Osser Gold

Review Date 2/29/2016  By John Staradumsky

           

For Christmas of 2015, my wife bought me a really cool present: BeerAdvent Calendar 2015 from Kalea. In truth, my wife got me a lot of nice presents (she’s the best wife ever), but the nice thing about the Beer Advent Calendar is you get it early. You have to, since it’s comprised of 24 different imported German beers in a box with little doors that you open, one per day from December 1st through December 24th. All of the beers are listed on the side of the carton, however, so be careful not to look and spoil the daily surprises!

I love German beer more than beer from any other country on Earth, so this was definitely right up my alley. My one criticism of the calendar is there are no bocks or doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it’s just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I’ve never seen before. I got mine a Costco here in Georgia and paid $59.95 for the box. That might sound steep, but when you distribute that price over 24 different half liter cans, it only works out to $2.50 per can. Not a bad deal at all looked at that way.

Today is day 7 of the Beer Advent Calendar, and once again I'm being introduced to yet another new German brewery. Germany has long been a land much like America is just getting back to today, with a plethora of small and large local breweries (about 1300 today). Many of these breweries are in Bavaria, among them Spath Brau Osser GMBH in Lohberg near the Czech border.

One of their best-selling beers is Osser Gold, and that's the Beer Advent Calendar brew under consideration tonight. The brewery slogan is "Ja, des ist under bier!" (yes, that's our beer!". My can has "Echt. Erlich. Sau Gut." on the bottom (Real. Honest. So good.).

Osser Gold is of course brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot which celebrates its 500th Anniversary this year. The brewery dates back 140 years and their beer even has its own song. You can visit their webpage at www.osser-bier.de.

Osser Gold has an alcohol content of 5% by volume and is a Dortmunder Export in style. The brewery makes a specialty Weihnachtsbier that might have been more appropriate for the Advent Calendar, but I am very happy to try the Osser Gold. My can is stamped packaged on July third of 2015 and best by September 1st of 2016.

Osser Gold pours to a brilliant golden color with a thick fluffy white head and a slightly sweet bready malt nose. Taking a sip the beer just bursts with that lightly sweet wonderfully fresh bready malt. The beer ends with a gentle sweetness and a hint of grassy herbal hop aroma and bitterness It's hard to stop drinking it this deliciously malty infused with fragrant, perfumey flowery hops. It's just what I want in the style, lots of malt and hops working together to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

I’m greatly enjoying my Beer Advent Calendar with the day 7 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 17, and another assortment of 24 in 2016. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco, and following the beers on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2015 Beer Advent Calendar:

Day 1 Alpinebrauerei Burgerbrau Alpen Stoff

Day 2 Ankerbrau Nordlingen Grandl Helles Lagerbier

Day 3 Herrnbrau Tradition Bayerisches Festbier

Day 4 Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf Publiner

Day 5 Hofbrauhaus Friesing Huber Weisses

Day 6 Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell

Day 7 Spath Brau Osser Osser Gold

Day 8 Hosl Marzenbier

Day 9 Wittmann Urhell

Day 10 Kloster Urstoff Marzen

Day 11 Egerer Eaglebrau Weizenbier Dunkel

Day 12 Egerer 1516 Schloss Weisse

Day 13 Barbarossa Pilsener

Day 14 Lausaria Romergold Export Hell

Day 15 Egerer Winter Weisse

Day 16 Kress Bayrisch Zwickel

Day 17 Egerer Winterfestbier

Day 18 Egerer Konig Wilhelm Ur-Weisse Dunkel

Day 19 Egerer Das Besondere Festbier

Day 20 Egerer Baren Weisse

Day 21 Bierkutscher Edel Pils

Day 22 Alpenkonig Gold

Day 23 Egerer Altbayrisch Dunkel

Day 24 Edel Bayer Urtyp Hell

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??

 

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

(B)=Bottled, Canned

(D)=Draft





 

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