Tucher Rotbier

Review Date 8/3/2023  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Amber Lager   Brewery: Tucher   Country: Germany   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.18 (B)   ABV: 5.2%

I wasn’t looking for Tucher Rotbier. It, however, was apparently looking for me. I was actually on the hunt for Anchor beer, the demise of that brewery having recently been announced, and a 12-pack of revived beers from Sierra Nevada. I was at Total Wine in Kennesaw, Georgia, and having found neither of those beers on my list, I browsed to see what I could see. And what I saw was a lone, ragged four-pack of Tucher Rotbier.

Just one, you see. It was the last one, and one of the cans had fallen out onto the shelf, lying on its side. The cans were dented, as if someone had spilled them all out of their cardboard carrier, and now, no one wanted them. Excelt, of course, for me. So, I tucked that can back in with the rest, varefully placed it in my cart and at the checkout, asked the casher to be mindful of their loose condition, and could she please bag them for the trip home? She could, and she did.

I had never experienced this beer before, though I love the Tucher brand dearly. I was intrigued by the declaration on the can that this beer is a Nürnberger Brauspezialität, a Nurnberg Specialty brew. I wanted to know more, and visited the Tucher website.

Der Ursprung der Nürnberger Brautradition

Unser Original Tucher Nürnberger Rotbier spiegelt den Ursprung des Nürnberger Brauhandwerks wieder. Mit jeweils vier Malzsorten brauen wir unser Rotbier als Vollbier und Starkbier ein. Das kraftvolle Starkbier wird in Eichenholzfässer zur Feinreifung eingelagert. Nach der Lagerzeit entscheiden unsere Braumeister rein mit der Sensorik, ob und vor allem welches holzfassgelagertes Starkbier mit dem Vollbier vermählt werden darf. Das Ergebnis ist ein ausgewogenes, aber dennoch kraftvoll lebendiges Rotbier der besonderen Art!

Which means, if you don’t speak German:

The Origin of Nuremberg's Brewing Tradition

Our Original Tucher Nürnberger Rotbier reflects the origin of Nuremberg's brewing craft. With four types of malt, we brew our red beer as full beer and strong beer. The powerful beer is aged in oak barrels for fine maturation. After the lagering period, our master brewers decide purely on the basis of sensory analysis whether and, above all, which strong beer aged in wooden barrels may be married to the full beer. The result is a balanced, yet powerfully lively red beer of a special kind!

Tucher Rotbier has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume according to the brewery website, but my cans say 5.2%. I paid $11.99 for four half liter cans. Those cans are stamped PRO: APR 27, 2023 BB: JUL 27, 2024. They will not last that long. Rot is German for red, in case you did not know.

Tucher Rotbier pours to a, well, rot (red) color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of burnt caramel and treacle. Taking a sip, the beer is rich and malty, nutty and chewy with more of the caramel/toffee/treacle notes the nose promised. I get burnt candy sugar, too. It’s ever so slightly woody, and finishes gently sweet with just a hint of hops.

This is a great find for me, German beer lover that I am. I hope to find it again, but until I do, I have three more cans to keep me content for a while.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??