Beer of the Weekend #245: Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse
Rest in peace, Peter Falk.
The beer of the weekend is Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse, brewed by the Private Weissbier Brauerei Georg Schneider & Sohn of Kelheim, Germany.
As far as I know, the story behind Hopfen-Weisse is unique. Here are the details from the information provided by BA:
The version brewed at the Brooklyn Brewery — Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse — has a different label and is dry-hopped with American Amarillo and Palisade hops, which likely give it a massive, IPA grapefruit quality. I will have to track it down because, frankly, the idea of brewing a wheat beer with pale ale hops blows my mind. It is probably a weizen for hop heads.
For the second night in a row I am introducing a new weizen glass: my half-liter, soccer-themed Weihenstephan glass. They were on sale at Dirty John’s in April and I bought two — one for my sister as a birthday present and the other for myself. I have no clue if my sister has used hers, but I am putting mine to use for the first time tonight. It is not officially summer until I drink out of a half-liter weizen glass.
Serving type: Two 500 ml (16.9-ounce) bottles. There are cryptic batch codes printed on the back label, but nothing discernable as a freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into a half-liter weizen glass. When first poured, it was a hazy light copper. However, after loosening the yeast at the bottom, the beer clouded over and became peppered with hovering sedimentation flakes. Three fingers of thick, eggshell-colored head dissipated slowly to leave a foamy lacing.
Smell: It smells a lot more like pale ale than a weizen. It smells like a hybrid of sweet fruit — banana, apple, and strawberry — bubblegum, citrus, and metallic hops.
Taste: It has a definite hoppy edge, but for the most part it is a weizenbock. The sweetness and fruit elements — banana, apple, strawberry, and bubblegum — hit the tongue first. Following right behind is a herbal and metallic hop bite. All is presented on the high gravity tray that tints everything with a little booze. As it warms, the boozy element subsides and the flavors blend together nicely to create a tasty mélange.
Drinkability: Hoppy weissbier seems blasphemous to me, but I have to admit it is tasty stuff.
Fun facts about S-BHW:
-Style: BA classifies it as Weizenbock.
-Price: $4.49/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 8.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, chocolate, and grilled meat. How about marzipan?
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
The beer of the weekend is Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse, brewed by the Private Weissbier Brauerei Georg Schneider & Sohn of Kelheim, Germany.
As far as I know, the story behind Hopfen-Weisse is unique. Here are the details from the information provided by BA:
Schneider version. This brew is the result of the long friendship of Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Schneider brewmaster Hans-Peter Drexler. Garrett had always admired the delicate balance of flavors in Schneider Weisse, while Hans-Peter had long enjoyed the effusive hop character of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale and BLAST! Garrett's concept for the collaboration was that each brewmaster would brew essentially the same pale, hoppy weissbock in the other's brewery, but with different hopping to reflect the local hop flavor.
Dry-hopped w/ Hallertauer Saphir.
The version brewed at the Brooklyn Brewery — Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse — has a different label and is dry-hopped with American Amarillo and Palisade hops, which likely give it a massive, IPA grapefruit quality. I will have to track it down because, frankly, the idea of brewing a wheat beer with pale ale hops blows my mind. It is probably a weizen for hop heads.
For the second night in a row I am introducing a new weizen glass: my half-liter, soccer-themed Weihenstephan glass. They were on sale at Dirty John’s in April and I bought two — one for my sister as a birthday present and the other for myself. I have no clue if my sister has used hers, but I am putting mine to use for the first time tonight. It is not officially summer until I drink out of a half-liter weizen glass.
Serving type: Two 500 ml (16.9-ounce) bottles. There are cryptic batch codes printed on the back label, but nothing discernable as a freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into a half-liter weizen glass. When first poured, it was a hazy light copper. However, after loosening the yeast at the bottom, the beer clouded over and became peppered with hovering sedimentation flakes. Three fingers of thick, eggshell-colored head dissipated slowly to leave a foamy lacing.
Smell: It smells a lot more like pale ale than a weizen. It smells like a hybrid of sweet fruit — banana, apple, and strawberry — bubblegum, citrus, and metallic hops.
Taste: It has a definite hoppy edge, but for the most part it is a weizenbock. The sweetness and fruit elements — banana, apple, strawberry, and bubblegum — hit the tongue first. Following right behind is a herbal and metallic hop bite. All is presented on the high gravity tray that tints everything with a little booze. As it warms, the boozy element subsides and the flavors blend together nicely to create a tasty mélange.
Drinkability: Hoppy weissbier seems blasphemous to me, but I have to admit it is tasty stuff.
Fun facts about S-BHW:
-Style: BA classifies it as Weizenbock.
-Price: $4.49/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 8.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, chocolate, and grilled meat. How about marzipan?
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
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