Beltway Beer

Early in my beer-drinking career, I discovered a brewery down in Atlanta called Sweetwater. They were one of the featured breweries in a “beer of the month” style club. That was my first exposure to a really great nut brown called “Sweet Georgia Brown” (now renamed to just “Georgia Brown”). Unfortunately they don’t distribute in these here parts; I’m told that they only go as far north as Raleigh, North Carolina, but that they have plans to expand up into Virginia soon. (Update: Sweetwater tells me that they hope to be distributing to Richmond, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach by summer.)

I found myself driving through Atlanta at Christmas time this year (long story, don’t ask) and decided to check a few convenience store freezers for some of their brews. No Georgia Brown, but I did pick up a 6-pack of their 420 Extra Pale Ale. It’s a nice, easy-drinking, well-designed beer. Very sessionable, and probably also what I’d call a “training wheel” beer — one that you could easily pull out to help someone interested in making the transition from drinking mass-produced beers to craft beers. Still craving that Georgia Brown, but kudos to Sweetwater for this light, crisp, well-done beer.

Now THIS is a beer. It’s brewed by Weltenburger Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Bavaria, Germany. Classed as a dunkel, the German word for dark, these are known to be smooth, malty brews.

Pours a dark amber with ruby red hightlights and ample, tannish bubbly head. Nose is all big, biscuity malts — hard to detect much else. It really goes down smooth, with a slick, soft mouthfeel that makes it very drinkable. For all its aggressive aroma, though, it’s actually quite tame in the best way. Malts up front with a very slight hop taste on the finish. For its deep amber color, it’s actually very light and refreshing, extremely sessionable. Not as in-your-face malty as something like Spaten Optimator (which, by the way, is one of my favorite beers at the moment). This has a very delicate sweetness that is extremely satisfying. I’d say this is an excellent “training wheel” beer, to introduce people who are curious about craft brews to some more robust and complex flavors without scaring them off.

While I’m on the topic, here’s an interesting article about how aging monks at monasteries that sell well-known beers (like Westmalle) are increasingly taking a back seat as they grow long in the tooth. Link here.