Pouring your beer

The rationale in my head for adding the yeast to a Hefeweizen is because that's the way the brewers intended the beer to be served, otherwise, they would have just brewed and bottled it as a Kristallweizen. I have nothing to back this up, it's just my line of thinking.

 

There's certainly a complementary quality that the yeast adds to the style, making it more bready while taking the edge off of the banana and phenols, so I can see why people do it. But in terms of preference I just prefer the cleaner, more defined flavors with it decanted; plus, if it's a good one it's already bready enough .

 

If they prefer it, then I hope they drink it that way of course. Subtlety remains an undervalued thing around here.

Kristallweizen is a different type of beer though because it doesn’t go through fermentation in the bottle.

“Brewer intention” or tradition (or even showmanship/presentation) are of course totally valid ways to approach it too.

What I find funny is the marketing speak around it. In the first post here, Unibroue states, "fully release the unique yeast taste." Before this thread started, my reaction to that would have been: "the unique taste of actual yeast or the unique taste of what yeast creates?" @drtth 's post really adds a new spin on that though by stating that the two are possibly connected. My previous feelings were that one just muddies the other. People cook beef in milk, but does that "fully release the taste?" Forgive me if the analogy is totally off or if I'm being ignorant.

I currently have two beers that I can use to either nuance, flip, or reinforce my own personal preference. I'll try to open them today if possible. Looking forward to it.

 

I'm not allowed to pour my own beer. It degrades quickly to my head under the tap.

 

Yes, I have been wrong for 15 years, I will try it by making sure that I put back my bottle up before uncapping it because Unibroue doesn't clear that out for a stupid guy like me...

 

Before I pour I like to smack it up, flip it, rub it down.

 

I find Hefeweizen way better without the yeast. The yeast adds nothing positive and only masks the other flavours. Can't for the life of me understand why anyone would voluntarily throw a load of yeast into their beer.

 

It's not just Belgian brewers. Some German brewers use a different yeast for bottle conditioning. I've heard that is some cases it's even a bottom-fermenting yeast. Which is technically illegal, as any beer including wheat has to be top-fermented under German law.

 

Alright... so I did exactly that. I stuck with generally iconic choices - Schneider Weisse Original and Allagash White, and had some with and without the bottled yeast. The Schneider beer didn't appear very different either way, but drinking it reinforced my previous take on the topic. I preferred the decanted beer. The yeast dulled the beer and felt like an invader getting in the way. The Allagash label instructs the drinker to pour the yeast into their glass. In this case, the decanted version was visually different. I also preferred the decanted beer in this case... although my take on it was strangely flipped a little. The beer with the yeast felt brighter for some reason. Just to round things off, a few days later I drank a saison and decanted it as usual for two glasses... and then I had a third pour of the remaining inch of liquid with the yeast in a concentrated gulp. In this case, I easily preferred the clarity (pun intended) of the decanted pours. 3 for 3.

 

Ron, I have read/heard that lager yeast are preferred for bottle conditioning Hefeweizen beers since it aids in beer stability. Do you have any insight here?

Cheers!

Edit: I did just re-remember the below from a BYO article entitled “Hefe-Weizen: Mostly Cloudy”. Though there is no specific mention of lager yeast in the below verbiage,

“For those brewers who are fond of culturing their own yeasts from bottled commercial products, a word of caution. Unless you are extremely familiar with the product in question, attempts at culturing the yeast in a hefe-weizen bottle may very well be a waste of time. Due to the unstable nature of some of the more dynamic weizen strains, combined with the relatively long distribution chains that are required to get many fine European styles onto American store shelves, the brewers dose the finished beer with a yeast that has been chosen specifically for its ability to provide good long-term stability in the bottle. Most of the time these are not the yeasts that are used to actually ferment the beer. While a successful culturing of such a yeast may very well yield an excellent brewing strain, it may not impart the characteristics found in the bottled product.”

 

Perhaps I found the answer to my above question?

“A more traditional way would be prime with Speise. Speise is wheat beer wort added at bottling. Lager yeast is also commonly added and sometimes the Speise is even actively fermenting when mixed with the unprimed wheat beer.”

http://beerandwinejournal.com/german-wheat-beer-vi/

Cheers!

 

Not sure why they use it. I would say because it sticks to the bottom of the bottle better, but obviously with Hefeweizen they positively want the yeast in suspension.

 

I have tried this pouring beer method with a Unibroue product and it has too much foam after I poured it in my glass, Maybe You have to wait a couple of minutes before pouring it out.

 

I got an IPA as an extra recently, for those that don't know extras are what us old people send in trade boxes, ya know, cause it's not about "winning", but I digress. I shotgunned said beer. Why you may ask? Well, because if your hoppy beer has that much shit in it that i need to mix it up, just, no.

 

As a Belgian I can only speak about 'SOME' of 'MY' friends who drink Duvel.
Some of them say you should pour the beer carefully in the glass, so not to disturb the sedement at the bottom of the bottle and leave it there.
Others use the brother Helmut pour-swirl-pour method because you should drink the whole of the bottle content to get the flavour the brewers intended.
And then there are those with a kind of brute Viking attitude who give a sxxt about beer etiquette and drink it from the bottle just because they want to get drunk fast.
In short, it all comes down to personal taste.

 

I tend to agree with you regarding the tulip glass and will happily use one for the majority of styles, the two notable exceptions being Pils and Hefe’s, which I prefer in traditionally appropriate glassware.

 

I do that with an original Guinness, or maybe a stout or barleywine, but a Belgian? Nah.

 

Buzz created. Mission accomplished.

 

Do what? Decant?

?

 

If anything, this post is a nice reminder of that amazing brewery up North that I often forget about.

I pour Belgians the way I pour a Hefe and sometimes I regret doing so.