New Glarus Unplugged Imperial Weizen

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: German Hefeweizen
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Weizen

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pours hazy blonde with a lasting thick white head and lots of lacing. aroma is a unique blend of hops, peel and banana with an intriguing warmth and spiciness. the body is the heaviest i’ve seen in a hefeweizen. taste is quite hoppy but the alpha acids yield after a moment to reveal the complex citrus and clove notes also present. finish is bitter sweet. this is a lovely beer.

Pours unclear lemon orange in color with a decent off white head. The aroma brings bready yeast and sweet notes, with a bit of lemon in there. The flavor of sweet yeast and bready wheat style notes on a thicker but palatable body make this beer quite delicious for the style.

hazy gold with a dense white head. clingy full body with high carbonation.

aroma: bright tart wheat, bitter orange, citrusy hops, green banana, apple, alcohol, and some spicy yeast notes. somewhere between Vitus, Orval, and an imperial wit.

taste: tart wheat and bitter orange dominate; backed by notes of banana, apple, citrusy hop bitterness, pale malt sweetness, nutmeg, and alcohol warmth. there are occasional, subtle hints of plastic, common in hefe-weizen, but none of the smokey or rubbery phenols.

very complex and intriguing; combining the best qualities of Orval with the best qualities of weizenbock, with a little panache of its own.

Bottled. Thanks to adnielsen for the bottle. Strong clove and citrus aroma. Clove, citrus, yeast, alcohol flavors. This beer is exactly like it sounds, an IMPERIAL weizen. Personally, I like the less in your face flavor of a normal german hefeweizen compare to this imperial weizen. This beer is kind of barley winish. Interesting as an experimental beer.

In bottle at home. Pours a slightly hazy golden colour with a thick beige head that dies down to a fair cap after a few minutes. The aroma is a little shocking at first. Sour notes balanced with a whack of banana and cloves. Then juicy Cascade hops kick in before a white pepper finish. Flavour-wise, there is an immediate bitter orange flavour before bananas and a sour linger. Moderate carbonation and a foamy mouth-feel. Really interesting.

Originally reviewed: 3/16/12. 12oz bottle, poured into a tall weizen glass. From scanning the reviews, this one looks like it’s at least 8 months old. Pours a cloudy amber-tinted dark gold. A huge frothy white head tops ’er off. The first aroma that hits me is a big smack of floral hops. Wow. That was unexpected. [After reading the label on the bottle, I now see this was a dry-hopped weizen - very cool]. The more I pull at this one, the expected aromas creep through - clove, banana bread, cinnamon. The body is on the scant side, as it goes down quite slick. The massive head scored some of the carbonation away, no doubt. Alcohol, though higher, is barely detected in the flavor. Subtle hints of ethanol on the back end. Mild citrus flavors meld well with the faint hoppiness, and lightly-tart sourdough bread quality. A decent brew that I would like to have again, but it’d need to be in a much fresher form for sure.

Bottle pours like a gold color reminds me of grapefruit juice color. Smell banana breat citrus. Not bad taste thicker small carb on tongue. Tastes about same as it smells with the cinnamon flavor coming thru and other spices. Not a bad beer maybe really good for style I just don’t know it well? Reminds me of a home brew taste nothing over top just a straight forward beer.

From bottle. Pours 24k gold with fluffy white head. Extremely powerful smell of banana bread. First taste of bananas and slight yeastiness, quickly turns to a crisp hoppy wheat. A nice level of spiciness and boozy flavor through the entire tasting. This is one of the best things I’ve ever drank.

Heavy for a hefe but at nearly 10% that is unavoidable and doesn’t really take away from overall experience. I like the aroma as its lacking in hardcore bananas and such. Not sure how old this bottle is but I barely get some hops in there.

UPDATED: APR 29, 2012 bottle rec’d courtesy of jckp64. hazy light pour with big white head with med. lacing. LOTS of aroma and taste with this one - not sure I can come close to identifying all the flavors/aromas in this one - complex hefe that is VERY good!!!! bananas, and some spices really make this stand out - nice taste all the way on this one

Big thanks to BeerFMAndy for getting a box of New Glarus out to me. Served in a New Glarus taster glass. Pours a fairly-cloudy bright yellow-golden with a short white head and a spot or two of lacing on the way down. The nose has quite a bit of sweetness combined with some banana, clove, and a touch of spice. The flavor is fairly boozy with some spice and residual sweetness. Too much malt sugar remaining here, IMO. Body is a bit thicker than I’d like with some extra alcohol. I prefer NG’s lower-abv German wheat offerings.