Black Forest Big Bettys Hefeweizen

Brewed by Black Forest Brew Haus
Style: German Hefeweizen
Farmingdale, New York USA

Run of the mill Hefeweizen, maybe a little subpar. The appeaance is very tru to its style, a hazy yellow, strong carbonation, white head. The aroma is like a hefe, banana, colve, fruit. But this one has a wierd overly spicy quality, and is a little sour. The finish has a burn, more from spices than hops. The mouthfeel is average. This is standard hefeweizen, nothing special.

Tap at BF. Didn’t realize this was Big Betty’s. Sort of an odd, pale but luminescent color to this one. Didn’t get things started off right. Aroma of bubblegum, clove, citrus zest. Flavor rather citric with a spicy finish. Light-bodied. Drinkable certainly but unimpressive.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours an almost neon-yellow with a small white head. Aroma of clove, wheat, and a touch of skunk. Flavor of clove, wheat, and banana. Your typical hefe, there was nothing that stood out about this beer. 6/3/6/4/13 (3.2/5)

On tap sampled at NFB&WF ’08 at Martha Clara Vineyards. There were a lot of Hefe’s at the festival, and this one I think was my second favorite of the group. Pours a cloudy straw yellow with a rounded, foamy white head. Pleasant aroma of banana and bubblegum. The flavor was equally nice with again banana and bubblegum. Refreshing and enjoyable. And a thank you to Black Forest for the nice full pour as well !

pretty decent middle of the road hefe a litlle to clean it didnt have enough of the bubblegum yeast and clove going on drinkable but not memorable

Had it on tap... This beer was decent, but nothing that would really stand out among others.

As I have been drinking this style lately, I liked the look of the Hefewezen as it served to me in tall Pilsner glass. Cloudy and gold in its make up, I enjoyed the light scents of it and the first taste was clean with regular Hefe-style elements to it with a slightly dry after taste. After three tall glasses of this, I was happy with the results.

A very unique beer had on tap at the brew house. I’m really not sure if this is indicative of the rest of the style, but I am giving points for some of the risks it takes. There were two things of special note: First the appearance was that of a milky light yellow. Second the flavor was something that I can only relate to a campfire when burning some kinds of shurbs. I think this was the result of a spicy and sour flavor mixing with fuel notes. The utilization of, as opposed to the covering of, alcohol is quite a bold thing to do in my opinion. The spice is somewhere between clove and pine. There is also some lemon that gets muted by the campfire.

This is a unique and interesting brew, but it isn’t knock your socks off great.