German Style Wheat Beer
This Hefeweizen will use wheat beer yeast, wheat, Pilsner malt, Munich and Caramalts along with Hallaterau hops to give an opaque golden beer with aromas of cloves and bananas. Dry and crisp and spicy on the palate.
Typical examples: Paulaner Hefe- Weissbier, Schneider Weisse, Franziskaner Weissbier
The original German purity law forbade the use of wheat in beer and for many lovers of German beer that simplicity is still important. However for me, it is the beers that break the rules that are often the most interesting and the German beer world is full of them.
German wheat beers manage to smell of cloves, bananas and pear drops without using anything other than wheat, barley, water, hops and yeast.
Having been brought up to expect beer to be served absolutely clear it was a revelation to see my first cloudy wheat beer. Now, rather than checking to make sure that gravity is doing it’s job in making the beer bright, I’ll be checking to make sure its doesn’t work too quickly.
6 Comments
The cloudiness, and a lot of the flavour, does come from the yeast and so it should be served cloudy. Over time the yeast will settle out and the cask will need shaking to get it back in suspension. Most Cloudy keg wheat beers tend to be filtered and they then add a protein to the beer to make it appear cloudy. We are relying just on the yeast which is slow to settle out but will eventually do so.
Obviously most landlords are used to waiting for the beer to be bright so it will loose a little flavour if they do but a rigorous shake of the the cask to get the yeast back in suspension should bring it back to life.
To the above ^^
If its Erdinger, don’t pubs that serve that have a cask stirrer to keep the yeast in suspension?
Thats not the usual thing for a Cask Conditioned ale, Landlords will need a little education on keeping and serving correctly.
I tried to your wheat beer at The Mill in Aldeburgh & was very disappointed. It was almost clear & not cloudy like Weiss Beer normally is. It was not cold enough & does not compare in any way with Erdinger or Paulaner. I have had the pleasure of living in Cape Town South Africa for over 30 years and visited the Paulaner Brewery in the Waterfront & drank many liters their Weiss beer & Erdinger draught or botteld. My father in law was Austrian born & he educated me & my wife in the art of drinkling Weiss Beer & how it should look & taste.
Maybe the beer in The Mill had been lying or had settled but it did not resemble wheat beer or even taste like. To confirm my tastes buds had not gone astray I had two pints of draught Erdinger at The Kings Head in Yoxford and it was spot on !!
thanks Nev, Make sure it’s cloudy to get the full effect, If it’s bright the cask needs a good roll.
Another very pleasant brew from the World Beers range,
Nice aroma of fruit,With fruit and spice and a hint of yeast on the palette.
Leading to a dry but not too bitter finish.
All in all a very drinkable Wheat Beer.
for anyone in the west midlands wanting to try this one we will be stocking it
hope to cya soon