Haandbryggeriet Weizenbock

Formerly brewed at Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Weizen Bock
Drammen, Norway

500mL drank alone under a wind and rain storm at +1 Celsius in a graveyard on the Lofoten Islands at 4:30 a.m. Strong, everlasting off-white head covers the very dark brown to purple pour. Highly yeasty and in a rather dusty, stoney, jammy way. The wheat comes across quite grainy while the dark malts add a pretty much roasty kick akin to some of the most agreeable dunkelweizens. In mouth, this initially nameless roast develops further into chocolate chips suggestions and while it drinks very easily all along, a mellow and warming alcohol touch chimes in. Medium-bodied, natural medium-high carbonation that manages to slice through the sweetness, nicely drying out. I was quite surprised at the low scores as I found it very idiosyncratic and lovely myself, though the setup I drank it in was probably the most unusual of my young drinking career.

Bottle at Københavnske Øldage 190506. Red hazy colour with a thin white foam.Aroma of a belgian ale: Citrus, and fruitiness, lots of maltyness and bitternes at the top. Malty and citrus bitterness in the finish. Medium body. Nice.

Bottle from Vinmonopolet. Dark weizenbock. Very high carbonation- almost gushing out of the bottle. Powerful aroma and high drinkability. Chocolate in the finish and medium body. I’ll have another one...

Bottle. Batch # 31. Very fizzy carbonation. Huge frothy tan head, mostly diminishing. Nice opaque dark brown body. Fresh fruity, mainly citrus, and sweet malty aromas. Notes of spices and yeast. Taste is sweetish; malts, candysugar, ripe banana, wheat and yeast. Some fresh acidic flavors in the aftertaste. Medium body. Oily mouthfeel. Long light bitter/acidic finish. Very tasty and highly refreshing.

500ml bottle. Dark, dark brown body, almost black. Big foamy, brown head. The head continued getting out of the half-empty bottle for several minutes. Without this volcanic reaction the appearance would be 5. Aroma is light roasted malt, dry fruit, leather and yeast. Flavor is roasted malt, burnt caramel, and roasted coffee. A nice beer with a balanced flavor and a bit aggressive carbonation. Refreshing and easy drinkable. One of my favorites from Haandbryggeriet.

So far i’ve had some pretty great experiences with this style, and haandbryggeriet usually brew some top qual beers, so i had great expectations. Exploting head, muddy dark brown look with a very bubbling brown head that remains. Medium amount of fruity esters, quite vinouse and with a high amount of roasted chocolate and burned nuts. Flavor is very complex, at first the vinouse notes comes through as a nice alchohol note, backed up by the fruity esters comming through in the mouth aroma. After a little while a strong burned bitterness comes through, dark choholate and a tough of smoked wood. Definatly a fine brew.

50 cL bottle. Pours murky dark brown with a huge tan head. Malty, mild chocolate note, slight spiced and light wheaty aroma. Flavour is hardroasted malt, mild smoke note and a smooth chocolate note. Ends with a lingering chocolate smoothness and a light bock alcohol feel.

Bottle@Home. Coffee, black currant, licorice and allspice aroma. Very dark brown, light brown large rocky head, no lace. Light sweet, bitter, coffee, roasted, licorice, light peppery, hint of grass, some fruity sourness. Nice beer but not like any Weizenbock. More a Belgian Imperial Stout.