What is altbier? Horst Dornbusch, the owner of a Massachusetts brewery producing German-style beers, describes it as somewhere between a British brown ale and dark ale. But Dornbusch points out that alt, unlike British ales, has a characteristically German full-bodied flavor and is maltier and less bitter. He adds that many altbiers are sweetish (some even have a nutty flavor), and that a glass of alt has a rich, creamy, long-lasting head. Dornbusch ought to know. He literally wrote the book on altbier, and grew up in Düsseldorf, the world's alt capital.
Altbier is the result of historical happenstance. In the south of Germany, bad-tasting beer was common during the summer. As a result, brewing was restricted to the colder months, and beer was stored in cool places in the mountains. Bavarian beers thus became lagers (lager comes from the German verb for "to store"). When refrigeration allowed brewers to control the temperature at which beer was made, Europe's lager revolution began in earnest.
Düsseldorf, however, was far enough north that ales could be made year-round. Thus the local brewers never shifted to lager. But they did take advantage of the same scientific advances as their southern counterparts--including storing beer at low temperatures after the primary fermentation. Altbier is classified as an ale because it's made with top-fermenting yeast. However, after the primary fermentation, alt is cold-conditioned at temperatures closer to lagers than ales.
The best places to drink altbier are Düsseldorf's four surviving brewpubs. The pubs, which are more than a century old, are located in or close to the city's Altstadt, or old town, a district filled with so many drinking establishments that it's been called "the longest bar in the world." All of the pubs are within walking distance of one another.
The city's biggest and most famous brewpub is Zum Uerige (Bergerstrasse 1). The pub's name is German for "The Grouch," but the atmosphere inside is anything but grouchy. Stay here long enough, and you'll see workers unloading 10-liter casks from the dumbwaiter and rolling them across the floor to a bar elsewhere on the premises.
Two pubs are located close to Zum Uerige in the Altstadt: Zum Schlüssel (Bolkerstrasse 43), with a brightly-lit stand-up bar in the front and quieter rooms toward the back; and Im Füchschen (Ratingerstrasse 28), often recommended for drinkers with an appetite. Ferdinand Schumacher (Oststrasse 123), the city's oldest brewpub, is a large establishment located just outside the Altstadt.
Go To Page: 1 2
