Buxom Bavarian Beauty (Erdinger Weissbier)

Member Name: SlyClone2k

Product:	Erdinger Weissbier
Date:	28/05/03 (1462 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A sharp and crisp flavourful beer perfect for summer days

Disadvantages: Once too warm does taste stale.

Memories

I do have a few happy memories from my adolescence, and one of the better ones is when I switched from preferring cider to preferring beer. It was the middle of my teens when my parents moved to München (Munich), Germany. At the time the place meant little to me, and as I was to be separated from them by several hundred miles of land and sea I wasn't particularly glad about their departure. However Munich did have its plus points and there were two primary reasons, 1) Haribo (but that's a different story) and 2) Bavarian beer.

One of the first beers that I called my favourite was Hefe-Weiss, White Beer. Being as my longest visits would be during the summer holidays the family would while away quite a few hours in Munichs beer gardens, my father usually drinking beer from Hofbräu (HB) and me drinking Weiss-beer.

Making

Now many people will have tried Hoegarden which prides itself on being the first white beer, although seems rather unlikely since Weiss beer originated in Bavaria (southern Germany) around 500 years ago. For sometime the rights to produce white beer were closely guarded so only breweries in the Munich area could produce them, but as the popularity of white beer grew so did the number of breweries throughout Germany. But Bavaria remains the primary source for Weiss and around 90% of all white beers come from there.

Erdinger itself was created in 1886 in the town Erding which sits a little north east of Munich near the new airport (should you ever want to go!). They have been employing the strict methods reinheitsgebot or brewing law that is required to produce beer in Germany.

So what makes it different? Well essentially it comes down to the obergaeriger yeast which upon brewing rises to the surface to produce a white layer, this makes it very similar to an ale, but quite unlike a lager which would usually be bottom fermented. Further more there is at least 50% wheat in the mash, p
erhaps you've tried Lowenbrau (another Munich based brewery) well their lager/beer contains no wheat at all. Ultimately the yeast means there is also a secondary fermentation that lends a spicy or clove-ish flavour to the beer. Depending on the age of the beer you may experience more or less of this (the younger the more flavour) and so there is no real guarantee that two bottles will be the same.

So what makes it white? Well typically Erdinger export Hefe-weiss or yeast-white. Hefe is the German for yeast and upon pouring the beer you will understand why. Weiss-beer pours out to produce a cloudy beer, almost a pastel version of a normal lager. You will still find the typically amber colour of a beer or lager, albeit a quite dark amber, but added to this is a white-ish hue that makes it look as though the glass is frosted.

Spilling

Typically Weiss beer would be served in its own type of glass. These are usually tall with a narrow base and a bell shaped top. So, if you can, avoid the typical English pint glass. Of important note it that there is in fact a "method" for pouring that I'd all but forgotten about. There are two things to watch out for, firstly Weiss beer is rather highly carbonated, so pouring too quickly will leave you with a glass full of froth. Secondly yeast is known to settle at the bottom of the bottle, this must be added or you'll be losing flavour.

The actual pour is something of a patient affair, the glass should be tilted a little further than you might normally, at about 60˚ pour the beer slowly un-tilting the glass as the beer reaches the top ensuring as little head is created as possible. When there is around an inch of liquid left in the bottle stop pouring and swirl the remaining liquid to produce the head in the bottle and dislodge any remaining yeast. Upon creating the head in the bottle this should be poured into the glass to produce a rich creamy topping and you may notice
the yeast "dive" into the liquid to produce a much cloudier finish.

That all said the average import is either fairly well settled or has been sufficiently jostled in transit for the yeast to be fairly well blended with the beer for the final pour not to require the final attention to detail.

There is in fact another method I found employed in Munich where the barman would just pour an inch off the top and then swirl the bottle while holding it deep in the glass and lifting it fairly rapidly from vertical. I don't recommend this method unless you've seen it being done.

Tasting

Weiss-beer is quite strong, it typically sits at around 5 to 5.5%, giving the beer a reasonably full bodied flavour. Because the wheat and yeast flavours are so prevalent the hops are rather overpowered and quite insignificant when it comes to the final tasting.

At its coldest Erdinger provides a tongue busting sharpness as a result of the high carbonation, such high levels of carbonation lend the beer a great thirst quenching quality. Early on the bite is pretty much the key factor, with many of the fruity flavours coming later as the beer begins to warm up. I remember, from those lazy summer days, that once it gets too warm the flavour becomes too cloying, perhaps this is the reason it is sold in a smaller half litre glass/bottle as opposed to the usual litre of liquid found in a typical Bavarian beer garden.

Finalé

Erdinger-Weiss beats the other supermarket Weiss-beers hands down. Up until a recent visit to Safeway I'd only been able to pick up some rather putrid and unrecognisable affairs from Waitrose and Sainsbury. These inferior copies, though (allegedly) Bavarian don't show the same quality as Erdinger. The carbonation quickly dissipates leaving you with a somewhat flat and flavourless beer. To this end I don't particularly recommend other versions of Weiss that can be picked up here in the U
K, but should you stumble across Erdinger you are looking at one of the kings. Find a bottle at around the £1.50 mark, take it home and chill it lovingly in your fridge, don't attempt to quick chill it using the freezer as this doesn't seem to do the flavour any good at all. Following the pouring guidelines above and you should be left with a crisp, fruity and thirst quenching beer that'll make you wonder why it isn't more freely available.

Summary: