Love Weistephaner Hefeweizen...

Ayinger & Paulaner to me are in the same GOAT conversation with Weihenstephaner on best in style. Everyone will have their personal preference. Sierra Neveda does a great job in this area too.

 

You can prefer it on tap of course, but you're making an odd statement regarding "the standard" and "all it's meant to be" since "the standard" is that it was a beer for bottling. It's a highly carbonated bottle-conditioned beer. As far as I know, kegging it is a relatively recent practice.

 

yep. there is even a recent initiative by Maisel and a handful of others to stress the importance of "real Weissbier" and what a central role bottle conditioning plays in the style.

 

Erdinger has always emphasized bottle conditioning.

 

What Bavarian Hefeweizen really hasn't? The beer really is all about bottle conditioning.

 

Probably a dumb question, but I assume they're ok with Hefeweizens in cans? Assuming "can conditioning?"

I know Allagash spent quite a bit of time experimenting so that they could replicate what they do in bottles of Allagash White in cans.

 

well, cans have a sort of...bad...reputation in germany. I dont know what Maisel and the others think -- and I haven't thought about it much myself -- but I suppose it could "work." don't think you can get the same type of Weissbier pour out of a can, tho. and don't really know why you'd want to use cans (other than for marketing. I don't buy the "they work better than bottles" line personally).

 

I've had a couple of different hefeweizens that were packaged in a can (Benediktiner and Paulaner). While it's been some time since I drank them, I don't recall thinking that either looked, tasted, or had a mouthfeel that was out of line or off for the style. If Hacker Pschorr's canned hefeweizen lands on the shelves here, I may need to do a side-by-side with the bottled version. I can do Paulaner at the same time.

 

if you do it, see if you can get the same type of pour out of both.

 

What kind of pour do you mean?

I like to decant when I pour Weissbier (and leave the sediment in the bottle). I'm OK with looking ignorant if that's the impression it gives some people - I pretty much know what I like. I'm certainly not going to have any control over the level of yeast when getting one on draught.

 

Are you saying that the "banana/clove" taste you might expect to find has been replaced by bubblegum?

 

I can’t speak for @nc41 , but bubblegum is also associated with such beers... you just don’t see it mentioned nearly as often.

 

primarily mean getting right amount of foam/head *before* you do swirl to get the yeast (from bottle conditioning) out...and into the beer.

 

Like the big red X over the lemon.

Also a great tutorial for the proper pronunciation of "Hefe."

 

That is interesting, the only time I tasted bubble gum was from Little Brett from Allagash.
I have never tasted bubble gum in a Weihenstephaner beer, just the banana.
This may require a revisit.

 

The balance between banana and bubblegum is tricky. I have a friend who loathes Weizen because all he tastes is bubblegum, so it may be one of those flavors that strikes the right chord for some.

From the BJCP:
Flavor: Low to moderately strong banana and clove flavor. The balance and intensity of the phenol and ester components can vary but the best examples are reasonably balanced and fairly prominent. Optionally, a very light to moderate vanilla character and/or faint bubblegum notes can accentuate the banana flavor, sweetness and roundness; neither should be dominant if present.

 

Recently bought a pack of Benediktiner cans and had the same experience. Good representation of the style, nothing off about it. It was my first time having that beer so I can't compare it to the bottled version of itself.

I didn't realize this until after the first can or two but I didn't even think about decanting the yeast vs not. I just poured the beer normally. With a bottled weissbier I always think about swirling the bottle and adding it in.