Craftprotz Beer Tasting

While being stuck at home during the lockdown, evenings can get long and boring. However, there are some bars and restaurants which have tried to offer innovative food and drink experiences at home, like Craftprotz Kreativbierbar. Located in the heart of Trier, this cool craft beer bar organises weekly craft beer tastings online.

So how does it work?

Craftprotz publishes its tasting schedule and all the information you'll need on its Facebook page. The tastings run on a weekly basis at the moment, sometimes even a couple of times a week, and the theme for the tastings changes regularly. Some of their popular formats are the blind beer tasting, beer diversity, or a tasting that revolves around one specific kind of beer or region.

The beers are presented by different beer experts, beer sommeliers, or the brewers themselves. While you smell, pour and taste your beer at home, they will be telling you all about it, its type, the brewery where it comes from, and any other useful or interesting facts. Most of the time the tastings are in German but to make this format more inclusive, Craftprotz has been organising some sessions in English, so if you do not speak German, keep an eye out on their Facebook page for the next one in English.

The beers for each tasting are selected by the team of Craftprotz, first and foremost Nikola Weiler, owner, beer sommelier and brewmaster. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about beer, and he founded this craft beer bar in order for people to meet, enjoy great craft beers and learn more about their diverse range.

You can conveniently book your tasting kit by e-mailing them, and pick up the beers in-store during the week ahead of the tasting, or have it delivered if you live in Trier and surrounding areas. They have a nice selection of bottled and canned beers available to go and their current opening hours are Wednesday to Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm and Saturdays from 12 pm to 6 pm. For those of you that live too far away or do not want to make the trip to Trier, they do ship the beers upon request and at an extra charge to cover shipping. The prices for the beer kits vary from week to week depending on the beers but usually range around the 25 to 30 Euro mark for a total of 6 beers. One tasting kit is enough for two people.

The team will provide you with the access details to the virtual bar. This is done via the platform GoToMeet, you just need to insert the provided link into your browser. As with all online meetings, small technical difficulties may arise from time to time. That's just how it is, but hey, at least you have beer. During the tasting, your camera and microphones will have to be turned off, but you can ask questions any time via the chat function. After the tasting is over, participants are invited to turn on their cameras and mics to chat about literally anything, while enjoying a cold one out of their beer fridge.

You will also be asked to rate each beer based on different criteria, such as smell, look, and taste. All of this is done via Menti.com. Craftprotz also has a beer rating form on its website, which you can download. We usually rate the beers in the app and also take notes using our own rating sheets. There will usually be two rounds of little quizzes with questions centred around craft beers and brewing (the winner gets a little price - so pay attention!) and there is a short break after three beers. The tastings start at around 7.30 pm and the duration varies each time, but it usually takes around 2 to 2.5 hours. Make sure you have some snacks ready to munch on!

During the tasting, different experts or even the brewers themselves will present the beers and share their extensive knowledge about craft beer. Some regular presenters are Andy Gniffke, a beer sommelier who runs Bierblog Trier, a great and informative blog about all things craft beer as well as Johannes from Hopfenjünger (translates to hop disciples), a beer blog run by three friends, who have recently launched their Youtube Channel. We know that the brewers from our favourite Luxembourgish craft beer brewery Totenhopfen did present a couple of their beers and a while back Jaanis from the Estonian craft beer brewery Tanker made an appearance as an international guest during one of the tastings. It is really special to have the brewers themselves present the beers and understand the thought process behind their creations.

So, the people presenting these beers do really know what they are talking about, and they gladly explain everything from notes, types, and the brewing process. We've participated a few times now, and we have learned quite a few interesting facts about craft beer: Did you know that besides Berliner Weisse, there is another type of German sour beer which is called Gose? It originates from the town of Goslar and was brewed as early as 1332. It is named after the river Gose which runs right by the town. Or why is a Märzen, a malty beer common in Bavaria, called Märzen? It actually relates back to the month when these beers were usually brewed - the month of March. In order to ensure the availability of beer during the summer, the Märzen was brewed during that month and stored in cellars.

Last Saturday, the tasting was held in English and the theme of the tasting was beer diversity. We got to try a couple of local beers from Cusanus Bräu, a brewery in Bernkastel-Kues as well as the Temmelser Braukeller, a micro craft beer brewery in Temmels, a small village right on the German-Luxembourgish border. You can actually buy their beers each Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm and support this great little venture. It is amazing to see just how many local craft beer breweries there are and to discover their beers. Cusanus Bräu is not only a brewery but also has an in-house restaurant, where you can enjoy their beers as well as some home-cooked, hearty food. This place is only about an hour's drive away from Luxembourg, so, it's definitely on our to-go-list!

We really enjoyed the two local beers, Cusanus Bräu's Ides of March, a sour Märzen with a lot of fruity notes, brewed during the first lockdown, as well as the Granitsteinbock from Temmels, a dark, yet light Bock beer with sweet, caramel flavours. If you wanna know more about these different beers, check out Bierblog Trier's Facebook page, where Andy does daily reviews of different beers in German and English and offers interesting insights into the different styles and brewing processes.

The winner of the night for us, however, was a DIPA, a double IPA (Indian Pale Ale), from the Danish brewery To Øl. IPAs are characterized by their hoppy, herbal, citrusy, and flowery/fruity flavours and DIPAs are the stronger, full-bodied brother of the IPAs, and have higher alcohol content. Artistic Bouncing has a malty body and strong notes of mango and passion fruit (I googled that.). This beer, though quite alcoholic, was right up my alley and I hope that Craftprotz will include more beers like this in their upcoming tastings. We have had some amazing beers from Danish and Swedish breweries and the Scandinavian craft beer scene is definitely one of our favourites.

At the end of the beer tasting, participants will be asked to rank all six beers and one beer will be crowned the winner. The Temmelser bock beer won this round, whereas the DIPA did not take first place as we would have expected. Also, the sour Märzen from Cusanus Bräu ended up in the back, whereas we think that it is quite a unique beer that deserves way more love!

The digital beer tasting format from Craftprotz is not only a great way to discover new beers and breweries, but you will actually learn a lot of interesting facts about craft beer, the different styles as well as the brewing process. Whether you are a regular beer drinker or not, these tastings will give you a new perspective on beer and show you how versatile it can be. The Craftprotz team and all the presenters are incredibly passionate about what they do, and it is a very welcoming community. We really enjoy having some quality beers and learning more about craft beer at the same time, and doing all that from the comfort of our sofa. Plus, we don't have to argue about who is driving!

So far, we don't know yet when the next tasting round in English is going to take place, but some cool upcoming themes in German are the blind tasting on February 27th, as well as the UK edition on March 20th, with 2 beers each from England, Scotland and Wales. We've already booked our tasting kit for that one, and we hope to see you there!

P.S.

Craftprotz actually has one of my favourite logos, which can be found all over the bar, glassware as well as their merch. The bar itself is really cool and is quite modern, which some rustic elements. Make sure to check it out the next time you are in Trier!