Category Archives: Weizen

Jindabyne Brewing ‘Hefe’ Veissbier

Rating:

“Our veissbier is a traditional German wheat beer. True to the Hefeweizen style, this beer is unfiltered with a refreshing light amber colour. Find banana, clove and slightly sweet caramel malt aromas and flavours, it should be poured with a thick creamy head to help it reach its full potential.”

Glassware: Weizen.

Appearance: It pours a slightly hazy burnished amber with a two finger cap. It slowly reduced to a wispy overlay with a wet lace dragged down the glass.

Aroma: Strong suggestions of German yeast esters i.e banana runts, clove, apple pie/caramelised pears. Hints of sweet orange citrus, wheat grains, hay and straw, bubblegum and caramel malt sweetness. Something uniquely floral about it too. A fair bit sweeter than the Hefe’s we’ve had previously but it’s still good.

Flavour: As expected she’s chock-full of German yeast esters but sweetened by the caramel and mild toffee notes. Lots of starchy wheat grains, hay, straw and cereal, clove and peppery spice. Classic Hefe finish of yeasty spice, banana and sweet orange citrus.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and kinda mineraly. Medium body with mild carbonation. 5.1% ABV is about right for the style.

Overall: We don’t do Hefe, Wit or Weizen much these days but we are proper Jindy Brewing Fanboys so we thought we’d give it a crack for the fun of it. It’s pretty well executed but we’re just not fans of the style. Pure and simple.

Erdinger Weissbier

Rating:
imageIt’s quite hard to say which German brewery brews the best Weizens but the name Erdinger is certainly up there among elite breweries such as Schofferhoffer, Franziskaner and Maissels.

Served in a weizen glass the hazy straw golden pour produces a fizzy 2 fingers of foam that maintains well, gradually reducing to a firm layer over the top. Good head retention. Rings of soapy foam reflect some decent lacing. The aroma is quite raw and earthy with soft grainy notes coming through initially. Subtle wheat, floral hops, spice, banana bread and biscuit malt bring up the bottom end of an aroma offering good depth and balance. The mouth feel is smooth with medium carbonation and body. The flavour is typically German with soft wheat notes and spice upfront. Some grain in the mid-palate with a suggestion of tart lemons developing late are complimented by a subtle hint of banana to finish. Also a hint of biscuity malt thrown in for good measure. 5.3% ABV is spot on but the downside is it gets a little thin and watery, though on the upside if you’re looking at a decent session weizen look no further. Nothing spectacular but definitely a clean, sessional German drop. Decent, even more enjoyable to smash one of these between runs on Thredbo mountain.

De Los Muertos ‘Immortal beloved’ hefeweizen

Rating:
imageWe’re still a little undecided about what we think of this brewery. On the positive side, it’s quite hard to get your hands on a Mexican craft beer, what, with all the rubbish like Corona and Sol around, so it’s encouraging to see. Unfortunately we are yet to come across a beer in their range that has impressed us but we keep persevering.

Served in a weizen glass the translucent golden pour produced a fizzy 1 finger head before instantly collapsing to nothing with no lacing at all. Even a sturdy twirl of the glass doesn’t arouse much foam. What it does do, though is lift some nice, fruity perfumes out of the glass. Banana dominates while hints of clove, fruit salad, vanilla and bubblegum taking the back seat in this surprisingly decent aroma. The mouth feel was a touch watery with mild carbonation. Quite light on. Upfront a creamy hint of banana and vanilla come forward. Some light spice develops through the mid-palate which is rounded off by a sweet, wheaty finish. Overall it’s a little thin and delicate. 5.5 % ABV is higher than we were expecting but it’s very well hidden. Plenty of better hefeweizen’s on the market but it’s definitely not a bad attempt at a traditional German brew, but regrettably we still are yet to find that brew from these guys that blows us away.

Moon dog ‘Bjorn to boogie’ watermelon weizen

Rating:
image“Blame it on the sunshine, blame it on the moonlight, blame it on the good times, but don’t blame it on the boogie. Oh no no no! ‘Cos without the boogie you ain’t got the sass in this bottle yo!”

Poured into a weizen glass the colour of the body displays a milky straw-yellow with a short white head that collapsed pretty quickly. No lacing to be shown. The aroma is quite delicate and the addition of watermelon is hard to pick up and only mildly evident. Some peppery spice and herbal characters do come through but it’s the typical Weizen aroma’s of banana, clove and grain with subtle funk that dominate the nose. Mildly carbonated with a light, silky smooth mouth feel. Upfront the palate is slightly malty/yeasty. Only until around the mid-palate does a quick, refreshing jab of watermelon develop with hints of banana, clove and grain that leads to the short, but palatable wheaty finish with some melon sweetness on the back end. 5.3% ABV is spot on. To be honest we were expecting too much from this, it’s just a smooth, relatively simple and refreshing Weizen. Not a great deal of quirky flavour which this brewery usually offers. To sum up it wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either.

