Ayinger Bräuweisse
Ayinger Privatbrauerei

From a 330ml bottle into a Nonic.
An opaque straw colored pour with a big head that fades and produces a little lacing.
Pleasant toasted Hefe malt, and yeast flavors.
This particular bottle seems like it is getting a little old, although I don’t see a date on it.
I look forward to trying this one again, from a newer bottle, or on draught.

 

Superbly balanced weizen. Easily my favorite in the category.

 

0.5l bottle into a weißbier glass with the logo on it in the sun.
Deep bread and lemon nose.
Soft Gros Michel banana and subdued bubblegum arrival. Silty. Oystershell lime. Freshly baked vanilla buns. Lemon zest, lemon drops. Dry crackers.
Lively, but not at all attention seeking or bothering mouthfeel. Calm and bright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hazy straw with a lumpy tower of stiff snow white foam; bread starter, banana chips, almond skins and low nutmeg; white sliced pan, banana chews, slight lemon, and numbing clove hum to end; soft, round, smooth.

4 x 5

Ayinger are tops across the board, but straight hefeweizen doesn’t so much excite me, so I’ve put this one off for a while.
And I’m not sorry I did. It’s well crafted, balanced and perhaps understated, which is another way of saying just not enough going on.
The body is there, and there’s a healthy, though not generous, serving of esters that shifts into vanilla and some more interesting tones.
But the phenols you feel more than taste (no real clove), the carbonation is slightly low, and maybe NEIPAs have spoiled me when it comes to mouthfeel but it’s just not as silky as it could be. Those last two together are problematic because they kill the weiss-as-summer-isotonic-quencher aspect of it.
I won’t argue that it’s a fine example - BJCP one, in fact - but it’s neither quaffable enough nor characterful enough to capture the best aspects of the style.

Solid, but I’m sticking with Weihenstephaner.

Nice mouthfeel with banana-cloves that aren't too overbearing as they can be in many other versions. It pours a golden yellow with hazy yeast. The carbonation and aftertaste are very enjoyable.

 

 

Light in colour and in taste. Lots of lemon, light aroma of banana, perhaps a little soapy, but not sour. Tastes lightly spiced, very muted banana flavour. Gentle carbonation. Very sessionable