Imperial Hefeweizen

I'm not advocating instituting the Reinheitsgebot in America. There would likely be a long list of beers I enjoy that wouldn't be allowed to be brewed.

But there's also something impressive about a brewer who can use four ingredients and create something that's equally as, and in many cases more, delicious as those creative American craft beers.

Not to mention there's numerous cases in which that "creativity" overpowers that simple beauty from a so-called "basic" beer.

The best breweries in the country aren't the ones that make the best "New England-style" IPAs or bourbon-barrel aged beers. The best are the one's that can brew "New England-style" IPAs well AND traditional Pilsners, Hefeweizens, English cask ale...etc. They exist, but they're few and far between as far as I know.

 

Don't forget they give bad reviews to traditional styles because they are "too boring", even if it's a great representation of the style...

 

I understand the specific point you are making here but from a consumer perspective there is no absolute requirement that the same brewery make all of these styles of beers. From a consumers perspective it would be entirely acceptable that Brewery A makes style X and brewery B makes style Y and Brewery C makes style Z that the consumer desires to buy and drink. The 'challenge' of a bureaucracy (e.g., a government) regulating how beers are brewed restricts options for the consumer (in particular locations).

There really is no need for a single brewery to brew all styles. There just needs to be a business environment where consumers can choose various beer styles from various breweries that they choose to drink.

Cheers!

 

Call me cynical, but I have no faith in Lagunitas' ability to brew ANYTHING to style, let alone a Bavarian-style weizen.

 

This has always been my beef with our rating system. I rate to style, so there is an AAL out there I would give 5s to. Everyone else rates to their palate, causing more boring styles to be rated statistically lower than their hype driven brethren.

 

Good lord, what a snotty attitude. I guess remarkable consistency of quality and some of the best value in craft beer is pretty laughable.

 

Haha. Interesting note, because I love Lagunitas--they're one of my favorite breweries--but yeah, they don't brew anything to tradition. A 6.3% pils? A wit without orange peel or coriander? I LOVE their Pils and Stoopid Wit, but brewed to style they are not.

 

I don't worry too much about that for a couple of reasons.

Even in beer medal competitions where all the judges have at least some training in rating to style (which most members of this site do not) the judges generally focus on picking a "best in breed" not a "best in show."

In addition, I can go to a particular style list and most of the time be pretty confident that the top 20 or so on the list include more than one or more contenders for "best in style." The simple number of ratings across multiple raters pretty much ensures that the extremes get averaged out.

This is one reaon I find the Beers of Fame list much more useful than the Top 250 list.

 

@nc41

A rare find at the liquor store today. Weihenstephan Original (in the fridge) bottled on January 3rd of this year. Drinking a bottle right now, tastes fresh to me.

I also saw Veltins Pilsener for the first time today, and I didn't buy it. But thinking back, maybe I should have. The "best by" date, which for German beer I assume means it's a year from canning/bottling, was 07.12.17. Thinking it was canned back in July, I didn't buy it.

But now I'm thinking it was European dating, meaning it was bottled in December. Luckily I'm probably the only person in my city who cares about trying Veltins, so I assume it will still be there next week.

I agree with this sentiment. Nonetheless, it's always impressive to me when a brewery can nail a wide variety of styles. There's a learning curve and certain skill set that goes along with each one.

But by no means is it a requirement, and I should rephrase my statement that I wasn't implying that a brewery that does ONLY traditional German lagers can't be a great brewery because they don't produce a double IPA.

I think this is something that has made breweries like Hill Farmstead and on a larger scale, Sierra Nevada, some of the more respected breweries in the country.

 

Bought a Weistephaner Heffa Dunkel this morning, dated Nov 5 2016. It was the freshest on the shelf. I don't really like Heffas , I find the taste a bit strange, but it's new and it wasn't expensive. A beer for a Sunday tasting.

 

Yeah -- do yourself a favor and avoid the 2017 version as a Weizenbock. If you're looking for a nice DIPA you might be happy, but there's no real Weizen character in this year's take on this beer.

It surprises me that past reviews mention spice, clove, and banana in the Doppel, but there's none of it in the 2017.

 

Sounds almost exactly like DoppelSticky, which was supposed to be an altbier, but was clearly just a resinous, tropical fruity DIPA. It was very tasty, but not even in the same country as an altbier, let alone the same ballpark.

 

Is this the one you're talking about?

https://lagunitas.com/beers/doppelweizen

I had it last night and am very confused about how to rate it. The bottle I got says 8.7 ABV, while BA lists it as 9.0. Is this another beer entirely?
Like you mentioned, it has none of the banana and clove like qualities other reviewers mention. It tastes more like a malt forward DIPA. Also according to Lagunitas, this one came out in 2014, while it was added to BA in 2011.

 

That's it, or: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/73131/

I think the ABV changed because it's a new batch (in seasonal rotation), I reported the new ABV on the beer (which I see has been changed). I don't see anything else with a similar name listed under Lagunitas.

Agreed.

I think that's part of the "rotating" schedule. When it was introduced in 2011 it may have been thought to be a one-off, but Lagunitas decided to add it more regularly in 2014 -- just a theory, others may have more insight.

 

Thanks for the response. I'm still wondering though if it is the same beer and style. What really confuses me is the fact that the label on the bottle describes it as an ale. I'm admittedly not an expert on the Weizenbock style, but, I've had enough bocks and doppelbocks to recognize that there was nothing bock like about what I drank. Everything about it screamed Ale; not a trace of Lager. Should we then add it as a new beer to the database? If so, what the hell style is it supposed to be? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Weizenbock is a Weizen brewed to Bock strength (see Vitus or Aventinus). Weizenbier is brewed with a top-fermenting yeast -- U.S. brewers and beer drinkers tend to categorize anything top-fermented as an "Ale," but that's a highly debated subject.

To me, this beer is typical Lagunitas -- make something they want tp make, but name it what they think will sell. Whether it's changed over time, I can't say -- I never had it in the past, but in its current incarnation, it sure doesn't taste like any Weizen I know.

 

But then they would have called it a "wheat IPA"... and then you'd probably react to that by thinking "truth in advertising."

 

"Wheat IPA" seems spot on! That's what it tasted like.

 

Hah -- but if you'd read my review...
"This beer should be labeled an IIPA -- or maybe an Imperial American Pale Wheat Ale -- more than a Weizen." One step ahead of you.

 

No need to read your review. I have enough experience with Lagunitas and enough sense of (and appreciation for) your perspective that it's easy to forecast.