Weihenstephaner Vitus

Brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Style: Weizen Bock
Freising, Oberbayern, Germany

Pours a hazy saffron color into my Franziskaner weizen glass. Big 3 finger head is pure white, not much lacing. Good retention. Aroma is lemon meringue, banana oil, flowers, clove, and a hint of copper. Tastes like an imperialized version of a hefeweizen. Not a lot of dark, chewy, bready malt flavor at all. This beer is focused around banana, lemon, and clove. Also a touch of vanilla. Not bad, but certainly lacking the complexity a darker weizenbock (like Aventinus) would likely provide. Highly carbonated, but not overly so. Medium body with a sticky banana pith finish. Classic Weihenstephaner drinkability.

pale slightly cloudy yellow with a well sized head the fizzes down to a constant one-finger size leaving little to no lace
wheaty aroma with light banana spices and a astringent floral current.
heavy on the banana spices with a trace of hops as well.
really smooth palate.

Bright cloudy yellow with tropical fruit aroma and a thick frothy head. Slightly tart and a little spritzy on the palate. I was expecting more from this beer than what was delivered.

I hated this the first time I had it, but I am revising my rating upward. I may have had a weak (or possibly mislabeled) bottle. This one was much better. Vitus has an intricate, antique label that makes me think of old books. A sad-looking gentleman from a past century decorates the bottleneck. Foggy, straw-colored pour. Mediocre aroma with a fair amount of the slightly rancid yeasty smell that is featured in many macrobrews. Tastes like a sweet hefeweizen, with plenty of wheat malt, and possibly some corn and sugar. Some clove and tang too. A rich brew that tasted better as it warmed a bit, which is surprising for a wheat beer. Good stuff, but the aroma could be improved.

Hazy yellow in color. Medium bodied with decent carbonation. Sweet flavor starts off, then come the yeasty wheaty flavors combined with some citrus. Couldn’t tell the alcohol content was so high. Some spice flavor, though not all that strong. Finished dry.

Sweet and wheaty, citrusy, estery and quite simple. Expected more complexity but this is very refreshing for such a high abv beer.

Bottle: Pours a hazy golden with a initially large white head, that eventually fades to a film. Aroma is sweet of ripe banana, dough, spicy esters like clove and more yeasty notes. The body is fairly creamy with an apparent peppery alcohol feel. The flavor is initially sweet with notes of honey sweet dough, and yeasty phenols of banana. There’s also a peppery alcohol note that leads to a dry yeasty finish. The drier yeast finish balances the early sweetness. A decent example of the style.

Pours a cloudy golden with a good sized head. Aroma is spicy, banana. Solid flavor, good mouthfeel.