Imperial Hefeweizen

I never said we should call Weizenbock's imperial weizens. The OP was asking about how to find an imperial weizen and I was saying that they already exist but they are called Weizenbock instead.

I've never tried to allude that we should call weizenbock's imperial weizens. Just that the adjective "imperial" refers to nothing more than a stronger version of an original base style. That is the same thing that a bock is really. There is no need to call weizenbock's anything different because we already have them.


But then there is wheatwine as @champ103 pointed out. But I really don't think that style is sufficiently different to barleywines... Definitely not anything like an "imperial" weizen because they are not made with the weizen yeast rather english or american ale yeast. They are just a strong ale.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you had, was just stressing my point on the overall discussion.

And yes, Wheatwines (only recognized by BA, I believe), are more akin to American Pale Wheat Ales than Hefeweizen/Weißbier.

 

Wheat Wine is in a number of organization style guidelines:

· Brewers Association: American-Style Wheat Wine Ale

· BJCP: 22D. Wheatwine

Cheers!

 

Speaking of imperial table beer one could mention that Spaten brewed a high gravity beer called Tafelbier (or "table beer") in the latter half of the 19th century. In an article from 1866 in the Bayerische Bierbrauer the beer was described as having an alcohol content of 7% with an estimated original gravity of 24%, of light brown color, wine-clear appearance and packaged in champagne bottles. In alcoholic strenght it was compared to "Scottish Ale" and London porter.

In an excerpt from 1893 the Tafelbier from Spaten is described as having a very high original gravity and remaining for 1½ to 2 years in the barrel prior to being bottled.

Whether or not Sedlmayr borrowed the name tafelbier from the British term table beer is anyone's guess of course, especially since it was obviously used as a brand name to sell what was meant to be a high quality, high gravity beer. So if it was borrowed from them it was obviously used in a different way. I was reminded by this oddity of a beer when reading this thread and the discussion of beer strenght denominations and thought I would add this as a side note.

 

That's a very interesting thought, but I've never had a wheatwine that felt German inspired. The whole style feels like a footnote to me.
Jumping off of that, here are two quotes from different sources that are relevant to the broader conversation in the thread:

Emphasis above mine.

And since there's been debate about the whole "imperial" label, here's an article that's relatively exhaustive on the matter:
http://zythophile.co.uk/2011/06/26/imperial-stout-russian-or-irish/

 

I'd like to give a shout out to Victory Moonglow. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/1008/

 

I'd like to try an Imperial Session White Dunkel India Pale Mild, myself....

 

What am I looking fir for dates and codes? I've never had one and I'd hate to buy a 2 year old beer.

 

The good news is that Weihenstephaner dates their beers.

The less than good news is that you need a 'Little Orphan Annie decoder': https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/weihenstephaner-date-code-question.445327/

Cheers!

 

Lol, I,guess I'll have to bring that thread with me to deceipher it. Thanks, I'll give it a try.

How old is too old given it will be a beer not refrigerated? I'm almost afraid to look, but I bet I find two year old beers.

 

Needless to say but this dependent on how generous your palate is. IMO a Hefeweizen if best consumed fresh (a few months). Maybe the higher ABV of Vitus gives this beer a longer 'best by' duration?

Frankly, I buy most of my Hefeweizen beers (non-Imperial) from US craft breweries since I can obtain them fresher.

As a 'heads up', IMO Straub makes an OUTSTANDING regular Hefeweizen as a spring/summer seasonal. Maybe you could 'grease the skids' with your father to purchase this beer?

Cheers!

 

I immediately thought of this beer... I loved this!!

 

I'd say I have a generous palate except when it comes to IPAs and Pils and such. I'm super critical to beer turning from hops to a sweet malt. I hate that, I can smell it without taking a sip.

 

Dale, I have no way of telling the difference between your palate and my palate but for me Hefeweizen beers get stale pretty quickly. I have not homebrewed a Hefeweizen in over 15+ years since I enjoy drinking the first case (of the two case batch) but the second case tastes pretty lame for my palate due to age effects.

Cheers!

 

I can see that, some styles don't age well at all, and I'm guessing here Weistephaner is a realllllly slow mover. I'm not expecting the best, I'd be better served driving to Charlotte.

 

Dale, the best I can offer is the fresher the better.

On a related matter, one of my preferred Oktoberfest beers was Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier but for the past two seasons the best I could find is beers that were brewed in early May for a September/October seasonal beers. I bought a 6-pack in September 2016 but this beer showed signs of staling. Why would Weihenstephaner brew a fall seasonal beer in May? I do enjoy this beer when it is fresh(er) but this 6-pack was too 'tired' for my palate. If the best I can do for the 2017 season if find a Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier brewed in May 2017 this beer will be a 'pass' for me.

Thank goodness for US craft brewed German style beers that are fresh! Like Red Oak!!!

Cheers!

 

Funny a 2-3 month old local beer I wouldn't buy, but a 6-7 month old or older German import is ok. It's not. I Look at the German imports and i want to buy them,but I can't. Unlike SEPA there's not a lot of options here, outside OMB.

 

An actual answer to the question and a solid beer to boot.

 

Vitus is great fresh, aventinus is actually one of the first beers I ever cellared and it is decadent at two years.

 

No Vitus on the shelf. The only reasonably fresh beer was their Dunkel it was 4 months old. The other three bottled in June, I passed I'm not paying full price for a beer thats been sitting in the light on the shelf warm for 8 months.