Hefeweizens

Due to overwhelming fan response, the folks here at beerpr0n decided to bring this back from the living dead. Several months ago I dove head first into homebrewing and naturally so did my wallet. Not to mention I've been busy filtering through the dozens of letters I've been getting from breweries asking that we review their brews. So without further ado I present you hefeweizens. Hefes are a German wheat beer that are highly carbonated, generally unfiltered and hazy, slightly sour and sometimes give off banana or bubblegum flavors. Great summer beer, also a great intro beer if you're looking to try non-American styles.

I wasn't expecting to find so many options of hefes at our local liquor store, so we had to stop at 7 beers. The other two were more readily available like Paulaner and Hofbrau. Reviewing seven beers of the same style proved challenging, especially when still recovering from the spring sinuses.

From left to right (all the beers are around 4.8% - 5.6%)
Schneider Weisse (original)
Pinkus Organic
Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
Franziskaner
Ayinger Brau-Weisse
Weihenstephaner
Plank

Schneider Weisse - This was one of the two darker beers, slightly spicy, dry w/ some cloves, bananas and yeasty.
Pinkus - Had a champagne like mouthfeel, strong banana scent.
Kellerweis - Sour scent, plenty of head, smooth and light taste in comparison to the others. Very cloudy
Franziskaner - Very sweet smell, had the most champagne-like mouthfeel, a bit of canned corn taste, pears
Ayinger - The fruitiest of the bunch. Smells like apples, hint of peach in taste.
Weihenstephaner - Probably the best head retention of the group. Nice wheaty smell and balanced flavors. Cloves
Plank - Another amber colored hefe. Slight strawberry scent (followed by sausage! However that could be because we ate sausages earlier and we're sharing glasses). White grape and apples on the palate. The bottle contained a heeping portion of yeast settlement at the bottom. Not going to lie, kinda scared me at first.

So the ranks:

L: Pinkus, Weihenstephaner, Franz, Ayinger, Schneider, Plank, Kellerweis
A: Ayinger, Schneider (two favorite) ... Kellerweis, Plank (two least fav)
T: Plank, Franz, Schneider, Ayinger, Kellerweis, Pinkus, Weihenstephaner
K: Weihenstephaner, Plank, Kellerweis, Ayinger, Schneider, Pinkus, Franz



























































To battle the heat, I don't think you could go wrong with any of these beverages. The Kellerweis is probably one of my more favorite Sierra Nevada releases and usually available at the grocery store. Schneider also makes a weizenbock called Aventinus which is definitely worth your time if you're looking for something strong.

Stay tuned for the next review. Also check out the "proper" way to pour a hefeweizen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53dQEDcXVOs