I took a ride this evening and did some beer hunting. When I arrived at Yankee Wine and Spirits, just over the line in Attleboro, Massachusetts and about a half hour ride from my home, I spied several beers from the Pinkus Brauerei in Germany. Yankee is located in an old supermarket, and they fill it, the beer section takes up one entire row with six packs and singles on shelves. Opposite that is an equal length of cases, and the next aisle over is nothing but coolers full of beer. Stores like these can sometimes have stale product if you're not careful, so you can imagine my delight at seeing bottles of Pinkus gleaming on the shelf. I actually have had these beers before, but this was the first time I had seen them at Yankee.

Merchant du Vin of Seattle imports these beers into the United States. Pinkus Muller is a small Munster brewer with roots going back to the beginning of the 19th century. I recall drinking their beers back in the eighties. They were organic then, they are organic now. Pinkus was organic when organic wasn't cool.

My sample is quite fresh tasting. It has a light golden color and a vigorous head formation of lightly packed bubbles. The nose is full of soft malt character. The palate here is crisp and malty, clean and herbal with hops, the finish nicely bitter. This reminds me more of a pilsner than an alt, more so for the light malt character more than the hop aromatics and bitterness.

Of course, it does say it's a Munster alt rather than a Dusseldorfer, so we'll allow some idiosyncrasy. It's a good deal at $2.99 for a half liter bottle. I would recommend it with most fare, a baked ham comes to mind with oven roasted potatoes at the moment.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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