Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:22 pm

Hey folks.

I'm just finishing off my first Weihenstephaner (which is a mouthful in more ways than one). Anyway, its a top notch brew that y'all should try. Its a credit to Michael's brewing skills that I rate it below Denison's. Here's what I said about it on BA:

I'm very pleased to see this brought in at the liquor store as a seasonal. Murky gold body in need of a good polish, with a creamy and abundant white head. A classic, textbook hefe appearance that can't be faulted. Strong banana notes in the aroma, backed up by a healthy dose of wheat, but lacking the complexity of Denison's weisse. Great flavour, but again a slight step down from the Denison's, which is still the best hefe I've tried. As expected, the banana and grain of the aroma is followed through in bushels. Slight clove taste at the back of the palate, but not as much spice as I was expecting. Very slight citric bitterness. Nice, crisp refreshing mouthfeel, with moderate carbonation. High drinkability for this perfect summer beer. A top notch hefe!

austin · Post by **austin** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:44 pm

This is a classic hefe weissbier with that clove, fruity taste and spicy finish.
It deserves the 95 ratebeer score. Wish it was on the general list. I'll still
take Denison's but I like this bottled version.

sphilp · Post by **sphilp** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:59 pm

I dunno, I was underwhelmed by it. I was expecting more complexity, but it was just[sic] a typical weiss. I think its actually the lowest I've ever rated a weiss

edit: I bought 4 bottles, so I'm hoping it was just a bad one, but the BB date is 04/03/09....

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:35 pm

I had that same issue with Denison's at first. But then, I realized that the style itself isn't suppose to be all that complex. And from that perspective, I began to enjoy it more and more every sip I had. Weizen's and Wit's are still a little hard for me to stomach, after I had a bad experience that I won't get into, but I'm regaining my ability to enjoy them, and I'm hoping to finally pick up a couple bottles of Weihenstephaner tomorrow. My Weizen glass seems lonely

.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:42 pm

sphilp wrote:I dunno, I was underwhelmed by it. I was expecting more complexity, but it was just[sic] a typical weiss. I think its actually the lowest I've ever rated a weiss

edit: I bought 4 bottles, so I'm hoping it was just a bad one, but the BB date is 04/03/09....

I must admit that I was a little let down to, but only because I had such high expectations. The flavour seemed to have less facets to it than I wanted (and am used to with the Denison's). I don't think there is any doubting, though, that this is a perfect warm weather beer, and I can see myself buying a number of these this summer (unless black oak comes good with the summer saison). I erased my slight dissapointment with a bottle of paradox grain batch #7 that I got in a trade. If only whiskey barrel aged russian imperial stouts were available at the LCBO!

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sat May 31, 2008 1:09 pm

Well I just got them to bring a case from the store room since ALL seasonals were not even on the shelves, LOL! (And on such a nice weekend - kind of a waste of potential Weissbier and Christoffel sales, don't you think?)

Anyway, I would not expect this Weisse to be the equal of any great Draught Weisse but I look forward to making these 20 bottles disappear over the next few months. I have gotten used to very acceptable bottled examples like the Edelweisse so this may be better still.

Great time of year for Denisons - a few times at Castros I remember it being unusually intense for ANY Weizen, and the greatest pints of this are simply stunning with almost tangy citrus elements that seem to structure an impressive mouth feel and finish. It's great stuff.

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:00 pm

That's funny because I just had the SAME experience! The shelf tag was already there, yet there was nothing. So I had to ask for someone to go into the back, because it's obviously still in the boxes. I spent 20 minutes waiting around, as multiple employee's searched hopelessly, some believing it to be there, some refusing to accept it existed at all. Then FINALLY they come out with this white box and give me two.

I feel sort of like a high-maintenance jerk whenever this happens, but honestly, the store in Uptown Waterloo really has to get their s*** together when they get new stuff in. How could the shelf tag be there, yet the manager doesn't think the beer even exists?

