by stunning coincidence, the restaurant we had dinner at this evening served us water in a botanist gin bottle. If it’s got the stuff embossed into the bottle in it, botanical heavy seems an understatement.
I’ve actually had it, but only in a couple of cocktails, so I have no idea what the gin itself tastes like. (The cocktails, on the other hand, were wonderful, but that was a given at that place.)
It is easily the most “botanical” gin I ever tasted but that isn’t saying all that much. I am not a gin expert. I would say it very much fits with the Islay philosophy “why add a little of something when you can also do a lot”
As we say over here “viel hilft viel” … and then someone added the herbs.
Covid strikes again! The one tasting we were going to manage has fallen through thanks to staff isolations closing the distillery. From what they said it seems like everybody involved is OK, which is the main thing; but a pretty big inconvenience when we were actually really looking forward to trying a new whisky to us, that we don’t come across often, in a nice location.
Consolidated ourselves with a Bruichladdich and a botanist down on the beach. Refuse to let the holiday be completely whisky-on-location free haha
Took mom to Whole Foods and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they carry Bitburger. Things are going well now.
If I just could convert you to drink the good German beers… 
Which ones that make it beyond their local distribution are good though? Because all the ones I can think of right now…. I wouldn’t recommend. During our recent trip to Eifel, I didn’t have much choice but have a couple of Bit and it was okay.
No idea what makes it to the USA, but my beersofeurope wishlist¹ includes beers from Augustiner, Franziskaner, Kaltenberg, Andechs, Köstritzer, Schlenkerla and Schöfferhofer. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a beer from one of those breweries. Even the ones that are basically straight lagers are straight lagers done well.
¹ that was not a hint, but if you should insist: here.
I see you like your wheat beers 
I mostly enjoy those when we go to Bavaria especially in the “morning” with a nice Weisswurstfrühstück. We buy Franziskaner and Andechser sometimes. Smoky beer or dark beers are not my thing but some friends swear Köstritzer is the best. These days I prefer a nice hoppy, somewhat bitter Pils. And I wouldn’t recommend any of those that I have seen outside of the country—or at least not any that come to mind. Local ones are a different matter.
You are right, the most available beers are usually the ones I don’t recommend. Except you like your Pils but even then I think there are better ones. I personally don’t like hoppy beers and the American craft beers really try to surpass each other with more hoppyness 
Pils is not a thing in Bavaria. We have it of course but it is very niche.
But I’ve been to better equipped places in the US. In one I found Maisel Weißbier (from Bamberg, a good one) on the tap and really a ton of European beers in bottles (Kölsch, some Munich breweries, etc.). If you are ever in Eugene, Oregon, visit the Bier Stein. They surprised me
There is such a thing as too much hops. But just because some overdo it…
A good pils has to have a certain bitterness IMO and that comes with the hops. I have tried plenty of craftbeers whenever we traveled… some are good, some are okay and some are just WTF? And yet there is nothing quite like my local pils. Which I may have mentioned before and likely will again. Because it is that good.
In my opinion, there needs to be a new word for beers like that, where hoppyness is the sole goal. There there are “beers” that are delicious, and then there are the Craft Bitter Abominations of Brewed Garbage (CBABG).
The number of times (pre-COVID) when I would go to a bar or restaurant and ask about the beer selection and it was (at the “better” places) often 7 different craft IPAs and maybe a decent pilsner or American wheat beer.
I have nothing against the Craft IPA, Double IPAs, and their ilk… until they make it difficult for me to find a decent beer to drink.
The plague of IPAs needs to be stopped.
I don’t drink much any more, so the rare times I buy beer is when Lidl has a “beer festival” and I pick something up because I’m in there anyway. In their most recent one, 11 out of the 20 beers they had were IPAs. I bought one stout.
It will stop when people stop buying them.
Sure, but many times in my life I’ve seen the thing I liked and was prepared to pay for forced out of the market by the trendy thing.
Hell is other people.
Sorry all, it’s me. I’m the one who keeps buying all the IPAs.
And you can’t stop me!!!
I like some Tannenzäpfle once in a while
That is not the Pils I mean, but it is a good one. Schön herb 
The local one is from Vogelbräu
This is just such a well-balanced, tasty brew. They always have 1 or 2 other beers on offer which they change about once a month. Their standard is the Pils and I am really sad our fridge doesn’t fit the 3 or 2 Liter growlers—we have 2 of the 1 Liter ones though. Recently, we met with friends and she was going to pick up some beer and asked which one.
Me: Pils.
She: Really? Not something else? Just to try it?
Me: No experiments. The Pils is great. Why do you even ask?
She comes back with the “Summer Beer” which is fine.
She: How do you like it?
Me: Well, I like the Pils.
She: 
As a sidenote: My (other) friend recommended Jever btw for one that is more commonly found abroad as well.
I am pretty much single handedly responsible for the IPA industry. I’m sorry it means you can’t get your drinks. I’m a dreadful human. But I’ll live with the burden. For example:
This was last night’s beeriness.
You can’t stop me either!
I like a good IPA too…
