Franziskaner Weissbier

Naturtrub

Premium Hefe-Weissbier

Spaten-Brau

Munich, Germany

$9.99 a six pack in Almont, Michigan

Appearance: cloudy golden ale with a big white head that leaves little lacing on the glass.  Make sure to get that sediment off the bottom of the bottle.  Be careful pouring this ale for it will pour a big head.  

Aroma: interesting … it smells like a German Hefer!  Some yeast, wheat, and fresh citrus skin. 

Flavors: I like the straight forward wheat taste.  No big or bad ass banana, clove and other stuff here … just a classic Hefe-Weissen taste.  Sweet grains, wheat, with a little citrus flesh to give it some interest.  When the ale warms up there seems to be a hint of clove or spice appears but, not much to get excited about.  Actually, I don’t know if that is a clove note – I think it is just a twang from the wheat and citrus notes. 

Mouthfeel: low-moderate carbonation, a little creamy feel, sweet grains on the delivery and a light bitter bite on the back of the palate. 

To the Point: Over the last couple of days I reviewed Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, Erdinger Hefe-Weizen, and this ale – Franziskaner.  This is still my favorite.  I’ll have to do a side by side with Hacker-Pschorr’s Hefe.  About five or six years ago I would always buy a case of Haker and Franz in the pint bottles during the summer months. 

With all the craft breweries here in America trying to make the boldest or craziest batch ever … we forget about the classics, the beers that have been made for the longest time … we forget what the style is really supposed to be.  (Really true with American IPAs)  I have to admit, that over the last few years, I have enjoyed my crafted brewed Hefers that have big time banana taste that over stuffed coriander note and mountains of clove flavor in them. 

So what I am saying is that it is nice to get back to the classic style of Hefe-Weizen.

Just waiting in the cooler for its turn