Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen Weisse Beer

September 7, 2009

I picked this Schneider Weisse Hopfen Weisse up on a tip in the comments from our Schneider Weisse Aventinus beer review.  A lot of people seemed to like it, plus its a limited-edition brew, so tick-tock.

Generally, I’ve found that I liked the Hefeweizen beer style – I had three others this summer from Brooklyn Brewing, Flying Dog and Boulder Beer.  All quite nice.

If you aren’t aware of the backstory of this beer, I’ll try to fill you in in a sentence or two.  The Schneider Weisse Hopfen Weisse is a collaboration beer between German brewer G. Schneider and Son and America’s own Brooklyn Brewery.  The two brewmasters, Garret Oliver from Brooklyn and Hans-Peter Drexler of the Schneider Weissbbier Brewery in Germany decided to team up and create this special beer.  Well, beers actually.

You see, there were two beers created from this arrangement.  One is brewed by Brooklyn called Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, and the other beer, the one I have today, is brewed in Germany and is called Schneider-Brooklyn Hopfen Weisse. I’ve also heard that the Brooklyn Brewery version is more expensive than the imported German version – go figure.

As expected among siblings, the two beers apparently have something of a  family resemblance.  It turns out that they both use the same yeast variety, but the main difference is in the hops that are used.  The German brew uses German hops, and the American version uses American hops.

So there you go!

The German Hopfen Weisse was my little reward for resealing the driveway.  I suppose almost any beer would be nice after such a crappy chore, but this beer really turned out to be the cherry atop the poop sundae that was my Saturday afternoon.

This beer created a nice foamy head that took some time to go down.  I smelled the beer, and while I can’t discern yeast strains and hop varieties just yet, the aroma did remind me of other Hefeweizens I’d had recently.  Spicy, yes, but I’d say this beer was more citrusy smelling than the others.

The Hopfen Weisse is definitely unfiltered, even more-so than the domestic hefes I’ve had.  You really can not see through the beer at all.  Not that it’s bad, just an observation.  The beer looked more orange in color as well compared to other Hefes I’ve had.  As a matter of fact, outside on the picnic table where I was enjoying this beer, my neighbor from across the yard asked why I was drinking orange juice in such a fancy glass!  (stupid Flanders)

The taste was really nice.  It wasn’t surprising in the sense that OK, its a Hefe so you know what to expect to a degree, but it was more citrusy that the others, much like the aroma was.  What did surprise me was how smooth this beer is, especially considering it checks in at 8.2%ABV.  There’s no way I would have guessed this beer was so strong. The alcohol was masked very well, so be careful with this one if you’re going to be chugging.

Quickly going back to the Aventinus in comparison, the thing I did not like about it was how much the alcohol came through in the taste – also an 8.2% ABV.  Go figure.

Wrapping up, I thought this beer was outstanding.  Very enjoyable in every sense, and surprisingly affordable too!  I think this pint bottle was around $4 which isn’t bad considering.

I’d really like to try the Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen Weisse to compare, and I’ll be keeping a lookout for it, but I’m happy for now that I got to check this one out and I think you should too!

Rating:

Have you had either of these two beers?  What did you think?  Is one better than the other?  Can you say Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse Schneider-Brooklyn Hopfen Weisse three times real fast?

Posted in 4 Star Reviews, Ales, American Beers, European Beers, Wheat Beers