Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen
Brewery: LoneRider Brewing Company
Where: Raleigh, NC
Style: Hefeweizen
IBU:
ABV: 5.8%
Today's sampling is another North Carolina beer from LoneRider Brewing Company out in Raleigh. Shotgun Betty is LoneRider's Hefeweizen, and since today is such a pretty day outside, I started thinking about spring and summer coming just around the corner and decided to pour a beer that goes along with that theme.
Shotgun Betty poured with the naturally rich golden hue and a nice foamy head. The head didn't hang around very long, but this beer had the nice banana/clove aroma from the Hefeweizen yeast strains used to make this style of beer. The flavor has a distinct crispness and wheat taste which makes this beer a pretty decent sample of the style. I can't say that Shotgun Betty is the best of the Hefeweizens I have tried, but its definitely a real player in that style and worth a try. It could just be a fluke with my bottle, but the carbonation level on this one was a little inadequate. I'm sure that's not the norm for this beer since bottle-conditioned beers can vary a little in carbonation levels.
North Carolina is, by far, not known nationally for it's great beers, but we have come a long way in the last few years!
Penn Weizen
Brewery: Pennsylvania Brewing Company
Where: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Beer: Penn Weizen
Style: Hefeweizen
IBU:
ABV: 4.0%
I can't give this beer a really fair shake in a review today. It poured with a nice golden wheat color and the traditional wheat cloudiness of a good hefeweizen, but as you can see, the head is practically non-existant. I had to work to get that little layer of foam on the top of this beer, and it died within 30 seconds of the time this photo was made. The beer was flat. I'm not sure why. Its not old beer. It was, however, a gift, and it made the trek here from Pennsylvania in a car, so I'm not sure what might have happened to it on its journey. The beer had the traditional banana/clove aroma of a hefeweizen and the taste was about average on the scale of this style, but the beer being flat simply ruined it for me. Hefeweizens are traditionally carbonated at a little higher level than most other beers, and when that element isn't present at all, the beer just has a strange feel to it in your mouth. I have another bottle of this, so I will try it out and update this post if the second attempt is any better than the first...
Homebrew – Yellowjacket Hefeweizen
Brewery: Homebrew - Brews and Blues Beer Co.
Where: Hickory, North Carolina
Beer: Yellowjacket Hefeweizen
Style: Hefeweizen
IBU: 12 IBU
ABV: 6.5%
After brewing my Orange Blossom Special wheat beer back in January or February of last year, I knew I wanted to try an all-grain version to improve the color and flavor to something closer to a real Barvarian Hefeweizen, so I set out to do that back in October. Today's sampling is the resulting Yellowjacket Hefeweizen. This beer pours with a rich golden and cloudy color with a foamy head. This pour is immediately followed by the traditional banana/clove aroma created by the hefeweizen yeast. I also used a little orange peel in this recipe to add some citrus bitterness to balance the sweetness of the malted wheat and two-row pilsner malt used to create this beer. A very light bill of hallertauer hops also help balance the malty sweetness without playing a specific role in the flavor or aroma of this beer.
This is the second time I have brewed a hefeweizen, and I believe that this recipe will become a regular after I make one more minor adjustment. In this recipe, I soaked some sweet orange peel in a little vodka and added the resulting extract to the beer before I bottled it. The citrus flavor in this beer is just a tad more obvious than I would prefer, so I'm going to add the orange peel directly to the boil for the last 5 minutes or so the next time I brew this beer....
Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Where: Chico, CA
Beer: Kellerweis
Style: Hefeweizen
IBU: 15
ABV: 4.8%
Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis Hefeweizen poured with a nice golden blonde color and a thick foamy head. The aroma of wheat and the fruity esters of the hefeweizen yeast are immediately apparent. This beer has a fantastic flavor and crispness with a higher than average level of carbonation. It finished with a really nice citrus flavor on the tongue that lingers making me want more.
I have been a fan of Sierra Nevada stuff for a while. This beer will definitely make my go-to list as a session beer during the warmer months of summer when a refreshing, crisp, all-day-long beer is a requirement.
I'm going to a home brew session tomorrow afternoon, and I'll take the rest of these along with some of my homebrewed hefeweizen for comparison.
*** Note ***
2009 has been a good year for me. Not only am I getting started in a new career, I have also had a good time reintroducing myself to the hobby of homebrewing after a very long absence from it. This Hefeweizen marks my 120th new beer tried since I started this blog, and I currently have 20 or 21 more beers sitting around here in the queue for this blog. January might turn out to be a busy month of tasting.
Another note I should have been passing along all the time, and I think I will make this my closing note on each blog entry...
Drink Responsibly.
Happy New Year to all!
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
I started working on another assorted six-pack from The World Market this evening, and I decided to start out with a wheat beer. This is Paulaner's Hefe-Weizen Natural Wheat from the Paulaner Brewery in München, Germany. Wheat beers are normally excellent summertime drinks with their lighter flavor. This beer has a nice fruity flavor and practically no hop bite at all. Its unfiltered nature also gives it a slightly cloudy characteristic (like my previous article on Bell's Amber Ale) with a minor yeast sediment left behind in the bottle this time rather than letting it sneak into the glass.
I'm planning to brew a wheat beer with a possible cherry or strawberry flavor in late April or early May for my summertime enjoyment. Things are looking good for my home brewery. I'm still planning to purchase my necessary equipment and hopefully my first batch of ingredients this week sometime.
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