Today I celebrate “Memorial Day for McDonalds in Russia. 33 years ago it first opened on Pushka, and it’s been gone for almost a year now. Some people believe that the current “…and dot,” is the same, but no. It’s like Adidas and Abibas pants. It looks like it, but it’s not the same. And I’ll celebrate with a St. Nikolaus beer from the Pfungstädter brewery. It should have been for New Year’s Eve or Christmas, but that’s how it happened.
I bought Pfungstädter St. Nikolaus in the “Otdochni” store. What the Pfungstädter brewery has in common with the aforementioned event is that it too may soon be gone. At one time, brewery owner Uwe Lauer invited Conceptaplan into the business, paying for the investment with land under the brewery. Now Conceptaplan insists on closing the brewery and intends to build on its site… a luxury apartment complex in its place. Isn’t that a very familiar situation? It’s not just in Russia.
It seems that with the mediation of the mayor of the city, Patrick Koch, agreed on a complete transfer of the brewery outside the city limits, but this is not yet accurate. Initially, they wanted to outsource some or all of the beer production to another brewery, but Mr. Lauer was adamantly opposed. I wonder what he was thinking, transferring the rights to the land to an outside (much less construction) company? Probably very much needed the money at the time. It would be a pity, of course, if this old and beautiful brewery would cease to exist.
Pfungstädter St. Nikolaus (Pfungstadt, Germany) – 6,9/16,4 Seasonal, as is clear from the name and design – brewed for Christmas. Maybe the problem of the particular bottle was, but the carbonation is very weak. But other than that, it’s just as it should be. The aroma is sweet, slightly chocolatey. The taste is full, soft. In a tart aftertaste of honey, black bread crust. Overall, quite interesting, although (maybe because of the gas) and not outstanding. Rated “C+.”
