Angel City Vitzen

Brewed by Angel City Brewing Company
Style: German Hefeweizen
Los Angeles, California USA

Serve in Weizen

Bottle: Pours a muddy brown/orange color with no head. The nose is tart and sour with some rotten fruit/banana and various malty smells. The flavor is also very tart and sour, nearly a lambic. If I think of it another way, it’s not nearly as nasty, but it says right on the bottle "German Hefeweizen". Sorry, no dice for me.

22 oz bomber. Pours a murky peach color with foamy white head. Over the top citrus lemon followed by a slightly sour note. Drinkable but why?

Bottle problems perhaps, or maybe just old, but hefeweizen should not taste sour. It looks like a flat pear nectar. This also had a tart lemony note ...but really just awful.

UPDATED: MAY 11, 2006 Bottle: Dirty yellow, very thick and cloudy, moderate spritzy off-white head, settles quickly, no lacing.   Pale wheat nose, seems sour, very little clover or banana... if any.   Seems to be more of an American Hefe than a German one, by far.   Tiz also an odd meat like aroma.   Reminds me a bit of a rare steak.   Sour start, touch of appleskin, not seeing any banana or clove at all.   Remains with a wheaty mouthfeel, slight American Wheat aspects, but its almost as much of a pale Gueuze as it is a Hefe.   As a German Hefe I feel its pretty far off base, but as a dull wheaty Gueuze its not bad.   Thanks Jordan!

Has a faded aroma of yeast and hidden signs of banana. The appearance of this hef is a glowing yellow with lot of haze but had a small topping of foam. The flavor has become sour and sort of flat with only a small reminder of the luscious flavors i imagine this brew orginally had. If this was a fresh beer i know it would of been just lovely but i doubt ill be buying any more old expired bottles from Angel City.

22 oz. bottle from BevMo LaJolla. Pours cloudy golden orange with a small white head that diminishes quickly. Aroma of wheat, tropical fruits, yeast and easy baking spices. Flavor is sweet and wheaty upfront giving way quickly to a sharp lemon tanginess and bitter citric finish. Unbalanced for my taste and seems to have a bit of the ’sour fruit’ character that I’ve noted in 3 of 4 other Angel City bottles I tried recently. Medium body and slow blooming carbonation.

22 oz bottle. Very good German style hefe. The banana and clove is very much there in the aroma. As others have said, the head disappears fairly quickly. Nice wheat flavor, with a bit of a spicy kick. Overall, I felt it was a top notch hefe.

(22 oz bottle: $2.99 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Good news and bad news with this beer. As a German-style Hefeweizen, the initial flavor of wheat, lemony citrus, and bubblegum is very pleasant. Tasty spice soon kicks in for a quick burst of dominance, but unfortunately, it fades off the palate quickly, leaving the thinned wheat flavor to once again come to the forefront in a watery finish. Essentially, all that’s left in the finish is a light, American-style wheat flavor; mild sweetness and stale wheat flavor sits on the palate with much persistance. All this does, though, is make me drink the beer quickly, constantly taking sips to partake in that really nice initial flavor, and once it fades, quick, take another sip! Mild to moderate carbonation is soft on the palate, but the initial medium body thins quickly. The aromatic nose is very similar, showing a nice balance of wheat malt, spice, and gentle citrus tartness, but also a bit of stinky feet. Although the finish is disappointing, so is the appearance. Cloudy, golden color is nice, but the fizzy, off-white head dissipates rapidly, leaving not even a thin ring of bubbles, and certainly no lacing on the glass. A thick layer of yeast coats the bottom of the bottle. Overall impression: this is a wheat beer that starts off like a German-style hefeweizen, but finishes like an American Wheat. Keep the beer alive in the finish and this would be a seriously good beer because the overall cornucopia of flavors is very nice.