Ayinger Bräuweisse
Ayinger Privatbrauerei

16.9 oz. bottle poured into wheat beer glass

L: so murky it looks like pineapple juice ... it's a light enough color of yellow that you can pick up shapes when trying to look through it up to the light, but it's otherwise opaque; huge fluffy white head that dissipates pretty fast and doesn't leave much behind -- little sticking and no lace, but it keeps a cool-looking skin of white foam on top with a thick, fluffy collar

S: sweet banana ... you don't even have to put your nose up to it -- the aroma flies up to you, like an air-freshener; lemonade, sour grapes ... and then there's that spice. it's like chai tea, and i'm assuming it's the clove note. very sweet and sour

T: follows the nose mostly but might taste a little more spice (clove? pepper, earth) than sweet ... all the notes are similar, and the chai tea is there -- again, cloves. very easy to see why banana is the classic descriptor because it's the easiest coverall term for this mix. fruity, too, but it's not English pale ale or Belgian dubbel "fruity" ... lighter and more sour

F: feels a tad soft -- the first third popped with carbonation, like a good Belgian, but halfway in it's starting to feel slightly under-carbonated. it's still very, very good ... another swallow suggests I'm being picky: this is super drinkable.

O: the wheat-beer notes are growing on me, and this is classic everything wheat -- look, smell, taste. it's full of flavor but still light and easy to deal with ... the 5.1% ABV fits the package perfectly.

i'm a novice to the style, but this seems as spot on as it gets.

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.