Weyerbacher Hefeweizen

Formerly brewed at Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Style: German Hefeweizen
Easton, Pennsylvania USA

22 ounce bomber - Weyebacher produces a average Hefeweizen. Citrus, and sour yeast aroma, golden body, and thin head. This Hefe is made for quick comsumption unlike other Weyerbacher brews that are brewed to slowly enjoy and savor.

Can’t get excited over this. Couldn’t finish it, in fact. A super chunky yeast chalk fest with small notes of banana and clove, no bubblegum, and I have to wonder where the freshness went, b/c I definitely thought this tasted somewhat stale a touch sour even, despite being drunk the same summer as its release. So...yeah. Not so much.

Out of a bottle. Aroma primarily of wheat. Poured a hazed off orange color with a foamed white head. Flavor, my first sip really bothered me, it was wheaty and lemony but sour. Didn’t get much banana but it did seem to soften a bit and wasn’t as sour. Palate was good though, finish was relatively clean. Overall this one wasn’t their best.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with hopdog, thanks Steve!) The nose worries me a bit. It’s mostly stinky cheese funk, with some light banana and a mild sourness. I like the smell of (most) stinky cheese, but not in my hefeweizen! The flavor is a bit better, thankfully. I can taste moderate wheat and sweet banana flavors initially, but also a good amount of funk and lemony sourness in the finish. It’s not an unpleasant sourness, and it definitely works against the sweetness to keep the palate somewhat fresh, but it’s just a touch too lemony for my tastes. But the funk in the nose and flavor are simply not desired, so I think this is a significant negative. This is too bad because the banana is not overdone, and could have resulted in a more restrained hefeweizen, more like what I’ve sampled with the better German imports. Medium bodied to start, but it thins a bit toward the finish, and between the ample carbonation and the sourness in the finish, it’s not fatiguing my palate. The body is bright orange in color and fully cloudy. A small and bubbly off-white head quickly crackles to a small ring. Drop the funk and reduce the lemony sourness, and I’d like this a whole lot more.

22oz bottle. This has a nice yellow orange haze with a thin cream head on top. Body is somewhat clowdy. Orange pepper malt aroma. Flavor is pretty smooth and enjoyable. There is an ending orange flavor that really makes this one go down easy as pie. Another fine offering from Weyerbacher.

2005 bottle sampled 8/24/2005. Bright mumosa-orange-yellow color. Hazy to begin with, but the yeast settles down and drops to the bottom quickly. White head is big, but diminishes to a film. Light clove, touch of bubblegum and nice malted wheatiness. Not a terribly powerful aroma and quite restrained and even, but good. Flavor is lemon, dry buckwheat pancakes. Bit of sourish yeast and light sugar on the finish. Enjoyable mouthfeel with smooth, low carbonation. Not watery, but a very light body. Very restrained flavor, very dulled by the large amount of wheat. I prefer a lot less wheat to non-wheat malt ratio. But assuming this is what they aimed for, it’s well done. Lightly chewy on the end. Sharp, lightly bitter hops right up front, but they are mostly flavorless. Some hops flavor on the end though, after it has thoroughly warmed.

Rerate: bottle 2005. Pours a hazy deeper gold almost copper color with an initial big white head bu fades and leave very little lace. Aroma is almost all clove with hints of vanilla and practically no banana. Im assuming the differences are from fermentation temp differences between batches. Flavor on this one has a slight slickness in the end and overall a weak mouthfeel. Rating numbers are about the same for both samples. HBF 2005. Sampled right after the dreamweaver wheat. This one pours a nice hazy yellow with a good white head which fades. Aroma is both spicy and estery with lots of banana and clove. Just a touch of vanilla in the background. Flavor was mildly wheaty but the mouthfeel was lacking and seemed watered down compared to the dreamweaver which had more body.

22oz bottle, 8/6/05. Poured a nice cloudy golden with medium head and lacing. Aroma was herbal/clove, but very light. Taste was a big let-down here - we were all surprised at how bland it tasted. I like my hefe’s with some zing and pow, please!