Tap X: Meine Porter Weisse
Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn

 

 

Really nice Weisse. Very different from many of their other wheat beers. Porter qualities really come through. Thick, chewy, almost nutty. A thoroughly enjoyable beer from Schneider.

Bottle from the lcbo for $10 or so

 

 

This one was a real gem. Schneider is king of the weizens, and here they managed to perfectly blend in a classic English porter, so that elements of both are noticeable and compliment each other. Nice nutty and dark roast grains from the porter on top of a thick, chewy and potent weizen bock. Excellent.

BOTTLE: Purchased at Ambrosetti in Berlin. 750ml format (which is rather uncommon in terms of German beer packaging). Brown glass. Classy oval label. Pry-off crown cap is unbranded, but there's a neck ribbon that runs over it advertising the vintage - 2014 in this case.

7.0% ABV. Weizenbock per the label. London Porter/Weissbier hybrid per the website. 24 IBUs. Brewed with Hercules, Cascade, and Hallertau. 50% wheat, 50% barley.

Served cold into a pilsner glass and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption.

As with many of their 750ml format beers, Schneider has included a plastic seal washer on the underside of the crown cap, which should help with carbonation creep to make this cellar well.

HEAD: ~4cm wide. Pale khaki colour. Frothy, somewhat foamy, adequately thick. It's indeed somewhere between a weissiber and a porter, but it didn't exactly get the best of both worlds. Nice consistency, generally speaking. Soft-looking, but not to the extent you'd find in a great weissbier. And it's not as rich and dark a head as those of the best porters. Retention is quite good - ~8 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.

BODY: Not the robust opaque black of a porter, but rather a diluted cola brown-black almost more in line with a schwarzbier. Nontransparent. I see no yeast within.

It's an odd overall look, but then this is an experimental hybrid. Not unique or special, but generally appealing, sure.

AROMA: Has more dessert-like sweetness than anticipated, leaning heavy on chocolate malt sweetness, cream, and hazelnut. Wheat is there softening things up when I look for it. I don't detect any stout-like roasted barley, or any harsh coffee or anything. Hop presence is quite mild - maybe just floral notes?

Aromatic intensity is above average. Suggests a beer more porter than weissbier, but in no way a weizenbock...the yeasty esters (banana, clove, bubblegum, what have you) just aren't there and the yeast doesn't seem prominent in the build.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Creamy, medium-bodied, soft, smooth, and wet on the palate, in classic porter fashion. And while the wheat helps achieve that softness, it also leavens the beer, robbing the porter of any robust malt backbone. While the chocolate malt/schwarz malt sweetness is nice, and nods towards richer dessert beers, I'm not sure the yeast attenuation is quite right. I want it to either commit to full dessert beer or to stick with the mellow wheat & malt sweetness, but this sits awkwardly somewhere between the two.

Weizenbock yeast character is absent...maybe some bubblegum, but no citrus peel, banana, clove, etc.

Depth of flavour is adequate albeit unimpressive. Flavour duration and intensity are moderate.

I don't think that the porter constituent clashes with the weissbier constituent per se; this doesn't feel as uneven or chaotic as, say, a Firestone Walker blend. There's definite cohesion here, and the flavours do work together to an extent...just not to the extent they need to; they don't harmonize. The sweetness is off, but I can't decide in which direction, the yeast profile awkwardly tries for lager cleanliness with ale attenuation, the hop profile is kind of there but kind of reticent...it's not a simplistic beer or bland or anything, but there's not a unity of flavour and it's missing a clear deliberate focus or direction. Nebulous criticism, but nevertheless honest.

I do like it for what it is; I just find it something of a failed experiment.

Minor note: Carbonation is high, but the softness of the mouthfeel makes that kind of okay.

OVERALL: I always applaud experimentation, and leave it to Schneider to be on the cutting edge. Trying to balance the traditions of two rich brewing cultures in order to make a hybrid that exceeds the sum of its parts, Meine Porter Weisse has to walk a fine line indeed - and unfortunately, it comes up short. It's a spirited effort, though, and the result is a drinkable albeit somewhat uneven and distracted beer with an interesting hodgepodge of constituent flavours. I wouldn't buy it again, but I'm glad to have tried it, and I think it unfair to call it disappointing.

