| With warmer days approaching, beer taste buds are turning to lighter, more refreshing beers. A classic example of a thirst-quenching summer beer is the German beer known as hefeweizen, which literally translates to "yeast wheat beer." These beers are like drinking liquid sunshine.
Hefeweizens are part of the ale family, which means they are brewed with a top fermenting yeast. When the particular strain of hefeweizen yeast each brewery uses is done eating all fermentable sugar, it drops spent yeast through the unfinished beer, adding such unique flavours as cloves, apple, banana and earthiness. This produces layer upon layer of complexity, going from sweetness to tartness in a single sip that will tantalize the taste buds.
In better establishments in Calgary, the hefeweizen is served in large, bulbous, authentic German glassware that will allow room for the large, dense, rocky head. In the best examples of this style of beer, the head will remain throughout consumption of the whole beer and will leave a lacework pattern stuck to the side of the glass. Aficionados of these bottle-conditioned hefeweizens will purposely leave a small amount of beer in the bottle, roll or swirl it and then dump all the yeast they can into the glass to get all the goodness they can extract out of the bottle – pure Vitamin B that is great for the heart.
My most recent trip to the United States included visits to a couple of brewpubs, and sadly, each of them served the hefeweizen we ordered with a lemon wedge in the beer. Fortunately, this practice has not become common with wheat beers in Calgary – the exception being Big Rock’s American wheat beer Grasshopper – and I hope it stays this way. I find this practice particularly annoying because the lemon overpowers the subtle flavours of the yeast and the delicate flavours of the German noble hops the brewer used.
I have heard many theories about why lemon is added to wheat beers. The most convincing goes back to the days when brewing techniques were more primitive and wild yeasts in the air during the spring affected the brewing of ales, resulting in beers of varying quality – supposedly, the lemon was put in to the hefeweizens to disguise any funky flavours. This rumour was probably started by lager brewers as propaganda to make their product sound superior. The other reason I have heard for adding a slice of lemon is that it helps restrain the carbonation of the highly carbonated weizens. I question this, as the beer is meant to have a dense, rocky, bright white head. My suggestion is to forgo the lemon and let the brewers’ hard work do the talking.
Some of the hefeweizens available locally include:
· Schneider Weiss – this amber-coloured beer pours with a big head, with restrained earthiness, fruitiness and quenching tartness for a long refreshing finish. It is also the beer with the most colour for style. The brewery has been brewing wheat beers since 1607.
· Konig Ludwig Weissbier – this beer has restrained banana-like esters and pours a hazy yellow. The newest of the hefeweizens imported into Alberta, the brewery is owned by the German prince and is the wheat beer of royalty.
· Hacker Pschorr Hefe Weizen – a beer with lots of wheat aroma in the profile, and a slight pine flavour with citrus and banana undertones. Probably the most widely available of the wheat beers, this product is now on tap in Calgary as well.
· Paulaner Hefeweizen – this is the most extreme flavour profile of the German wheat beers available, with the usual notes of banana and cloves, but also hints of peach, strawberry and lots of vanilla. It is also the sweetest example of the style.
· Erdinger Weissbier – this beer has a light fruitiness with a dash of apple in the profile. The Erdinger beers are more delicate and a little less spicy than most of the Weiss beers. There is also a version available here called kristall, which is the filtered version. The kristall version removes all the yeast haze and most of the character and is probably a good starting point for those new to Weiss beers.
· Wild Rose Velvet Fog – a cross between an American and a German wheat beer, this is a clean, crisp and refreshing well-made beer. This beer also is a great introduction to wheat beer, and drinking it helps support the local "pint-sized brewing company." |
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