Beer Advent Day 9: Landgang Helle Aufregung

Hamburg, 2015: The founding wave of the German craft beer movement had picked up speed when Lars Großkurth, Tim Becker and Sascha Bruns set out to ride it. They brewed in the Rindermarkthalle near the Millerntor stadium in St. Pauli. They called themselves Hopper Bräu. 

Around the same time, Hoppe Bräu was founded in Bavaria. Both grew and built “real”, large brewing plants, one in the north, the other, Markus Hoppe, in the south. They were often confused. The Hamburgers renamed themselves without further ado. Since then, their brewery has been called Landgang Brauerei. 

Landgang Brewery

Today, Landgang is one of the established breweries in the Hanseatic city. With an annual output of up to 6,000 hectoliters, it is the third largest in Hamburg - behind Holsten (belongs to Carlsberg and is very, very large) and Ratsherrn (much, much smaller than Holsten and at the same time much larger than Landgang). Perhaps we should say that Landgang is the biggest of the small breweries. 

Helle Aufregung

Helle Aufregung is THE classic in Landgang's range. The lager is inspired by the Czech Republic. Sascha, the master of the brewing kettles, has used the Czech aroma hop varieties Saazer and Sladek and added a Hallertau Cascade to them. Overall, the bitterness is a shade higher than that of a classic pale ale. However, it is well supported and balanced by the body. 

Cheers!