Amarsi Establishes BrauKunstKeller In Germany’s Early Craft IPA Scene

In 2013, Alexander Himburg’s Amarsi India Pale Ale received five stars and the designation “world-class beer” in a blind tasting of more than 80 domestic and international craft and gourmet beers organized by Getränke Zeitung. Himburg had been developing and producing new beers at the Michelstädter Brauerei under the BrauKunstKeller name since 2012. Amarsi combined Amarillo and Simcoe hops in a 7.1-percent IPA with pronounced mango and orange aromas. Its success came while Germany’s modern craft-beer movement was still gaining momentum, and further awards followed in 2014, including Grand Gold and victory in the IPA category at the inaugural Meininger’s International Craft Beer Award. Amarsi became one of the conspicuous early examples of the intensely aromatic, hop-forward IPAs that broadened Germany’s beer landscape during the early 2010s.