Beer Review: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse

[Guest Ranger_Man]

This was recommended to me by a few of my readers after one of my unpleasant encounters with some bad hefe. I tried the Franziskaner on draught at The Gingerman for the first time shortly thereafter and I am finally getting around to reviewing it now. As with all hefe-weisse beers from Germany, this beer is actually labeled a malt liquor since it does not conform to the German beer purity law of 1512. This law decrees that all beer can only consist of barley, hops and water. Since then, all hefe beers were labeled as malt liquor. I am a big fan of hefe-weisses so I am looking forward to this review.

 

Bottle: As with a good portion of German beer, the bottle is green. Both the top label and the bottom label utilize the same picture of a right plump monk looking longingly into an empty beer stein. Underneath the picture are the words, “Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau, Munchen.”

 

Pour: The beer rolls out of the bottle and into the glass and takes on a cloudy orange luster that is thick enough to almost be completely opaque. The light color would lead you to believe that the beer is lucid, however, upon closer inspection you realize just how cloudy that this beer is. The head starts off rather large and wiggles its way down into an eighth of an inch of thickness. This head also manages to stick to any and everything that it touches. Even my allergy ridden nose can detect that this is one fragrant beer. Smells of lemon zest, coriander, and orange peel exhume themselves in an almost violent fashion from the beer. Lastly, there is a large abundance of carbonation that can slightly be seen through the glass.

 

Taste: This beer is exactly what I look for in a good hefe-weisse. The beer starts off with citrus zaps that change from orange to lemon and back to orange again. Shortly thereafter, the carbonation hits and cleanses your palate so you are ready for the next attack which consists of the hop barrage. The hop barrage consists of precisely aimed flowery bundles that explode on contact and overwhelm you with flavor. The hops are not very bitter at all and compliment the beer so well to that it is almost to the point of absurdity.

 

Overall: If you are going to try only one hefe-weisse, try this one. This beer has eclipsed Konig Ludwig Royal Bavarian Hefe-Weisse as my favorite hefe. It goes without saying that I would highly recommend this beer.

 

http://s90651370.onlinehome.us/franzhefe.jpg

[JaSSon]

what is a hefe-weisse? BTW, how's texas? It's balls-out cold here.

[Guest Ranger_Man]

Originally posted by The DropTop:

what is a hefe-weisse? BTW, how's texas? It's balls-out cold here.

For all intensive purposes it is a wheat beer. Texas rules, I just drove home with the windows part way down and the sunroof open.