The hefeweizen has been around a long time. Some beer historians say it was brewed as far back as the 11th century. In German, hefeweizen (pronounced HEH-feh-vite-zen) means yeast wheat, so called because the beer is traditionally unfiltered, leaving the tiny particles of yeast sediment to turn the golden beer cloudy and turbid. It may be this suggestion of solidity that leads Germans to occasionally refer to hefeweizen as bottled bread. The beer style can have a variety of flavors including clove, vanilla, apple, banana, even bubblegum. They have low amounts of hoppiness. Hefeweizens are made with more than 50 percent wheat malt, which German law requires. Such mandates and customs do not apply in the United States. Nonetheless, many American beers are called hefeweizen or claim to be made in the hefeweizen style. German beer traditionalists probably prefer the name weissbier. In the U.S., these bright yellowish-golden to orange beers are often served with a slice of lemon on the lip of the glass, which some feel helps to cut the yeasty flavor and accentuate the crispness of the style. Peaks and Pints avoids the lemon because we like the wonderful yeasty esters of the hefeweizen. Today, Peaks and Pints offers an in-house hefeweizen beer flight we call Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Hefeweizen.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Hefeweizen
Heater Allen Isarweizen
4.85% ABV
Beer is a family business for Heater Allen, a lager brewery that opened McMinnville, Oregon, in 2007. “Heater” is Rick’s wife Jan’s maiden name, and “Allen” is his last name. He figures that you should always give your wife first billing. While Rick has little German heritage on his side of the family, most of Jan’s family is of German descent. Their daughter, Lisa, who works for the brewery, is a true Heater Allen. Like her dad, she graduated from OSU Fermentation Science Department in the early 2000s. In 2009, Lisa left a career in the wine industry to join her dad’s two-man crew. Since Lisa came on the scene, Heater Allen has grown from a six-barrel to a 15-barrel brewhouse racking up a room full of medals. Recently, beer power couple Lisa and Kevin Davey, formerly brewmaster at Wayfinder, purchased the brewery from Rick. Isarweizen is the only regular ale they make at Heater Allen. The recipe came from Lisa’s college roommate, Sarah Forga, who spent time brewing in Munich. It’s a traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen with notes of banana in the nose and a flavor of cloves and other spices.
Stoup Bavarian Hefeweizen
5% ABV
Stoup Brewing, known as a purveyor of award-winning beers served in a thoughtful, communal space, opened in Oct. 2013 as a cornerstone of Seattle’s burgeoning Ballard “Brewery District.” The partners include Robyn Schumacher, and married couple Lara Zahaba and Brad Benson — the latter being Stoup’s head brewer and director of brewing operations. They honor German tradition by brewing their Bavarian Hefeweizen using decoction mashing techniques and fermenting with a German yeast strain that imparts prominent banana and clove notes. The wheat gives this beer a crisp, slightly tart, refreshing finish.
Sierra Nevada Sunny Little Thing
5% ABV
Sierra Nevada’s Sunny Little Thing wheat ale is brewed with oats and wheat malt for a smooth mouthfeel, plus hardly a dash of hops, allowing the fruit character to leap forward. Lemon and orange notes in the aroma are complemented by tropical notes of pineapple and sweet grapefruit. The same notes carry into the flavor, well-supported by a bready malt sweetness. Expect tropical and floral hop notes with a side of grass.
Ayinger Bräu-Weisse
5.1% ABV
All over the world, beer lovers agree that if it’s made in Bavaria, it’s the real deal. It is, after all, home to the first brewery on record, way back in 800 A.D., as well as the ultimate of beer festivals — Oktoberfest. About 25 kilometers from the Oktoberfest grounds in Munich, lays a little town called Aying, home to the beloved Ayinger Brewery (Brauerei Aying). This 146-year-old brewery has a deep family history, and remained almost completely unchanged until a new, updated brewery was built in 1999 to keep up with the growing market. Their Bräu-Weisse hits the nose with banana and even a hint of those circus peanut candies. The flavor also had a large amount of banana character — spicy but with a candy sweetness at the finish.
Maui Mana Wheat
5.5% ABV
Looking for a German-style wheat beer with a delirious touch of tiki? Nestle up to the bar for Maui Brewing’s Mana Wheat. The Hawaiian brewery has, obviously, thrown in Maui Gold Pineapple into its wheat beer. Aloha! At first all you’re likely to detect in the nose is a nice bright hefeweizen aroma of bananas and clove. Ultra-ripe pineapple flavor shows up subtly in the medium-length finish (along with a mild hop note), then gradually becomes more noticeable, though never heavy-handed. This craft beer literally brings the islands of Hawaii to you!
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