I recently bought a few of Muskoka's new 500ml cans of this beer and was blown away. It is really really good. Maybe it was really fresh or maybe the new cans are the best carton for this beer but whatever the case, I was not expecting much but was very pleasantly surprised. I cannot think of another Ontario Hefe save Dennison's I would rather have. A perfect summer beer! Nice job Muskoka, you have certainly stepped up!
The link on ratebeer which includes my rating:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/muskoka-he ... ier/59718/
Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Muskoka Hefe Weissbier
-
SteelbackGuy
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 4613
- Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:11 pm
- Location: Hamilton, ON
- Contact:
It is excellent. Way better than when it was available in bottles years ago.
I also re-rated recently, and I scored this beer very high, 3.9 up from 3.0. Reminds me a bit of Schnider Weisse original, though not as heavy on the clove.
I also re-rated recently, and I scored this beer very high, 3.9 up from 3.0. Reminds me a bit of Schnider Weisse original, though not as heavy on the clove.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
I love this beer. I like that it's a little heavier on the banana-y esters than most of the other hefes I've tried.
I'm including it in a blind tasting within the next week or two just to see how it stands up against Weihenstephaner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Edelweiss. I might throw in an Erdinger Weissbier if I can find some. Should be interesting.
Of course I'd love to throw Denison's into the mix, but I have no idea when it'll show up.
I'm including it in a blind tasting within the next week or two just to see how it stands up against Weihenstephaner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Edelweiss. I might throw in an Erdinger Weissbier if I can find some. Should be interesting.
Of course I'd love to throw Denison's into the mix, but I have no idea when it'll show up.
It is a freaky good beer coming from out of Nowheresville, Ontario. I hope it stays this good!
I guess everyone's 'good' Weizen is different, but I'm with you two on this one. If anyone wants to seek out another real Hefe treat get some bottled Franziskaner next time you're shopping in Buffalo.
For those averse to strong banana aromas, I imagine a slice of fresh lemon helps make a Hefe seem more citric and less estery. Cheers!
Exactly. Those delicate banana esters are the first thing I look for, and the quintessence of very good, fresh, unpasteurized Hefeweizen in Germany. That's as compared to our imported, pasteurized Weihenstephaner, which to me tastes more like a wheat-malt soda pop.tupalev wrote:I liked the tons of banana in the aroma! Hefe's are quirky things where different subtle aspects appeal to different drinkers for sure...
I guess everyone's 'good' Weizen is different, but I'm with you two on this one. If anyone wants to seek out another real Hefe treat get some bottled Franziskaner next time you're shopping in Buffalo.
For those averse to strong banana aromas, I imagine a slice of fresh lemon helps make a Hefe seem more citric and less estery. Cheers!
In Beerum Veritas
Definitely a solid beer. And I say that after trying it today at the Toronto Indy! I was shocked that after thinking that Bud was the only option at the event to see that not only was there a second beer available, but this was it. And here I'd been hoping it would be Bud Light Lime 
It certainly wasn't publicized the way the Bud was at the venue nor was it available everywhere and the crowd seemed, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be more into the Bud - one of the beer vendors was apologetic when she told me she only had one can left and this was it. After having steeled myself to an afternoon of terrible beer the Muskoka Hefe Weiss definitely made my day.
Anyone have any idea how it ended up at the Indy?
It certainly wasn't publicized the way the Bud was at the venue nor was it available everywhere and the crowd seemed, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be more into the Bud - one of the beer vendors was apologetic when she told me she only had one can left and this was it. After having steeled myself to an afternoon of terrible beer the Muskoka Hefe Weiss definitely made my day.
Anyone have any idea how it ended up at the Indy?
-
SteelbackGuy
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 4613
- Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:11 pm
- Location: Hamilton, ON
- Contact:
Had this along side Hacker and Schnider. I find the Muskoka to really be the best of both worlds. its got the fruity banana and yeasty esters that the hacker really puts forward, but it also has a bit more clove and spice than hacker, to make it a little more inline with Schnider. So the best of both worlds like I said, and we should really all be getting behind this one. This is my favourite style of beer too, so I am quite pleased.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
I included Muskoka in a semi-blind hefeweizen tasting last night, poured in random order that ended up like this (the fact that the bottles get taller and are grouped by size was a total fluke):
From left to right: Muskoka, Edelweiss Snow Fresh, Paulaner (which was slightly oxidized), Erdinger, Hacker-Pschorr, Schneider and Weihenstephaner.
