0.33 l bottle from ’Vormann Brauerei’ as ’The Monarchy Othello Porter’, best before September 2016. Clear, very dark red to black with a thin, frothy, slowly diminishing, tan head. Sweetish, roasty-malty aroma of coffee, dark chocolate and some caramel with hints of raisins. Sweetish-malty taste of coffee, dark chocolate and caramel, followed by a medium long, roasty-bitter finish. Thin to medium body, slightly creamy mouthfeel, very soft carbonation. A bit too thin and quite one-dimensional but still decent.

Alleged historical recreation by one of the (still very few) progressive German brewers. Said to be made after a recipe dating back to 1831 and containing beet sugar, juniper berries and ginger - completely defying the Reinheitsgebot in more than one way, which surprises me: if this is truly authentic, it would mean that it was made by one of only a couple of Bavarian breweries still making Weissbier at that particular time, and I find it a bit hard to believe they still used spices in Reinheitsgebot-governed Germany by 1831... This beer, whatever the case, has a very dense and very moussy, frothy, egg-white, lacing, thick head creeping slowly out of the bottle out of the opening without ’real’ gushing; colour is a hazy, lightly orangey peach blonde with lively sparkling, turning deeper orange and fully clouded with deposit. Aroma of old cloth and wet cardboard, sourish and soapy wheat, hints of dried juniper berries more obvious than dried ginger, banana, cloves, unmistakable stale urine (even slightly disturbing), soaked bread, rotten lemon, wet hay, parsnip, apple peel, egg yolk, lavender leaves (but that’s probably just the juniper again). Soft sourish onset with sweetish dried banana and apricot hints, some red apple too, light metallic ’zing’ but in a natural kind of way, soft but effective carbo, deep earthy yeastiness on top of a supple bready malt body with unmistakable wheat soapiness and ’dull’ sourishness, retronasal ethereal, even somewhat ’perfumey’ spiciness vaguely recognizable as juniper berries but again much less so as ginger (though the latter, in a dried, musty form, becomes clearer all the way at the back), reinforced with fairy strong spicy phenols; apart from this aromatic sweetish spiciness, the finish is earthy, rooty, sourish and grainy, a bit thin perhaps but still with a late, very faint echo of floral hops, and expectedly very yeasty, to the point of feeling a bit starch-like and ’dirty’. A bready juiciness along with sweet banana ’esteriness’ and traces of the soft spiciness remain after swallowing. The urine effect in the aroma seriously bothers me and the seasoning, though not consisting of coriander and dried citrus peel as in a witbier, feels very Belgian to me (but then, I am a Belgian consumer, of course). Quenching and conceptually interesting for sure, but I still prefer a classic, unspiced Bavarian Weissbier. I do like the 19th-century style label, but then there is the fact that beer bottles were almost certainly unlabeled before 1840 or so; the Pickelhaube depicted on the label may be as Prussian as the name of the beer, but it too was only conceived in 1842 - so this label is obviously make-belief coming from The Monarchy itself. And frankly, I would not be surprised if that were the case for the whole concept and recipe of this beer as well...

Bottle. Pours a hazy light golden yellow with a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has earthy wheat with a bit of yogurt, juniper and a hint of tartness. Flavor has a good amount of sweet wheat with some juniper, a light smoke and a bit of yogurt.

Bottle. Pours a deep clear purple with a pinkish gray head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a decent amount of elderberry with a sweet smoke and a bread backbone. Flavor has an interesting combination of elderberry and sweet smoke with a bit of bread and earthiness backing.

Bottle. Pours a clear deep orange with a gray head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a musty sour fruit note with some earthy grains and a bit of bread. Flavor is similar with a musty sour and earthy grains as well as a light leafiness.

Bottle. Pours a clear deep amber brown with a light brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a nice light smokiness with some sweet grains and a hint of light fruits. Flavor has a nice light smoke throughout with a sweet grain backbone and a hint of tartness.

From tap. Clear golden color with white head. Yeasty, light malty and hoppy aroma, spicy, citrusy fruity, grassy. Sweet, light bitter and light acidic taste. Light thin to oily body with soft carbonation.

Keg at the hanging bat... Golden amber.. Thin white lacing.. Light smoke... Odd funk nose... Funk fruit.. Soft toffee malts.. Caramelised fruits