Edelweiss Weissbier

Regular readers are probably asking why I have not yet moved onto the promised new format. Well basically I have been pretty busy in real world stuff and the in-laws are still dominating the floorspace of my humble flat. I also am getting a little tired of the format and longing to mix it up, but being true to my original aim for the blog, I will document every different beer I had in 2008 even if it makes me look more and more like a ticker. I didn't set out to make this my personal version of rate beer and I am hardly re-inventing the wheel in terms of beers I have been getting down my neck.

Anyhow, my wife also picked up a bottle of Edelweiss Weissbier from a Spar supermarket. i was way to pissed when I drank it to tell you any more about it! I'm just being honest here.

I did steal this from their webpage though.

The history of Edelweiss and the tradition of Hofbräu Kaltenhausen
Kaltenhausen, a small, idyllic village at the foot of the Untersberg, located in the middle of the Alps, not far from Salzburg in Austria. It is here that in 1475, the "Kalte Bräuhaus" was founded by the Salzburg mayor and judge, Johann Elsenhaimer. Following Elsenhaimer’s death in 1498, the brewery became the property of the court chamber of the prince archbishop of Salzburg for the next three centuries, before being purchased by the Electress Marie Leopoldine.
In 1898, the Deutsche Bank bought the flourishing company, turning it into “Aktiengesellschaft Brauerei Kaltenhausen” in 1901. In 1921, Hofbräu Kaltenhausen became one of the founding firms in the former BRAU AG (today BRAU UNION ÖSTERREICH AG). In other words, the brewery can look back on over 500 years of brewing tradition!
Apart from the privilege of being the oldest brewery in Salzburg, Hofbräu Kaltenhausen is also the oldest brewer of weissbier in Austria. The history of brewing weiss- and weizenbier at the Hofbräu dates back 350 years and is therefore longer than that of the majority of Bavarian weissbier breweries.
This tradition was revived in 1986, with the launch of the „Edelweiss“ weissbier brand. Today, Edelweiss is market leader in the segment of weissbier in Austria, and has a very strong presence in countries like France, Russia, Hungary, Italy and the U.K.

Franziskaner Weissbier

I think Franziskaner Weissbier is the last of the big Bavarian wheat beers that I had yet to have in 2008. I had at some point or another managed to stumble over the rest! Anyhow, I located this particular offering in my hotel bar. Once again, while the rest of the out-laws got stuckin to hot chocolate, I held true and went for a beer. I am pretty sure this was a Christmas beer and it was still snowing outside. I think it tasted nice, but I was suitably lubed up by this point! http://www.franziskaner.com/

Schöfferhofer

I was at Düsseldorf airport and waiting for my flight back to London Heathrow. To calm my nerves and to dull my anticipation of my bag getting lost somewhere in Terminal 5, I sat down with my colleague Stef and enjoyed a nice glass of Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen (5.0% abv).

As far as wheat beers go this one is certainly an easy drinker, with a nice slightly tart flavour and fruity ester profile. I guess by this I mean you get the usual Banana, Clove combo but a hint of citrus as well. It went down nice and killed the hour or so I had to wait for my flight. I must have been drinking a little slower than usual as Stef finished his glass first, before rushing off for his shuttle back to Paris. Waiting in airports is not very exciting, much like this post. http://www.schoefferhofer.de/

Paulaner Weissbier

After alighting the train in Munich, we negotiated the drunks and freaks at the station and on the U-bahn and made it to Thalkirchen camping ground. After a few schoolboy errors, we had our tent erected and we were ready to hit the town. Before heading out though, we took a photo of our manor so we could find it when we came back three sheets to the wind! Upon arriving at the Oktoberfest grounds we scuppered into the first tent we found which happened to be a Paulaner Weissbier (5.5% abv) tent. This tent was quite small, and was already full. After traveling for 12 hours to get there, we didn't care and got stuck into the beer. The Paulaner Weiss is at the banana and lemon zest ester end of the wheat spectrum and was tart and refreshing. We felt a bit sorry for the old guy next to us though, as he looked like he was dead. the only bit of him that moved was his eyes! I think his beer evaporated as I didn't see his hand come to his mouth once and it was full when we got there, and empty when we left. Website

Gunn Wit

Just a quick one to say thats to Dr Gunn for providing me with a bottle of his craftbrewed wheat! The beer was either a wit or a hefeweissen (I'm not sure, it has elements of both styles), and was clean drinking with a nice tart finish. My only criticism was that it lacked the anticipated intense carbonation, but then that didn't diminish from the beer.

