Appenzeller Weizenbier
Brauerei Locher AG

After a long train ride (8 hours) listening to kids have fits (not mine, of course), this Weizenbier really hit the spot. Refreshing. Flavourful and fruity. And wonderfully soft.
Supporting my accolades, there is lots of moderation done well. For example, the yeast has banana; but it is modest. While the wheat is clearly 50%, it is still leaves room for in the malt bill to show its barley flavours.

I like this beer and would have it again. I like Locher and revisited their website and this five generation micro is keeping the enterprise going, inventing new things to brew and do and make with the leftover/used ingredients. Most family breweries go away when the next generation doesn't want the job, so the parents sell out. That happened a lot in Austria. I'm glad that it didn't happen to Locher. Keep going, kids. You're doing great !

Picked up a swing top 50cl bottle at the Basel main train station before leaving town. Has all the classic flavors of the style, just a bit muted and watery. Overall pretty tasty for a train ride.

 

L- Certainly looks like a Weizen. Mid gold, notably cloudy, and pours with impressive 1CM just off-white ultra-fine-bubble creamy looking head. [ps 15mins later head is holding reeeally well].
S- Distinct spice notes. Sometimes I struggle to find them in other Weissbraus, not this one, they're are clear as day.
T- Wow this is a complex brew... first sip of beer today and the flavour really developed/changed on my palate. Rounded wheat, into spice notes, moderately dry hopping comes in heading towards the finish
F- At first I thought the spicy edge a little too prominent, leading the body to feel a bit light and thin in comparison. Now my palate is calming after 4-5 sips things feel more balanced. I still think the 5.2% is a bit shy to fully show itself but it feels very elegant so I'm unsure that matters.
O- Very elegant, certainly refreshing, sessionable as it barely feels it's ABV%. If I lived in Switzerland I'd be happy to buy this again. As a specialist import ($) to the UK I'd wish it had a bit more oomph to the Feel.

Bought from BeersOfEurope/UK for home delivery. 500ml bottle. BB 16/02/2021
Just realised this is only my 2nd of 1335 reviews of a Swiss beer. Well yes, I don't know how many breweries they have but they really have almost zero profile over here...

 

Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow color with a thin white head, fades quickly without lacing on the glass.

Smell has a bready aroma with a light touch of clove and banana, fairly earthy aroma.

Taste is similar to the aroma with clove and banana having a strong flavor profile, very bready/biscuity, strong carbonation which lends a fairly creamy feel.

500ml brown bottle, sample from the importer.

Stunning head retention as expected, hazed golden colored brew. Some ripe fruit, spice, bready malt, yeast, & banana pith in the nose. Very crisp, moderate sized body. Spicy phenols, cracker-like maltiness, bread crust, very modest hopping, lemon pith, and a ghost-like banana taffy on the palate. Very easy to knock back, finish dries up nice.

 

500 ml bottle into weizen glass, best before 5/27/2015. Pours hazy deep golden yellow color with a 1 finger dense white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of big banana, clove, lemon, pear, apple, light bubblegum, wheat, biscuit, light honey, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big banana, clove, lemon, pear, apple, light bubblegum, wheat, biscuit, light honey, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal bitterness/yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of banana, clove, lemon, pear, apple, wheat, biscuit, light honey, and herbal/yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. damn nice robustness, complexity, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/bready, and lightly crisp mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish as expected of 5.2%. Overall this is an excellent hefeweizen. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

 

500ml corked bottled served in a Weizen bottle.

A: Pours a hazy orange color forming a big fizzy and creamy white head. Good retention and lots of lacings formed and left in the glass

S: Great perfume. Strong notes of white bread and sweet biscuits. Quite sweet, fruity and flowery. Notes of pale malts and wheat. Light notes of clove and banana esters. Some very light notes of flowery hops

T: Sweet grains upfront. Extremely bready. Strong notes of sweet pale malts and wheat. Biscuity. Some light notes of flowery grains. Earthy and quite bready yeast profile

M: Creamy body. Medium carbonation. Smooth. Bready aftertaste

O: Great drinkability. Smooth. Simple but very pleasant Swiss Weissbier

 

 

Pocked up a swing top from Drinks of the World.

This is the best local Swiss beer I've come across so far. Although, most have just been somewhat bland lagers, so it's not hard for this to stand out. As for the beer itseld, it have the classic light orange, hazy body with a white head (no retention). The flavor reminds me of Franziskaner, but with a little less yeast character. There's still a lovely spiced orange with mild wheat malt and a creamy vanilla.

Poured into a hef glass in the train station in Zurich.

Had a big, white fluffy head that had good lasting power. Poured a dark golden. Lots of carbonation seen rising.

Aroma was sweet, bananas and wheat.

Taste was sweet [almost honey tasting], some light clove and a stronger banana and fruity flavor. Certainly not up to standard of other beers of this type, but not bad.

Mouthfeel was clean and spritzy. Actually seemed too heavily carbonated to me.

Overall, a decent enough beer. Sort of a light feel and lacking character. If you really need to have a Swiss beer on a hot summer day, then this would be fine.

Thanks JiPi for the sample!

Appearance: A darker shade of peach, with some sediment in suspention. A nice, thick and cakey froth that slowly died off, but not without clinging for dear life on the inner walls of my glass.

Smell: Some citrus, then plenty of soothing vanilla and maybe even lavander and floral aromas. Banana esters where there, but not as much as the usual german Hefe.

Taste: Lively carbonation, sweet overtones of weizen malt, with hops barely noticable in the finish. A light, enjoyable and refreshing Beer!

Quickly fading fluffy head on a golden orange color body. The smell is fresh and sweet, wheat is fairly noticeable, but less than the bananas. The taste is sweet, enjoyable and fruity: nice banana flavors and maybe a light hint of bubble gum. Surprizingly good. Slightly citric. Light notes of hops, quite fruity. The aftertaste is a bit more wheaty than for other hefe weizen. Very interesting. Mouthfeel is round and enjoyable. Maybe lacking some complexity. Nice carbonation, apparently due to a "particulat bottle fermentation process". The label claims that this is the ony Swiss beer with wheat malt, grown in Appenzell. I'm not sure if it's the only Swiss beer using wheat malt, or the only one that uses wheat malt from Appenzell. Whatever. It's good.