Though I do not purchase beer with weekly pairings in mind, I do think of pairing them up once I have them at home.  It doesn’t always work out that way, but when it is at all convenient I try to put a couple together that make sense at least to me.  So after two different versions of Pale Ale last week I am going with a few not so common styles/versions of wheat beers this week.

A very clear first beer for the week . . .

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Germany)

Name: Kristall Weissbier

Style: Weissbier (or I suppose Specialty Beer)

ABV: 5.40% (on bottle)

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge before being served in an weizen glass.

Aroma: Light wheat character with a good balance of low spice and fruit (banana with some faint citrus) notes.  Moderate intensity and pretty nice. – 7.5/12

Appearance: Pale straw color.  Two plus finger fluffy white head that holds really well and leaves nice lacing on the glass.  Extremely clear with rising bubbles visible. – 3/3

Flavor: Overall flavor is quite light with a very light grainy wheat profile.  Faint esters (banana) with a very low hit of clovey spice.  Finishes pretty dry and crisp with maybe a very low level of bitterness as a bit of malty sweetness lingers. – 10.5/20

Mouthfeel: Light in body with a moderate to high level of carbonation that lends some bite.  Fairly smooth, but ends with a sharpness. – 3.5/5

Overall Impressions: A much more subtle version of a Hefeweizen (as expected).  Falls somewhere halfway between a Hefeweizen and a nice Pilsner though in my opinion not a great zone for a beer to be in.  Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing all that good as I find myself just wanting a good Pilsner to drink.  With all of that said, it is quite easy drinking. – 6/10

Overall: B- (30.5/50)

Weihenstephaner - Kristall Weissbier

As mentioned yesterday, I will continue on with a bit of an impromptu homage to Oktoberfest by posting an evaluation of a Bavarian Hefeweizen today.  Based on my efforts to date in trying to brew a beer of that style, I think I should leave it to the professionals for now.  Of course my efforts have only consisted of one try, so I will surely get back to giving it another go some day.

As a side note I should mention that the name for the brewery below is the long name for what is really Ayinger as you see on the bottle in the picture.  A second point of note is that I did not actually buy this beer as it was given to me after working at a beer festival.

Now to continue on with the run of reviews for the week . . .

Brewery: Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer (Germany)

Name: Bräu-Weisse

Style: Weizen / Weissbier

ABV: 5.10%

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a weizen-like glass.  1pt 9oz bottle.

Aroma: Light spiciness with a low estery (banana?) aroma and a slight graininess underneath.

Appearance: Pale golden color.  One finger, cream color head with a moderate (or less) level of retention and leaving no trail.  Clear with a slight haze and with many bubbles visible rising at the center of the glass.

Flavor: Light fruitiness with a bit of tartness/sourness and a smooth grain/wheat flavor underneath.  A hint of spiciness is noticeable without any hop flavors or bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with a high level of carbonation that gives it some crispness.  Creamy and has a fullness on the palate.

Overall Impressions: Very enjoyable and smooth drinking with the flavors building nicely as I drink more.  Refreshing and light with well balanced components.

Grade: Solid B+

Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer - Bräu-Weisse

Making good on my thoughts from last week, today will be the first of a run of reviews that will go through Friday and possibly even Saturday.

Since Oktoberfest is now well underway in Munich I am going to start the week with a few beers that are brewed in that area of Germany.  I did not plan ahead for it to work out that way, but I like that it did.  A thank you goes out to the Carlins for sending this beer my way.

Now to start the week . . .

Brewery: Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu GmbH (Munich, Germany)

Name: (Hefe) Weissbier

Style: Weizen / Weissbier

ABV: 5.00%

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a weizen-like glass.

Aroma: Low spiciness with a hint of (banana-like) fruit and a light wheat aroma underneath.

Appearance: Light golden color.  Three finger, off-white head that is thick and frothy with a moderate retention level and leaving no real trail.  Clear with maybe a hint of haze and tons of tiny rising bubbles visible.

Flavor: Well balanced, low banana-like flavor with a bit of spice and some graininess underneath.  No real hop flavors noticed.

Mouthfeel: Medium to light body with a moderate (or slightly higher) level of carbonation.  Very smooth and creamy on the palate.

Overall Impressions: A quite enjoyable and smooth mix of flavors with nothing overpowering the others.  Not sure exactly why, but I like it.

Grade: B (to B+)

Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu GmbH - Weissbier

This one may be a little rough to read as I am going to try to do four beer reviews in one post.  I did not even know that these beers existed before Gregg offered me some bottles to evaluate, so I was curious to see how they tasted.  Though I only had them that one time, they turned out to be not that bad all in all.  Hopefully this rundown of the four with shorter reviews for each will make some sense.

For a Saturday set of reviews . . .

