Remember that photo of me in Exploring the World of Beer? If not … go look at it. Back? All right, as you saw, I felt the urge to be holding a beer in the shot (security blanket?), so I excavated this Kirkland Signature Hefeweizen from a nearby family fridge. Kirkland is essentially Costco-brand beer (although it’s actually made by Gordon Biersch), so to be honest I wasn’t prepping a combo of the words “mind” and “blowing” for this review.

It pours hazy orange with a sticky inch of head that recedes quickly into nothing. Be gentle when opening and pouring this one or you’ll end up staring at a glass full of white sediment floaties. (Don’t worry; the presence of sediment is typical for the style.) My bottle had been stored on its side, so I let ‘em sink before drinking.

Brew smells fine. Bananas, cloves, a hint of citrus—all typical hefe stuff, but pleasant. Enticed by the nose, I take a swig. And … fish?! The fruit is still prominent but tastes a little tainted, as if one of the bananas, in a bizarre stocking mishap, was accidentally stored with the mackerel.

These less desirable undertones subside as it warms, and you start to taste more of the hefe flavors—but there’s still not a lot to taste. If you want a simple, straightforward hefeweizen on the cheap, Kirkland’s will get the job done, but you can also do a lot better. My advice? Go with a German classic from Weihenstephan or Franziskaner instead.

“Hefe” means yeast, “Weizen” means wheat. Hefeweizen is a top fermented, unfiltered, bottle conditioned wheat beer with a noticeable yeast sediment and a cloudy appearance. Wheat beers are also referred to as Weissbiers (white beers) because before the invention of pale lagers and pale ales, most beers were dark. Wheat beers were the exception as the wheat content lightened the colour of the beer.

Hefeweizens are usually quite sweet and fruity, with a full body. The typical hefeweizen taste, which distinguishes it from its Belgian wheat beer cousins is produced by the types of yeast used in Bavaria. There are often medicinal or clove flavours, produced by chemicals called phenols engendered by the yeast. Other chemicals produced by the yeast, called esters, produce bubble gum, banana and vanilla flavours. Esters are also used in sweets like pear drops or fruit gums. Hefeweizens are very lightly hopped so have little bitterness and harshness. The ratio of wheat to barley malt used is commonly around 50:50 but the wheat portion may rise to as much as 70%. With the exception of Gose, German wheat beer brewers don’t add coriander or other botanicals and spices to their beer as Belgian brewers do. (more info. @ http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/hefeweiz.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewery and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihenstephan_Abbey)

Serving Type: 12 oz sleek euro brown bottle with the boasting words “Oldest Brewery in the World” on the label.
Appearance: Cloudy with a murky orange color, the head is spectacular … dense and marshmellowy with stickiness all over the glass. 
Smell: Malted wheat sweetness, nice and spicy nose with yeast and inviting light lemon highlights. 
Taste: Sweet and fresh wheat and barley malts, earthy and bready yeast character with enjoyable hints of lemon in the backround. A quick spark of clove hits the same time as the carbonation.  Finish is quite clean and alcohol is a tad noticeable though the extravagant fruity side of the aromas associated with this style are held at bay (still noticeable) and more spiciness seems to take hold. 
Mouthfeel: Semi crisp with a medium body and a well structured carbonation. Some creaminess from the wheat malt.
Drinkability: Terrifically drinkable. Although wheat beers are known as summer beers I could drink this whenever I am in the mood for a refreshing beer.

Overall: For now this one my favorite authentic German hefeweizen. More to the spicy side than some of the others.

BRITANNIA PUB, Santa Monica, Calif. — A nice Saturday evening of enjoying some fine Harp, great company, various sporting events on flat-screen, high-definition televisions, and great background music was cut short by an ill-advised move by Britannia.

The unthinkable happened.

A preseason NFL game between the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as a number of Saturday evening baseball games, were turned off in favor of boxing.

Let’s break it down …

Every TV in the place.

No more games.

Just boxing.

Weird.

Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff doesn’t care if it was preseason football, or even random baseball games not involving the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels or Cubs, it still easily trumps boxing. Easily.

That’s a bold move for a place that touts itself as a “Home of Pittsburgh Steelers”, given that the Steelers were playing a game of football at the time of said channel changing.

Anyway, that had Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff thinking …

What sports would I rather watch than boxing? I figured I could come up with like at least 30 or so just at the top of my head.

