Uerige Sticke

Brewed by Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei
Style: Altbier
Düsseldorf, Germany

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

11.2 fl oz swing top bottle purchased at Lukas in Kansas City, Missouri. Bottled on 10.08 code 09.09. Opens with a pop. Pour is hazed orange copper brown with a lasting three inch creamy off white head. Head falls eventually with thick foamy lacing. Aroma of fresh grass, herbal hay and slight lemon citrus element. Under that is an almost minty grain element. The freshness of the nose really surprised me; given the age of this bottle(perhaps I am just misreading the bottled on, perhaps this is August 10th, not October 2008) I was expecting something a bit duller. Taste is clean grain biscuit sweet malt up front, followed quickly by the grass hay herbal and citrus of the nose. The finish has some nice yeast character to it, showing some clove and spice. Palate is medium, with active carbonation. Really satisfying and easy to drink.

11.2 oz, bottled 01/11. Poured into a Captain Lawrence snifter and got a nice coconut white head atop clear garnet brown. Nose is sweet, nutty; maybe pecans, caramel and molasses; even some stewed prunes in there. Taste is a letdown after the malty subtleties of the aroma. Watery caramel and muddled grassy bitterness finishing with black pepper. Could be okay for a few pints.

500ml swing top bottle, 28th Feb 2008. Pours a dark amber with a line of head. The aroma is earthy and malty with a cheesy and yeasty character. Very malty at the start of the sip but then the subtle bitterness comes through. Quite fiery alcoholic warmth on the finish. Flavoursome but flawed.

11.2 oz. custom bottle. Pleasant, nutty, sweet aroma, some caramel and hazelnut with hints of creamy toffee, flowery, spicy hops and cookieish malts. Some vague fruits lurking in the background. Rusty dark orange color with a slight, fine head. Flavor depth is highly impressive, with plenty of toasty, succulent, sugary, bready malts up front and bright, tangy, salty, herbal, fruity, spicy bitterness underneath, intertwined with notes of butterscotch and leafy hops. Light, refreshing, peppery mouthfeel with a low level of effervescence, body is medium. Incredibly drinkable and a fine Alt.

Bottled: Delightful, through and through.The aroma is soft chewy caramel and flowery hops, grassy. Yes, burnt plastic, slightly sweet maltiness abounds in the flavors (it's a hellofafine burnt plastic, this) - did someone say some peach?, yes, I concur. But the melding, the balance of the grassiness with the slightly acrid sweetish malt, is what astounds here. The only flaw is the slight alcoholic thinning at the full warm level. Shows how good Blimp City's version really was (Arbor Brewing #22 and McNeill's are off style comparitively, but in the case of the latter much fuller bodied and in the former too carbonated) - Damn, I love a hoppy alt (this is 65 IBUs, I think?) - I'm in love with this thing.

Bottle at home. Pours a clear dark copper with a diminishing off-white head. Very bitter with an underlying sweetness. Strong hops aromas. Also tiny hints of metals and soy sauce towards the end and in the finish. Medium to full bodied. Medium carbonation. Lond bitter finish.

Bottled:
Very malty, sweet aroma. Aromatic flavor, ester, sweet, fruity. Quite bitter, dry and hoppy finish. Very good beer.

Clear, dark coppery color, 1/4" ring of dusted brown head. Aroma speaks of little at first, but squeaks up a bit to talk of coffee, cocoa, nuts, a glorious, dark-toned morass. So, drink up! Ah, smoo-oo-ooth, with a deep, roasty, dark tinge on the palate. Delicate and delcicious, tangible touch on the tongue, great cocoa/coffee feel, that is so light, but so right! Tasty, tasty, tasty! Niceness personified in this bottle! Hurray for the lucky pubfolk of Dusseldorf that get to enjoy this freshly flowing! After my critical faculties have retired, it’s nothing but pure enjoyment, full-bodied,long-finish, but so perfectly smooth, I’m left uttering nothing but simple praise: Yu-umm, I’m saying, and wowwy-wow, wow!