Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse

Brewed by Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn
Style: Weizen Bock
Kelheim, Germany

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured a murky brown color weisse with a big foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of wheat with some dry Hallertauer hops is different and very interesting. Taste is also dominated by wheat with huge floral and dry hops combining to make a really interesting beer. Body is full with limited filtration and loads of lees at the bottom with some great carbonation with no apparent alcohol. The malt somehow reminded me of a double wheat brewed by the Middle Ages brewery. Interesting but not necessarily something I would go for very often – I will stick with the regular weisse which is still a very good staple of the style.

Rating after two bottles: Pour was a paler shade of amber, not quite golden, nice initial head, darned hard to get this bottle into my Schneider Weizen glass, foam sucking required to do the job. Hazy body, pretty good lacing, although not among the best. The aroma was interesting, floral, resinous, weedy, grassy, phenolic. Flavor was like one might expect for a beer that builds off of a style not known for hopping and requiring some love and care to create a nice higher octane version: a little over the top on the hops. The fruity esters get killed in this beer by the uber hopping used, really making the wheaty aspects difficult to discern. The base malt is almost pilsner like with a touch of the wheat (or even rye, I could have believed) bitterness, firm noble hopping presence, floral notes, grass and weeds, dandelions, other resinous type hops (yet short of piney!), phenolic yeast biproducts. Alcohol is very soft, done nicely in that regard. Body is full, very grand indeed, enjoyable, hearty, a nice evening drink. If you like hefeweizens and uber/imperial pilsners, you’ll dig this. Unfortunately, the imperial/strong aspects do drown out some of the finer gentle aspects of the hefe, which I do enjoy quite a bit normally. Great job, Brooklyn/Schneider, you accomplished what you targeted, just didn’t work for me personally. The imperial, double, uber Americans over here may dig it just for its boldness, however!

Batch 2. A careful pour yields a very lightly hazy golden-orange color. A foamy, snow white head shows fairly good retention, settling slowly to a thin layer with a solid edge. Lacing is sudsy, with a few spots and patches remaining on the glass. Aromas include fresh banana esters, orange peel, sweet, bready yeast, wheat, and lemony hops. Some spicing is present as well, notably clove and a touch of coriander. Flavors basically follow suit, though the citrus hop content is surprisingly potent. The fruity, sweet elements are well balanced by the bitter hops, as well as a spicy, peppery finish. Tastes really fresh. Quite drinkable, even at 8.2%. Medium-plus bodied, the lively, fizzy carbonation intensifies the spiciness a good deal. Overall, this is a very enjoyable brew. The primary differentiation from the Brooklyn-brewed version is a heftier citrus hop billing. Because of this, I’d give the slight edge to the Schneider-brewed version.

CBF 2009. A very hopped weizen. Dark yellow and murky. White head, mostly diminishing. Aroma is coriander and hops, moderate malty, heavy yeasty. Flavor starts moderate sweet and bitter, finish heavy bitter. Dry texture. Lively carbonation.

500ml bottle. poured everything into a FFF imperial pint glass. with the sediment it created this very muddy awful looking greenish-brown with white head. the worst looking beer ever. if i could do it over i’d just pour some of the yeast in there. but i think i did pour correctly to style but what ever. nose is very zesty, peppery, orange peel. flavor is crisp sweet, biscuit, peppery hops, citrus, toffee malt finish. pretty nice.3.5.

5/15/08, 2008 vintage. pouring this without the yeast looks better a 4 but with it, although not nearly as bad as my initial review, a bit dull. it does however taste better with the yeast. the finish has more depth and handles the bitterness better. really tasty brew. and very similar to NG Imperial Weizen. Both equally great. 3.7.

On tap at The Rover, Göteborg, as Schneider & Brooklyn Hopfen Weisse. ABV was 8.2%. Deep golden to amber colour, hazy. Moderate creamy head. Hoppy sweetish aroma with notes of ripe berries. The flavour is sweet, hoppy and alcoholic - too sweet and alcoholic for me. Less bitter than expected.

Bottle; poured a murky ruddy orange. Large white head. Aroma of wheat, lemon, spice, banana and yeast. Nice soothing mouthfeel. Flavor was subtle, tasty and good. Banana, lemon, spice and caramel/toffee. Some general fruitiness as well; possibly apple.

7/26/2007: Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse looks like a beautiful German Hefe. It is hazy/cloudy and deep gold in appearance with a massive beige head that stays throughout. A spicy hop aroma is complemented with some Belgian-like fruity wheat malt. The flavor is floral and spicy and has a growing alcoholic taste and sensation. It finishes peppery and leaves a lingering spiciness and bitterness. This beer is medium-bodied and quite smooth. This is one solid German Weizen Bock created by two world-class breweries.

500 mL bottle (8.2% alc./vol. / 0001 2717 07.145) shared by Peanut at the Dilly Deli. Thanks Tom! Rating #90 for this beer...