There were four of us. The person pouring isn't a beer lover but she does like hefeweizens and Muskoka is one of her favorite beers (with Denison's Weissbier being her favorite). And obviously it wasn't blind for her. I had everyone just pick their top three just to simply the process.
Surprisingly there was no clear winner between the four of us and not even a lot of consensus in general.
A: Muskoka, Edelweiss, Schneider.
B: Schneider, Paulaner, Edelweiss.
C: Muskoka, Hacker-Pschorr, Weihenstephaner (non-blind taster)
Me: Weihenstephaner, Schneider and Hacker-Pschorr.
I found it hard because my top choices were mostly even with subtle shifts between levels of banana and clove. Except the Erdinger and Edelweiss were easy because I didn't care for either, with Erdinger being the bottom. Two people put Erdinger at the bottom, while two people ranked Edelweiss last. Which is odd when you consider that Edelweiss was in two people's top three.
Since we started with Muskoka, and I knew it was Muskoka based on what I perceive to be its major shortcoming—the lack of head and carbonation—it was hard not to have a bias after that, especially when the six beers that followed all poured so beautifully.
I guessed them all correctly except for mixing up Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner. Erdinger was easy to spot because there's not much to it. And Schneider is a cinch on account of its darker colour. I guessed Edelwiess because it's the only one I hadn't had before and I didn't recognize the strange smell (sort of a fruity floral detergenty like fragrance that was really familiar, and yet none of us could seem to place it). The Paulaner was a tad oxidized which I'm sure didn't help it in the rankings here.
I suspect there's a good deal of regional bias on my part, but still, I thought Muskoka stood up well to its Bavarian brethren and for me, while it hits all the marks of the style in terms of aroma and taste, it lacks that nice, tall, billowy white head and the carbonation that would make this good beer great.
My guess is the two people who put it first did so because it's slightly more banana-y than most. It's probably just a coincidence, but the two people who had Muskoka as their top pick were female, and the two guys didn't rank Muskoka in the top three.
From left to right: Muskoka, Edelweiss Snow Fresh, Paulaner (which was slightly oxidized), Erdinger, Hacker-Pschorr, Schneider and Weihenstephaner.
There were four of us. The person pouring isn't a beer lover but she does like hefeweizens and Muskoka is one of her favorite beers (with Denison's Weissbier being her favorite). And obviously it wasn't blind for her. I had everyone just pick their top three just to simply the process.
Surprisingly there was no clear winner between the four of us and not even a lot of consensus in general.
A: Muskoka, Edelweiss, Schneider.
B: Schneider, Paulaner, Edelweiss.
C: Muskoka, Hacker-Pschorr, Weihenstephaner (non-blind taster)
Me: Weihenstephaner, Schneider and Hacker-Pschorr.
I found it hard because my top choices were mostly even with subtle shifts between levels of banana and clove. Except the Erdinger and Edelweiss were easy because I didn't care for either, with Erdinger being the bottom. Two people put Erdinger at the bottom, while two people ranked Edelweiss last. Which is odd when you consider that Edelweiss was in two people's top three.
Since we started with Muskoka, and I knew it was Muskoka based on what I perceive to be its major shortcoming—the lack of head and carbonation—it was hard not to have a bias after that, especially when the six beers that followed all poured so beautifully.
I guessed them all correctly except for mixing up Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner. Erdinger was easy to spot because there's not much to it. And Schneider is a cinch on account of its darker colour. I guessed Edelwiess because it's the only one I hadn't had before and I didn't recognize the strange smell (sort of a fruity floral detergenty like fragrance that was really familiar, and yet none of us could seem to place it). The Paulaner was a tad oxidized which I'm sure didn't help it in the rankings here.
I suspect there's a good deal of regional bias on my part, but still, I thought Muskoka stood up well to its Bavarian brethren and for me, while it hits all the marks of the style in terms of aroma and taste, it lacks that nice, tall, billowy white head and the carbonation that would make this good beer great.
My guess is the two people who put it first did so because it's slightly more banana-y than most. It's probably just a coincidence, but the two people who had Muskoka as their top pick were female, and the two guys didn't rank Muskoka in the top three.