Schwarzbräu Marie Hausbrendel Hell Beer Review

Marie Hausbrendel Hell

Review Date 3/21/2022 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 1^st through December 24^th. 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 not enough bocks and doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it’s just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I’ve never seen before. I get mine at Costco here in Georgia and pay on average $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.

Last year was a difficult year indeed, as Covid ravaged the world and it was not a sure thing that the Kalea Advent calendars would reach our shores. I braved Costco every week in September, masked with an N95, and finally scored my prize. For 2021, challenges of a different kind arose. Inflation and supply chain woes, thanks again to the persistence of Covid and the way it turned the global economy upside down in 2020, threatened once again to disrupt calendar distibution. On their Facebook page, however, Kalea promised that the calendars would arrive, and arrive they did. I found one at Costco in the second week of September, bought an extra for my future son in law, and stored mone safely away until December. The calendars sold for the same $59.95 they almost always have. Perhaps this was true in other years and I simply did not notice, but this year there were two box styles. One shows all of the included beers on the side, and the other does not, in case you want a true surprise each and every day.

On December 11th, opening the Day 11 door revealed a can of Marie Hausbrendel Hell from Schwarzbräu of Bavaria. I have to say that this beer has one of the most storied backgrounds of any beer that I have ever had in the Kalea calendar; it definitely has the best webiste. If you do not believe me on the latter, just hop on over to Marie Hausbrendel - typisch bayrisch, typisch hell and see for yourself. There is a fascinating story about Marie Hausbrendel, the gal on the label of the beer:

The story of our Marie started in the Golden Twenties: Even as a child, so it is told, little Maria – called Marie – was the heart and soul of the Hausbrendel brewery in the centre of t e bavarian city Augsburg. The lovely smile of the younger daughter of two let the heart of the grumpiest fellows soften; with her big blue eyes and her unshakeable happiness she was able to wrap the biggest grouches around the finger.

Because of that, it is no wonder, that Marie Hausbrendel grew up into a charming young lady. Nearly every boy around the corner kept an eye for her. But she had no interest in romance and preferred to lend her father a hand - after all, she knew the brewery and the pub better than the back of her hand. No, Marie was not above lending a hand - always with a smile on her lips and a kind word for the guests.

The fact that things were particularly nice at the Hausbrendel brewery - thanks to the beautiful Marie - did not remain an Augsburg secret for long. The news quickly got around and was eventually also heard by a certain young lad called Konrad Schwarz from Zusmarshausen. His best buddy, "the postman" had told him about Marie and the bachelor Schwarz quickly became interested: a brewer's daughter who is both beautiful and hardworking - he had to see that with his own eyes!

So he set out to take a look at the Hausbrendel Marie himself. But when he arrived at the pub on Jakobsplatz, the young Schwarz was bitterly disappointed. The waitress in her traditional dirndl dress and apron was quite nice to look at - but there was no sign of dimples or a beaming smile! When he asked the other guests about her, they confirmed that this was the brewer's daughter and so Konrad Schwarz returned to his buddy quite upset. He had to confront the postman. But his friend friendly asked him if he was stupid - Marie was always with her father, delivering beer to their customers, at this time of the day… every child knew that! The inconspicuous waitress he had seen was the older of the two Hausbrendel sisters!

As Konrad heard about his mistake, he wasted no time finding his “real“ Marie. And there she was - unmistakably the stunning apparition from the stories - standing on the table in the middle of the brewery pub. As a woman of action, she was changing a light bulb and was struggling with the socket. Without further ado, the young Schwarz seized his chance, jumped onto the table and helped the beautiful Marie out of a jam. Well, what can we say - under the glow of the new light bulb, one look was enough and both fell head over heels in love.

And so it happened that the wedding bells rang a short time later: The brewer and the brewer's daughter - a story that only life can tell. And from then on, Marie enchanted the Zusmarshauser Braustüberl guests, who fell at the feet of their new hostess. The stories of Marie are still told there today and people drink a pint of ‘Helles‘ in her honour. To make it even better, grandson Leopold Schwarz has now dedicated an own beer to his grandmother - the new Schwarzbräu "Marie Hausbrendel".

Normally, I do not tend to quote so much in a beer review, but you have to admit this story is truly charming. About the beer they say:

Typical Bavarian. Typical Lager.
The Marie Hausbrendel Hell is a typical Bavarian Lager as it is served in the pubs in Bavaria.
It's classically brewed - without pasteurization. Matured at 0°C for a time of eight weeks.
The light golden color is pure joy and shines bright in the traditional Bavarian Willi-Becher.

Marie Hausbrendel Hell has an alcohol content of 4.8% by volume. Ingredients on the can are listed as water, barley malt, rye malt, and hops. My can is stamped EXP 2023/05. The first ten beers in the calendar have been a Hefeweizen, four Helles, three Oktoberfests, a bock, a Kellerbier, and a Pilsner. I think again this year we are heavy on the Helles style as so far we are at 50% Helles. Just for fun, I decided to go back and look at the 2017 calendar in my last review from this calendar, and added to the tabulation of the 2015 and 2016. They were heavy on Helles, too, but after tallying to my surprise there were actually more beers in the Oktobefest/Märzen/Festbier category, though granted that is really two styles. Adding the 2018 calendar beers we now have the following mix:

Dortmunder	6	6%
Munich Helles	22	21%
Oktoberfest	23	21%
Munich Dunkles	9	8%
Hefeweizen	9	8%
Dunkelweizen	8	7%
Zwickl/Kellerbier	5	5%
Kristalweizen	1	1%
Pilsner	8	7%
Bock	1	1%
IPA	3	3%
Doppelbock	3	3%
Maibock	3	3%
Pale Ale	4	4%
Rauchbier	2	2%

Marie Hausbrendel Hell pours to a pale golden color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of fresh baked bread. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body, crisp biscuity and bready, and balanced with grassy bitter hops in the finish. This beer bursts with fresh malty goodness and is backed up by just the right amount of hops to balance but still allow the malt to be the star. Excellent, one of the better Helles lagers I have had from this calendar.

I’m greatly enjoying my 7th annual Beer Advent Calendar with the day 11 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 13, and another assortment of 24 in 2022. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco, and following the beers on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2021 Beer Advent Calendar:

Day 1 Herrngiersdorf Grantler Hell

Day 2 Hoamat Weissbier

Day 3 Egerer Alms Hell

Day 4 Rheder Husarentrunk

Day 5 Kraftbierwerkstat Der Schwarze Bock

Day 6 Herrnbrau Zwickl Kellerbier

Day 7 Kurpfalz Bräu Helles

Day 8 Egerer Wiener Lager

Day 9 Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen

Day 10 Käuzle German Pilsner Style

Day 11 Marie Hausbrendel Hell