Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell

Review Date 2/6/2016  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.

With Day 6 we find ourselves in Passau in southern Bavaria enjoying a can of Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell described by the brewery as a Goldenes Helles. Passau is known as the city of three rivers, hence the motto on the can: Drei Flusse, Zwei Lowen, Ein Beer: Three rivers, two lions, one beer.

One of the fun things with trying all these wonderful German beers from my advent calendar is visiting the brewery websites. This gives me a chance to practice my college German, but its also amusing to click the verifications certifying I'm at least 16 years old. Yes, you can drink beer at 16 in Germany.

From the brewery website describing Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell, roughly translated:

The secret of our brilliant, bright color and fine, wholesome taste: selected barley varieties from various Bavarian regions are carefully processed into malt at the malt house....only the finest aroma hop varieties of Hallertau and other areas of Bavaria....

They go on to tout their cold lagering and filtration to deliver a fine end beer. That beer has an alcohol content of 4.8% by volume and like all the beers in the collection so far was packed on July 3rd of 2015 and recommended for consumption before September 1st of 2016.

Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell pours to a pale golden color with a thick creamy head of pillowy foam and a soft bready malt nose that makes you think you’re about to enjoy a slice off of a fresh loaf rather than a glass of beer. A glass of beer this is, though, and upon sipping I taste that light bready malt I got in the nose followed by a very gentle grassy hop aroma in the finish. The beer is slightly sweet but well balanced by the lingering herbal hop bitterness.

Delightful in its simplicity and drinkability, Lowenbrauerei Passau Urtyp Hell is a pure pleasure to sip and enjoy. It's also interesting in that it is quite comparable to Lowenbrau Original from the Munich Lowenbrau brewery. I would buy this beer again in a heartbeat if I had regular access to it.

I’m greatly enjoying my Beer Advent Calendar with the day 6 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 18, 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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