Des Moines Beer Experience: Part I
The family was in town this weekend, which meant an opportunity to search out and experience more restaurants. Of our escapades, there are two venues of which I would like to speak.
Located on Court Avenue in Des Moines is the aptly named Court Avenue Brewing Company. The restaurant is a neat place, comfortable atmosphere, and has a patio for dining on those warmer summer days. As is typical of a brewpub, Court Avenue makes a wide variety of beers to serve with their meals. I had been here once before for their stout, but this time we ordered a sampler rack. This turned out to be a great idea. At the time of this writing, Court Avenue had an offering of eight different beers. For $12.50, this sampler rack was the most economically efficient way to try every selection in its own 5 ounce glass. On the rack, Court Avenue served up its rendition of each of the following styles of beer: light American lager, Belgian white ale, hefeweizen, pale ale, India pale ale, brown ale, stout, and a porter. Just work your way down the line and make notes on each of the beer. I really liked the Belgian white ale (seems to be my latest trend); the porter was slightly bitter it seemed, and the India pale ale was mild in hoppiness – which is great for my development of hops tolerance. This is a great place to check out a wide variety of beers in what is probably one of the more “happening” neighborhoods of Des Moines.
The next night provided a defining beer moment. We found another restaurant rather haphazardly under a time crunch. The Hessen Haus of Des Moines touts itself as the only authentic German beer hall of central Iowa; they nailed it. We were not sure what to expect, but upon entering, you are greeted with a grand beer hall that has a tall ceiling and everything made of wood. The menu was filled with mostly traditional German meals and a beer list that ran longer than “Nader for President”. Lately I haven’t been adding too many German lagers to my list, and I think it’s about time I revisited that decision. I ordered a Kostritzer Schwarzbier. I honestly had no idea who the brewer was, or where they were from, but could only gather it was a German import and I had not tried it before. Further research indicates that it was a favorite of Goethe. Why will I be revisiting German lagers? My initial reaction to most of these imports is that they’re too watery; they lack a certain grandiose flavor. I decided that their lack of pizazz could be related to the German brewer’s adherence to reinheitsgebot. Reinheitsgebot is the old “German Beer Purity Law”, no longer in effect, that permitted brewers to only use water, barley, and hops in the production of beer. So in effect, you get a wider variety in the different uses of only three main ingredients. This Schwarzbier was not bad at all, but lacked pizazz, as I had said earlier. It was dark, black beer (aka schwarzbier), that was extremely clear if you got enough light behind it. Low in carbonation, and completely void of any cloudiness, the Schwarzbier lacked what I liked in dark beers. Granted, I am a fan of porters and stouts, which are on the dark end of ales. Dark lagers belong at the other end of the spectrum, but share the color due to the amount of roasting for the hops, I imagine. This is the point where the beer became very interesting for me. For the table, we ordered an appetizer of sauerkraut balls – sauerkraut in bread crumbs for the most part. I am by no means a fan of sauerkraut and I have no explanation for why these tasted so great. They were pretty mild, and maybe low on the vinegar. Regardless, I took a bit of the sauerkraut and a big gulp of beer. Surprise of all surprises, these two portions combined with each other created a marvelous pairing. I suddenly found every palate of my tongue being hit with flavor. The sauerkraut distinctly stood out from the Schwarzbier, yet they combined and didn’t overpower each other. This beer was meant to be enjoyed with food. This statement of pairing is in contrast with my thoughts on the rise of the American lager, but that has to wait for Part II.
