San Diego El Hefeweizen

Brewed by San Diego Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
San Diego, California USA

Name: El Hefe
Date: 12/04/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

hazy yellow, fine white head, streaks of lace, light sweet banana aroma, creamy body, nice banana flavor, touch of sweetness, balanced by light clove,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

Im putting this rating here...listed as the Harvest Wheat and the waitress said this was just another Hefe. Poured a medium yellow color with a small sized head. Aromas and tastes of some wheat, citrus, and bananas. Both on the weak and thin side like the body.

on tap-pours a ring of white and hazy yellow color. Aroma is mild clove. Taste is clove, light spicy hops, wheat.

Hazy yellow beer with a creamy white head. Aroma is quite clean with only a very light fruitiness and only a light cloviness. There is a bit of light wheatiness as well. A touch of spice on the back. Fairly full malty palate. It’s okay, but it’s a little bit generic.

On draught at the brewpub while during trip to California. Unclear colour with a lance head. Nearly no aroma the taste are more than a lager than a wheat beer. Indeed not interesting.

(Draft: San Diego Brewing Company in San Diego, CA) While sitting here, a fellow patron ordered their hefeweizen, and the bartender talked him into a Widmer Hefeweizen instead. That really says a lot about this beer and fills me with trepidation. But I’m ordering it anyway. Lots of wheat in the aroma, but where’s the promised banana and clove? Slightly stinky and smelling like a cheap beer, this is not encouraging. Even in the flavor, the more interesting characteristics of this beer are very subdued, and this really comes across as a standard Americanized "hefeweizen", which is to say, and American wheat beer. I suppose one could argue that there are elements of banana, yeast and clove, but man, they are pretty light and you really have to search these aspects out. Body is light-to-medium, nicely carbonated, but ultimately not very stimulating. Very cloudy, dark golden in color from all the haze. Off-white head is on the small side, and it settles to a film, but the lacing left behind is dense, at least at the top of the glass before there’s no more head left. I still think the bartender was doing a disservice to this brewery because while this beer isn’t stellar by any stretch of the imagination, it’s more interesting that Widmer’s offering. Nevertheless, I won’t be ordering this beer again.

draft at the brewpub - Pours lightly hazy yellow with a thin white head. It has a citrus aroma, a sweet wheat malt and mild citrus taste, and a lively, light palate. I think it’s a pretty good hefeweizen.

Tap @ SDBC. Pale hazy yellow with a small white ring. Banana, lemon peel and spice on the nose. Finished with some German yeast and citrus. A pretty good hefe.