Beer of the Weekend #145: König Ludwig Weissbier
Tonight the IC fuzz was on the prowl like they hadn’t eaten all day and needed to hunt at night. I just drove a friend home via Muscatine and First Ave, and on my way back three minutes later, taking the same route, a cop had pulled a guy over and already had him handcuffed. The cop was searching through his pockets and the trunk was open. All within three minutes! Maybe he drifted onto the white shoulder line. (There isn’t one on Muscatine, but I can joke.)
You know what I realized this week? ‘Tis the season for wheat beer and I have yet to begin my weizen samplings. This is an excellent week to start enjoying the refreshing yeasty goodness, too. It has been so hot and humid my dad said it reminds him of Vietnam.
The beer of the weekend is König Ludwig Weissbier, brewed by (according to the carrier) König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg of Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany.
It is imported by Warsteiner.
My plan this week was to sample Summit Hefe Weizen. It’s a Minnesota brew and, as you may remember, the hefeweizen that completely destroyed Mervgotti and I when we were young beer pups; it was the reason why I stayed away from hefeweizen for seven years. I have not had it since and planned to ceremoniously open the 2010 weizen season with it. However, after not finding SHW on the selves in Dirty John’s walk-in cooler, The Beer Guy informed me they didn’t have any. Shit. In only the second IC era BotW, Dirty’s let me down. Only slightly, though, since — seriously — the store has a whole shit ton of other beer to choose from.
After taking the sixer of KöLW from the shelf in the room temperature section, The Beer Guy (at least that’s who I think he was) said, “That’s really good stuff. Really dry.”
Much has been said about the beer and wine gurus at Dirty’s, so I am eager to find out whether or not this Beer Guy’s recommendation holds true.
Serving type: Six 11.2-ounce (330 ml) bottles. Grr. The freshness date on the back label is “03 MAR 2011.”
Appearance: Poured into my 300-whatever ml weizen glass. The color is a cloudy, lemonade yellow with a tint of darker orange. Two and a half fingers of white head developed and dissipated to leave a centimeter cap before settling to a simple ring around the edge. Not too much sediment at the bottom; only a little clings into the deep grooves at the bottom.
Smell: Bavarian goodness. Bready yeast, bananas, apple cider, clove spice, and some barnyard malts. Very true to style.
Taste: Follows the smell, but is much more enjoyable to the taste buds. The clove spice stands out immediately, but the fruits (banana and apple) come through to provide the classic hefeweizen taste. There’s also a little bit of strawberry mixed in as well. The Beer Guy at Dirty John’s was right, too: it is dry.
Drinkability: Oh so good on such a hot day. This is just what the doctor ordered. It’s tasty, too, which is true to style for me.
Fun facts about KöLW:
-Style: Hefeweizen. Duh. Preach, BA:
-Price: $9.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. I ripped the receipt from the little printer myself.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), salad, poultry, fish, and shellfish.
-Bottle nerdiness. This text is on the back label:
-More bottle nerdiness: “AUS DEUTSCHLAND” — which, according to Google Translator, translates to “From Germany” — is embossed on the bottle.
-The ingredients are listed on the carrier handle: water, wheat malt, barley malt, hop extract, yeast. I’m not so sure what the difference between real hops and hop extract is. I’ll get on the case and holler at you next week.
-I started this review a little late so I’m skipping the other fun facts.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
You know what I realized this week? ‘Tis the season for wheat beer and I have yet to begin my weizen samplings. This is an excellent week to start enjoying the refreshing yeasty goodness, too. It has been so hot and humid my dad said it reminds him of Vietnam.
The beer of the weekend is König Ludwig Weissbier, brewed by (according to the carrier) König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg of Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany.
It is imported by Warsteiner.
My plan this week was to sample Summit Hefe Weizen. It’s a Minnesota brew and, as you may remember, the hefeweizen that completely destroyed Mervgotti and I when we were young beer pups; it was the reason why I stayed away from hefeweizen for seven years. I have not had it since and planned to ceremoniously open the 2010 weizen season with it. However, after not finding SHW on the selves in Dirty John’s walk-in cooler, The Beer Guy informed me they didn’t have any. Shit. In only the second IC era BotW, Dirty’s let me down. Only slightly, though, since — seriously — the store has a whole shit ton of other beer to choose from.
After taking the sixer of KöLW from the shelf in the room temperature section, The Beer Guy (at least that’s who I think he was) said, “That’s really good stuff. Really dry.”
Much has been said about the beer and wine gurus at Dirty’s, so I am eager to find out whether or not this Beer Guy’s recommendation holds true.
Serving type: Six 11.2-ounce (330 ml) bottles. Grr. The freshness date on the back label is “03 MAR 2011.”
Appearance: Poured into my 300-whatever ml weizen glass. The color is a cloudy, lemonade yellow with a tint of darker orange. Two and a half fingers of white head developed and dissipated to leave a centimeter cap before settling to a simple ring around the edge. Not too much sediment at the bottom; only a little clings into the deep grooves at the bottom.
Smell: Bavarian goodness. Bready yeast, bananas, apple cider, clove spice, and some barnyard malts. Very true to style.
Taste: Follows the smell, but is much more enjoyable to the taste buds. The clove spice stands out immediately, but the fruits (banana and apple) come through to provide the classic hefeweizen taste. There’s also a little bit of strawberry mixed in as well. The Beer Guy at Dirty John’s was right, too: it is dry.
Drinkability: Oh so good on such a hot day. This is just what the doctor ordered. It’s tasty, too, which is true to style for me.
Fun facts about KöLW:
-Style: Hefeweizen. Duh. Preach, BA:
A south German style of wheat beer (weissbier) made with a typical ratio of 50:50, or even higher, wheat. A yeast that produces a unique phenolic flavors of banana and cloves with an often dry and tart edge, some spiciness, bubblegum or notes of apples. Little hop bitterness, and a moderate level of alcohol. The “Hefe” prefix means “with yeast”, hence the beers unfiltered and cloudy appearance. Poured into a traditional Weizen glass, the Hefeweizen can be one sexy looking beer.
Often served with a lemon wedge (popularized by Americans), to either cut the wheat or yeast edge, which many either find to be a flavorful snap ... or an insult and something that damages the beer's taste and head retention.
-Price: $9.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. I ripped the receipt from the little printer myself.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), salad, poultry, fish, and shellfish.
-Bottle nerdiness. This text is on the back label:
Why are the Bavarian Royal Family and King Ludwig so Important to brewing history?
The Bavarian Royal Family had sole rights to brewing of Hefe-Weizen in Bavaria for 200 years. No wonder they are leading experts on wheat beer.
-More bottle nerdiness: “AUS DEUTSCHLAND” — which, according to Google Translator, translates to “From Germany” — is embossed on the bottle.
-The ingredients are listed on the carrier handle: water, wheat malt, barley malt, hop extract, yeast. I’m not so sure what the difference between real hops and hop extract is. I’ll get on the case and holler at you next week.
-I started this review a little late so I’m skipping the other fun facts.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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