Hunter beer co. dunkelweizen

Rating:
imageWe also tried this on tap at the brewery (Potter’s hotel) in the Hunter Valley. Served in a pint-style glass it pours a dark mahogany with a short tanned cap that retains. Does lace reasonably well considering the minimal head. Gorgeous aroma, it’s distinctly wheaty with an addition of grain, toffee notes, banana lollies and spice. Creamy mouth feel. Smooth and quite light on. It’s certainly packed full of flavour, we’re getting toasted bread, caramel, spice, wheat malts and yeasty notes that all combine well with the 5.5% ABV to produce this excellent dunkelweizen. Great to see a non German brewery do a dunkelweizen just as good as sie Germans. Not a sessionable beer but very enjoyable in small doses. Nice one guys this is a delicious brew.

4 pines brewing co. hefeweizen

Rating:
image“A German born wheat beer. Cloudy pale straw in appearance, mild sweet nose with hints of banana exhibiting a well rounded palate showing characters of banana and spice.”

One of the four of this fine breweries core range. The first time we tried this hef out of the bottle it had overcarbonated and poured a monsterous 6-7 inches of foam, but this time around it pours better as we enjoy the sight of a transparent light straw golden appearance. On top a standard covering of bubbles falls away to a halo around the edge of the glass. Mild lace. The nose definitely has the four to the floor aromas down pat with banana lollies, clove, coriander and lemon wafting up. A delicate sweetness with some yeastie esters and wheat malts hold up the bottom end well. Nice aroma. The mouth feel is soft and slippery with light fizz. Moderate to medium bodied. The front palate offers light sweetness, lemon and hints of wheat malts. Only a very subtle hint of banana is picked up through the mid which delivers a fresh, herbaceous finish. Duration is OK with a lingering taste of banana lollies on the rear palate. The 5.2% ABV is a little above average, which is good in this case as it acts as good formwork. To say it’s a trail blazing hef would be grossly overreacting but to it’s credit it drinks well and it has all the right flavours. Not a bad attempt by these guys.

Sierra Nevada ‘kellerweis’ hefeweizen

Rating:
imageAs we have said before we are huge fans of this top shelf American brewery, so far we haven’t come across one of their beers that we haven’t thoroughly enjoyed.

Served in a weizen glass and poured as to the directions on the back of the bottle. It states to pour two thirds into the glass, swirl the bottle and pour the rest in and what happens is actually really cool because the appearance of the first two thirds of the beer is a dull yellow but once we swirl the rest in the bottle and pour it in, the bright, cloudy colours appear. Atop is a well maintained foamy cap that eventually holds at about 3mm, generating some healthy lace trails. On the nose we’re getting the standard light sweet and floral aromas over the grainy, wheat malt base. Main stayers like banana, clove, coriander fruit salad and bubblegum aren’t really pushing the boundaries all that much but they are definitely a delight to take in. With the velvety mouth feel comes a low-average carbonation level. The body is quite light on as the fruity front palate is quickly ushered on by the slightly sweeter mid. Some banana and a touch of yeasty spice carries through and delivers a dry, fruity finish. Length is slightly short lived and at 4.8% ABV it is surely a sessional hef. One of the more standard beers for this brewery, but still, a good drop.

Holgate brewhouse ‘brick kiln wheat’ dunkelweizen

Rating:
image“Paul and Natasha Holgate dreamt up their brewery while rambling down Woodend’s Brick Kiln Road. The brewers dreamt up this dark Bavarian-style wheat beer to remember that beginnings are cloudy and well worth chewing over.”

From the brewery that brought us one of the best chocolate porters in Australia (chocolate temptress) comes this German influenced dark wheat beer. Served in a weizen glass. Pouring a mahogany/deep brown with a compacted tan head which persisted but gradually peels off to a collar with minimal lacing. The aroma offers a gorgeous blend of earthy hops, German style wheat malts, ripe banana, nuts and toffee/caramel. In the mouth it provides a creamy texture with a nice weight behind it. Medium body and carbonation. Unfortunately the flavour profile (or lack thereof) is what brings it down. All the yeasty and ester-like flavours you would expect from a good dunkelweizen are missing in action. Hints of caramel and wheat malts come through delicately but disappear and all that is left is a simple German Marzen-style flavour in the finish. On the upside it’s only 5.3% ABV and quite sessional for a dark beer. Not the best Holgate brew we have ever had but it’s drinkable.

Moo brew hefeweizen

Rating:
Moo brew hefeweizen“Moo Brew pays homage to the classic Bavarian wheat beer, by offering a textural, boutique Hefeweizen. True to style, Hefeweizen is naturally cloudy with a vibrant yellow colour and strong foam head. The flavour and aroma is based on yeast-derived banana and clove. The Hefeweizen should have a creamy, rich mousse, reminiscent of vintage Champagne. Flavour match with washed rind cheeses, or South American, South and East Indian cuisine. Challenge with dessert pairings”.

Our first crack at this Tasmanian breweries range. Served in a Weizen glass the cloudy straw- yellow pour whipped up a frothy 1 finger head that slowly collapsed with little lacing to show for it. Lovely sweet and refreshing aroma of banana, clove, bubblegum, lemon juice and some creamy notes. Also some subtle yeasty undertones are present. Slightly watery mouthfeel with mild carbonation. Although the body is quite light on the palate isn’t too dissimilar to the aroma with the addition of zesty citrus and spice upfront. Delicious creamy hints of vanilla move forward onto a slightly sour citrus finish with a good hint of funk. A modest 5.1% ABV reflects a well balanced and easy drinking hefeweizen. You won’t see us rushing out for another, but all in all it’s a decent offering.