I always hope for greatness from this brewery (and it so often delivers exactly that), but to invoke an American cliche - if you want to hit it out of the park you've got to accept sometimes you're just going to strike out. Or something like that...I've got beer to drink, damn you.

C+ (3.13)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L:
-pours a dark,mahogany brown with a medium,frothy,beige head
-medium-high carbonation visible
S:
-chocolate,caramel,toffee,licorish,molasses,roasted malt
T:
-Follows the nose plus a dark fruit (plums,raisins,figs) character,sour cherries,toast,a slight tartness and a touch of vanilla
F:
-full body,medium-high carbonation
-slight alcohol warmth
O:
Another outstanding Beer from Schneider

Served cool from 750ml bottle into Schneider Weisse bier glass.

L) Dark chestnut brown, opaque, huge foamy well off-white head.

S) Roasted malt, light coffee, definitely rich red fruit, raspberries and redcurrants. Not so much the banana / clove of standard weisse biers.

T) Roasted malt with a bit of bitterness, balanced with very open light fresh fruit flavours, maybe peach and melon. Deep down, the sweet banana-like flavours are there. This definitely highlights the 'porter' aspects rather than the weisse bier aspects, which is surprising for a Schneider Weisse bier.

F) Fairly light and refreshing for a 7% bier, although there is some weight in there and the roasted malt bitterness gives it a good presence in the mouth. No skanky bitter aftertastes in there. Really good.

O) Superb beer, a nice well conceived and well executed departure for Schneider. Expensive, but worth it as a one-off treat.

 

 

This was an intersting one. Clames to be a cross between a Poter and a Hefe. Brewery calles it a Weizenbock.
Poured a bit into a sniffer to try and get a feel for it. Poured a deep dark black\brown with about 3-4 fingers of lightly tan head. It wasnt really cloudy. Fist snifs and you get a strong porter note to it. I caught wiffs of chocolate and roasted malt. I took a taste and noticed no yeasty flavor. So I thought, this is a weize right?
So into a weizen glass it went.
That made all the difference.
There is a rather large colllection of almost moca brown sediment at the bottom of the bottle. This made the beer spring to life. I was really quite surprised. This beer has almost a split identity. It looks and tastes like a Porter with a slight yeast note, but it pours and feels like a weizebier. Over all, this is by no means a bad beer, in fact, it is a really solid porter with some unusual qualities, but I was hoping from something just a little more. While this beer was a joy to drink, I dont see myself going out of the way to find another (which is good, as this is a limited run beer).

 

Enjoyed from the bottle, 2014 vintage in a snifter. This unique "porter" pours a dark brown with tinges of red and a thick tight beaded foam layer that lingers long with decent sudsy lacing and a thick ring. Nose of light chocolate, roasted malts, light grains, and raisin notes. Flavors follow the nose with chocolate notes to the front blending with dark malts flavors towards the rear. As the brew warms a light hop character, lightly prickly, comes through on the back finishing somewhat dry with a light sweet grain flavor. For not being what I expected it is good, but not like my more preferred eisbock which is one of my all time favorites. That said it is nice to have tried this unique brew.

1pt 9.4 oz brown bottle - Limited Edition 2014

Schneider Weisse Tap X Meine Porter Weisse filled my Weihenstephan Weizen glass with a dark reddish brown almost black hue producing a very generous creamy and foamy 2-finger tan head. The head held well and as consumed produced a "hit and miss" foamy lacing. At first sniff the nose picks up [moderate] roasted malts followed by a hint of dark chocolate, coffee, and raisins. The nose well represents the flavor. However, the taste is more pronounced, The mouthfeel is lightly creamy, medium bodied and has a dry slightly hoppy finish.

Tap X Meine Porter Weisse is a unique "Weizenbock" as it is a combination of two contrasting styles the English porter and a Bavarian wheat beer. This ale is well balanced and if you are looking for a different take on a weizenbock this is one for you.

