Is Franconia in Bavaria? The simple answer is no but as with all complicated things, it's never so easy to explain. Häffner-Bräu is located in spa town Bad Rappenau, which is part of Heilbronn-Franken in Baden-Württemberg. The brewery hotel offers warm meals at lunch and dinner along with a full complement of their beers on tap.
Häffner-Bräu/Hopfenstopfer is a triple hopped double IPA (Comet, Taurus, Saphir) with a lovely black currant element to complement the citrus hops. The lingering finish is semi-dry. It’s a dangerously drinkable 6.8%, IPA.
Häffner-Bräu/Hopfenstopfer Incredible Pale Ale is a quadruple hopped IPA (Sauvin, Taurus, Cascade, Saphir) and their signature Incredible Pale This one is very juicy with a lovely citrusy palate. The lingering finish is dry and bitter but not overly so.
Häffner-Bräu/Hopfenstopfer Citra Ale is a single hop Ale in the piney/grapefruit mold of US IPAs. It's well made but nothing overly special though it's priced a lot better than its overseas competitors.
Häffner-Bräu/Hopfenstopfer Monroe 2.0 is brewed with Monroe hops and is a relatively low 20 IBUs but it’s fairly dry nonetheless. There’s a nice citrusy element to the balanced palate and the lingering finish is semi-dry with just a touch of bitterness. It’s ale like but has the definite smoothness of a lager too.
