Get your gums round a fruity little Bavarian
Written: Jun 19 '02 (Updated Feb 07 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Refreshing, tasty
Cons: I hate cloves!
The Bottom Line: Not the best wheat beer in the world but an excellent summer brew nevertheless.
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| proxam's Full Review: Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier |
Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is a Bavarian brew, produced in München, and is connected with the Spaten brewery. The brewery itself was founded in 1363 in the immediate vicinity of a Franciscan monastery.
It is a top-fermented beer brewed in strict adherence to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. Prepared exclusively from select, top-quality raw materials it has a particularly high proportion of wheat malt.
Franziskaner's hops are grown in the largest hops-growing region of the world, the Hallertau district to the north of Munich.
The special top-fermenting yeast used in Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier comes from their own purebred strain.
Water which makes up 90 percent of beer comes from their own wells which are over 200 m deep.
Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is brewed with up to 50% or more of malted wheat, and is bottle conditioned. It is sedimented with yeast. So when pouring a hefeweizen
(preferably in a proper weiss glass - check the picture) you should pour around 70% of the beer then swirl the remainder before topping off the glass. This ensures that all the sediment makes it into your glass.
brewing information abridged from: http://www.franziskaner.com/3_products/3_2_philosophy/index.htm
THE POUR
Deep golden in colour, it is zesty, light and frothy as a wheat beer should be. The beer is 'cloudy' because it is unfiltered and bottle conditioned. It is highly carbonated with streams of tiny bubbles that float quickly to the big, rich, white, foamy head. The head is reasonably long-lasting. The aromas are amazing, spicy, fruity, estery - lots of cloves, bananas, apples and lemons all compete to assail the nose
THE TASTE
The body is round and smooth and the first flavour to appear is a wheaty malt taste. The yeast strain used produces fruity esters, and I can pick up flavours like cloves, bananas, a little pear and even that hard to define flavour - bubble gum. Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss Bier finishes slightly oily with a nice balance of malt flavor, traces of cloves and bananas, and just enough hops to balance.
THE VERDICT
Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is fruity, frothy, and very complex in taste. It is fairly light, slightly tart and extremely refreshing.
This beer is suitable with (or for) lunch or dinner. It works really well with German fare (no surprise there!) such as bratwurst, kartofollen and saurkraut. Personally though I would enjoy this beer most on a long hot day, as a thirst quencher. Definitely a Summer brew.
Thanks for reading,
Prost
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
proxam
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Location: De Leving's Toun
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Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Don't drink & derive
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