Hövels Original Bitterbier
Every so often you come across something that you’ve never seen before, or heard of in any capacity. So it was when I managed to get hold of a bottle of Hövels Original Bitterbier, a large dark bottle with a swing top and rather mysterious battered label. Hövels Original “Feinherbes Rotgold” is an Altbier from Dortmund brewed by the Hövels Hausbrauerei, who are apparently a part of the massive Dortmunder Actien Brauerei (who in turn are owned by the even more massive pizza loving Oetker Group). I know all this now of course, but following a random punt on Beers of Europe, all I had to go on was a scuffed European-looking bottle of luckydip ale.
It pours extremely highly carbonated, like almost every beer I’ve ever sampled from a bottle with one of those swing tops – that rubber seal really holds in the carbonation. It’s a very nice caramel brown colour, and as the head disperses the bubbles continue to rise slowly. The first taste is malt, which gradually gives way to a rising sweetness. Sampled cold, it’s pretty refreshing, and doesn’t taste anywhere near 5.5% – but as it warms the slight molasses sweetness lengthens and a perceptible tangy finish comes in. This final flavour definately helps, and moves the beer away from an 80/- style, towards the Altbier/Bitter stable. Not a bad beer at all – sometimes it pays off to take a chance.