 

 

 

Undoubtedly this is well done. Porter characteristics of dark and roasted malts as well as a fuller body are there. Fruity esters, a wheat acidity and the fluffy head give a typical wheat character. Therefore, mission accomplished for the brew master. However, I do not think that the two styles result in a great (harmonious) beer. Some extra points for the craftsmanship though.

 

2014 bottle from the lcbo. Poured a very frothy creamy tan head, great retention and lacing, over a dark brown, near black body.

S - spicy and estery, very ripe banana, with lemon drops, wheaty creamy notes, custard, with a toasty malty character. Very enticing with its combination of aromas melded together.

T - roast malt notes, coffee, toasty wheat, custardy creamy notes, robust banana notes, lemon meringue, earthy spice notes, cardamon maybe, with dry hop notes that come in also. Banana notes, on dark rye toast, some cinnamon. A subtle sweetness matched with a decent bitterness, deliciously satisfying and the combination I find to be quite interesting and thought-provoking.

M- creamy, rich, with a strong wheat undertone, moderate carbonation. Easily sessionable while also being quite well balanced.

Impressive beer, that is for sure, to be able to skirt tradition and tiptoe a fence line basically. It doesn't really fall cleanly into either camp but is in itself something quite special, to be able to take the influence of combining a Weizenbock and Porter and marry them so cleanly I believe speaks to the talent that crafted this. Drinks quite easily for the strength and could be a session porter, but it holds also the strength and character of the weizenbock. Very solid and I would definitely try to grab this again.

Nose of malt, spicey, dark fruity esters, yeasty, faint sourness. Taste malt, spicey, chocolate, licorice, tartness, ash. Ok!

A: Dark deer skin brown with a cm amber hue on the edge when held to the light. Topped with 4 fingers of cappuccino beige head with fair retention.


S: Toffee, candy, fruity, light smokiness, caramel, toasted notes.


T: Brandy, toffee, toasted porter like notes, a hint of tar, lightly sweet with a sour fruit note like an orange lollipop, light coffee. Oh its complex and great.


M: Medium almost borderline syrupy body but smoothed out with fine powdery carbonation. Smooth finish, an almost coffee like coating left on the tongue.


O: Found this on in Kunming, China at a hip little bar on a back street. Amazing brew. I understand the name now after trying it, a cross between a porter and weizen in my opinion. My goodness. Find one, though its retired, and try it!

 

The colour is brown (70 EBC), the liquid is clear. The four finger head is pale beige and compact; it sinks slowly leaving thick lacing on the glass.

The smell is smooth with wheat sourness and some deeply roasted notes. It is rather sweet. Hints of delicatessen, plums, biscuits and cloves.

The taste is very smooth with distinct wheat flavours, roasted nutty malts, chocolate and raisins. Medium to full body. The aftertaste got some metallic bitterness, thick chocolate and a touch of cloves. The finish is smooth and somewhat sweet.

The carbonation is strong, but the large bubbles are very short-lived. The liquid is thick.

Very smooth, very porter, less hefeweissen. Not bad at all.

Schneider Weisse Tap X Meine Porter Weisse
$9 for a ,5l glass on tap @ Brauhaus Schmitz, Philadelphia, PA 05/31/2014

Notes: Deep mahogany brown body not unlike a porter. Full head of frothy tan foam not unlike a hefeweizen. Very good head retention and lacing. The aroma expresses bittersweet chocolate, roastiness, clove, dark fruit, and a hint of smokiness (that's probably a phenol coming from the yeast). The flavor follows suit and it's like a porter that's had dark fruits (plum, red grape, raisin) and cloves soaking in it. The chocolatey dark malts work extremely well with the darker fruit notes and clove, just as they do in so many dark Belgian ales, except that this is wizen-yeast based, and as such there's also some lower-level banana notes. Vanilla steps in as well, and combines with dark coffee to bring it back to the 'porter' side. At the very least it's interesting. Enjoyable.