Weihenstephaner Korbinian – A 5 Star Beer Review
February 1, 2011
You might recall that I reviewed Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier back in late 2009 for The Brew Club.
At the time I described their weissbier as “without doubt a wonderful beer, and the yardstick against which I will measure wheat beers in future.” Well, when I spotted the Weihenstephaner Korbinian, a 7.4% ABV ‘Dunkel’ (dark beer) lurking on the shelves of my favourite beer-monger, I couldn’t resist!
The brew takes its name from Saint Corbinian who, in about AD 720, founded a Benedictine Chapel in the town of Freising, the home of the Weihenstephaner brewery and institute. It should be remembered, however, that the brewery was founded several hundred years later, in AD 1040; making it the oldest brewery in the world by quite a long chalk.
One legend surrounding Saint Corbinian is that a bear killed his horse while en-route to Rome. Saint Corbinian ordered the bear to carry his horses load, and he released it once he had arrived in Rome. The current Pope (Benedict XVI – formerly Cardinal Ratzinger) includes Saint Cobinian’s symbol of a saddled bear within his papal crest.
Papal Crest with slave bear
Cobinian is one of Weihenstephaner’s flagship brews, although not easy to find outside its native Bavaria. The Bavarians appear to be keen to export their Hefe-Weissens but less keen on exporting their Dunkels!
It pours with a rich mocha/caramel head that subsides quite quickly leaving only a faint lacing, much like the Franzikaner Dunkel I tried early in 2010. The nose is much more subtle than the Franziskaner, no orange peel or banana here, just a rich bready treacle smell that promises much.
And that promise is delivered in the flavour, but with great subtlety. There’s no showboating here, just a rich, warming, well flavoured treacle, with the subtlest hints of malt loaf, dried fruit, raisins and perhaps plums.
Unlike certain Belgian brews, this keeps its own council. You know you’re drinking something special, and you know there’s probably quite a bit of alcohol involved, but it doesn’t shout “I’M OVER SEVEN PER CENT ALCOHOL” – it doesn’t need to.
Like an Aston Martin sports car, it just implies the power and assumes you have the smarts to recognise it.
I sampled this on the same evening that I tried the Lump of Coal Stout, and this restored my faith in the integrity of brewers. It should be no surprise to anyone that Sam Adams chose to hook up with Weihenstephaner to try and push the boundaries of the Reinheitsghebot, with their Infinium collaboration beer. These guys know what they’re doing.
They should, they’ve been doing it for nearly a thousand years.
Five Stars
Rating: 
Bob the Brit
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Posted in 5 Star Reviews, Ales, European Beers, Views from a Brit, Wheat Beers
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February 1st, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Wow that sound good, Bob. I can’t recall if I’ve seen this one here or not but I’d love to give it a try. I also wish I had a bear to ride to work. That would be cool!
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:55 am
Ohh Bob! Like you I’m a big fan of the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, but the Korbinian has yet to warm my belly.
I’m now equal parts envious and invigorated. I need to work out how to get back to Germany ASAP and get my hands on this. It just sounds like the sort of beer I would certainly enjoy.
Cheers for the heads up!
February 2nd, 2011 at 2:40 pm
@Nate – Sometimes, Bob likes to tease with the beers he has access to! I hope you find some because I don’t expect to!
February 9th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
I’ve been looking for this one for a long time…have yet to find it. Weihenstephaner is one of my favorite breweries. Besides the fact that they make excellent beer, the history of the brewery is very interesting.
February 10th, 2011 at 10:12 am
@nate – this beer wasn’t even on my radar until Bob posted about it! I’m going to look for it, but it doesn’t seem like its available here.
Sounds like a great beer too!
February 14th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Amazing. Just tried this beer and it is definitely as good as you make it sound. Available at Whole Foods in NYC.
February 15th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Nice! There’s a Whole Foods nearby in Paramus that I think I should pay a visit to soon! Thanks for the tip!
November 10th, 2011 at 12:41 am
I just ran into Korbi at my local binny’s and being a weihenstephaner groupie lol I had to pick it up!! And boy is this a great beer I get a light almost chocolatety taste! Wunderful
November 10th, 2011 at 4:26 am
@Roy, while I’d never considered myself a ‘Weihenstephaner groupie’ I confess that if I see one of their brews on a shelf then I’ll go for it.
The same goes for Thornbridge… look out for them.
November 24th, 2011 at 12:19 am
Just had this last night at the Alpine Village in Torrance, CA. Fantastic brew. Very clean finish for one so rich. Close match with Spaten Optimator. I could drink this all night but for the 7.4% alcohol.
November 24th, 2011 at 1:30 am
@Will – Good to hear you enjoyed it, and thank you for the comment!