Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

I don't think so. I am kind of assuming it's simply to keep beer production and the PET process (completely different production than returnable glass bottles) moving forward and help pay for investment.

In the end, only the consumer wins (well, kinda - depends on the quality of the brew which I haven't had in many years) and that consumer asks himself why he should pay EURO 13.99 for a crate of brand-name hefeweizen which is for the most part not INCREDIBLY better than the inexpensive alternative.

Anyone in Germany try these beers yet? Who can sacrifice 2 hours of their lives for the common good?

 

While I enjoyed the Hefeweizen the imported Vollbier Hell we've been getting over here is pretty thin and rather disappointing. I did try the Dunkel last week (sorry, no review yet) and it was pretty good, and the Doppelbock is terrific.

I never seem to find a good Dunkelweizen on this side of the Atlantic; the examples I had in Bavaria were all so good, but they seem to lose something in export -- Pasteurization again? Dunno, but it's interesting to see a review from closer to the source.

 

Hmm, that's disappointing to hear. I'm a fan of a good Dunkelweizen. I assume you have tried Schneider Weisse's Tap 7, Weihenstephaner's Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel, and Ayinger's Ur-Weiss? Had those all over here and liked them.

Edit: Originally typed "Ur-bock" when I meant "Ur-Weiss".

 

Tap 7 is the original, right? While it's darker than your typical Hefeweizen, I don't think it's considered an actual "Dunkelweizen.*" To that, all of the Schneider beers travel well, I'd never turn one down.

While it's been a while for most of those, yeah -- I've tried them, and they all seem to be thin to my palate; much the same as Sean found with the Andechs. OTOH -- their "light" counterparts are always good -- and another other hand, their Weizenbocks are always good as well, just something lacking in the Dunkelweizen.

*If you look at the Schneider web site they don't list anything as a Dunkelweizen.

 

Yeah, I always just considered the Tap 1 (Mein Blondes) and Tap 7 (Mein Original) as their Helles and Dunkles Hefe-Weizens. I'm not sure if that's proper or not, I've just always sorted them out that way in my own brain.

 

IMO, the Tap 7 and other dark/husky weizens like the Augustiner Weisse look like a dunkelweizen, but they're missing that semi-sweet cocoa note. I even had someone correct me with the Augustiner one and after getting to try it again years later, I agree with him. It looks like a duck, but it doesn't quack like one.

 

The Ayinger Ur-weiss is phenomenal.

 

I seem to remember, at some point in time, Schneider saying their beer was closer to what Weizens (not Weißbier, by Crusader's in-depth research) were when they were first brewed. Not sure if that was just a story or not, but it doesn't take away from it being a damn good beer.

 

I've heard this aswell. The prefix Ur then makes sense for Ayinger and also the Erdinger Ur-weisse (which is nowhere near as good)

 

I wouldn't be surprised, especially with them hanging their hat on tradition...but still pushing boundaries with their large format bottles. My wife really likes their normal weissbiers, but I tend to go for the ones with more fruit esters. I love Aventinus to death and I'm surprised to really enjoy Hopfenweiss and MG, but I'm not that big of a fan of the others.

 

I'm not thinking in terms of a style per se, rather, "Is it dark (dunkel)? Yes. Is it a wheat beer (weizen)? Yes. Thus, dunkel-weizen."

 

Trying to apply logic!?!

Cheers!

 

That's funny because my wife's favorite (only?) style is Hefeweizen -- Franziskaner, in particular, but I can't get her to like the Schneider original and she sure won't get near the Aventinus!

Yes it's dark in color, but as Domingo says it doesn't have the same character as a typical Dunkelweizen -- as the others you originally listed.

 

I have one analysis of a Münchener weissbier from "Schneider" from 1888. According to the analysis the beer had 3.57% abw and 5.62% extract. From what I've read in older sources on brewing (i.e with the degree of attenuation which was the norm back then in mind), as a rule of thumb for each percent of extract that is fermented away, one half of one percent of alcohol by weight is produced. That would mean that the 3.57% abw were produced by 7.14% extract, which combined with the remaining extract of 5.62% makes up a stammwürze of 12.76%. The abw of 3.57 makes out to 4.46% abv. The current Schneider Weisse Original has a stammwürze of 12.8% and an abv of 5.4% (in comparison, today's Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier has a stammwürze of 12.7% and an abv of 5.4%).

In the same table two other Münchener weissbiere are listed:
Schramm
Alkohol: 3.75% abw
Extract: 5.73%
Calculated stammwürze: 13.23%
Röckl
Alkohol: 3.72% abw
Extract: 5.17%
Calculated stammwürze: 12.61%

They also list a couple of weissbierbocks from Schneider and Schramm
Schneider
Alkohol: 3.89% abw
Extract: 6.96%
Calculated stammwürze: 14.74%

Schramm
Alkohol: 4.49% abw
Extract: 8.96%
Calculated stammwürze: 17.94%

 

I see an Aldi here when I look out of my window. Maybe I will give it a try. But if I do, I will also have to buy a bottle of Oettinger Weizen to compare those two and maybe find out if they're identical. But why two hours? I'm not planning to empty the sixpack in one evening.
Do you know if the Aldi Pils ("Karlskrone" is the brand name of the Aldi beers) is still produced in Belgium? The last thing I read somewhere a few years ago was that it was brewed by Brouwerij Mertens in Bocholt.

 

I'm drinking Liter #2 of my Cissy Bräu out of a steinkrug. It's interesting. It's drinking now a bit more like a hoppy kellerbier rather than an IPA. Not sure I'd change my grade, but an interesting beer to be sure.

 

Maybe the two hours include the headache on the next day... ba-dum*crash*

I don't recall where you live in Germany, but there is a difference between Aldi-Nord & Aldi-Süd. While I was in D, I believe all beers were being produced in Germany, but that may have changed since then. I think it would be quite a hoot if the Germans knew that their beloved Aldi was getting German "gebraut nach dem Reinheitsgebot" beer brewed in Belgium, if that's the case. Seems almost sacrilegious.

 

I'm in Wiesbaden, so we have Aldi Süd here. What I read about that brewery in Belgium referred to the Karlskrone beers that are sold at Aldi Süd. I thought maybe the Weizen is an exception or they have switched to Oettinger completely. I'll see if I can find something out.

 

This is what I found with a quick search: Brouwerij Martens in Bocholt, Belgium is one of the breweries that brews for both Aldi Süd and Nord (they're just sold under different names). Other breweries include Oettinger, Braunschweig and Frankfurter Brauhaus (in Frankfurt/Oder on the Polish border). Apparently it sometimes even is stated on the label:

 

Drinking one now. I mean, I was in the store anyway....