Brewery: Kirkland Signature (Costco) – contract brewed by New Yorker Brewing Co. in Utica, NY which I can only assume is associated with Matt Brewing Company.

Name: Amber Ale (AA) – German Lager (GL) – Pale Ale (PA) – Hefeweizen (H)

Style: American Amber Ale (AA) – German Pilsner (GL) – American Pale Ale (PA) – Weizen (H)

ABV: AA – 5.70%, GL – 5.50%, PA – 5.40%, H – 5.50%,

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a pint glass (AA and PA), pilsner glass (GL), and weizen glass (H).

Aroma: AA – Some malty sweetness, but mild overall.  GL – Light graininess, slightly bready, and light overall.  PA – Even, fruity hop aroma, and some sweetness.  H – Really mild, lightly yeasty/bready nose.  Tough to do back to back with really mild aromas.

Appearance: AA – Medium amber color.  Slight cream color head with moderate retention and some trail.  GL – Golden amber color.  Moderate, off-white head with good retention and a heavy trail.  PA – Light amber color.  Little, off-white head with decent retention and some trail.  H – Golden color.  Slight cream color head with good retention and a light trail.

Flavor: AA – Low toasted malt flavor and slight bitterness.  GL – Slight grainy flavor with low bitterness.  Very light overall.  PA – Medium, somewhat floral hop flavor with some malty sweetness.  H – Some malty flavor with light breadiness.  Not what I expected.  Difficult back to back with similar flavor profiles among them.

Mouthfeel: AA – Medium body and somewhat creamy with pretty high carbonation.  GL – Light body, moderate carbonation, and some crispness/bite.  PA – Medium to light body with fairly high carbonation and slightly crisp.  H – Light body with lowish carbonation and creamy with a slight bite.

Overall Impressions: AA – Really nice flavor (compared to others).  GL – Quite bland but refreshing.  PA – Pretty good hop flavors overall.  H – Strange to me for style.  Not bad and fine for hot weather backyard grilling, but certainly nothing special.  I do not know cost but I am sure it is likely a great value for what they are.

Grade: Probably start at B- and work down.

Ranking the four (best first):

• Me – AA, PA, H, and GL
• The Wife – H, AA, GL, PA

Not sure where the review picture is, but here is proof they were spending time with our broccoli.

Everyone drifts off in thought of other things on occasion.  I probably do it more than the average person or at least more than I should.  Today, I have decided to share some of the daydreaming I did the over the last few days since it was all about beer and brewing.

I figured that I could not really hurt myself with a rake, so I was able to let my mind process other things while cleaning up the yard for spring.  My mind would have been in another place as I raked leaves anyway, but the fact that I had brewing supplies on the way certainly gave me something to focus on.  Welcome to the obsessive part of my brain.

I can already smell the grains

It has been a few months since I have last brewed anything at home, so I have been anxious to get back into it.  Now that my reserves have been depleted and I have more than enough empty bottles, I am ready to jump back in.  After putting (too) much thought into it I decided that the next three batches will be:

• Black Ale – Inspired by the imperial version I had at the FBG Beerfest
• Hefeweizen – In response to requests by multiple parties and as a good base for fruit experimentation.
• Saison – My first Belgian and to have ready by summer.  I missed brewing in time for a spring seasonal and would like to get on track for future seasons.

Since I have only two primary and two secondary fermenters, this presents a planning challenge for me.  I have learned lessons from having all the equipment tied up in the past and would like to make it easy on myself this time.  That and I need to plan out what to sanitize now, what I can wait on, etc.

The empty bottles are waiting

Starting off I have to decide which one I brew first.  My initial thought was the Black Ale, but that presents a few problems.  I have plans to add some bourbon and vanilla to the secondary fermenter for that one and let it sit there a bit longer than normal (for me) before bottling.  So that would tie up a piece of equipment for more time meaning that I would have to wait to brew at least one of the others for a while.  Also it will be a pretty strong flavor and I don’t know that I want a Hefeweizen going into the fermenter after it.  Of course it would be cleaned and sanitized, but I am slightly neurotic like that.

OK, so what about one of the other two going first?  I have (at he very least) tentative plans to incorporate a new type of fruit (for me) into at least one of those batches, if not both.  That could very well mean that I split the batches after primary fermentation to get some fruit beer and some of the original, unaltered style.  So either way that would tie up both secondary fermenters for some time making the order of things more difficult to coordinate efficiently.

Splitting batches will be after primary this time.

With all of that under consideration, if the fruit component that I intend to use does not arrive or is not made available right away maybe the Black Ale wins by default?  Or maybe I just brew the Saison and forget about any fruit going into that one?  I suppose I could even go ahead with the Hefeweizen without the fruit.

Might need a replacement bottling wand to be safe.

I know I shouldn’t put this much thought into it, but I do.  Or at least when I have hours of yard work to do and plenty of time to daydream of more enjoyable activities!