Have you ever heard of goetta? It's pretty much a quintessentially Cincinnati thing. It's a kind of breakfast sausage that has a lot of grain in it to kind of make it more substantial. It's a strange thing to explain but goetta is really great (I once had a hotdog with goetta and maple syrup on it--it was one of the best thing I've ever eaten).

Another quintessentially Cincinnati thing is Christian Moerlein. So, when they announced they were making a goetta-inspired lager, I got pretty excited. I didn't ever anticipate doing a post on the stuff, however, because I never thought I'd find it. Luckily, it was sitting on the shelf at a local bottleshop  yesterday. Thus, here we are: Glier's Goetta, a lager from Christian Moerlein.

Moerlein (as discussed on the Moerlein Lager House's "Our Story" page) is a Cincinnati beer brand that dates back to 1853. Founded by Christian Moerlein, it operated until Prohibition hit (which was well after Christian's death in 1897). In the early 80s, the beer name was reintroduced to Cincinnati, touting beer able to pass Germany's beer law, the Reinheitsgebot, which recognizes something as a beer only if it contains water, yeast, malted barley, and hops. In 2004 Gregory Hardman purchased the brand, making Moerlein the widespread Cincinnati-based beer it is today.

All the information I need to know about Glier's Goetta Lager comes from my can (because, unfortunately, there seems to be no official page for the stuff). It's a 4.8% ABV lager featuring sea salt, oats, and black peppercorn, all of which has been provided to Moerlein by the goetta producer Glier's.

The nose isn't as over-the-top as I was expecting. It's mostly crisp lager (toast is big here). But there's a waft of Belgian yeast (banana, clove) and some of that black peppercorn. Overall, the bouquet is a sweet one, which I enjoy. Purrl, who gave my can eleven whiffs, seems to like it as well.


The goetta flavor is understated in the taste. It's mostly just a malty lager but, as I mull over my swig, I get a touch of the salt and a kick of that black pepper. It's a nice summer beverage but not what I was particularly hoping for when I grabbed a sixer.

This is a smooth, crushable lager. Maybe reach for one if you're looking for a good lawnmower (like what I could've used when I spent three hours this afternoon doing some much-needed yardwork).

The first time I heard about goetta was when the academic advisor for my master's (who grew up in Cincy) described it to me. He talked about the meat/oat combination, which was fine to me, but I just couldn't wrap my head around why someone would eat this over actual breakfast sausage, given the choice. I've been in the Cincinnati area for five years now, and I get it. Goetta is fantastic.

I had high hopes for Moerlein's Goetta Lager. I had anticipated it being to goetta what Urban Artifact's Salted Rye Gose is to a deli sandwich. It, unfortunately, isn't. While it's far from bad (it's a killer lager in it's own right), I'm disappointed. One a lager scale, I'd rate it highly. On a goetta lager scale, though, it's getting a 7.0/10. I hope another brewery can step up and give us the goetta beer we deserve.