Monday, June 21, 2010

Beer Review: 3 Hefe's, 1 Winner

Hefe Weissbier's are a personal favourite of mine and great to drink in the warm, sunny weather. Here are three Hefe's that I have tried lately:

Weltenburger Hefe Weissbier
not a beer I would buy again.
Weltenburger Hefe-Weissbier Hell weighs in at 5.4% and pours a very pale golden colour. Very cloudy with a small billowy white head. The yeast dominates the aroma with a sweet malt backbone. This beer is highly carbonated, with a very light body. Surprisingly this beer has none of the usual flavours I would have expected, no cloves or bananna flavours and it actually tastes quite thin and watery. The only redeeming feature you could say is the fact that it is light and refreshing. Not a beer I would be buying again, if I want light and refreshing I think I would grab a nice bottle of pilsner. However from this brewery I would recommend the Barock Hell, a beer I really liked.

Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier,
highly recommended.
Next up is Unertl Hefe-Weissbier, a touch lighter at 4.9%. This beer pours a lovely dark golden colour with a large white head that settles into a creamy consistant head. The aroma is lovely, dominated by ripe bananna and malts. Medium bodied with a nice refreshing frothiness on the back of the throat. Comparatively light for a Hefe Weiss, however it is very well balanced and would make a great summer session beer. Highly recommended.

Unertl Hefe-Weissbier, a great
summer session beer 
Last but not least is Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier. pours a golden colour, with a small white head and very cloudy. Bananna's and warm malt dominant the aroma. Again the level of carbonation is very high, this is coupled with a smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. A nice Hefe-Weissbier, very well balanced and drinkable and I could certainly see myself drinking a few of these. Well worth a try.

So if we discount the Weltenburger I think it is a close call between Paulaner and Unertl, however I am going to lean towards the Unertl. I like the lightness and relatively low ABV which makes this beer a perfect fit for sunny summer days, a refreshing beer with the perfect attributes to make it a great session drink.

3 comments:

Beer Cartel said...

I must say there is something about Hefs that make them irresistible - fruity, banana, clovey... mmmm

Outside of the authentic German brands there are a few that are starting to pop up that are true to the style.

My favourite non-German hef is called Hef (ironic hey) and its made by the Burleigh Brewing Company in QLD, Australia.

If you're ever in Oz get your hands on some!

Cheers for the read.

Geoff

Beer Cartel Beer Club

Mark (Halite) said...

Cheers Geoff. Unfortunately we don't get a huge selection of Aussie beers in Ireland (apart from Coopers and a few others). However I have relations there so I might organise a care package :-)

Mike said...

Nothing beats Schneider Weisse mate!