Arbeiter Roggen Stickum

Arbeiter Roggen Stickum. Sticke Alt with Rye. 

8.5 % ABV.  53 IBU. Contains Wheat. Canned 05.31.21. Arbeiter Brewing, Minneapolis, MN. 

Thoroughly opaque, dark brown coloration, slim beige head, leaving some lace. 

In the nose: Caramel and toffee hits first, with minor hops. Mostly malty. Rye pops up and the spice spreads. Bready and beautiful. 

In the mouth: Cocoa, rye malt, peppery spices, toasted caramel, pumpernickel, all of it popping on the palate. Rich, slightly sweet, and undeniably delicious. Toasty, and tasty, and a lot of fun. Sweetness and spice and everything nice. This is flat out delectable. A peerless creation. 

This is testament to why a brewery like Arbeiter is important. Who else is making beers like this? In a scene full of tired old gimmicks, cliches, and riding fads til they die, I'm glad there is a brewery like Arbeiter making some truly remarkable, original creations, but rooted in tradition and led by experience and expertise. 

I've certainly never had a roggen sticke before, and now that I have, I have to wonder why not? 

Roggenbier is a German bier made with a high percentage of rye.

Sticke Alt is a stronger, maltier, hoppier version of an Altbier

The “Sticke Alt” was originally born from an accident. A brewer once accidentally over-weighed the grain and made a stronger-than-normal alt. The local townspeople loved this special alt so much that the brewmaster decided to begin making the “Sticke (special) Alt” every year. It wasn’t originally advertised and the brewery relied on word-of-mouth to share the “stickum”, which means ‘secret’ in old Dusseldorf dialect. Enjoy the Roggen Stickum, or “Secret Rye” – we made it just for you! 

Aroma: A rich menagerie of raisin, plum, caramel/burnt caramel, brown sugar, toffee, dark toast, and some rich huskiness and earthiness.

Flavor: Assertive rye spiciness blends with pleasant hoppiness, followed by a warming, blackberry-like fruitiness.

Waldmann Barrel-aged Dopplesticke (Special Altbier)

Waldmann Barrel-aged Dopplesticke (Special Altbier).

So, you guys. I've been meaning to write more about Waldmann Brewery in St. Paul, and talk about my visit back in August, as well as my first time there in September of 2019. And I wanted to pair this with a review of one of their beers. I've never bought a crowler there, for each time they weren't available. I've enjoyed them via gifts from my buddy Ed and from South Lyndale Liquors, where I now work. I waited too long, however, for reasons too tedious to detail to you, my friends. Suffice it to say that it is finally time to move this blog off of blogspot. Once I can attach the photos from those visits, I make that post my priority number one. 

Meanwhile, I keep trying to stay on top of their offerings in crowler form, though I've failed a few times. Some of their beers have sold out before I can bring them home. So, it's time to write up the ones I've been sitting on, since it may take a little while to get that bug fixed. 

But, I'll say this. Each time I visited, whenever I posted pics on facebook or instagram, I got more likes than anything, with the exception of when I post pics of my internet-leery mother on her birthday. People flat out love this place. Waldmann truly is a treasure. 

But, on with the beer: 

9.5 % ABV. Waldmann Brewing, St. Paul, MN. 

Semi-clear, dark brown hue, slim brownish head. 

In the nose: Barrel effects blanket everything. Vanilla, cherries, whiskey, leather, oak, all smothering the doppelsticke underneath it all. Not that I'm complaining. 

In the mouth: Sweet, rich, malty, boozy. All those bourbon barrel flavors from the nose come to rest on the palate. Barrel flavors grip the senses. Malt flavors from the doppelsticke below are conquered completely. Again, not that I mind. Waldmann keeps their experiments German and unique. Someone else might barrel-age a doppelbock, but not these guys. I keep loving what they do. 

This is utterly delicious. I did not mind paying $16 for the crowler, a price a bit too high for me, usually. Now, I'm thinking that I need to pick up another, before they're gone. 

I'm not kidding, you guys. I'm calling this one: yum a dum dum. Mark my words. 

Town Hall Northern Gale Sticke Alt

Here we have another new Town Hall beer that's not listed on their website. I found it on BeerAdvocate with one rating, added this Sunday. Raters on RateBeer.com added it a few weeks earlier. I hadn't been in in the pub in a while, so it was new to me. By the name, I'm taking a wild guess that it's a German-style Sticke Altbier. Those helpful folks mentioned above say that it's 5.5% alcohol by volume. I could have found that out myself, but I didn't take note while I was there, just grabbed the growler, and now here I am ready to drink it. So what am I waiting for?

Clear, caramel-brown coloring, slim off-white head, soon-gone.

Clean, malt-forward aroma.

Rich, malty flavor. Semi-sweet. Good balance. Brief notes of caramel and toffee, a little cocoa, and the hops are holding malt just in check. Tastes like a sticke alt should.

Good beer. You can drink it.

That about cover it, friends.