Editor’s note: Franz Solo recently found some time in his busy, busy life to write about some of the beer he’s had recently. Let us all give thanks for this rare but wonderful contribution to the blog, especially when a certain editor is buried under baseball box scores. — Stoutmeister

Hails and Horns for good beer in the spring time! On a recent trip to restock my beer fridge, I had a hankering for some good German beer as it had been awhile since the last one I tried. I picked up a couple and the one I’ve tried so far is Moosbacher’s Kellerbier.

Initial impressions: a light golden brown color with a minimal head, very clean and clear flavor with a mid palate rush of wheat and sweet caramel, similar to a homemade honey wheat bread I’ve made in the past.

As it so happened, I had a bottle of Sam Adam’s Alpine Spring to do a little head-to-head tasting. The Alpine Spring had a much stronger head and lighter color, whereas the Moosbacher was more of a brown amber color with a subtle head. There was a significant difference in aroma as well. The Alpine had a sweet and citrus aroma with hints of wheat and honey, while the Moosbacher had a heavier, danker honey and malt aroma with a hint of caramel.

In terms of flavor these are of a kind overall but quite unique in individual elements. From the Alpine Spring, I get a very crisp and sweet honey flavor that hits on the front-to-mid palate like a good green apple with honey, and then the remainder cascades down with a mildly hoppy cumquat flavor, utterly smooth. Moosbacher reminds me of mead, a darker honey paired with an apple pie on whole wheat crust; the finish is like real butterscotch, smooth and rich.

I may be more of a double-imperial-whatever-ale connoisseur, but in the rush of a newborn spring, these ales really hit the spot. I could see myself drinking ein Kellerbier mit Frühstück on a half-cold Saturday morning, watching apple blossoms blowing in a spring breeze. These are very comforting beers, like chamomile tea with honey at bedtime, and I look forward to more encounters with the beer under the boards (in der Kellar), so to speak.

Pröst!

— Franz Solo