Schwelmer Alt

Formerly brewed at Brauerei Schwelm
Style: Altbier
Schwelm, Germany

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

Stopper bottle. Very dark brown. malt aroma. smells of port or raisins. thin white head. very short finish. thin bodied. slight bitterness.

Golden brown with a beige head. Awesome, thick lace! Nose is sweet malt, biscuit, light brown sugar. Flavor is the same, with a mild hop bite. Sweet toffee finish, plus a mild bitter. Nice.

Stubby bottle: Reddish brown with a foamy and sticky head. Strong aroma ... brown sugar, malt, molasses. The flavor is less offending ... sweet toffee, mostly. Bit thinner than I had anticipated based on the aroma. Not your typical alt beer, but something different.

Looks good, smells good. Pretty hardy, and a little sharp for me. Guess I’m just not an Alt guy.

Pours an amber brown with a small, thin white head. Aroma is malts, some spice, and perhaps some fruit. Flavor is malty, with some nuts, toffee, and hops. Mouthfeel is fairly slick, with a bit of carbonation. Very refreshing for a summer day.

This looks like it should be a strong bordering on overwhelming beer but it is not. This is real german beer, true to its ingredients and unwilling to let any one dominate. It is beautiful looking like expensive furniture. I find the malt the most pronounced but really it is just politely allowing the hops to bow to it. An elegant dance -- which is a very pretentious way to explain a very unpretentious beer.

bottle. A hard to find style in this area. Dark brown color with a dense medium head. Grassy hop aroma, crisp/clean. faintly sweet with a decent amount of bitterness. An underappreciated style.

Pours a clear dark copper mahogany with a thin-lacing off-white head. Sweet, lightly toasted caramel malty and cookie dough aroma. Body starts with a light caramel malty sweetness turning more dry and bitter toward the finish. An ok, fairly true to style altbier.