Beer # 27 Hacker-Pschorr Heffe Weisse

For Mike F. Cheers buddy!

Since 1417 the Hacker-Pschorr Brewery www.hacker-pschorr.de of Germany has been producing a beer similar to the one we are tasting tonight. Originally opened as the Hacker Brewery, 99 years before the German Purity Law was enacted (The  Reinheitsgebot 1516), it was maintained in the Hacker family until the 18th century when Joeseph Pschorr bought the brewery from his father-in-law. The enterprising young man also opened his own brewery the Pschorr Brewery and maintained both businesses. Upon his death his two sons each inherited one of the breweries and  and the two businesses flourished until 1972 when the two companies finally merged, and all beers were finally brought under the Hacker-Pschorr name by 1975.


Hacker-Pschorr does a number of fine beers but the one we are focusing on tonight is the Heffe Weisse. Loosely translated heffe weisse means "yeast white" or "yeast wheat." It mainly refers to the process of brewing the beer, heffe weisse or hefeweizen,  hefeweissbier, weissbier, hefeweisse as it is alternatively spelled, is a bottle conditioned beer. That means once the beer is brewed it is bottled with a small amount of yeast added to it to continue fermentation in the bottle. The end result is a cloudy beer (the white) with a small amount of sediment on the bottom of the bottle (the yeast). As well the extra fermentation will provide a higher carbonation to the beer often giving it an effervescent or "fizzy" feel. Most notably  the heffe weissen remains unfiltered as opposed to the kristalweisse which is filtered prior to bottling.

Tonight's offering is a 5.5% ABV in a 500ml brown bottle. Light creamy gold and hazy due to it being in it's unfiltered form; white head with small bubbles. Fruity clove and cinnamon and a faint hop aroma. First sip gives us the traditional and distinctive banana and clove. Aeration gives us a light, fizzy sensation some bubblegum.


Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass ($2.65)
Colour: Pass
Beer Style: Exceptional
Re-order: Exceptional
Experience: Exceptional

Final thoughts overall one of the most delightful German beers available in Canada. Indeed it was actually hard to quantify what I was tasting I just sat and enjoyed it! More of a summer, patio sipper or a beer best enjoyed after a hard day's work in the sun, mainly because of it's refreshing quality. Excellent representation of the style and a textbook heffe weisse; well after all, if you have been brewing a beer for 30 generations I would imagine you have had the kinks worked out!

Cheers
CJT