Hefeweizen
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at RB, King of Prussia.

A standard offering, and a style I'm usually not a huge fan of, but I opted for a sampler. Cloudy pale yellow, small white head. Light aroma of toasted wheat and spice. More of the same in the taste, wheat, grains, light banana/clove essence. Light and drinkable, but nothing amazing going on here.

Add some rum: too much banana

 

 

I never know what to expect when an American place calls a beer a hereweizen. So frequently do I order exactly that and end up with a flavorless pale wheat Bud Light replacement.

This particular beer could not make up its mind either. It had some signs of life, a hint of clove in the smell, a touch of banana in the taste, but not enough of either to lay clearly on one side or the other. The mouthfeel was inoffensive but lifeless. It might get me by, but I want more flavor.

 

A - Poured a hazy yellow color with a white head that leaves some lacing behind

S - Is of wheat citrus banana and clove all the scents that let you know your getting into something good

T - Starts out with wheat and citrus then finishes off with that good banana and clove finish that a good hefe has

M - This beer has a light body with medium carbonation to it

D - I could drink this beer by the pitcher its that good this is a very well made hefe great taste thats supper easy to drink worth picking up if you stop by

Pours a finger of dirty head over a murky liquid (I poured the sediment in). Smells clove, honey, waxy, and mild banana. Tastes oranges, zing, tart, and phenolic clovey. Wheat and apricot esters. Body is a little heavier than I'd like and strong carbonation.

Foggy honey mustard with a rapidly diminishing off-white cap. I was left staring at a barely covering film within minutes and nearly all traces of head and lace were gone by the time the glass was half empty. While I enjoyed the obviously unfiltered beer, a little more eye candy wouldn't have hurt.

The nose didn't much resemble a hefe weizen. It was citrus fruity and softly bright (like light at the bottom of a pool), but there was precious little that I could identify as banana or clove. Underpowered... not really style accurate... acceptable.

Hefeweizen tasted like two parts hefe weizen to one part American pale ale. I enjoyed the flavor so I won't take points off for failure to conform to the style guidelines. The beer had a solid wheaty base. Whatever tanginess might have been present was countered by an American citric hoppiness. Banana and clove entered via the front door, while lemon and orange came sneaking in the back door.

The citrus fruit made more of a statement on the back end, and the beer seemed a little sweeter on the finish as well. The mouthfeel was light-medium, displayed a well-buried amount of carbonation and made a valiant bid for creaminess.

Hefeweizen (descriptive, yet lacks pizzaz) is an interesting take on the style. Even though I enjoyed the hoppy, APA-ish twist, style purists might not view it so kindly. This is another tasty, drinkable, well-crafted summer beer from my local Rock Bottom.

Had this on tap at the brewpub. Poured a nice orange/yellow color with lots of cloudyness. Tall white head that sticks around and leaves nice lacing on the glass. The aroma was very strong with banana and clove. Some spicy yeast there too. The flavor was much the same. Nice hefe yeast spice and a fruity character. Very enjoyable beer.

This is a fall seasonal at the Rock Bottom Cinicinnati. It is made with other fall seasonals to coincide with Octoberfest Zinzinnati. This ale came with a nice white head over a cloudy golden body. Some lacing was noted. The nose is very restrained and the body is a bit thin, even for the style. The flavor was solidly hefe with a good deal of spice noted.

This brew poured a medium sized head of fine to medium sized white bubbles. It had a cloudy orange colored body and its receeding head left an excellent lacing. I smelled an aroma of mild hops and tasted notes of banana, pumpkin and spices within this decent brew.

When poured into my glass, this beer had a medium sized white head that contained small-medium sized bubbles. There was a lot of lacing on the sides of my glass with this beer. This beer had a cloudy appearance and the nose was fruity. It was a fairly smooth drinking beer with a slight bitter taste.

Hefeweizen: On tap at the Rock Bottom in Chicago. Cloudy, golden color. A little bit of head, but nice thick Brussels lacing. Interesting, not really brewed to the style, in my book. The typical banana/yeast flavors are almost absent, replaced by much more assertive hops tastes, as well as cloves. Finishes with a clean and crisp finish. Does not have the sweet/sour tastes as is typical. It was actually a tasty and interesting brew, but I’m not sure I’d go with this one next time.

Called the "Warrenweizen" in our local Rock Bottom I had really hoped for better. It pours as a dark almost burnt orange-ish cloudy color. Slightly darker than what you would expect from the style but still looks appealing except for the fact that it doesn't pour with a very thick head either. The taste had an almost bitter taste to it that, again, didn't seem to fit quite right as a hefe. Overall, it was certainly a drinkable beer, but when going to a micro-brewery you hope for something better than the average and this one fell just short of that.