I have visited Hamburg (Germany;) recently. Congress
was great, but from the point of the blog, most important is Hamburg beer
scene. On the map of Germany, Hamburg is (at least for me) one of the most
interesting cities if you want something other than Pils. Hamburg is one of the
cities where the craft beer revolution started in Germany (ok let’s call it
craft beer movement in Germany. Over 95% of beer sold in Germany is very
classical – lager, pils etc. And its stable to my knowledge). Breweries like
Ratsherrn or Buddelship are well known to beer lovers around Germany.
On top of the breweries, there are some multitaps
there and after some research I have decided to visit the Galopper des Jahres, being
described as a secret tip.
Galopper is located in very nice area of
Sternschanze district of Hamburg, 5 minute’s walk from the closest U-bahn
station. Very safe, nothing happened. Bar itself is located in an old and impressive building
and at the time of my arrival (9 pm, Wednesday) was quite full. Luckily, there
was no problem with drinking outside in the fresh air. Also, what is different
to e.g.: Belgium – not so many Germans smoke, therefore you can safely assume that
the atmosphere outside would be rather clean.
Inside, Galopper is rather dark, with sparsely
placed lights and rather cozy atmosphere. You can order at the bar, or have a
waiter/bartender coming to you with the beer. The number of beers was quite
impressive. 12 taps and a number of beers in bottle. Very nice.
Bit less nice is the ongoing, relatively loud
music. Style was OK for the beer, but believe me in the room filled with 50+
people you don’t really need to add music. Its loud enough. It’s a beer bar not
a disco. Other thing was that it’s not clearly a beer bar – what you can see on
the photo is the solid choice of other drinks.
I was solely hoping for a choice of Buddelship
beers from the tap, but they were simply not there, therefore I have decided to
try beers from Kompaan brewery. At least something new for me. Maybe a bit unfortunately (should start with lighter beer),
I have started with the double porter.
VRIJBUITER (Kompaan 45)
What stroked me was the fact that there was a
heavy, brutal, long lasting head over the top. I don’t think that I have ever
seen such a head on the porter before. Beer itself is dark brown, clear aroma
of bourbon and malt. What I do not really like is the taste that starts clear
sweet and alcohol. Bitterness is almost not present and probably does not come
from hops. Very average porter, if you can get any other, go for it.
I have decided to continue along the lines of the
dark beer and went for the imperial stout.
BLOEDBROEDER (Kompaan 39)
Again, the beer was served with an enormous head.
Deep in my heart I was starting to get suspicious that there is something wrong
with the brewing process of Kompaan. Two beers of different style that go high
like the Coca-Cola? Strange. Still, I have patiently worked my way through the
head and got some aroma and taste after a while. Well, aroma is mostly malts
(again), maybe with a decent note of burned coffee and scotch. Taste is again
very sweet for this type of beer but complemented with caramel, smoked vanilla.
Bit earthy. Light bitter. It is not the imperial stout that I could drink every
time, but if this is the only one in the bar – go get it, you will not be
harmed
Finally, I have decided to go for the last dark
beer from Kompaan they have on tap. Or at least I have decided that it is dark.
Why that?
Well,
look on the description of the beers on the photo above. They simply do not
provide the complete information in this bar. I had to spend a serious amount
of time after, to decipher what beers I was actually drinking. Why were you
able to write that the IPA is called “Handlager” and you were too shy to say that
the double porter is called Vrijbuiter (I hope I am correct). BTW: Why do you
use imperial stout, imperial IPA and insist on calling the beer double porter? Call it imperial porter.
Normally, I could go to ask the staff member,
but the place is so loud that even ordering of the beer is challenging.
BLOEDBROEDER ABELOUR BARREL
(Kompaan 39)
Based on the information found later I believe it’s
the barrel aged version of the previous beer. It again came with the huge head.
Barrel aging has added some whisky and oak notes to the overall picture. Body
is a bit too small for the style, but overall, this was a very pleasant
experience to drink it.
I may not be very
quick in reacting, but this was a moment when I was almost sure than the guys
at Galopper have a damage in their tap and it produces a way too much foam on
beers. This thing should not happen in the bar that claims to be a multi-tap
and smells like amateur work. I went extra to the bar and took a look there. See the photo? All
beers there standing below the tap (different glasses and colors) have huge head. Indeed,
something is wrong.
But it is not the
tap (at least not only) – this time I have ordered the IPA from the same
company and looked exactly how they pour it.
...
These greenhorns pour
beer top down to a glass. Like water. Just dump, don’t even bother to give a
glass a certain angle to stop the foam. Now, no wonder that even low carbonated
porter will get a humongous head here. It is soooooo disappointing to see a bar
with the huge amount of beer and people who do not know how to serve it. My 11-year-old
son can pour the beer better than that and my daughter is more exact when
describing things.
I have a suggestion,
you have the Ratsherrn brewery almost next door, take the 2 hours’ beer tasting
tour there. Look carefully how the guy is pouring their beers. You really have
a lot to learn. Probably, since you are amateurs you are not aware of the
simple fact – you can change the taste and beer experience by the way of
pouring the beer. Multi tap. Pffffffff.
Just to be exact:
HANDLAGER (Kompaan 39) Imperial IPA
Overall a bit watery for an IPA, aroma is
rather low, exotic fruits mostly. Taste bitter, well balanced with exotic. Medium
body, acceptable carbonation. Not the best IPA I have ever had, but at least
worth trying.
My summary is clear. Kompaan may have some
interesting beers to try, but I am quite sure that there are better places to
try them than “Galopper des Jahres”.
After a while, I
have realized that its nonsense. Of course, if you give me 200 IBU I will take
it, but the fact is that the everyday beer does need to be barley wine. Druga
Zmiana (Second Shift) is one of the best examples of that situation. This beer
is hoppy and aromatic enough to keep even the majority of the craft-beer lovers
calm. On the other hand, it is still very light (12% extract) and low, 4.7%
alcohol make it acceptable for the majority of weak lager drinkers. There is
one interesting thing about it – this is the first beer I know to use Cascade
hops that were grown in Poland. This is a kind of interesting novelty, Cascade are
one of my favorite hops and were normally grown only in US. Cascade PL was
first planted in 2011 (to my knowledge). The effect is very interesting – after
replanting from the sunny California to more moderate climate Cascade seem to
be losing a lot of its aromatic hoppy bite. It is still more aromatic than the
most of the original, European bitter hops, but not even close to its American ancestor*.
Still nice to try.
