Dark chestnut pour. A few red highlights, but overall the beer is darker than most I’ve had in the style. Modest head, small ring of foam and no lace. Rich, light alcohol nose, very malty. Reflected in the initial tastes as one might expect. Plenty of malts flow over the tongue and offer a very rich experience, despite the mouthfeel being a little thin (possible contradiction here). This is largely as expected and stylistically correct. At times it tends toward a brown ale, but stays rich...
Notes on beers in the style
Weizenbock
Shegöat
Lagunitas Bavarian-Styled
Doppel Weizen
$3.99 for the 22 oz bottle which itself suggests that this might be a good value beer. Typical numbers for the Lagunitas series of bombers. Murky, honey colored pour with a semi-decent head. The nose and the tastes give up some of the banana notes that one might expect, but you have to concentrate a little to detect them. They are not as strong as many others beers in the style. The murky appearance of the beer is replicated in the mouthfeel which is syrupy and viscous. Not really a huge...
Abita Select Weizenbock
Lovely, another Abita Select and to be honest after some initial scepticism on my part I've been increasingly pleased with some of their efforts. It seems as though most Taco Mac's in the Atlanta area have installed a permanent Abita Select tap; even the Douglasville one where this was consumed. Pour is the requisite, caramel colored, hazed affair with some pretty good head, lace and retention. Nose is important for this style and the beer does not disappoint. Good pineapple, bubble-gum, candy...
Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #7
12 oz stubbie as per usual from SA in the DR series. Pour is a dark, dark brown essentially black with a fizzy, coffee colored head. Retention and lace not great. Nice dark estery malts and fruit in the nose. Tastes reflect some of those traits but some oxidation plus somewhat surprising mild licorice notes that one might find in a Belgian style stout. Sweetness and alcohol both present but really quite reserved. The stout notes are really quite prominent and they build. Smooth and silky in...
Ayinger Weizenbock
Additional notes 2/8/23 (pictured) Gratified that the beer goes into the same glass that it did 11 years ago. In fact there's something poetic about that, because all of the notes that I made back then (below) are essentially reflected in this 2023 bottle and pour. Still rich, still great alcohol presence and typical flavor notes. Nothing but pleasure. Original notes 11/07/2009 Unexpected (but welcome), recent arrival at Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. 500 mL bottle. Poured into the Tucher Weizen...
Moonglow Weizenbock
This has been a long time coming for me. Although we've had Victory in GA for quite some time, we still got get many of their seasonals and specials, and Moonglow is one that we continue to miss out on. This came from the Charleston Beer Exchange as a 12oz single - delighted to finally get to try it. One of my favorite styles from a proven brewer, this should be a nice beer. Lovely, slightly clouded amber body with some better than expected carbonation. The head is well formed and leaves some...
Weihenstephaner Vitus
Additional notes 02/02/23 (pictured) Still an amazingly drinkable beer with rich, deep flavors that coupled with the alcohol offer once of those deeply satisfying experiences. Vitus has been a favorite now for the best part of 20 years for me, and I never tire of it. Original notes 11/21/08 Thanks go out to stopbarking for the chance to crack this one. 500 mL bottle. Surprised at the pour into the Tucher Weizen glass reveals such a light colored beer. A real butterscotch colored affair with a...
Slam Dunkel
22oz bottle, $3.99 from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. Weyerbacher is new to GA in the last week or so and although I have had most of their offerings before, this and the XIII are new to me. Poured into the Tucher 500mL Weizen glass this looks superb (or at least as superb as the ugly color can get!). The Tucher glass always shows off Weizens of any description so well. Head and lace are reserved, but look high quality and dense. There is a really creamy, mocha look to the head. Body has...
Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse
$11.99 from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. GREAT looking 750mL corked & caged bottle, a super looking presentation. It pours a light, honey colored body and a big head in the Tucher 500 mL glass. A lot lighter than the other version. After an initial big frothy head it fades to give a much less dense, wispy type of head. Some very fine lace. Smell has pretty much a sweet, light alcohol and not a great deal else. Tastes are a simple, sweet grapefruit juice. Not much else in terms of...
LongShot Weizenbock
12oz single from the Grape and Weizenbock mixed pack in 2008. Turbid brown, somewhat unattractive, but fairly standard look for the style. Nice, high head with good density. Some lace. Chocolate milk colored body. Decent carbonation. Usually the nose and the taste match fairly well on Weizenbock's (one of my favorite styles), but this one has banana, (slight) clove and sweetness in the taste but more emphasis on the alcohol in the nose. Sweetness is a little too much EVEN for my tastes, and I...