Let’s give it a try. Here’s a totally non-scientific list in no particular order …

Football
Baseball
Soccer
Golf
Tennis
Basketball
Hockey
Dodgeball
Beer pong
Track and field
Triathlon
Marathon
Cycling
Wiffleball
Frisbee golf
Rodeo
Curling
Bobsled
Skiing
Speed skating
Figure skating
Gymnastics
Dancing
Cheerleading
Swimming/diving
Water polo
Weightlifting
Bowling
Bombardment
Kickball
Rugby
Tag
Kick the can
Speed dating
Badminton
Table tennis
Jai alai
Lawn darts
Billiards
Team handball
Cricket
Sailing/rowing/kayaking/canoeing
X Games stuff
Equestrian/horseracing
Fishing
Auto racing
Poker

The only sport Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff can think of that Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff would not rather watch than boxing is … wait for it …

MMA

Apparently, two guys (or gals) in a little ring (or octagon) beating on each other for the general amusement of the audience doesn’t fare well in this spot. Sorry, fight fans.

Let’s move on to a more appealing topic: Beer!

Here are five beers Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff has had recently …

Coors Light — All discussions regarding the worst beer ever made should begin and end with Coors Light.

You could drink eight of these and still not understand what really makes this a beer. Guess it kinda looks like a beer, but Coors Light barely passes the eye ball test.

A pint of this awful concoction that somehow deserves to be called “beer” was a necessary evil in the fun that is the completion of the Barney’s Beanery beer club. A 40-beer hops odyssey that includes a lot of really fine brews, and a handful of real nasty clunkers. Coors Light, for the record, is at the top of that list, and earns the worst rating ever received by a beer in this spot … an empty glass.

Harp — This isn’t in the repertoire of go-to drinks, but it easily could be added when offered at a local saloon on draft.

It was smooth.

It was refreshing.

I could have had more if it were not for Britannia turning off all the good sports for boxing, a sport that is dead to me.

Moving on …

Maredsous 6 Blond — A recent trip to the Father’s Office in Santa Monica offered a couple of absolutely awesome selections to add to the palette (more on the other selection in a bit).

Maredsous 6 Blond comes from Belgium, where the locals seem to take their beer very, very seriously. I’ve learned to always trust a beer made in Belgium, and Germany, too, but we’re here talking about a Belgian beer today.

Maredsous 6 Blond was a golden brown, spciy, refreshing slice of fermented heaven.

Okocim — Tucked behind Santa Monica’s Warszawa Restaurant is a patio area where the local Polish restaurant serves up one of Poland’s finest brews (we can only assume), Okocim. Aside from the comfortable surroundings of Warszawa’s patio area, and the good company that has accompanied me to Warszawa each time, Okocim is the next best reason to visit this gem.

Okocim is good. Real good. And worthy of a four-pint rating in this spot.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel — The Father’s Office is known for offering a great variety of beers on tap that are very difficult to find anywhere else.

(Father’s Office is also known for its burgers, which we have yet to try. But, it sure smelled delicious in the place.)

We’ve sampled some Weihenstephaner selections before, and all have been amazing. Brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan) for nearly a thousand years, you’d expect nothing less than perfection. Established in 1040, Weihenstephaner is the oldest brewery in the world, and officially the oldest beer ever discussed in this space. The previous record? Franziskaner (mmm, Franziskaner!), which checked in at 1363. That is just three years before Stella Artois debuted.

Weihenstephaner’s dark hefeweisen went down smooth. So smooth. It was hard to stop at just one. Guess that just means we’ll have to make a return trip to the Father’s Office some time soon.

I’ll Have a Beer has moved. This page you are looking for is now located at http://haveabeer.couchand.com/2009/08/11/sour-week-berliner-weisse/.

Weisswurst bei Weihenstephaner

Mehr zu Weihenstephaner bei Our-Guide.com

I do generally love (despite what you’ll read below) Oktoberfests.  It’s a great style for the (finally) cool nights of September.  Each year I get around to trying the offerings from quite a few breweries, and this year is no different.  While plenty of Oktoberfests are still on the shelves, I figured a little retrospective was in order.

First, a bit on my ideal Oktoberfest.  I’m not a stickler on color.  It simply doesn’t matter to me – yellow gold, orange, amber, reddish, whatever.  I think of Oktoberfest as being primarily about malt – a bit on the rich and intense side, sure, but not caramelly or sweet.  And, the malt needs to be clean – no rough edges here, please, it’s a long-lagered style.  Don’t have the time/space to do it right?  Don’t do it then.  The big malt requires substantial hops in my mind as well.  There needs to be enough bitterness to balance all that malty goodness, at the very least.  I also like some spicy German-hop nose candy as well.  It matches well with all the malt.  A good Oktoberfest also needs to beg to be drunk in quantity, even if I can’t.  Ideally, I want to stare in disbelief bordering on annoyance at how quickly my glass was emptied.

