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Bavarian Weiß or Weizen
Back in the 1970s, these beers were seen as old-fashioned and fit only for the elderly, but in a remarkable beery comeback they became fashionable with the young and then went on to conquer the world — one theory of their revival is that the presence of yeast in the cloudy beer attacted the wholefood crowd. Nowadays, Bavarian wheat beers (Weiß and Weizen are interchangeable terms) make up a sizeable amount of their region’s beer consumption and versions are produced in many other countries. Until the mid-1850s, Bavarian beer for the people would have stuck rigorously to the Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law), a statute dating from the 1500s regulating what went into beer. Malt, yeast, water and hops were the permitted ingredients. However, in the royal Bavarian household it was a different story as wheat joined barley in the mash tum to produce a pale, cloudy, top-fermenting beer with the sparkle and joie de vivre of the best champagnes. The right to brew wheat beer were given to common brewer Georg Schneider in 1850 and Schneider remain one of the foremost wheat beer producers in the world with Georg Schneider VI now at the helm. Bavarian Weiß is a mixture of pale and wheat malt, with the latter making up a sizeable percentage of the grist — this gives the beer a zesty, tart and refreshing flavour while subtle hopping gives a lemony, spritzy fruitiness. The colour of the beers ranges from pale gold to light amber. Bavarian Weiß famously feature banana, clove and vanilla flavour and aroma notes (this is the work of the top-fermenting yeast) and are served cloudy (hefe-weizen) or clear (kristall). There are also dark wheat beers (Dunkel) and stronger ones called Weizenbock.
Schneider, Bavaria
Weiß, 5.4%
Orange-gold colour. Bubblegum, vanilla, cloves, ripe bananas on the nose; sparkling but restrained carbonation on the tongue; slight hint of lactic sourness in the mid palate, a bready, graininess, reminiscent of pinot noir in champagne, quenching, before a vanilla, banana, herbal, medicinal finish with a hint of oiliness. Adorably drinkable. The benchmark of Bavarian Weiß; try it instead of champagne, though it doesn’t have the bubbles which might be an advantage.
Weihenstephaner, Bavaria
Hefe Weißbier, 5.4%
The nose is a tribute to the classic Weizen aroma of bubblegum, banana and cloves with hints of lemon in the background; it pours a lemony gold with a thick solid band of cotton-wool white foam; bananas, clove, bubblegum and a hint of spice produce a tingly sprightly palate; the finish offers more spice, bubblegum, biscuity maltiness and a palpable sense of refreshment. You can do no wrong by starting your wheat beer journey here.
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