Hefeweizen
Tree Brewing

Appearance: Standard Hefe fair, cloudy yellow body that despite clouding boasts a high level of carbonation. The pour made a finger of head but the lace and retention isn't quite there.

Smell: Wheat malt and and notes banana and cloves. Warming helps it out a little bit but not much. In my younger days I'd probably be a bit more generous, but this is a pretty generic smelling hefe. Nothing bad about it though.

Taste: I sorta hate to say it, but this is a fairly typical average hefe. There's nothing bad about it, but nothing stands out. It starts with a bit of wheat malt then turns to banana phenol and ends with clove notes. It's a little bit watered down for my liking.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation helps out this beer tremendously, and the aftertaste is very clean. There is a slight, almost stale swampy taste near the end, but it's very subdued.

Drinkability: Goes down easy, stays down easy and refreshing, but a little bit too moist for a hefe. Surprisingly despite the high carbonation, it doesn't get out of control. Regrettably though, I just can't see it going well with food.

Final Thoughts: All in all this strikes me as a Hefe brewer for the Lager market. It does enough things right to remain a qualified weizen, but is a bit too tame for my liking. Give it shot, but a wonder of the world it is not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours an unfiltered golden orange with a bright white head. Nose isbanana, gum, spices, wheat. Taste pretty standard: grain, phenol, esters spicy. Carbonated mouthfeel, drying, medium body. An okay drinking hefe but prefer the imported variety. Could use a bit more brightness out of the flavour.

On the yellow side of orange and translucent with wheat protein and yeast sediment. Moderate head for the style shows good retention and excellent lace. Wheat, lemon peel, and banana aroma hits the right notes but plays them a little too quietly. Citric up-front with delicate wheat and banana notes following. Light clove in the short finish. Light-bodied and a little undercarbonated for the style. It feels just a little bit thin in the mouth. A very inoffensive and middle-of-the-road interpretation of Weissbier. It's drinkable, but why bother when there is much better available in abundance? This begs the question, why do some breweries feel the need to dumb down one of the most approachable styles of beer?

 

 

 

Beer is cloudy golden with a good-sized white head. Slowly dissipates, leaving some lace.

Smell is fine. Banana and clove. A little faint.

Taste is disappointing. Typical hefeweizen flavours, but rather dull. Banana and clove, a bit of bubblegum. Clove is pretty strong in the finish, too much so for my tastes. A bit watery.

Medium bodied, highly carbonated. Fizzy.

Overall, a pretty average hefeweizen. Not something I would have again.

650ml bottle from the LCBO, into a weizen glass.

Unfiltered orange-yellow with an offwhite head of medium density. Moderate retention, OK lacing. Nose has some moderate banana, wheat and a quite a bit of clove. Taste has more wheat, citrus peel, some raw banana and typical hefeweizen-like spicing. Light crackery malt. Medium light body, and a moderate sweetness that neutralizes a mild bitterness. Medium high carbonation. Adequate but uninspiring.

Hazy golden colour, nice thick white head and a quite a bit of lace on the glass. Smell is slightly on the neutral side of things, but clove and yeast, banana and other spices are all present, bready malts as well. Taste has lots of bready malts with clove and spices, fruity, banana and some yeasty notes, more spice and banana in the finish. High carbonation, light-med feel with some watery points. This was alright, mouthfeel was a little weak, still rather tasty and enjoyable but really not much better than average.

 

LCBO Tree series. Hits the style, so tasty and on sweet side,with some clove spice, but not the best Hefe I have had, not very complex. Decent drinkability. Hazy slightly orange appearance. Citrus and wheat aromas. Slightly above average mouthfeel.Appropriate carbonation.

Bomber picked up at the LCBO; best before 06/10/12. I am always eager to crack open a hefe in skanky hot weather like this. Additional varieties always seem to migrate to the shelves around this time of year, and as a ticker I just can't resist the temptation to try every single one I can get my clammy little hands on.

Pours a murky yellowish colour with a twinge of amber, topped with nearly two fingers of silky, creamy white head with excellent retention. It takes well over five minutes for the foam to die down to a thin cap, and it leaves plenty of lacing smudged all over the sides of the glass. The aroma contains most of the usual hefe tropes - sweet wheaty malts, banana, yeast and some clove spiciness. Decent, but far from unique.

Unfortunately, that last sentence seems to be just as appropriate when applied to the flavour. It starts off comparable to most hefes - firm backbone of sweet, bready wheat malts, supported by subdued notes of lemon, banana and clove. The finish is where it differs substantially - this particular offering is quite dry, with a pronounced grassy bitterness that lingers on the palate. The aftertaste is what really turns me off here - it's a bit chalky, a bit minerally, and just mildly off-putting in general. Relatively light-bodied and watery, without any slickness and very little chew. Good carbonation for the style - enough to keep it reasonably crisp and refreshing.

Not the most inspiring hefe I've had recently, but I suppose it's serviceable enough. The chalky aftertaste combined with the relatively weak malt profile has left me a bit underwhelmed - and I have always considered myself relatively easy to please when it comes to this style. Maybe I've just been spoiled by all the great German hefes that are so easy to find around here.

Final Grade: 3.28, a slightly mediocre C+. I'd hesitate to call Tree's Hefeweizen bad, but I'd be just as hesitant to call it good, too. To be blunt (and I must hand over control to my 'inner hipster' to actually type this without wincing), it's kinda sorta 'meh'. The bomber is definitely not worth the 6 dollar price tag, especially when there is a bottle of the vastly superior Weihenstephaner next to it selling for half as much. I'd be willing to retry this somewhere in B.C. where freshness is less likely to be an issue, but it's not something I intend to revisit anytime soon. This one could use some work, but the basic foundations of a decent hefe are mostly present, so there's no reason it wouldn't quench your thirst on a hot night like this.

Bottle into weizen glass.
Date on bottle is 06/10/12 (hoping it means Oct 6th)

A- Hazy as hell (duh) cascading sunrise of color. Starts with a light pale straw yellow on the bottom and darkens to a more distinguished gold color at the top. Two finger super creamy, sticky white head. Lacing is good.

S- Typical Hefe aromas; Bananas, cloves and yeast.

T- Typical Hefe tastes; Bananas, cloves, yeast.

M- Light bodied, good carbonation, very refreshing.