Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier

5.000 ml keg. From Straubing, Germany.
Banana, wheat, caramel, citrus and hints of yeast. Banana, wheat, caramel and some bitter hops in flavour. Excellent Weizen.

Pours hazy orange with a large white head. The expected banana and wheaty bread instantly recognisable in the aroma, along with oatmeal and just the slightest hint of cloves. Flavours include white bread, subtle banana and hints of cinnamon. Body seems slightly watery, but carbonation is good.

Lemony Banana Super easy to drink, beautiful light gold color. A bit light for my taste, but really very good.

Poured from bottle into Frankfurter glass. Very bubbly, somewhat dark, cloudy orange-yellow with a huge fluffy head. American-made Hefeweizens wish they could look like this. Wait a minute, where did the head go? - it settled down to a thin layer with no lacing. Oh well, nice while it lasted. Aroma of spicy clove, wheat malt, banana, lemon and light noble hops. Major clove and wheat taste, while the banana is a little more restrained. While very good, not quite as flavorful as hoped for. A big chunk of yeast settled on the bottom (despite my best efforts to break it up), and when I took that last sip, it tasted much more flavorful. While this bottle only arrived at my store a couple weeks ago, I can only assume this would have been better if it was fresh in Germany and the yeast had been mixed up better. High carbonation, light body, dry finish. Nice refreshing Weizen that could have used a touch more depth or maybe the Germans need to figure out how to get their beers here faster.

Bottle. Hazy golden pour with a foamy white head. Aroma of banana and clove. Sweet, ripe banana flavor. A very standard hefeweizen in many respects but this is a common beer that is really good. No big wow factor just a solid beer.

Bottle. Hazy golden beer with a foamy head. Aroma has (not a suprise) yeast and banana. Quite sweet flavor is pretty much the same. Medium body, very well balanced beer.

Golden hazy pour, with a very slight hint of the typical hefe on the nose. Taste of course has the banana and clove but certainly not as pronounced as other hefes that I’ve had. Has a bit of a bitter note at the end. Not bad at all but nothing transcendent.

50cl brown bottle, as shown. Pours a hazy, pale yellow golden with a big, fluffy white head that collapses quickly. Aroma of banana, citrus and herbal spices. Active carbonation, medium-bodied weizen. Good mouthfeel. Taste is dominated by sweet banana, very typical for a Bavarian hefe. A healthy citrus note prevents this brew from being cloying. Spicy, dry finish and herbal after taste. One of the signature mainstream hefe beers from "down under": very well balanced, at once, supremely quaffable and quite characterful. If this kind of weizen is too banana-ish for you, try the Belgian variety like "Hoegaarden" - their beers are usually drier and more citrusy. Otherwise, Franziskaner is one of the best!