Weihenstephaner
Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Review Date 8/19/2000
Try?
Re-buy?
You have to be impressed by a brewery that can claim to be
"Alteste Brauerei der Welt" (oldest brewery in the world) as this one can.
Weihenstephan (holy Stephen) has been brewing since 1040. That's a long
time. Hops were probably grown in the monastery that eventually housed the
brewery back as far as three centuries earlier. Today, the yeast strain most
commonly associated with the banana clove flavors German wheat beers are
famous for is commonly called the "Weihenstephan" strain.
With all this history behind the brewery, it has always surprised me that the beer is one of the least authentic Bavarian weizens available. I pour my bottle into a Weihenstephan logo wheat beer glass, and a huge column of foam forms atop a small amount of muddy brown beer. I have to wait a bit for the foam to settle, but eventually I get the entire bottle in my glass. The nose is malty with a sharp yeasty edge. The palate is cookieish and chocolatey, rich with dark malt and refreshingly crisp with wheat. Banana and clove are absent however, and I'm looking for those in a Bavarian weiss. Make no mistake, this is a delicious beer in it's own right, but atypical for a Bavarian dunkelweiss. It's a big chocolate chip cookie of a beer, and I suspect it would be fantastic with a fresh-from the oven cookie with hot gooey chocolate chips. Or just enjoy it on it's own, as I'm doing right now. Though I suddenly have a strange urge to go bake......
With all this history behind the brewery, it has always surprised me that the beer is one of the least authentic Bavarian weizens available. I pour my bottle into a Weihenstephan logo wheat beer glass, and a huge column of foam forms atop a small amount of muddy brown beer. I have to wait a bit for the foam to settle, but eventually I get the entire bottle in my glass. The nose is malty with a sharp yeasty edge. The palate is cookieish and chocolatey, rich with dark malt and refreshingly crisp with wheat. Banana and clove are absent however, and I'm looking for those in a Bavarian weiss. Make no mistake, this is a delicious beer in it's own right, but atypical for a Bavarian dunkelweiss. It's a big chocolate chip cookie of a beer, and I suspect it would be fantastic with a fresh-from the oven cookie with hot gooey chocolate chips. Or just enjoy it on it's own, as I'm doing right now. Though I suddenly have a strange urge to go bake......
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
