Jacoby’s German Biergarten

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit Jacoby’s in Detroit.  Located at 624 Brush Street, this quaint Biergarten features a comprehensive beer list and some of the best German food around.  The potato pancakes are delicious, as is the spatzle. I ordered the German meatballs, which is one of my favorites.

 

I ordered a Shorts The Magician, a dark red London style ale.  It was very good, had a sweet fruity flavor with a hint of raisin.  Unfortunately I was craving a pumpkin beer, and eyed the Sam Adam’s Double Pumpkin Ale on the beer menu, but due to all the area sporting events lately they were out.

Jacoby’s was busy but not packed, the Lions were on and the crowd was into the game.  It’s always a fun time at Jacoby’s, if you’re in the mood for great food, great people and great beer I highly recommend going.

 http://www.jacobysbar.com/

Bell's Brewery Brown Ale

 At lunch today I ordered the Bell’s seasonal that was on tap - the Brown Ale (think Newcastle). I am not a big fan of brown ales…but I liked this one. It had a good color, good aroma, you could pick up the caramel flavor, and the bitterness was at a minimum. The beer was much better than the service, which left me wondering if the server personally went to Bell’s to pick it up. (Note: Sam Adams Oktoberfest in the background).

You can see the beer had good lacing - the foam near the top of the glass (i.e. the lacy pattern). Lacing occurs when the bitter compounds from the hops link proteins in the beer together. Some feel the more lace the better quality ingredients in the beer. While I really enjoy Sam’s Oktoberfest, note its lack of lace. I’m not an expert, I’ve been told some types of beers have better lacing than others. But I wonder if it may be due to quantity produced? Does anyone reading know?