Marin Hefe Weiss

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Larkspur, California USA

Bottled. Hazy golden, small head. Aroma of apples and oranges. Sweet and rounded, fairly malty with a tad of paper. Low bitterness. A quite refreshing straight forward wheat ale, one of the better American wheats I was going to write. So why is it listed as a Hefeweizen?

Tasting Notes from Fall 2000: Nice start, no finish. If ’hefe’ means ’half,’ it’s apt

Bottle acquired in trade with DarkElf (Thanks!). There was a loud popping sound as I opened this one. Talk about pouring all head - 7 finger sized head with less than a third sized finger of liquid. Poured a cloudy light yellow color (when the head finally settled down). Aromas of yeast and light spices. Tastes of wheat, lemons, spices and light bananas.

Aromas of yeast, wheat, clove? and some pine/resin hop. Translucent gold color with a decent white head. A bit thin, starts with spice, sour and moves to wheat. Not a lot of hop, so the finish is more wheat with a hint of spice. It’s a dry, slightly puckery finish. Not so much Hefe as the label subtitle: American Style Wheat Ale. Good to drink.

Bland aroma with some wheat, green apples, vanilla and an underlying sweetness. Lightly hazy golden body is topped by a low white head that reduces to a slight partial cover. Flavour is quite light and drinkable with some wheat underlying the sweetness. Medium body with moderate carbonation. A bit sticky as it warms. If it was called Marin Brewing Wheat Beer I may be more forgiving but if you call it a Hefe Weisse I have certain expectations that just aren’t met by this beer. No banana character no yeast character whatsoever really. Seems like it was fermented with a very neutral ale yeast. Tulip glass. Fridge temperature. Bottle purchased at Brewery Creek in Nov-09.

I got a bottle at Benz Beverage Depot in Cedar Rapids, IA. The beer was in my fridge for a few days, but this still poured with a huge amount of foam. I filled up three glasses before gettting some liquid. The body was pale yellow and cloudy with a huge white head on top. The aroma had some soapy lemon bread with some notes of banana and clove. The taste is dry and nasty lemon rind. There is also some clove, but absolutely no sweetness to balance out the spice. The body is thin and lifeless, even with all the foam. A poorly made wheat beer that more of an American Wheat than a hefe.

Light gold color, very large head. Aroma is slightly malty. A medium bodied hefe. Lightly malty and somewhat hop spicy. Not you’re typical wheat beer, only a very slight banana and clove taste thing going on in this beer. It much hoppy and spicier than a typical hefe. It could be that this bottle is a little old as the flavors are a little harsh. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

This draft brew from the brew pub poured a small sized head of foamy finely sized white colored bubbles that were mostly diminishing and left behind a hazy uncarbonated yellow colored body. The aroma was malty and banana. . The flavor contained notes of malt hops and banana. A decent one that I would consider buying again.