Hyannis Hefe-Weizen
Cape Cod Beer

 

 

 

This beer, almost literally, made me weep. I've long searched for the domestic hefeweizen that has the balls to take that Bavarian yeast and use it unmolested. Don't dumb it down for the masses, but allow its unique fruity and spicy characters to assert themselves for the people. But no, far too few brewers have that courage. Americans have become accustomed to "hefeweizens" like Widmer or Pyramid, beers that are anything but hefeweizens. Call them wheat beers, Ishmael, for that is what they are. The Cape Cod Hefe, on the other hand, is the real deal.

Appearance: A dark nut brown, dancing on the dunkel side of life but not quite. I'd love to compare it to the hair of one of the chicks in the Hooter's Swimsuit competition, but everyone there was either blonde or black. No brown. And not one of them knows how to walk in heels. That was disconcerting.

Smell: YEEEHAAAWWW! Man, I took that first snort at the brewery, looked up at Todd Marcus and smiled. "You're using a Bavarian yeast!" I said. He had been viewing us somewhat dubiously before that moment, all dubiousness was eradicated by that comment. It's got spice, it's got fruit, it's got nuttiness. And in the finish, just a wee hint of citrus, as Todd actually uses either Cascade or Chinook hops to finish.

Taste: All I know is that this is my idea of what a hefeweizen should taste like. They should taste like the smell and smell like they taste. The glasses of hefe went down easily.

Mouthfeel: My big complaint with American "hefeweizens" is that they have all the subtlety and nuance of peanut butter. They look thick, smell uninteresting and taste thick. This beer, on the other hand, is light, nutty and refreshing. Mouthfeel is just enough to let you know that the yeast is there and it isn't fucking around, but it's not the pea soup presence that the mainstream "hefeweizens" carry.

Drinkability: Wicked.

This beer, and this brewery, was a find for all of us involved (FirstMan, Shanaghy and myself). I can't wait to go back. I know that Todd blew the last keg of the hefe about two weeks ago, but I've had a bottle jealously guarded that I drank last night. Now it's gone and I am sad. My taste buds, however, are quite happy.

Ah'ight - I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that what Todd - the brewer at Cape Cod - poured for Knuckles, Shanaghy and myself when we stopped by in early August of 2005 was quite possibly the best Bavarian-style Hefe Weizen I've had from a US brewer.

Who knew that you could find someone brewing with true Bavarian yeast out on the Cape? Man this was a fantastic beer. And please - if you have this - don't don't don't put a freakin' lemon in it. You'll miss a lot of the action.

Pours a misty golden color with a nice head of small frothy bubbles on top. Already you can smell the bananas and citrus notes that - at least to me - scream Munich! (sigh). Just a perfect German hw nose. So many brewers in the US don't use Bavarian yeast when they try to make wheat beers and I just can't stand most of what comes out. Not so with this one. It's dead on.

Light, bright, and wonderfully refreshing. Yes, there's yeast in here. Talk about a beer I could drink all day (oh, wait a minute, I bought a growler and actually did drink this all day...). Smooth, full, slick mouthfeel just enhances the fruity notes. Another BA said something about Curious George loving this. He's right. Lots of bananas.

Todd said he had been working on this beer for a while and by cracky I think he got it right. From what he said, I think this one is tough to get anywhere but at the brewery, but it's definitely worth a trip to Hyannis.

The quintessential summer beer.

Hefevisen style, that was loaded with smoke. Front to back it was all you could get from this beer. It was poured at the brewery so freshness was by far its best component. This brewery seems to be in a transition phase; heading in the right direction, but work still needs to be done.

This was also part of my little sampler nestled on a fish shaped tray.
The beer is a densely cloudy bright yellow, almost approaching an ochre color. A froth of white head tops the liquid, diminishing only slightly with the attack of greasy, deep-fried fish eating lips. Impressive.
The aroma is hugely phenolic, with lots of estery banana and bubblegum. I like a fruity hefeweizen, and this is assuredly one for ye olde annals. I think perhaps this could be appropriately named Chimp Ale, because Curious George would have backflipped for a pint of this. Expecting some bland wheaty american style "hefeweizen", this was certainly not what I was expecting. Aside from the monstrous fruitiness, some wheat malt is apparent, lending a touch of sourness. No apparent hops.
The flavor starts out with some soft wheat malt, giving way quickly to a careening gumball machine crashing to the ground, it's bulbous glass head smashing into tiny bits and spewing forth a flood of multi colored sweets, knocking over the nearby machine filled with those little banana shaped candies. A nearby art student looks on, takes a drag of his clove cigarette, exhales and says "Way cool, man, it's like a Jackson Pollack". A bit of wheat sourness in the finish, with negligible hops. Candy-like and a bit cloying, although the clove, whatever existing hops were employed, and malt sourness mostly balance it. Smooth carbonation, with a medium body.
Perhaps a bit over the top, I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. I think this may be the world's first imperial hefeweizen, with massive amounts of phenolic esters. Tasty and way better than what I was expecting, although I don't think I could drink more than a pint of this. I'd suggest fermenting it slightly cooler to calm down the yeast byproducts.

5oz sample at brewpub.
Pour is clear golden (it said it was a heffe, but maybe the filter it?), non-existent head - also came with a huge wedge of lemon that was far too large for a 5oz sample. Aroma is all banana sweetness, flavor follows with the same. Body is medium, beer is pretty one-dimensional and entirely average.