The_Jester · Post by **The_Jester** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:32 pm

Just had one of these after 3 hours of lawn-cutting. (Had a couple of Sleeman's No. 20 Ale during - If you haven't, don't bother). And yes, this isn't Denison's, but it's good. Certainly better than Edelweiss from last summer. It is fairly citrussy up front, and there is a certain spiciness at the end that I can't quite put my finger on, but which distinguishes it from other weiss' I've tried. Dryer than some, as well. I'm looking forward to enjoying a few of these on the dock this summer.

lister · Post by **lister** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:51 pm

I've had one Weihenstephaner so far and I do like it quite a bit. Going on memory it is perhaps the best weisse bottle I've had so far. I'll be picking up more for some summer sun cottage relaxing.

I'm sucking down the Grolsch weisse right now and find it weak in comparison in both flavour and body. Of the three Grolsch I've tried (lager, blond and weisse), the weisse is at least drinkable.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:10 pm

JesseM wrote: I feel sort of like a high-maintenance jerk whenever this happens

No Jesse you seem like a very reasonable-maintenance guy. I can't imagine Store Employee #38742 now hates you and thinks badly of you.

About the beer Very nice solid blonde weizen color! Billowing head gives off yeasty banana and phenolic aromas. Taste darting hints of some tropical fruit, maybe guava? Slides back very lieblich and goes ex. well with the herb-poached arctic char. Even better with the brunch left-overs of same... hey you want to taste real Bavarian, try this in the AM with some fresh Weisswurst and hot from the oven Bretzeln. My Uncle considers Weizen a morning beer and this actually makes a little bit of sense....

boney · Post by **boney** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:35 pm

I agree with most that Weihenstephaner is a pretty decent hefe weissbier, and, yes, it is no Denison's. That said, if it come down to products available at the LCBO, I'll take a Schneider Weiss over the Weihenstephaner most days for the very lack of complexity others have already mentioned. I will still quite happily drink the 7 bottles I have left though, espcially in a few weeks when the real summer weather hits.

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 10:36 pm

Belgian wrote:
JesseM wrote: I feel sort of like a high-maintenance jerk whenever this happens
No Jesse you seem like a very reasonable-maintenance guy. I can't imagine Store Employee #38742 now hates you and thinks badly of you.

About the beer Very nice solid blonde weizen color! Billowing head gives off yeasty banana and phenolic aromas. Taste darting hints of some tropical fruit, maybe guava? Slides back very lieblich and goes ex. well with the herb-poached arctic char. Even better with the brunch left-overs of same... hey you want to taste real Bavarian, try this in the AM with some fresh Weisswurst and hot from the oven Bretzeln. My Uncle considers Weizen a morning beer and this actually makes a little bit of sense....

Oh, but they do! #38742 is the worst!

Weizen really is a decent morning beer actually. Although I get really weird looks when I have a beer before 1pm, so generally these days I just refrain from doing so.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:05 pm

JesseM wrote: I get really weird looks when I have a beer before 1pm...

Don't trust those kinds of people. They are 'not quite right'.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:39 pm

I sampled one mid-pour, while waiting for the head to settle, and thought it was great. Then I swirled the rest of the yeast into the glass... and there's definitely an unpleasant flavour there.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:52 pm

While I can appreciate the feelings that some might have towards LCBO employees, and the seemingly endless level of incompetence that most us apparently have, please keep in mind that some of us ACTUALLY work hard, and work hard to bring the beer out ASAP. Like uhhh me for example.

You can bash and complain, as per usual, but most of you have no idea how a store operates. Please don't make assumptions.

As a rule, the sooner a product gets to the shelf, the sooner we can sell it, and that means a healthier bottom line for the store, and a happy manager.

I hope most of you realize that we have thousands of products in a store, meaning thousands of SKUS. Do you expect every employee to know every product? Fuck that.

I sympathize with the cause, as I am a fellow bartoweller and craft beer lover, and I have the same frustrations, but I am sick of the generalizing that goes on here, painting all LCBO employees as fucking useless monkeys. Smarten up.