Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: German Hefeweizen
Chico, California USA

Serve in Weizen

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12oz bottle. Pours a hazy gold. Looks like a true german hefe. Huge clove and banana wth some light bubblegum. Taste matches. Slightly watery but it is session beer after all. Layered and complex flavor, perfect carbonation. Slightly tart. This tastes better than many german hefe’s. Amazing job by SN.

hazy and straw in color, big clove/banana nose, hard to realize this is a S.N. product. Beautiful foamy white head! Body lacks though, a bit watery. Nice wheat flavor but this is where it fails compared to the German brands. Nice try, had everything going for it but just doesn’t cut it for me.

Impressive near-white, foamy head. Five fingers thick to start--three fingers one minute after the pour--nice. Settles into a rocky look. The beer itself is quite cloudy, providing a white hue in an otherwise yellow liquid. Sour corn mash aroma with a significant dose of wheat and yeast. No citrus smell that is typical of this style. Perhaps this is the smoothest hefeweizen I’ve ever had. No yeast bite; the wheat is present without shouting. Strong flavor of banana (although it’s nowhere in the nose). Thicker and less spritzy than many wheat beers (adds to the sweetness). Overall, a very quaffable beer.

Bottle Code 91131 17 12; Sampled June 2009
The beer pours into my New Belgium Goblet with a hazy, straw-hued, pale amber color. It is topped by a two finger, pale tan colored head. The aroma is not exactly the “classical” balance that a typical Hefeweizen has; instead this is a balance between spicy notes, some pepper, a herbal hop note, definite clove, perhaps some light banan as well as som grain like notes with a big wheat contribution and some hay-like notes. I like the added herbal and spice note that are not typically found in a Hefeweizen, at least to this level; these notes are well in balance with the other, more typical notes.

The beer is fairly light bodied and it has a spritzy carbonation as it rolls across my tongue. The finish has a spicy hit of clove to it that is definitely traditional. The beer is quite dry, but does have something of a chewy body to it. There is a light tartness here that couples with a bit of pepper in the finish and the wheat character is nice and chewy with a touch of grassiness. This is quite easy to drink; in fact I find my 12oz pour disappearing a bit too quickly. Clove flavors are present here, but the banana character is quite soft. There is a hop character here that contributes to the perceived spiciness of this brew as well as contributing a mildly biting bitterness in the finish. I do like the body of this brew, especially as this warms up a bit, it is fresh and chewy, though it is not quite as good as the decocted, lush, fresh, Live Oak Hefeweizen.

This is on the spicy / herbal side compared to your typically traditional HefeWeizen, but it actually works quite well here and in fact boosts the complexity. The traditional Hefeweizen notes are here, but they are perhaps not as pronounced as when found in a traditional example; luckily the additional character is here, as this would be a bit too muted without the spicy / herbal components. I definitely feel like I need to pick up a couple more of these before I ultimately decide if this one is a go to beer or not.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Poured from bottle a cloudy straw color with a large off-white head leaving a nice lacing in the glass as it dwindled. Aroma is light with bubblegum, clove and citrus. Flavor is crisp with very little sweetness, lots of lemon, clove, soft banana, and some yeasty notes. Palate has a malty full mouthfeel, light acidity, and some lemony tarts and yeasty bitters. Overall, nice weizen, much better than their american wheat beer...imo anyways.

Sampled on 7/2/2009. This Hefeweizen pours a moderately cloudy orange gold color from a 12oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head with good retention and nice lacing. The aroma is light malt, banana, clove and some lemon. A medium to full bodied Hefeweizen. The malts are fruity and sweet, lots of banana and clove, with a nice touch of pineapple. Lively carbonation. There is a very appealing softness to this beer as well. Nice touch of yeast as well. Nice balance. Excellent summer beer. Glad this one will be a regular beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Holy crap this beer blew me away! Good aroma. Biscuit, light malt and just a hint of lemon...very little clove or banana. Pour was a nice cloudy light orange with lots of swirling bubbles and a one finger white head. Taste was extremely crisp and refreshing. Here is where the trademark banana flavor comes in. There is a yeasty bite that is complemented by the strongest (and for me best) carbonation I’ve had in some time. This beer is great on so many levels. This will be my 2009 July 4th Fireworks beer.

12 ounce bottle from Frenchy’s in Woodland, CA. Spicy, peppery, lemony aroma with some metallic hops. Pretty nice aroma. Modestly hazy golden body with a huge frothy white head. This leaves good lacing. Spritzy, lemony flavor to start before a little banana and mostly doughy, biscuity malts take over. Light metal later on. Very drinkable and palatable. They did a good job with this one.

Bottle. Turbid and cloudy honey gold colored body with a fine-bubbled white head. Nose is soft and delicate banana, dry pineapple and solvent/hefeweizen yeast... wonderfully aromatic. Soft but crisp, chewy and frothy. Could use a little more fullness in the finish, but overall it’s delicious, uncomplicated and agreeable.

Pours cloudy orange-yellow with thick fluffy head. Aroma is a bit fruity but a lot of yeast. Velvety on the palate. Flavor is some banana but not much else. Good beer overall.