Weizenbock
Rentsch Brewery

RB transfer

Appearance: Cloudy orange brown in color, with a massive and dense white head that threatens to escape the glass. The head retention is superb. After several minutes, it settles to a finely-beaded and dense quarter-inch layer. The lacing forms a thick and unbroken sheet across the glass wall. Profuse small bubbles drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: Caramel, toasted malt and dark bread are prominent in the aroma, as well as ripe banana notes and mild grassy hops.

Taste: Opens with dark bread notes, caramel, toasted malt with a nutty character, moderate herbal and grassy hops and earthy yeast. Toward the middle of the taste,, the hops fade and the notes of dark bread and caramel really shine. Late in the taste, the malt and yeast flavors fade, leaving a mild herbal bitterness to close the taste.

Mouth feel: Full and soft, with soft carbonation, quite pleasing.

Drinkability/notes: A pleasing example, perhaps a touch off of the classic German style, but its good. While this is better suited to colder weather than this hot Central Texas summer, it is still quite nice.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce aluminum can, served in a La Fin du Monde tulip.

pours a murky yellowish brown body with white bubbly head that has low retention and leaves no lacing behind as it settles to a thin halo

aroma is clean, thin, and sweet balance of malt. super lowkey

taste is much more vibrant than the look and smell, that's for sure. unfortunately, that's a low bar. it's a nice swig and sipper though. sweet, light, roasted, slightly nutty, slightly citrusy and yeasty malt. honestly tastes a lot like the mash off one of my amber homebrews. it's a little raw and unrefined feeling but in a good and refreshing way honestly. got a little funk to it the more I sit on it.

mouthfeel is moderately high carbonation and light bodied, which comes together to feel very full but light and fluffy. easy brew for sure. little funk bite to it towards the end. roasted aftertaste.

overall:
not the best looking or smelling, but it's got a heart of gold..I guess. more like a heart of funky old-world brew references. it's fun, it's easy, it's not much to look like, it has a certain tinge of funk that I guess comes across as personality.
shit...is this me as a beer? I mean, probably not. may or may not invest in a 6'er soon, but for now I think I "get it"

From a can brewed 11/14/19. Cloudy dark amber color with more head than beer (even being careful with the pour). Aroma is toasted malt with some grassy yeast. Full body. Rich malty flavors with some sweetness and grassy notes. Well done, and it really feels like a German beer (using the right yeast strains, etc.).

Great weizenbock smell is not strong but taste makes up for it big time! I like it better than weihenstaphner's vitus though I may be committing a sin by writing this.

 

 

Had it on tap. First taste is pleasant and promising. Sweet, grassy, with a bit of bread. Clear golden brown color with good lacing. The smell was subdued but inviting. A good beer.

 

 

CAN:

Aroma brings obvious banana esters, bubblegum phenol, soft wheat, banana bread, and a hint of slightly doughy yeast. Suggests a soft approachable wheat beer with a nice German yeast profile. Bock strength isn't indicated by the aroma; it's not as evidently warm from alcohol as many weizenbock style beers. Seems fresh and malty. I find no overt hoppy notes or off-notes.

Taste follows the aroma but has a blip of a metallic off-flavour in the late second act. Bready malts blend with obvious banana esters and more subtle bubblegum phenol to nice effect, showcasing the nuances of German yeast well. Remarkably soft in feel owing to its fresh German wheat backbone and mellow carbonation. Smooth, wet, and aptly medium-bodied. Refreshing to a degree.

It's the non-wheat malts that have me scratching my head a bit...they bill this as an "amber wheat ale" and it seems oddly caramel-ly without really committing to (cara)Munich, Vienna malt, or other German amber malts...was American caramalt used instead? Something is off, and it's a bit too sweet but also neither dark enough nor light enough to satisfy - if it were darker and fuller or lighter and more delicate it would be better, but it sits awkwardly between the two.

A drinkable weizenbock, but not one I'd reach for over Schneider Weiss or the like unless price was a real issue and I was dying for a decent expression of the style. This has a lot to like - its softness and its commitment to German ale yeast mainly - but it just isn't quite dialed in enough in terms of balance and build to really be up there with the greats. It's nice to have a true to tradition weizenbock available on the Texas market, though, and at least this isn't overhopped like many American attempts at the style.

High C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE