Legend Hefeweizen

Brewed by Legend Brewing Company
Style: German Hefeweizen
Richmond, Virginia USA

Humm, what to say. It’s a Legend so that’s good...but its a hefe so..... it’s pale. It’s a wheat beer and that doesn’t excite me too much.

Classic hefe brewed to a high standard of German beer. Cloudy yellow color with lots of yeast in the aroma. Mild banana and wheat also detectable. Flavor is wheat, but again dominated by the yeast. The yeast was rather different, it made for a slightly different flavor. I’m usually not a fan of heavily yeasted beers, but this wasn’t so bad. I have yet to try something from Legend that I haven’t liked!

Lightly cloudy stra body topped by a pillowy stark wihte head. The aroma od bananas, clove, and wheat permeates the air. Lots of clove actually. The flavor is quite spicy with the banana being overwhelmed by the cloves. Crisp light body that is very refreshing. This is really hitting the spot as I sit here sweating with a broken house air conditioner.

Fairly clear deep gold with a tall, long lasting white head. Spicy clove aroma. Fairly well done Hefeweizen. Not too much malt sweetness with just the right amount of bite coming from the wheat. Good body.

Neon yellow color with a thin soap head. Big wheat aroma with lots of banana and cloves. Flavor is smooth and well-blended. A very flavorful hefe.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained 13-Jul-06 in trade with gputty, thanks Geoff!) It’s boiling here along the San Diego coastline today, over 90 degrees. Hey, when you’re used to 72 degrees and a cool ocean breeze, this is almost unbearable. And so drinking this amazingly clean Hefeweizen is wonderfully refreshing on a day like today. First things first, the yeast imparts significant peppery spiciness and quite a barnyard component, and this is complemented by a clean, lemony tartness. Minimally sweet, no bitterness, not really much of the expected bubblegum, banana or clove either, but perhaps because these expected components are missing, it makes this medium-bodied beer so refreshing. Not to mention the crisp, tart, clean, well-carbonated mouthfeel. The nose has modest notes of pepper and lemon, but by far, the dominant aroma for me is barnyard -- just wonderful! Golden-yellow and fully cloudy in my stemmed goblet, but when I hold this up to the bright blue San Diego sky, I can barely see the significant number of streams of small carbonation bubbles rising slowly toward the surface. And the white head is tall and fluffy immediately after pouring the beer, gradually fading to a thin, but persistent layer atop the beer. And all this when I’ve chilled the beer down to about 37 degrees. I’ve had a few problems with infections with Legend beers in the past, but this beer is not only healthy, but a pretty damn amazing Hefeweizen. Could use a bit more complexity -- hints of banana and bubblegum, I suppose -- but on a day like today, this is the perfect beer. This is one not to miss.

Cloudy yellow with a good, long-lasting head. Very mellow banana, slight clove. Touch of chalk. A little vegetal.

Hazy gold appearance, decent head, little lacing. Yeasty, fruity, spicy aroma. Slightly sour at the start but that faded as it developed a soft, malty sweetness with only a light amount of hops to add to the balance. Well carbonated with a spicy, medium length finish.