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Well, it’s the 5th Wednesday of March, which means it’s the last Wednesday of Deutsch Bier Wednesday. March has been a fun month to try some great German biers, and many of you might be curious what April holds. 2011 has been filled so far with a different regional focus each month, but, unfortunately, I’m having some trouble getting quality, interesting, diverse craft beers in my area that would allow me to focus on a specific region. Granted, I could easily do a California, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado focus and we’d be into August once we’ve finished, but I’ve got a better idea. I was speaking with G about a podcast idea (new podcast by the way is in editing), which I wanted to call IPA showdown and have three IPAs going head to head against each other. Well, long story short and much beer consumed, I’ve decided to make Wednesdays in April IPA Head to Head (with 2 beers not 3), and we’ll continue throughout the year with a different head to head focus for each month. With all that being said, let me know what you think, and let’s get into our last Deutsch Bier for March - Schneider-Weisse Original.
Schneider-Weisse’s website has this to say about their Original:
With its amber-mahogany coloring and streaked with fine top-fermenting yeast, this beer has a fine, persistent head that adheres well to the glass. It is pleasantly spicy with a typical top-fermented smell. An arome of clove and nutmeg apple tantalizes the nose. On the tongue it is fresh, clean, full-bodied, harmonious and well-balanced. It finishes lightly sparkling with a light and fine bitterness.
The Original pours a beautiful creamy thick off-white head, which fits right into the hefeweizen style. The color is a dark amber with strong carbonation and red hues. The bier initially didn’t pour cloudy, and it didn’t have the unfiltered characteristics that I expected. So, I turned to the bottle. I got some light to shine at the bottom as I looked inside, and I could see that much of the yeast had adhered to the bottom - I wasn’t too thrilled about that. After swishing the bottom around and bringing the bottle to room temperature I was able to pour much of the unfiltered goodies into the glass, which I wasn’t too happy about having to do. Head - 10, Look - 11. The smell is sweet with a light hoppiness to it. The yeast comes through with subtle breadiness, and there are fruit hints of banana as well as spice characteristics of cloves. Smell - 22.
The initial taste and feel on the palate was light and refreshing with some bread like notes - it wasn’t as complex as I expected based on the description. The aftertaste had a slight bitterness, but was very smooth and the spices really came through - cloves and nutmeg. Palate - 7.5, Aftertaste - 7.5. The overall flavor was of strong carbonation and light refreshing flavors. The spice and fruit notes become more and more pronounced with continued drinking, but this hefeweizen is still a great hot weather beer. The taste doesn’t resemble any of the earlier hefeweizens we’ve reviewed nor does it remind me of any of the American counterparts. This is a unique bier that has its own personality. I find that some of its flaws are its uniqueness, which provides a special flavor. Flavor - 26.
Scheider-Weisse is a unique, but refreshing hefeweizen that I recommend picking up for a change of taste. With an Overall Flavor of 41/50 the Beer Fusion gives Schneider-Weisse’s Original...
Rating: 84/100
