Halfway to Helles vs Astrosuds Lager

So, part of the logic around brewing Halfway to Helles Leichtbier in May had to do with my May "Seasonal" Helles in a Hand Bock-sket.

Last year, while drinking Hand Bock-sket, I made the comment:

#WillDrinkInJune. Great bready malt character. Loving this beer. I think the only improvement I can think of is making it lower ABV ... But it wouldn't be a Maibock then 😎

I believe this was shortly after drinking a beer at Green Mountain Brewing Company that really reminded me of  Hand Bock-sket, but was lower in ABV. It's name was "AstroSuds Lager".

While a 5A. German Leichtbier isn't really anything like a lower ABV Maibock, it is sort of similar in that they are both German lagers.

Before my latest camping trip, I saw cans of AstroSuds Lager in Green Mountain's beer cooler, and I decided to pick up a four pack.

Around that time, I poured the Halfway to Helles Leichtbier and AstroSuds to compare side-by-side.

 

25 Beers of December part 1

On the 1st of December, my wife brought home a Stone Brewing Company "Twelve Days of IPA's" 12 pack.

I thought this was a cool idea for a mixed 12 pack. I don't think I've ever seen one quite like this. You can have a different beer every day for 12 days.

Taking that line of thought a step farther ... \I thought it would be fun to drink a different beer a day until Christmas. Sort of an Advent calendar of drinking. I had almost half covered with Stone IPA's. I am sure I can come up with another 13 different beers to drink before Christmas.

So ...  

Colorado Strong

As I type this, I'm drinking SheppyBrew's Colorado Strong Pale Ale.

The recipe was based on the beer that Left Hand's Brewing Foundation came up with to help raise money for the Colorado Strong Fund.

Many breweries across Colorado have brewed their own versions, donating a certain percentage of the sales to the fund.

They all start off with the recipe and basic ingredients. They are free to modify the recipe to make it their own, but the basic recipe is similar across all the breweries.

As part of my civic duty to support local businesses, I have been picking up quite a few to-go crowlers from local breweries, and I've been searching out the various versions of this beer.