Schell's Arminius Review

Name: Schell's Arminius
Style: Pale Lager
ABV: 6.5%

Well the wedding is done and I'm officially a married man! Now that the dust has settled, it's time to get back to looking at some beers. Recently I've been watching August Schell Brewing Company starting to get creative with the beers which they have beeb releasing. From their Stag Series, to the 30th anniversary variety packs and recent canned releases.

Which brings me to Arminius, the newest release from Schell's, which is named after a prominent chieftain who united the tribes against the Roman Empire in what is now modern day Germany. Arminius has the distinction of defeating the Roman Army and holding off their invasion and all of this happened about 2000 years ago. Since New Ulm is a town that possesses a strong German heritage, they erected a statue in his honor, which is also referred to as "Hermann the German."

Also please forgive the lack of glassware in the photo, I had to make due with what the hotel had to offer.

Arminius pours a fairly clear pale yellow color with a fairly low amount of carbonation. The head is moderate in terms of volume but it's hard to gauge because the glass I'm using is quite small for what it is.

The aroma is rather though as I'm picking up on some nice citrus hops and even a bit of floral hoppiness too. There's also some pale malts in here as well but it smells very sweet and there's even a bit of a berry sweetness in the nose as well.

The flavor has some very nice citrus hop notes and some floral hoppiness to back it up. The berry sweetness I picked up on in the nose is more prevalent here and adds some dimension to the flavor. The aftertaste is a citrus hop and berry bittersweet flavor on the very end of the palate; Other than that, it's fairly dry and doesn't linger around for very long.

The body is pretty light in terms of weight and the carbonation is also very mild. It's a very easy drinker and it fits perfectly with the flavor.

Schell's has never been a brewery that has really left a lasting impression with me in regards to any of their beers. With that said Arminius is, hands down, one of the best pale lagers I've ever had! It's has a nice & robust, yet not overly complex flavor, it's easy to drink and it's crisp. I've heard that Schell's is making this part of their year round line up, which makes me happy because this is a very welcome addition!

Schell's Arminius - 9/10

Weekly Duluth Beer Roundup for June 15, 2014

Since the my last post regarding the Duluth Craft Beer Scene received was mostly positive, I will continue doing these Roundup posts every week if I'm able to do so. This week was a busy one for me and I'm still in the process of getting everything unpacked and set up from my move a couple weeks back. Between work and all of that, I was only able to venture out to one brewpub this week and that was Thirsty Pagan Brewing over in Superior, WI.

Since I was last there they have added a ton of seasonal beers to their lineup. Around September of last year it was around maybe 3-4 seasonals but this time around I counted 9 and a couple of which caught my eye to the point where I just had to try it out.

Thirsty Pagan Rauchbier (5.5% ABV) - Finally, a Rauchbier (smoked beer) that is locally made and it has been a long time since I've had a good Rauchbier. It starts out with a solid smoked malt flavor followed up with some mild but nice hoppiness before ending with some lightly toasted barley. Definitely lighter in terms of appearance, body and even a little bit in the flavor than what I'm used to seeing in Rauchbiers but I would still highly recommend checking this out!

Thirsty Pagan India Pale Lager (6.7% ABV) - It's nice to see that the IPL-style is starting to gain traction amongst the craft beer crowd. This starts out with a nice citrus and piney hop profile with a solid pale malt base and a bitter resiny aftertaste. I usually see IPLs come out around the springtime so this makes for a very nice seasonal.

Thirsty Pagan The Patriot (4.8% ABV) - A Pilsner made with All-American malts and hops, hence it's name. This has a nice floral hop profile backed up by a Pilsner malt base with a hint of oakiness thanks to the hops used in this beer. The light body and relatively mild carbonation give this a nice crisp and clean finish.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this. Hopefully I will have inspired some of you to go out and try these beers out if you get the chance.

Cheers!

- Nick