Paulaner Hefeweissbier

Brewed by Paulaner Brauerei (Schörghuber)
Style: German Hefeweizen
Munich, Germany

Krauts make the best hefe-weizens. (Don’t hit me with the PC crap... I’m an American of Kraut heritage.) This is a prime example. Certainly not the best, but very tasty. It pours a solidly hazy near amber color with a thin white head. Nice fruity, slightly grassy aroma. Mildly sweet with a winey fruit finish. And I picked it up at a local grocery store. Progress.

The original rate was based on a perfect pour one that has eluded me for at least a year and a half. So I feel it is now to rate the present. Not the freshes bottle with a brew date of 12/06, but that seems typical to as of late. Still a wonderful looking pour, but this one is a bit darker, which I like as much or better than the lighter version. Sweet wheat with just a touch of banana, I’m not catching the full malt and light spice of the past. Light sweet wheat flavors with a stronger phenol presence, more resin than banana and spice. Again the base malt is not fully apparent. Still a nice hefe, just doesn’t seem to have the depth and complexity I used to find in one out of ever three to four barrels. Maybe my memory is slipping, but I don’t think so. Straw color with a head that doesn’t end. When fresh, I consider this the one to compare to others in the "light" (as opposed to the Ur Style) hefe style. Clove and banana phenols dance across the tongue in balance with the wheat and malt sweetness. This beer does seem to be very susceptible to heat light and other factors which can bring the rating down.

Great banana aroma. Nice sweetness. Great weizen!

Hazy orange color with a very odd layering effect with the yeast. Huge white head and extraordinary lacing. Superb appearance. Citrus yeast aroma with banana and clove esters, slightly musky. Light flavor without too much carbonation, this and franziskaner are excellent representations of this style.

On draught at the Wenlock Arms. A classic spicy, upfront, zingy wheat beer. However, there is very little subtlety to this beer. It has all the elements you expect to find in a cloudy wheat, but times ten. Brash, brassy and so exaggerated it all gets a bit extreme. Especially the juicy sweetness, which becomes a tad wearing and cloying. Certainly an intense experience but towards the end of the pint I began to feel I'd had enough.

Yellow-orange in colour. Thick white long lasting head. Has a wheat aroma with some hints of clove and bananas. Taste of banana, yeast and some citrus flavours. Bananas in the aftertaste. A good weiss bier.

Bottle. Hazy amber color with a huge frothy white head that diminished slowly. Good sweet wheat aroma. Light to medium texture. Good refreshing wheat and fruit flavor wih a moderate sweet finish.

Draught - Kean’s Head Nottingham. A hazy dark yellow coloured hefe with a nice bright white head. The aroma has lots of bananas and bubblegum, and estery notes. The taste has more of the same and it is very nicely bodoed. Some toffee flavours also. I think hefes work better from tap than from the bottle.