A historic rendition of a classic German sour smoked wheat ale...
The Brewery: Schlossbrauerei Au-Hallertau (Germany)
The Brew: Piwo Grodziskie (Grätzer Ale)
Availability: Bottles, Draft (Rotating)
ABV: 4.0%
Rating: 8/10
Location: Home
Found: Nathaniel Square Corner Store
The Story? Over the couple years, I've really enjoyed the resurgence of classic styles like Berliner Weisse and the resurrection of others like Gose, so I'm always keeping an eye out for other historic examples. While in Rochester pursuing the cold-case selection at Nathaniel Square Corner Store, the phrase "sour smoked wheat ale" stuck out amidst a field of old-German style font. I figured it was a promising start.
The official description reads: "Grodziskie or Grätzer is a Sour Smoked Wheat Ale that was brewed in the 1900s in East Prussia and dates back to as early as the 15th century. It was named after the Polish town of Grodzisk Wielkopolski or Grätz in German. Our historic version is brewed according to the German Purity Law with air-dried barley malt and beech smoked wheat malt and hopped with Perle and Saaz. A sour mash is created using the old and forgotten technique called Digerieren. Finally a three month aging and maturation process creates a complex sour, smoky and heavily hopped wheat ale."
My interest? Peaked.
A special cheers on this one to my friend Maciej, who is actually from Grodzisk.
The Beer? This Grätzer pours out bubbly, mostly-transparent, and copper with a finger of fizzy white head, that ended having a bit more lace than expected.
A clean and refreshing mouthfeel starts things off, with the smoke nicely sewn into mild tartness. The closest comparison I can come to is a muted, darker Berliner Weisse. Bready malts, cracked wheat set up a sturdy, semi-sweet backbone to support the touch of tang and breath of smoke. There's also a definite hop presence here - fresh, a bit of pine, and a welcoming, mild spice heat on the finish. The hop bitterness grows a tad, but never reaches any sort of American-style level.
If this one weren't close to $8 a bottle, I'd have my favorite new session beer. At 4% it's, again, quite refreshing, but there's just enough smoke and tartness in there that compells you to slow down and take in all the complexities. If you're looking for a juicy, astringent sour - this isn't your game. Piwo Grodziskie stays very much in the realm of reserved, subtle-flavored German beers.
A delightful, atypical ale that I wish had just a hint more flavor-bang for it's buck.
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