Weihenstephaner Braupakt
Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle from Boise Co-op. Hazy golden with small lasting fluffy head. Aroma is spot on, bananas, clove, bubblegum. Taste adds the slightest amount of hops bitterness, not enough to deviate from the style, but enough to give it some extra character. In the same vein as the Schneider Hopfenweisse, but a little mellower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent construction, a wonderful classic that must be sought out. On tap fresh at Biercraft and worth the visit on this alone. Good mouthfeel with substantive orange flavour.

Heavily hopped hefeweizen. Beautiful barley/wheat malt spine, grainy/bready/doughy. Interesting flavor combination, with the earthy/piney/citrus west coast hops battling banana esters and spices creates a overripe-orange type taste. Almost like a pale ale mixed with a traditional hefe. Bitter resinous finish, which is unusual for the style. Interesting collaborative beer. Doesn't scratch the hefe itch for me.

Decanted from a 11.2 oz (330 ml) bottle into custom taster pint; production code 1098, which I gather means it was produced on 3/1/18.
A: Pours a hazy golden to amber color with an initial four finger, egg-shell white head, excellent retention, and rings of sticky lacing.
S: Remarkably light nose initially. First aromas are grassy and grainy with caramel bleeding through and predominating first, then banana or cloves coming front and center, as it warms.
T: Sweet and tart with flavors of caramel, banana, and cloves more consistent with what I associate as representation of the style. Bitterness however substantial and peppery, but never quite out of balance.
M: Medium bodied and solid carbonation. Nicely tingly on the palate.
O: A somewhat flavor forward take on the style. Interesting collaboration. I believe the bittering reflects how the brewery from the New World contributed to that of the Old.

Very hazy amber body with a head so thick you could shave with it. Very pretty aroma: banana, clove, wheat & honey. Taste is salty-sweet -bitter. Flavors consist of banana, clove, lemon, fruity esters, spice, earthy flavors & a hint of alcohol. Feel is slightly thin & slightly under-carbonated. Overall an excellent hefe

 

 

 

Lovely hazy, almost ciderlike body with a thick finger of snowy foam and good lace. Gorgeous to look at. Clean nose, mainly sweet and slightly metallic. Slightly more earthy than fruity, with a bit of malt at the end. Full bodied and full flavored for sure. Almost syrupy over the tongue. Very impressive. A candylike fruity sweetness is here but it isn't cloying at all. Best hefe I've tried. Supremely balanced, complex, and easy to drink.

 

 

Very good head production and retention. Body is unsurprisingly hazy, but darker than I'd expect for a Hefe, somewhere between lemon and orange colored.

Huge notes of clove and banana on the nose, along with milky wheat, light lemon, grass, and honey.

Flavor checks all the right boxes, from honey and banana, to wheat and white bread, touches of pepper and bubblegum, and sweet, fruity esters.

The hops add a touch of bitterness up front, and a slightly spicy, herbal, and fruity character in the first third, but are very well integrated, allowing the traditional style to stay in the forefront and adding just a subtle twist.

Full mouthfeel with excellent drinkability. A touch of alcohol up front, but smooth through the finish.

This is an excellent Hefe, and a fantastic collaboration brew. The SN hop touch is light but interesting - you really could not ask for a better example of how to add a modern twist to an established style without disrespecting it in any way.

500ml bottle

An absolutely giant white head bellows over the rim of my can-style glass (no weizen glass available). Could not be more pillowy and creamy, at least two fingers in height. Almost too big, I'd like a little more beer in here please. The body is a dark burnt orange, lots of brown in here. Soooo much carbonation coming up from the bottom. Cloudy as all hell, duh. Head retention is immaculate, also duh? Overall a little darker than I'm used to, but it looks amazing so far.

Nose is loaded with banana and clove. Light bubblegum. A little mineral aroma coming up. Pretty spicy as well. Very estery, fruity. Grain actually comes through here, moderately sweet (makes sense with the color). Not sure how I feel about the grain, usually I don't want to smell that in a hef, but it smells so damn fresh and authentic that I don't think I care. This flowery spice is quite nice as well. More complex than most hefs. Overall fantastic nose.

The flavor is very good, not quite as pungent as the nose though. Banana and clove are very present, not really much bubblegum. Certainly a little sweet, but the fresh bready smell isn't coming through on the taste. A touch spicy, and slightly flowery. Overall this flavor is pretty on par with the nose, it's just not as full. Still very good, but makes for more of a sessionable beer than a flavor packed one.

The carbonation started off medium, but dropped to a sub par level. The mouthfeel is pretty thin for a hef, not sure how I like that. Starts off very wet, finishes a little dry. Smallest touch of bitterness lingers at the veeeery end. Got a fair amount going on, but could use a bigger body, even for a sessionable hef.

The drinkability is certainly unbeatable. It's a world class hef but with a lighter build to it.

The appearance turned out perfect. Lovely thick lacing all the way down the glass. The head diminished a small amount over the course of 20 minutes, but who cares. I still ended up with almost a finger of head at the bottom of the glass. Can't really get any better than this.

Overall this is a wonderful hef. I wish the flavor was as full as the nose, but it's still very very good. Mouthfeel should be able to hold up, and it doesn't over time.

 

Banana aroma. Spiced clove and strong malt taste. Slightly bitter, slightly hoppy... not a bad brew. I find the original weihenstephaner more palatable.