Franziskaner Weissbier Naturtrub. Premium Hefe Weissbier. 5.0% ABV. Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau, Munchen, Germany.
So, a word or five before we get to the beer. If you follow this blog at all, you may remember my vow to check off as many local beers as possible. Also, perhaps you've seen the post where I mentioned how procuring growlers in order to further this end can be a more expensive endeavor than I am able to afford. Sometimes. Well, in addition to that, bombers, too, are problematically "spendy", as we say up here. The other day I posted two reviews of local beers, a Borealis and a Pour Decisions, which were both more than $12 for a 22 ounce serving vessel. Today I visited the same store and spied two more local brewery bombers, one from Brau Brothers, another from the newish Duluth brewery that I haven't really tried yet, Blacklist. Both were more than $14. It was too hard to make that jump, especially when I went into the store with a particular aim in mind: to find 3 bottles for under $20.
And my decision-making process turned ever further when I glanced over in the next aisle and saw that classic European imports were there for less than $4 for a 12 ounce bottle. Beers I haven't visited in a long, long time, and really need to. In this current beer scene, all the focus seems to be on local and American and we forget where these styles come from, and who innovated first.
I actually didn't make that goal of 3 for $20, though I almost did. I was tempted by a Belgian bottle priced at $13 that I couldn't pass up. Three of those 4 beers I've had before, and will revisit the old notes while drinking it anew (and perhaps adding new notes). One of them I've amazingly never tried. But, before I get to those, another great European beer, this one sent to a friend from Germany, who gave it to me. A friend and long-time customer, who is completely unaware that this beer is readily available right here. Well, he didn't know, and who am I to turn down a free beer gift? Especially one I know I enjoy so well…and we're back to Franziskaner Weissbier.
These are notes from what was probably my first tasting, in July of 2003. Looking at them, I probably would have worded it slightly differently, but it contains the essence of what I get from this excellent Bavarian weissbier:
Hazy, straw-yellow color,enormous, pillowy white head: so far, the perfect look for a hefe weizen.
Aroma: fresh, flowery, dry, loaded with lemon.
Light and smooth, with a good, grainy texture.
Marvelous fruity flavor, with the requisite Bavarian banana/clove character really showing itself more in the middle, and rides on out through the end.
Wonderfully refreshing, thirst-quenching, damned-easy quaffability.
Belongs among the top tier of weizens: ah, delicious!
