Destihl "Weissenheimer" Hefeweizen Ale

Only four previous beers from these guys, and I'm not sure I have a good idea about what they do. So far, all of the beers seem to be vaguely Grateful Dead themed. This one is not, as far as I know. I like the use of the Weissenheimer moniker to point out that they enjoy a little bit of fun even with a serious kind of beer like hefeweizen. Mind you, I'm of the opinion that most of German styles of beer are particularly serious and strict. Maybe that's just me thinking about the people rather than the beers that they produce.

The beer is pale yellow, and it is quite hazy. This starts with a reasonable head, but it eventually evaporates to a few small islands in the middle of the beer and a ghost of a ring around the sides. Points of nucleation at the bottom continue to supply the top with bubbles for more islands like a slow under water bubble volcano. The aroma is citrus, banana, and cloves. It has taken me a while to get in the headspace of understanding the joys of a hefeweizen, but here I sit looking forward to this beverage.

First sip is banana and clove forward with very little bitterness, a bread malt, and citrus vaguely behind everything else. The sip is good. It makes me want to drink a whole lot more of this beer. Instead, I have to try and figure out how to dissect it better as I'm writing this down. I'm not sure I can beyond what I've already done, and the next step is to swing, and I'm looking forward to that.

Tip-in is banana and clove spices with carbonation ticking up to moderate. Carbonation moves to the roof of the mouth as banana and cloves are joined by the bread malt and citrus that seems to be keeping most of the bitterness at bay. The finish clings on hard and hangs around in the mouth for quite some time after the entire beverage is gone, but the spices and bananas are welcome to stay.

Bottom Line: A definite keeper.

4.0/5