Plank Heller Weizenbock

Brewed by Brauerei Plank Laaber
Style: Weizen Bock
Laaber, Oberpfalz/Bayern, Germany

Near gusher when poured. Hazy golden color with a tall, big bubbled head. Aromas of wheat flour and mild yeast. A slight floral and mineral water hint in the background. Very easy drinking. Light zip that helps the thick wheat presence. Thick wheat flavors, with just a few hints of cloves, light mint and minerals. Decent flavors but not as crisp or fresh flavors of malt that I would expect in nearly any weizen.

A somewhat vigorous pour almost flows over the top of my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass, instead it for ms a full finger of foam above the rim of the glass making the frothy, off-white crown of foam a full five-fingers in height. The beer is a hazy, orange tinged copper color that shows more of an orange-gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite bread like with notes of yeasty dough, ample clove, tart wheat, grassy grain as well as lots of fruity aromatic notes. The fruit aromatics remind me of a mix of aromatic apple varieties and pears though there might be a faint lemon-like edge to it as well. This really has a full malt character to it that is a bit more pronounced than you would expect in a normal strength HefeWeizen, but this mostly smells like a traditional Hefe. Quite a nice aroma, I am really enjoying the various components here.

The Weizenbock strength comes through in the sweetness that is in the flavor; still this is a Weizen and the sweetness is fairly soft with a nice grain-like edge to it. A prickly carbonation adds a bit of texture through the middle of this beer and manages to help the body have a lightness to it. The body is a touch fuller than one would normally find in a Hefe, but it is not so full that this is still not an obvious derivative of said style. Clove-like phenols boost the perceived sweetness of this beer and play a more dominant not to the other traditional fermentation note of banana that is only slightly noticeable. The finish has a light tartness to it as well as a touch of peppery spiciness and a some cracker like grain flavors. My second pour of this reintroduces a significant carbonation that makes each sip quite lively with a peppery carbonic bite and a zippy texture.

This is quite nice, it tastes like a traditional HefeWeizen with the volume turned up just a touch louder for just about every aspect.

500ml bottle. pours muddy amber with an eventual small white head. extremely yeasty aroma with caramel and banana. very yeasty brew with lemon, caramel, and banana. a bit of a boozy finish. meh just all right.

Sweet and yeasty. Taste of honey and lemon zest. Carries a full head yet a sweat palate. It warms up after awhile. Drink the whole pint. It will grow on you.

Half liter bottle. I didn’t get a big aroma. The head was off white in color and lively, but it soon dissipated. Body was medium to full. Color was amber/orange and cloudy. Medium sweetness as I swallowed it, then the flavor of the hops grew stronger. It had a rich feel in my mouth. It was a very satisfying beer.

Half liter bottle. Cloudy light amber pour into my Paulaner weizen glass which set off a maelstrom of bubbles and moussy head. Spicy phenolic aroma with bananas, clove and sweet dough. Fairly sweet cake/quickbread malt flavors with tart fruits (apple, lemon, white grape) and a bit of vanilla. Had a yeasty and mildly boozy character which, combined with the tart fruit flavors, gave it kind of a chardonnay character on the finish. Pretty good strong wheat beer find from the supermarket.

orange body with minimal head..slightly cloudy..slightly sweet nose, with bubblegum and clove present too..flavor large in clove, sweet malts, bubblegum, and an interesting hint of what seems like nutrasweet (or some artificial sweetener)

The final beer in my Plank trio, and the one I had the highest hopes for. The Plank Bavarian Heller Weizenbock advertises on the very sound beerological ratio, where the more syllables your beer type uses, the more and better the flavor. The shampoo suds thick white head gives generous lacing to the periphery of the glass, while a nice aroma of pumpkin and roasted yam stirs my olfactory and salivary glands. The added starchy smell of baked potato with sweet touches of whipped cream and peanuts make this an almost dessert like beer while keeping true to a more main course flavor profile. This fine balance breaks down in the flavor where sweeter names prevail; banana, peach, and milk chocolate develop into a frothy foam that extends its delicious swathe of command all around the palate. This chalky, fuzzy, imperialism of the mouth is welcomed, and makes this German creation a strong case for drinking more lagers.