Fürstenberg Pilsener

Here I am back to writing about (and tasting, of course) Pilsener: back to German beer - on familiar ground and in familiar company. Fürstenberg - the beer here in the south, as they call it in Germany - comes from the Baden-Würtemberg region, rather than from their more famous southern neighbours of Bavaria. Fürstenberg is actually located just on the edge of the Black Forest in Donaueschingen, and while Pilsener is not exactly the beer style of the South, this brand has some tradition. The brewing rights were granted to the von Fürstenberg principality in 1283, according to the company's webpage, even though they were hardly brewing Pilsener at the time. At the turn of the 19th century, what was then the Pilsener was declared the dinner beverage of his Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Now that has to be a more than dubious distinction given old' gimp arm's many foibles, notorious penchant for self-aggrandizement, and his insane political choices. Can you imagine a ruler today who gives an impromptu speech to his troops in which he explicitly tells them to violate the Geneva Conventions and, when this is pointed out to him, still insists that the speech be published uncensored in the news papers? I do admit that I when I was asked whether I'd consider trading my beard for a moustache this month (to go along with Movember), I considered the Kaiser Wilhelm moustache type the only viable option. But we are here to think and drink beer, not deliberate and grow facial hair, so let's move on!

All that the royal bullshit, long in the past yet endlessly replayed for marketing purposes, has now been thrown out the window (like the one below) and culminated in the same old story: Boy meets brewery, boy makes brewery famous (and vice versa - see above), and then boy sells brewery to a public holding company for it to become part of a larger group that sells a large portfolio of beers throughout the world. Fürstenberg is now member in the same joint venture between a German company and Heineken that brings us Hacker-Pschorr. Funny for North-Americans will be that to enter the website of Fürstenberg, all you have to do is click the option that says "Yes, I am 16" - a more appropriate age for being permitted to have a little beer than 18, 19, or (gasp) 21. The website of Fürstenberg also says that there are several other regional brews made by this company, but sadly, we do not get to taste them over here in the Great White North - too southern for us, I suppose.

Yet this beer does live up the reputation of a princely beverage in many respects - very little of that paper-sweet taste that economies of scale tend leave in beer. The nose is slightly citrus hop mixed with a good wallop of barley sandwich. The palate is rich and bready, and balanced well with generous yet measured hop bitterness throughout. Indeed, the hops almost, but never quite, reaches a citrus flavour, especially at the back palate, which I thought made for a delightful sensation because what was leaning to spill into the acidic regions stayed just on the bitter side of my tongue. Very nuanced!


I found this amazing location in front of a round window, in which the reflected tree branches looked as if they were continuations of the vines growing around the sides. With a sunny day and clear blue sky to off-set the can this beer comes in, this was a princely place for a princely beer.

 

Then, oh horror, the battery of my camera went too low to operate the shutter release, and I had to borrow my wife's point-and-shoot camera for pictures with a fully developed foam head. The colours just are not the same as with with SLR (especially the blues), but at least I was able to get the shot in.