….why isn’t it called Septemberfest?
Already claimed. Allahuh akbar
For Germany I think the cocktail list is beer, schnapps and apple wine.
And that’s about it.
Jägermeister?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGDolE35XHA
It’s always schnapps or apple brandy in any of the detective series I read!
Although I love a good whiskey or margarita, if someone told me “the only alcohol you can drink for the rest of your life is beer,” I’d be okay with that.