Well done, and thanks!

Erdinger Weissbier 3

Ok, another beer that I have had already this year. Erdinger tastes the same the world over! Its no diferrent in Germany either! Ok for what it is, but it is still the worlds most mass produced wheat beer. It was one of my first postings to this blog, read about it here.

Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier

Prater is an institution in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg. A beer garden built in an old ampitheatre that could mistake you for being in the heart of Bavaria. This place is literally huge and has a low key social almost family like vibe about it, and its reputation as the place to be on a Sunday afternoon led me down there to enjoy a nice sampling of Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier (5.4% abv). This beer pours to an orange/tan color with a cloudy body and a large head of foam. The foam settles into place rather quickly, but it maintains a thin, white layer throughout the drinking experience. The nose of this beer is yeasty, with a little bit of fruit and hop spiciness/dryness. To be honest I am not really into wheat beers that much as I generally can't distinguish a lot between different brands and even different wheat beer styles. So lets keep it simple and just say that it was no better or worse than any others I have tried and went down rather nicely in the warmth of the sun whilst eating a Pretzal!

Erdinger Weissbier 2

Yep my wife surprised me with not only Bergenbier, but also Erdinger Weiss from Germany. Again I won’t go into to much detail again, but merely document the consumption for my own benefit! In case you ask, they do have a snazzy website: http://www.erdinger.com/
You can read my previous ramblings here.

Rocio Trigo

Another beer from the Gaucho Grill (Brewed under licence by the Greenwich Meantime brewery), Rocio Trigo is a Bavarian style wheat beer. This is the second wheat beer I have had this year and so I cannot really draw any similarities between this beer and Erdinger Weiss, but they are both interpretations of the same style. Trigo is a milder beer which is bordering on tasteless without the signature banana or clove notes associated with the style. The beer does not even have a spritzy level of carbonation and really isn't to style. It is more in line with the American wheatbeers that are popping up on the 'craft beer' scene. Anyway the point is: if you are going to Gaucho for a steak, get the Rocio Gold!

Here is an excerpt from the drinks menu at Gaucho and how they describe the beer.

ROCIO TRIGO
From the Spanish word for wheat, this
Bavarian style wheat beer made from a
unique strain of yeast to give a cloudy
orange – colour, zesty flavours of banana
and bubblegum spice with a refreshing,
malty finish.

Erdinger Weissbier

A late start!
Ok, welcome to my beer diary! In this diary I will document all the beers that I have consumed in 2008, and possibly beyond. Just to inform readers what to expect, I am by no means a ticker! So if you want an in depth beer geek analysis of the beer, go and visit ratebeer.com. I’ll offer my opinions and thoughts and let you guys make up your own mind. If you disagree with one of my opinions, please state your own by leaving a comment.

After an easy New Years Eve it has taken me a whole five days to sample my first beer of the year. My first beer was Erdinger Weissbrau – Weissbier (5.2% abv) from the Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu Werner Brombach GmbH in Erding, Germany. Erdinger’s claim to fame is being the world’s largest wheat beer brewery and was founded in 1886 by Johann Kienle.
The beer itself is a golden cloudy beer with low bitterness and high carbonation. The palate is very dry resulting in a beer that would kick ass on a hot summers afternoon and could quench even the strongest of thirsts. On the downside the beer does have a “mass produced” taste to it and in terms of brewing scale is the mega swill of the Wheat beer world!
So all in all not a bad start to the year but not necessarily a great one either!
Happy New Year…