Harpoon Weizenbock (100 Barrel Series #21)
Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. $4.99, 22oz bomber, gold foiled top presentation as usual for the series. A mixed bag for the appearance; great, deep garnet color with good clarity, but the almost complete lack of carbonation, head and lace is disappointing. Plenty of banana notes in the nose and tastes, with some residual sweetness in the finish. A slight grape like, wine character too. Finishes with some fruit and bitterness. One of my favorite styles, this came up a little short for me....
Eisenbahn Vigorosa (Weizenbock)
Unusual to find this as a single, 12oz bottle in Marietta, GA, USA. Batch #05. Pour is good looking with a nice, dense bone-white head with some nice lace. Body has a typical Weizenbock color - deep, bright brown with cloudiness from the lack of filtration. Nose has alcohol and bananas. Smooth, fruity, soft and delicate mouthfeel. Very slight alcohol bite in the finish which is consumate with the style. A tiny bit of bubblegum in the taste, with a touch of clove. Banana and other pulpy fruits...
Heavy Seas – Hang Ten (Weizen Doppelbock)
Bought as a single from Jax, Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA, USA. March 2008 notched on the label. One of my favorite styles. Nice, rich looking brown pour with a creamy mouthfeel and plenty of body. Lots of bold malt upfront and all the way through to the finish. Slightly dry at the end. Alcohol is hidden very well; highly drinkable. Massive bubble-gum influence and some weaker banana flavors too, but the bubble-gum is the strongest flavor. Goes down a treat and with the alcohol so well hidden...
Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse
Picked up a bottle of this at Green's on Buford on a Friday morning beer run and then went to the Brick Store the same afternoon to find (to my great surprise) that they still had it on tap there too. Combined review of the two experiences. On tap this looked great! Had a golden orange body and was served in the specific glass for the beer which is a thing of beauty itself. In the bottle at home I poured it into a Tucher Weizen 500 mL glass and it was brown! Seriously brown like dirty water or...
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Weizen
500 mL bottle, Tower, Piedmont, Atlanta, GA, USA. Nice looking with a decent darkish amber body and some attractive head. Very light lacing, decent carbonation. In typical Heller-Trum style, the aroma is a basically a side of smoked ham in a glass! A great beer to enjoy with your grilled or BBQ'd meats. Unlike some of the other beers in the style, I found that the smoke here did not really overpower the beer. In other examples I found the smoke to dominate to such an extent that other...
Ramstein Winter Wheat
One of my favorite styles. Thanks to Matt (AKA SilentSabre), and ultimately BeerBeing. Poured into the Tucher Weizen glass, it's pretty much all black with a few brown highlights at the edges. Nice half-inch tan colored head forms on the pour, but this VERY quickly fades to absolutely NOTHING - I mean nothing, not even a spotty film - very disappointing. As a result of the wimpy pour, absoultely no lacing either. After that it sits there, looking like a coke. Nose is pretty alcoholic with some...
Avery Anniversary Ale – Thirteen
=== Updated Review 01/08 === 18 month old bottle. $5.99 Cheers, Carrollton, GA, USA. Although the carbonation is still there with an aggressive pour, after the initial life it is pretty much dead. Quite smooth and sweet with a touch of oxidation, this drinks "wine-like" and has a little note of sherry and maderia. Alcohol seems to have toned down a lot. Alcohol is still in the nose, but the taste of it has mellowed. Finish is only lightly alcoholic as opposed to harshly. To be honest, this is...
Erdinger Weissbier Pikantus
Thanks to BigLove as part of BCG BIF. 500 mL bottle. Massive rocky headed pour, and the head is very airy and falls away quickly. Leaves little or no lacing and a tiny residue on the surface of the beer. Typical deep mahogany color with the expected cloudiness. Sweet malts dominate in the full mouthfeel. The finish is surprisingly alcoholic. Very nice example of the style, definitely worth a try.
Wild Dog Weizenbock
750 mL in a corked and caged bottle. In general it's $11.99 in the Atlanta area. Lovely looking, red bronzed pour in the Tucher Weizen 0.5 L glass with a equally good looking head and some substantial lacing. Cloves, banana and caramel in the nose. Mouthfeel is great, with a creaminess and some real sense of a substantial alcoholic body. In terms of taste there is delicious alcohloic, ripe banana base, all against a massive malt backbone. Super, substantial and satisfying. Drinks much like a...
Schneider Aventinus
Abiding memories of this drinking experience are the massive carbonation (bad) and the complex, rich flavors (good). Pours with a massive (and I mean massive) head with extreme carbonation flowing up from the bottom of the glass. The carbonation is so extreme that it actually becomes somewhat annoying and almost gets to the point where I am beginning to wonder if the beer is infected! Once the carbonation had settled down I was treated to the classic deep banana and spice aromas and taste. The...