Matt Morgan reviews some Sprecher beer varieties.
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Sprecher
beer reviews
Submitted
by Matt
Morgan
So
I happened upon Cal’s Bar
today, as I was running errands with my wife, Janelle, during an
ever-so-brief, all-too-real, vacation for both of us.
My wife ordered a vodka-tonic (hold the tonic) and I pondered my beer order. Janelle is a beer drinker, but her first beer ever was Hoegaarden (the Belgian white beer), so there are pretty high standards to be met before she’ll order a beer.
The bartender that day, Kelly, who happens to be one of the nicer bartenders at Cal’s, helped me pick a brew off the beaten path. That brew, Sprecher 16oz. Abbey-Triple, how I have never tasted the malevolent malt of this significance is beyond me.
However, as transcending as the first beer was, I was informed that there were several flavors of this brew. I use the term "malevolent" to describe it, as this beer is 8.3% alcohol by volume. Sprecher beer, although German-sounding in name, is actually brewed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has very significant flavor.
Sprecher beer reviews
I quickly asked for a note pad/card and scribbled the first adjectives that came to mind as I tasted each brew.
Sprecher Abbey-Triple, 8.41% abv; a Belgian Trappist triple yeast culture is used in this recipe, all I managed to jot from memory was "smooth and malty".
Janelle agreed. She is a chef and her bent is food and flavor chemistry. She also was able to pick up on other subtle nuances of flavor that my shell-shocked palate missed.
By the time I was halfway finished with my second pint, a Sprecher Piper’s Scotch-style Ale, I realized that these were 8.3% abv. NOW, as it were, I examined my palate-to-brain synapses and it registered like an ‘87 Ford trying to start in a blizzard... in 2007. I had fuel, fire, ignition, er-er-eerr-er. Janelle concurred.
Third beer. Sprecher Hefe-Weis. Honey, iced tea, citrus intonations... hmmm... pretzel with mustard... this beer surely was the token wheat and citrus beauty of the Sprecher beers. She is the figure skater of the Sprecher beer family, she dances about your palate and gently is digested at the lighter 4.2% abv. This twin of Hacker-Pschorr, with no need for a lemon, is a good finisher as you want to slow your roll after meeting the heavier-set brothers. Janelle ordered a Sprecher Hefe-Weis.
My goodness, a beer has rendered me speechless! Well sure, I had plenty to say as I was drinking Sprecher after Sprecher beer. The only adjective that came close to describing this bountiful flavor, delivered by Kelly’s husband, Rory, who is a food columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, was "mellifluous", and that was in description of one of his favorite beers, Fat Tire, brewed in Colorado.
I have never tried
Fat Tire beer myself, but I’ve heard so much about it and its
price: and now, priceless adjective delivered in its name... I must try
it. It just wasn’t in the cards this evening, but it is
served at Cal’s Liquors. Fat tire is in my future.
One brew that I took home as part of a four-pack of pints Cal graciously let me mix was Sprecher Amber Special Lager, 5% abv. The hoppiest of the Sprecher beer I have tasted so far, and as you know bitter, you know hops.
If that is your flavor, then order a Sprecher Amber Special.
If you like a lot of hops, that is the bitterness in this brew, you probably are a fan of IPA. Sprecher does have an IPA, but as I am so excited to report on my recent experience, I have yet to taste said ale.
I believe the Amber Special is a very malty interpretation of an IPA. In fact, I do enjoy some bitters, but I think the hops in Sprecher’s IPA would ravage my taste buds to the point of being unable to taste anything else for a week.
Now I am sipping as I type, sloppily backspacing and correcting errors of grammar, spelling and judgment. In fact, did I just deduce that hops are the dominant flavor of IPA? Hops are bitter? Sounds like beer 101 to me, even as if I know what flavors I speak of. Still I press on.
Hmm... is this good enough? I think not. As your Illinois beer guide, I must work harder to find adequate adjectives to describe these flavors.
Let’s take Sprecher Winter Brew, 5.75% abv. Now I have darker-tasting, hoppy, malty, roof of the mouth flavor. A very fine balance of hops and malt, this beer truly quenches the thirst for beer in all of its roasted malt glory.
Now my home tasting of Sprecher
Piper’s Scotch Ale, 8.27% abv; full-bodied, smooth,
malty, yes malt is the dominant flavor in most of these brews. Perhaps
that is because in the world of beer flavor, malt is the sweet to hops'
bitterness, hence the aforementioned mellifluous flavor from first
Sprecher beer until the very last drop.
I have a lot more room for flavor adjectives here, but I’m too imbibed (six pints) to give any more admissible evidence of Sprecher beer’s worthiness.
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