Weihenstephan 1516 Kellerbier Returns!

Seriously.

 

If you guys look closely at those bottles, they are probably still within the "best by" date!

 

Love Weihenstephan, and love kellerbier even more so. Was quite disappointed with the first batch that made it over unfortunately. Lacked that dank, minerally, and delicious yeast flavor that I love in kellerbier and thought it was a little too malty. May give this one another shot if I see it but I’m going to lower my expectations this time.

 

Good news. This is a really enjoyable brew. My original review.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/215147/?ba=Tucquan#review

Been enjoying Jacks Abby Saxony Lager recently. Kellerbiers are a top 5 style for me.

 

I thought they skipped Saxony to brew Citra Brau?

@JacksAbbyBrewing

 

I still had some left from last year. It held up well

 

I loved the last one...I'll get this for sure

 

This is good news - I really enjoyed it the first time but failed to grab another six-pack before it sold out.

 

Well apparently there's still some kicking around from the last release!

 

Maybe that s a PA thing, or too-close-to-a-big-city (Philadelphia) thing?
It was $12/pk here . (Near Binghamton)

I'm looking forward to it . 1516 is one of my favorite beers ever. Curious to see if it was more the situation (Extended period of 90sF + it was free (gift card) ) , or it's actually the beer.

 

Good morning all. And here it is, pretty much out of the blue. I was looking at the beer shelves and she said; “Do you want a really good German one?” ”Of course” I replied skeptically. And she took a bottle of it out of the fridge (the last one it seems, until Friday) for my (almost childish) joy.



The beer looks similar to the previous rendition for the hues, with maybe a slightly improved solid head. The nose seems to be dough, toasted malts and a pronounced floral touch which reminds me of Fuller´s ales curiously, with some (stone?) fruits here and there. I´d need a bigger glass for the beer to settle while i am drinking (this is not a quad), but the first impression is pretty great with the aromas being deep enough, varied and definitely balanced and interesting. Malts are also prominent in the taste from the begining, with just the slightest hop bite towards the end of the sip and the underlying fruits making a show in a lasting aftertaste, which seems to be great and maybe the most interesting part in terms of flavour. Light to medium body with an uber silky feel (some watery hints also) and very delicate carbonation, though visible. Add a significant lack of a hoppy bite to this and there is just no barriers for the beer being extremely quaffable, and a very good example of one you would need to drink 'minimum' a liter each time to really appreciate.



Overall impression? I honestly don´t know what to make out of this yet, and expect this beer to be controversial. It totally lacks the edges (sharper hops, lemon, solid carbonation) of the Ayinger i´ve been drinking lately on tap, which might be my favourite, and seems to solely focus on the bready/ripe fruit aspects beneath the style. Some people is going to call this beer flat i guess, but the optimist in me still wants to think that might be precisely its 'virtue'. Successful braveness or failure i don´t know yet, but have the intuition i am going to like it more than the previous in the long term, even if i got excited about that one at first. This is definitely an assymetrical beer but has no apparent off flavours and is extremely drinkable, so let´s just explore it further and see (it went down too fast and don´t know yet if 'delicious or not'!). The girl in the shop insisting on how good it is (though she is a hophead) only adds to the slight confussion, but at 2 euros the big bottle i can´t wait to clear out any doubts this weekend.

 

Can´t wait to hear more opinions, this is going to be interesting.

*Also i meant 'asymmetrical'.

 

I love the picture. With the head on that beer it certainly doesn't look flat.

I don't love the best by date though. Even if it was bottled a year before the best by date, that means it's just showing up now at 2.5 months old.

Anyone see this in the US yet?

 

Every German beer I've bought lately has a best by date (usually 1 yr from packaging).

 

I found that one to be good, but not mind-blowing. It isn't a style that gets a ton of attention (or many exports) so even a pretty good example is something to appreciate. That said, I'd take basically all of the Franconian examples I've had over it. Mahr's U is probably the most readily available one, although I've seen Lowenbrau Buttenheim and St. Georgen on tap in multiple places locally. This will likely be FAR more common than any of those, though.

Andechs made a kellerbier for their anniversary in '05 that is still be best kellerbier I've had near Munich. The other ones are typically drier and hoppier. The ones further north are richer and nuttier.

 

I was a bit disappointed in this beer at its last release, especially since it was $15/sixer. Definitely getting a single this time to test it out.

Mahr’s U is the gold standard as others have said. I can track down a draft somewhat easily near me.

 

I agree with you 100% here. The beer was very much 'over priced' for the quality of the beer. My purchase of the prior release was an entire case (24 bottles). Ugh.

If this release is priced at less than 10 bucks a 6-pack I will consider buying it.

Cheers!

 

Thank you so much to Weihenstephaner for bringing this back. So, so bready. But of snap, nice little lemon hop on the finish. So good, forgot how good.

 

Yep, after some more bottles at home these days i´d say there is some 'pleasant bitterness' to it (as in the commercial description, which i deliberately didn´t read) and there is actually a nice lemon touch as you mention. Sorry Weihenstephan. The fresh bread, floral notes, ripe fruit and almost surreal silky feel bring the magic though, and i am leaning towards thinking this is actually a very good beer. These things take time but a significant improvement in my opinion.

Also it felt way more hoppier on tap for some reason. Sorry for the crap pics.