Schofferhofer Kristallweizen Premium Wheat Beer
October 5, 2008
A trip into town means a bee-line to the liquor warehouse to bulk buy our favourite Aussie brew, Tooheys New - Draught Beer. Despite its favoured place in this household, (and its nationally recognised awards as a commendable mass-produced beer), it’s too common to review here on The Brew Club.
With a full trolley in hand, I peruse the brightly labeled confusion of beers in the ‘Foreign’ aisle for something Continental. I see a six pack of Schofferhofer Kristallweizen Premium Wheat Beer. The half litre bottles are unmistakably German, distracting me from continuing a search for a Lambic Beer. (Which I am still intensely curious about.)
I rush the Schofferhofer home. Spring has banished winter’s temperate days and I feel the scorching day’s heat sinking into my alcohol stocks. The Schofferhofer is made comfortable in the fridge to recover.
Upon opening its traditional non-twist top I am assailed with a good malty, almost sweet, smell. I drain a bottle, then a stein. (On different days.) The stein is a rare preference for beer consumption, but a far better experience in this case. Its golden colouring and thick head are attractive characteristics.
The alcohol content, (5%), is enough to slightly numb the senses with a full taste of malt and subtle bite of hops at the end. It bounds around the mouth, rich and powerful. The hops flavour is sharp and fleeting while the malt lingers. You know this is a true brewer’s beer, not flavoured water.
I would resist drink more than one in a session. It’s not a guzzler. It’s a sipping beer. Perfect for sitting in the backyard, appreciating the car you’ve finished polishing, or the tree felled by blunt hacksaw in the absence of a chainsaw. A serving suggestion involves a chilled glass, a hot day, and an accompaniment of a plain ploughman’s lunch.
Obviously Germans know their beer and they have continued their tradition of care and dedication in Schoffenhofer. Oversize bottles with full strength alcohol levels, advocating excess for those long months either side of OktoberFest!
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Posted in All Brews Reviewed, European Beers, German Beers, Guest Reviews, Wheat Beers
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October 6th, 2008 at 4:26 am
At the risk of being accused a pedant, the correct glass for sampling wheat beers is different from the traditional stein. There’s an art to pouring it too. The glass is tall and slender and just the right size to hold a bottle. You remove the cap from the bottle, place the glass on top and then upend them both and lift the bottle out, obviously this causes a generous (and aromatic) head to form, but the glass has the capacity.
See this picture: http://www.germanbeerguide.co.uk/images/franzisk.jpg
This is the method preferred by bartenders as it’s quick and dramatic.
Alternatively, pour the beer more gently, at an angle so as to manage the head, then when there’s about an inch of beer left in the bottle, you lay the bottle on its side and roll it to release all the yeast in the bottle (unless the beer is filtered), then pour the remaining beer more ‘roughly’ to create the head.
And if you continue to fail in your search for Lambic beer, we’ll have to see about the cost of sending you a bottle!
October 6th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
OK. I was trying to get into the spirit of the Oktoberfest and dragged out a stein. I wont defend my ignorance. My beer pouring technique is related to that irritating amount of time spent decanting fluid from one perfectly good container into another when it could be flowing down my neck. Yes, I rushed it.
I prefer little to no head on my beer since less head means more beer. A quantity, while small and seemingly insignificant, could throw out the beer to toilet ratio.
Thanks for the link. I’m always interested in beer related research.
If you’ve got any info on brands that export Lambic beer I’d love to know about them.
So what is the ‘correct’ head. Surely it would differ from beer to beer.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I happened to notice that Coops’ beer sample was pretty huge - half litre. That could also explain the stein selection, unless these special glasses come in half-litre size?
October 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Hi Coops - I am with you TOTALLY with regard to head size when it comes to draught beers… I am paying for beer, not bubbles. Although they used to serve beer in ‘oversized’ glasses in Yorkshire, where there was an extra half inch to accommodate the head. Indeed CAMRA insists on oversized glasses at its beer festivals.
As for bottled beer, you get what’s in the bottle reagrdless of the number of bubbles. That said, any gas that’s come out as bubbles is gas that’s not going to be consumed.
The special Weissbeer glasses indeed hold a full bottle - half a litre, with room for a sizeable and aromatic head… I guess I’ll just have to dig one out of my rack to demonstrate.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Bob, you should do a you-tube video or something of this pouring technique done properly. I’d love to see it!
October 11th, 2008 at 12:30 am
It’s fair to say there is no loss from bottle to glass and now that I’m aware there is a REASON for actually having the head I will be more willing to experiment with this.
For all these years I thought it was purely cosmetic and a hindrance to getting at my liquid refreshment.
Learning every day.