Munich Style Golden Lager

Thomas Hooker Munich Style Golden Lager
One 12 oz bottle, $1.99, 5.2% ABV

Purchased at Maximum Beverage, West Hartford

I’ve never quite understood something. Beers from Belgium are, to me, the best in the world. I love them. Love them silly. I love them so much that I’ve just about convinced my wife that a trip to Belgium would be worth it just for the beer.

And yet… Belgium is surrounded by Germany, The Netherlands and France. (And Luxembourg, but really, who cares about Luxembourg? I say this as one who grew up in Delaware, the Luxembourg of the US.) Germany, for all its hyped up beer culture, makes a lot of crappy beer. The Netherlands? You are responsible for Heineken and you are awful. France? Forget about it. I’ve been there and I’ve had their beer. It’s not good.

Anyway, back to Germany. I’ve just never really liked their beers. Too light, too skunky and too bleh. (I’m slowly exploring more of the classic German styles though. Don’t fret.) So with that in mind, I didn’t expect much from Hooker’s Munich Style Golden Lager. Lagers from anywhere never get me excited. But that’s what the CTMQ CT Beer Review is all about, right?

Must. Drink. Every. Connecticut beer.

The Munich is not one of Hooker’s better known brews, but it should be. It’s excellent and is way better and more enjoyable than some of their more popular offerings. I see it on the shelves of package stores now and again, but it’s fairly rare. It shouldn’t be.

(It should be noted that this beer requires six weeks of aging – much longer than most of their other beers – and why their excellent barleywine is almost never available. Economics and all that.)

[This is Miss Luxembourg 2012 Claudia Vitoria Müller. That is a lot of blue eye shadow, and that is not good.]

Again, this is coming from an avowed German lager hater. I was quite impressed by the depth of flavor – in a lager! – that Hooker’s Munich contains. It’s smooth and light-drinking as you’d expect, but there is a maltiness and a slight hop character that I wasn’t expecting at all.

So there you have it. Even though it’s from Bloomfield, Connecticut, this beer has offered me hope that all German styles aren’t crap. I’m learning.

Hooker says:
Brewed in the tradition of the Helles (Pale) lagers that are popular in the Bavaria region of Germany. Our true-to-style lager is deep golden in color with a pleasant, malty aroma balanced by a rich, smooth flavor. We use only authentic Moravian and German malts as well as Bavarian lager yeast strain to create this smooth and flavorful brew. Cool fermented and aged for six weeks, this beer is made to be delicate yet still hearty. Hooker Munich Lager is great anytime of year but particularly refreshing in the summer.

Overall Rating: B+
Rating vs. Similar style: A+
My Beautiful Wife’s One Sentence Review: n/a

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
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One response to “Munich Style Golden Lager”

  1. James Gribbon says:

    Our feelings on German beer are similar, you and I, but I do recommend you try Leipziger Gose or Sam Adams’ gose, Verloren. And, just in case you’re interested in what I thought of the latter: http://bit.ly/KTJzPj

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