Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

I've lived near the brewery for a while and took their tour during the museum night once or twice.....you see parts of the old brewery. the main focus is on a collection of glasses and other stuff....sadly, they don't show you the modern brewery. But hey, it has been a while, maybe it changed.
Although they make -not so bad-"craft"stuff now, the Maisel beers never were my favorite. The Weizen is one of the better examples. But the other Stuff labeled "Bayreuther" or "Aktien"-na. Can live without.

 

Monday evening cheer - I really like it

 

Had one of these Hofbrau Hefe Weizens



Once you get past the initial smell (which is the typical Euro beer skunk due to the green bottles), this is a pretty good hefeweizen. I would put it a notch below the Weihenstephaner/Ayinger/Andechs versions of the same beer.

 

I'm starting to see HB sampler 12 packs -- covered 12 packs -- in my area. 4 bottles each of the Helles, Dunkel, and Weizen. Ought to help the skunking problems.

 

Why they still feel the need for green bottles is beyond me.

 

Funny thing is, we get HB in half liter brown bottles over here too.

 

Is HB brewed in the US since there are several HB "biergartens" there?

 

The only HB brewed in the U.S. is for consumption at the HB Kentucky, HB Pittsburgh, and HB Chicago -- these are "brew-pubs." The others, such as Las Vegas, import their beer from Munich.
http://www.hofbrauhaus.us/franchising/

 

I thought I was going to miss out on this beer after reading so many other people's positive reviews, but it turns out one of the importers here was on top of things. Tastewise it's mostly in the same vein of Schlenkerla's Märzen I find, although I ordered a couple of bottles of the Märzen as well to compare and contrast the two so I'll find out soon if that judgement stands. Either way it's a really enjoyable beer, nicely smokey with a pleasant bitterness in the back. It's pretty dry although you sense a decent malt backbone underneath which is still kept in check by the smoke and the bitterness.

 

Hopheads beware! It's an all-malt afternoon on a Frühling Freitag in Mai. Happened on some fresh HB Maibock and Dunkel so I'm enjoying the deliciousness of well-brewed, malt forward beers.

I hadn't had the Dunkel in a while and it epitomizes the "liquid bread" analogy we all love to embrace. Rich, sweet crusts of Pumpernickel and that big melanoidin character that's so elusive these days. But to the hop lovers, it has a good balancing bitterness in the finish that surprised me.

On the other hand, the Maibock has a juicy, chewy malt sweetness that still reminds of bread, but maybe a lighter loaf than Pumpernickel. Very smooth and rich and disguising its potent 7% ABV.

Prosit!

 

Thanks for this, I haven't seen Hofbrau's Dunkel but I do know a place that had their Maibock so I'll be on the lookout.

 

Just beware the green bottle. I got my sixers from the case before the light made its mark.

 

Having the Märzen next and I have to say that this is definitely more smoke-forward than the fastenbier. Very similar flavor profile, only the flavors are clearer and sharper. I guess the lack of non-smoked malts makes the smoke stand out even more, and the similar IBUs in a lower gravity beer makes the bitterness stand out more also. I think the beer benefits from the more clear cut flavors, at least to my taste. It's also superbly dry I find.

 

One of my first weizenbocks, I believe, and a very fine one to start with. Looks gorgeous with a pillowy dollop of foam that never really subsides. Nose is a bit spicier than the regular hefeweizen, more clove, a bit more banana too, and less rich fruitiness. This bottle is also from early December, and the last hefe I had was only two months old, so there's always that to consider. Regardless, still smelled great, and the palate was very nice as well, though not, perhaps, as bold as I thought it might be at that ABV. I made the mistake of not giving the bottle a good swirl/roll before pouring, and the first few sips, with noticeably less suspended yeast, weren't as good as the successive ones once I'd had a chance to get everything mixed in properly. All that yeast gives it a nice, rich mouthfeel and a little extra creaminess. Really well done stuff, naturally, of course, from Weihenstephan.

Not knowing a ton about weizenbocks, is this beer basically just a scaled up version of the regular hefe, or is it a totally different beer, with different proportions, different base ingredients, etc? Between the two, I prefer the lightness of the regular hefe.

 

“Not knowing a ton about weizenbocks, is this beer basically just a scaled up version of the regular hefe, or is it a totally different beer, with different proportions, different base ingredients, etc?”

I enjoy drinking Vitus but my favorite Weizenbock is Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus which is quite different from Vitus in that it is dark colored. I enjoy the complexity that the dark malt flavors bring to this beer style.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/72/224/

Cheers!

 

Yep. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/92/

You say you like the lightness of the standard Weizen, but Weizenbocks certainly have their place on my list when the fancy strikes. If you haven't tried one yet, seek out a Schneider Aventinus and tell me the flavor complexities don't just make you wonder why you don't drink the beer all the time.

 

Definitely plan on trying Aventinus soon -- just waiting for fresher bottles to pop up. Interesting that there is such variation with weizenbocks, as that one looks way different than Vitus. And, just for clarity's sake, I just meant to say that I prefer Weihenstephaner Hefe to Vitus, not necessarily than I prefer all weizens to their bock strength counterpart. Either way, definitely looking forward to Aventinus, which, as someone whose love of beer began with dark stuff like stouts and porters, looks right up my alley.

 

Just the brewmaster's take on the style. Of course, "many" will argue the Aventinus is a Weizendoppelbock...

 

I was in Freising a couple weeks after they released Vitus for the first time. At first I thought they gave me the weizen by mistake as it's definitely not as "kicked up" as I expected. However a quick side-by-side with the normal weissbier definitely showed some major differences.
Aventinus is truly a different animal than most weizenbocks, especially the pale ones. Even other dark ones like the one from Plank aren't as bold as Aventinus, although that's not necessarily a good/bad thing. One Aventinus and I'm done.

 

Weizenbocks come in pale and darker versions. I suppose you could view a pale Weizenbock as an ‘amped’ up Hefeweizen and a darker Weizenbock as an ‘amped’ up Dunkelweizen.

Below are extracts from the updated BJCP style guidelines for the Weizenbock style:

“Flavor: Similar to the aroma, a medium-high to high malty rich flavor together with a significant bready-grainy wheat flavor. Paler versions will have a bready, toasty, grainy-sweet malt richness, while darker versions will have deeper, bready rich or toasted malt flavors with significant Maillard products, optional caramel. Low to moderate banana and spice (clove, vanilla) yeast character. Darker versions can have some dark fruit flavor (plums, prunes, grapes, raisins), particularly as they age. A light chocolate character (but not roast) is optional in darker versions. No hop flavor. A low hop bitterness can give a lightly sweet palate impression, but the beer typically finishes dry (sometimes enhanced by a light alcohol character). The interplay between the malt, yeast, and alcohol adds complexity and interest, which is often enhanced with age.”


“Style Comparison: Stronger and richer than a Weissbier or Dunkles Weissbier, but with similar yeast character. More directly comparable to the Doppelbock style, with the pale and dark variations. Can vary widely in strength, but most are in the bock to doppelbock range.”


Cheers!