Hefeweizen
Athletic Brewing Co.

 

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned 11/27/21. This can is branded "Pilot Program Athletic Hefe", but this entry seems to be the right place for it.

Appearance: lightly silvery golden hue with a finger of frothy white foam atop. Perhaps not quite as turbid as a traditional hefeweizen, but still very nice looking.

Smell: lightly wheaty with perhaps a bit of a clove character. It's not bad, but it's kind of like an NA american pale wheat ale than a traditional banana-ey hefeweizen.

Taste: wheaty and refreshing. Something is definitely missed here without the alcohol, but it does mostly provide the experience of a decent pale wheat ale.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and creaminess. Of course, that means for NA beer it's wonderful. Athletic does a consistently good job at this.

Overall: I like this beer, and although it's not quite a hefeweizen across a few dimensions, I could still see myself drinking more of this.

Great beer. If you're a session drinker, this would fall right into most evenings just fine. There's a phenomenal bready finish to this, long and delicate that reminds me of helles or just euro pale lager. I think it's excellent. It's arguably my favorite n/a beer so far. Best part, the fluffy white soft head just hanging atop everything.

Rated as BA intended; vs. other NA beers, not against full ABV hefe. However I am taking into consideration the extent to which this beer approximates the characteristics of a good, full ABV hefe, within the acknowledged limitations of a near beer. Pours a very light yellow into a tall hefe glass. The carbonation bubbles rise continuously from the bottom throughout the drinking process. A slight haze. A very voluminous, beautiful, white, fluffy, long lasting head that leaves some lacing. Smell includes some banana, but not much in the way of close or other spice. Same goes with the taste. You know this is a hefe in terms of flavor and smell, but it is characteristically thin-ish in body. Lively, but not aggressive, carbonation in the mouthfeel. Overall I think this is one of the better NA representations of the full ABV version of the style.