Beer of the Weekend #87: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel
Michael Jordan said “shit” live on ESPN.
Tonight was the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony and The Leader had it covered from all angles. Personally, I’ve never seen it broadcast before, but that doesn’t mean they don’t cover it live annually. This time, though, it was kind of a big deal — big enough to deserve the primetime spotlight. David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, Vivian Stringer, and Michael Jordan were enshrined.
All of them played a huge part of my youth when I was an aspiring little baller on the southside of Iowa City. I only saw Jerry Sloan and MJ speak, but it was special to see them and all their former teammates. It took me back to family nights at Iowa women’s basketball games (Stringer was the coach at Iowa from ’83-’95) and the NBA on NBC (long live “Round Ball Rock,” baby!).
And, yes, Jordan said it probably “shocked the shit” out of David Thompson when he asked the Skywalker to be his sponsor (I’m not exactly sure what that honor means, but whatever). One skywalker introduces another.
The beer this weekend is Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel brewed by the Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu of Munich, Germany.
I thought I had a difficult beer decision to make next week, but I think I’ve worked through it. Summer isn’t technically over until the equinox on the 22nd, so I wanted to try one last hefeweizen. However, Oktoberfest starts on the 19th, so I was also thinking about commemorating the festival’s beginning with a märzen. (I know a long time ago I swore never to preplan my BotW choices, but I do it all the time anyway.) Hmm…decisions, decisions. Well, I tentatively decided to sample one last hefe — a good one, I promise — next week for the final Friday of the summer, and then a märzen in two weeks to celebrate not only Oktoberfest, but the beginning of autumn, my favorite season.
But enough about the future. On to tonight’s brew.
Serving type: Six 16.9-ounce (.5L) bottles. There is no freshness or born-on date.
Appearance: Poured a dark caramel brown into a half liter weizen glass. Three fingers of thick foam rose and dissipated slowly to leave a one finger cap.
Smell: The first whiff was intense. It was a blend of banana, yeast, wheat, cloves, peppers, cinnamon, toffee, and caramel. Complex to the max.
Taste: The first taste starts off spicy with pepper and cinnamon, but levels off to a smooth malt toffee with caramel. The wheat and yeast are barely noticeable in the taste.
Drinkability: It’s much spicier than I expected, but it’s still enticing, complex, and smooth. Oh, it’s drinkable.
Fun facts about Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel:
-Price: $2.19/bottle at the Beach BevMo!
-Serving temperature: 48º-54ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4 percent ABV. Low, which is good, because I don’t want to wake up at 9 am for the Iowa-Iowa State game hung over.
-Food pairings: BA recommends curried and German cuisine, nutty cheese (Asiago, Colby, and Parmesan), and salmon.
-Oddly, Franziskaner uses the contradictory labels weiss (white) and dunkel (dark) to name this brew. I really don’t know why.
-In German, Franziskaner is the name for a Franciscan monk.
-I have no clue how to properly pronounce Franziskaner (is it “Franz-i-skan-er”?) so I always call it “Frankinsteiner.”
-It’s gonna be an all German weekend. I’m drinking a German beer (oh, sweet nectar) and tomorrow I’m going to take a break from running and watching football to see a German movie with Zee German and his wife. “The Baader Meinhof Complex” is a true life story about the Red Army Faction, a West German militant group that operated in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They were responsible for the events of the German Autumn of 1977. It should be a good flick. It better be to interrupt FOOTBALL!
-As you can see, the top of the bottle and the cap are wrapped in gold tinfoil. It’s not working with me. I pealed away the edge of the foil from the cap after I popped it. The metal was rusted. Not cool.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
Tonight was the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony and The Leader had it covered from all angles. Personally, I’ve never seen it broadcast before, but that doesn’t mean they don’t cover it live annually. This time, though, it was kind of a big deal — big enough to deserve the primetime spotlight. David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, Vivian Stringer, and Michael Jordan were enshrined.
All of them played a huge part of my youth when I was an aspiring little baller on the southside of Iowa City. I only saw Jerry Sloan and MJ speak, but it was special to see them and all their former teammates. It took me back to family nights at Iowa women’s basketball games (Stringer was the coach at Iowa from ’83-’95) and the NBA on NBC (long live “Round Ball Rock,” baby!).
And, yes, Jordan said it probably “shocked the shit” out of David Thompson when he asked the Skywalker to be his sponsor (I’m not exactly sure what that honor means, but whatever). One skywalker introduces another.
The beer this weekend is Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel brewed by the Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu of Munich, Germany.
I thought I had a difficult beer decision to make next week, but I think I’ve worked through it. Summer isn’t technically over until the equinox on the 22nd, so I wanted to try one last hefeweizen. However, Oktoberfest starts on the 19th, so I was also thinking about commemorating the festival’s beginning with a märzen. (I know a long time ago I swore never to preplan my BotW choices, but I do it all the time anyway.) Hmm…decisions, decisions. Well, I tentatively decided to sample one last hefe — a good one, I promise — next week for the final Friday of the summer, and then a märzen in two weeks to celebrate not only Oktoberfest, but the beginning of autumn, my favorite season.
But enough about the future. On to tonight’s brew.
Serving type: Six 16.9-ounce (.5L) bottles. There is no freshness or born-on date.
Appearance: Poured a dark caramel brown into a half liter weizen glass. Three fingers of thick foam rose and dissipated slowly to leave a one finger cap.
Smell: The first whiff was intense. It was a blend of banana, yeast, wheat, cloves, peppers, cinnamon, toffee, and caramel. Complex to the max.
Taste: The first taste starts off spicy with pepper and cinnamon, but levels off to a smooth malt toffee with caramel. The wheat and yeast are barely noticeable in the taste.
Drinkability: It’s much spicier than I expected, but it’s still enticing, complex, and smooth. Oh, it’s drinkable.
Fun facts about Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel:
-Price: $2.19/bottle at the Beach BevMo!
-Serving temperature: 48º-54ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4 percent ABV. Low, which is good, because I don’t want to wake up at 9 am for the Iowa-Iowa State game hung over.
-Food pairings: BA recommends curried and German cuisine, nutty cheese (Asiago, Colby, and Parmesan), and salmon.
-Oddly, Franziskaner uses the contradictory labels weiss (white) and dunkel (dark) to name this brew. I really don’t know why.
-In German, Franziskaner is the name for a Franciscan monk.
-I have no clue how to properly pronounce Franziskaner (is it “Franz-i-skan-er”?) so I always call it “Frankinsteiner.”
-It’s gonna be an all German weekend. I’m drinking a German beer (oh, sweet nectar) and tomorrow I’m going to take a break from running and watching football to see a German movie with Zee German and his wife. “The Baader Meinhof Complex” is a true life story about the Red Army Faction, a West German militant group that operated in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They were responsible for the events of the German Autumn of 1977. It should be a good flick. It better be to interrupt FOOTBALL!
-As you can see, the top of the bottle and the cap are wrapped in gold tinfoil. It’s not working with me. I pealed away the edge of the foil from the cap after I popped it. The metal was rusted. Not cool.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
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