Weihenstephaner Festbier – This by far and away my favorite example this year.  It’s a lighter color than most Oktoberfests, tending more to a full gold, rather than into the amber range.  It’s got a burst of spicy German hops, tons of clean malt flavor, nothing cloying, and enough bitterness to give it a good snap at the finish.  Glasses of this beer just disappear.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest – This is usually a solid example, and that’s about as high as it reaches this year.  I noticed no real difference between the draft and bottled versions this year.  This one is more of a malt bomb than the Weihenstephaner, and I would prefer more hops.  But, the malt that’s here is quite clean and stays away from the caramelly flavors that can get over-played in this style.

Capital Brewery Oktoberfest – I had high expectations for this one, given how much I generally like Capital’s lager offerings.  As a result, this was probably the most disappointing Oktoberfest I’ve tried this year.  It just sort of lays there.  Not a lot of maltiness, next to no hop.  It’s a little rough on the finish too.  Surprising, and in a “gosh, I think that mole has gotten bigger” way.

Schlafly Oktoberfest – I’ve found Schlafly’s Oktoberfest to vary quite a bit over the years.  For the last couple, the emphasis has been very much on a clean malt presence almost to the exclusion of everything else.  This year’s rendition continues that trend.  It’s very clean, with nothing other than the malt in evidence.  I don’t get hops at all, and there is not much complexity to the malt.   It’s leaps and bounds better than it used to be back in the Briess malt days, but now (like the Pale and Scotch Ales) it suffers from being so clean that it lacks character.

Left Hand Oktoberfest – Another disappointment, given the quality fo the Left Hand beers I’ve had so far.  This one goes for a full-throttle caramel character.  The color is a rich Amber-red, and there’s little mystery how the color got there after a whiff and a sip.  Way too much caramel/crystal malt character for me.  It’s really difficult to even drink a bottle of this at a time, let alone thinking about more than one.

This is obviously not a comprehensive survey of Oktoberfests available to me.  My favorite, year in and year out, has been Ayinger, but I simply have not seen it on the shelves yet this year, and missed out on the first (of two) kegs that Dylan got for 33, so I’ve not had it yet.  Ditto some of the other German faves, though these are more troubling, and need date-checking as many are year-round beers now, yet only make an appearance on shelves during the August to October season.

american beer wheat Hefeweizen

This week’s clip features my favorite U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team member, Alicia Sacramone. Yes, I’ve logged some time with the Games this week…Anyway, here she is knocking a douchebag out. 

Excellent. 

So, Friday night it’s gonna be Oktoberfests and Pumpkin Ales:

-Brooklyn Oktoberfest

-Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale

-Southern Tier Pumpking

Also, we’ll be trying the excellent Abita Pecan Harvest Ale. Weihenstephaner Fest Bier and Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest just arrived, so they might get cracked open as well.

Saturday I’ll have Devin from Dogfish Head in. We’re in between special releases, so I might bring some goodies from home to taste. At this point the table’s looking like:

-60, 90 and120 Minute IPA (120 batch bottled July 7th)

-India Brown Ale

-Festina Peche

-Midas Touch

-Black & Blue

And whatever else I can scrounge up. It’ll be a good time as always. See you this weekend at Rick’s!

Beermonger

p.s. I’ve caught Olympic fever. One thing is seriously bothering me, though: The commercials for ‘Knight Rider—The Series’. Really? As opposed to, ‘Kight Rider—The Musical’? Actually, I might get into that. Only if Drunk Hasselhof plays the lead again, though.

Seriously, this looks like it’s going to suck. Hard.

Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier was second up tonight.  It was quite a shift going from the Beach Bum to this but I was able to handle it. 

This beer has a great carbonation to it.  I opened it before we sat down for dinner and just set it on the table.  As I was drinking another beer, this one had a small little turtle-poker of a head popping out the top of the bottle, looking around, and inviting all of us to partake.

Luckily, the beer didn’t have to wait long and I was able to dive in, which was a good experience.  Overall, this was a solid brew.  You could definitely taste the yeast and to be quite honest, it might have been a little bit overpowering.  That aside, though, this was a good beer that I would drink again.  I don’t think I would buy it, though, so it stays in the middle of the road category.  A good beer for the summer heat, that is for sure.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Essa vai para os apreciadores de cerveja, e também para aqueles que gostam de um pouquinho de história.

 Uma boa dica de cerveja é a alemã weihenstephaner, cerveja mais antiga do mundo(em atividade), a cerveja já sobreviveu a guerras, foi fechada por Napoleão, e até mesmo adquirida pela família real da Baviera.

 Mais informações sobre a cerveja no site: http://www.mestre-cervejeiro.com/resenhas-de-cervejas/weihenstephaner-hefe-weissbier.html