Imported Hefeweizen to the test
Imported Hefweizen. What beauties!
I have finished tasting all seven imported Hefes that I purchased. Ayinger Brau Weisse was the last minute entry…I managed to find one when I went back to the store to check.
I have no complaints about any of these beers. They are all great warm weather (or anytime) drinkers with very similar aromas and taste. I can’t help to think that all of these beers lost something on their long trip to the west coast.
Ayinger Brau Weisse...the 7th beer
I honestly expected more flavor but I am not surprised that they are somewhat muted. The good news is I didn’t have any infections or skunking. All were fine. Below are notes on each beer and you won’t see too much difference. Again, I have kept notes to a minimum as I don’t want to shy folks away from a typical BJCP type description. Just quick notes for the layman if you will.
I have also included my SRM gradient chart for all seven beers. I took a slice of the beer as it appears in a weizen glass (see photos). I then laid all strips side by side so you can get a comparison of color between the beers. This by no means is a scientific approach but I took care to shoot all photos under the same lighting conditions and expsure. They were then all white balanced in post process.
SRM gradient test
So as my imported hefe tasting came to an end so did our nice January weather. We are back to rain (a good thing as we need it) and I am getting back interested in porters. I just sampled the porter I brewed with a European ale yeast and it came out fantastic. So I’ll toast to hefe and all other great styles with a nice dark beer.
Cheers.
SRM gradient comparison
Ayinger
Aroma – some banana with tartness and slight creme
Taste – tartness carries through to front and back of mouth carrying some banana flavor with it
Impression – banana creme aftertaste with some bitterness to balance. Slightly on the bitter side for overall balance
Erdinger
Aroma – no ester/yeast character. can’t pull anything out except maybe wheat malt
Taste – a little creaminess, medium mouthfeel. Hard to detect anything. Maybe a little wheat malt.
Impression – extremely mellow in both aroma (no esters) and palette. Could be mistaken for an american wheat beer.
Franziskaner
Aroma – unripe banana with slight banana creme pie underneath
Taste – a little creaminess that goes right to bitterness
Impression – pretty neutral Hefe, no big esters.
Hacker Pschorr
Aroma – unripe banana to banana cream pie some sourness. similar to Franziskaner
Taste – aromas carry through into taste to bitter acidity. balance towards acidic
Impression – very similar to Franziskaner a little more sour aroma and taste
Paulaner
Aroma – banana creme pie balanced with bitterness
Taste – stronger banana in the taste, creamy mouthfeel that goes to bitter
Impression – nicely balanced, aromas, flavors carry through to after taste
Schneider Weisse
Aroma – slight unripe banana creme pie
Taste – aroma carries through to taste and some spicy phenols to suit. Taken over by acidic bitterness
Impression – 1st Hefe that has some phenol spice character to it. Balanced more towards bitterness. A summer thirst quencher.
Weihenstephaner
Aroma – slight ripe banana that’s it
Taste – aroma carries thorugh to taste with the addition of some bitterness to balance
Impression – little aroma and a balance overall that is more towards bitterness. Lingering bitterness
Tags: german beer, hefeweizen, imported beer, imported hefeweizen
