message from the pope....

[THORBOY]

i got this email from Spaten North America this morning (Franziskaner)

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:44:02 -0400
To: firstcontactmassage@yahoo.com
Subject: Pope, Benedict XVI enjoys Franziskaner weissbeer !!!!!
From: sna@spatennorthamerica.com Add to Address Book


The new pope is not, however, a teetotaler: Cardinal Bertone said he occasionally allows himself a glass of "excellent" wine from Piedmont. Manuela Macher, co-owner of the Cantina Tirolese, a Bavarian restaurant near the Vatican where he is a regular, said he also liked an occasional German beer, Franziskaner Weissbier. Which raises a question: Does he order the large size or the small?


(I would love to have a beer with the old man)

how are all you gents? Summers coming!!! WEE DOGGIE!!

[steveh]

Been talking about said same over here (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7049&perpage=15&pagenumber=2), down toward the page-bottom, but other Papal discussions as well...'round about your neck of the woods.

S.

[THORBOY]

got it buddy!!

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by THORBOY
Does he order the large size or the small?

He's a bavarian. What do you think he orders ? :D

[steveh]

Originally posted by Stahlsturm
He's a bavarian. What do you think he orders ?

My thoughts exactly - I only saw .25l Weizenbier glasses used once in my travels to Germany, at a small hotel bar. They were perfect for waiting on slow friends to get ready, but not quite fitting the bill of a true .5l Weizen! And no, haven't been brave enough to try a full liter Weizen. Yet. ;)

S.

[Stahlsturm]

Originally posted by steveh
My thoughts exactly - I only saw .25l Weizenbier glasses used once in my travels to Germany, at a small hotel bar. They were perfect for waiting on slow friends to get ready, but not quite fitting the bill of a true .5l Weizen! And no, haven't been brave enough to try a full liter Weizen. Yet. ;)

S.

.25l glasses are for wine, not for beer.
A full liter of weizen is not very practicable. Weizen is usually drunk when it's very hot so I'll rather return to the keg more often to pour me fresh beer than brag with a big glass in which my beer get's warm. Plus, weizen is very hard on one's bladder. After two you are happy for any excuse to get up and go pee. Getting a refill is one of the most accepted ones, hehehe.

[kevin]

I just picked up a 6'er of the hefe-weisse and is this suppose to be a cloudy beer? Also when I swirled the bottle to suspend the yeast it look like little clumps of rust. The caps weren't rusty but I couldn't drink that.

[steveh]

Gutless. ;)

Yeast is all vitamin B - good for you! But honestly, the only time I've seen the yeast "clump" like that is when the bottle has been on the shelf a bit too long. Although, if it's not too old it should dissolve easily and still be tasty.

To answer your question, yes it's supposed to be cloudy. Hefeweizen = Weiss with yeast. It's the German equivalent of bottle conditioning, a dose of yeast to the bottles (even the kegs, if you can find it on draft) to promote a secondary (tertiary?) fermentation, more similar to champagne than real-ale in its carbonation effect.

S.

[steveh]

BTW - what brand was the Weizen?

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Stahlsturm
Plus, weizen is very hard on one's bladder. After two you are happy for any excuse to get up and go pee. Getting a refill is one of the most accepted ones, hehehe.

Gotta be careful man - once you break that seal... ;)

S.

[kevin]

First off I thought Wheat beers where suppose to be cloudy and this beer is a clear golden color. It is very hoppy and because it is clear I was thinking it was made with extract.

It is in a green bottle with the monk "like student of beer" labeled franziskaner hefe-weisse. On the carrier it says Bavarian Wheat Beer

Gutless... I'd be glad to send you a bottle for futher evaluation :D

[chazwicke]

I've seen beer served in wine type glasses in Germany before. In Trier and going along the Moselle. And even worse, It was Bitburger. Which is just OK beer in my opinion.

[steveh]

Originally posted by kevin
It is in a green bottle with the monk "like student of beer" labeled franziskaner hefe-weisse. On the carrier it says Bavarian Wheat Beer

Franzi is the exact same beer that started this thread, the Papal Fave. It's a part of the Spaten brewery and is one of the more popular Weizens in Munich. I'm not sure why it was clear (or clumpy), but the procedure is usually to pour about 3/4 to 7/8 of the bottle into your glass, then swirl the bottle and top off with the yeast-rich final pour. The majority of the aroma and flavor characters in a Hefeweizen come from the yeast.

Not sure what extract would have to do with clarity, I've had many a cloudy extract home-brew (much of it my own), but I'd bet Franzi uses no extract.

Gutless... I'd be glad to send you a bottle for futher evaluation

Bring it on! ;) Seriously, I can remember finding bottles of Hacker-Pschorr Hefe back in the early '80s that had obviously sat on a shelf too long - the yeast looked like it had become a long sheet of soggy carboard floating in the bottle, but dissolved with a good swirl. And yes, I drank it! With great gusto!

S.

[kevin]

I bought this beer to compare to a bavarian weizen I brewed about two weeks ago. I use Hallertau Millefau for bittering no other hop addition and WLP300 yeast.
It is a cloudy beer "in secondary" and not hoppy, however that yeast is really different/interesting.

52% German Wheat
48% Marris Otter

The only other thing that I didn't do was a decoction mash.

[steveh]

Have you been using the Classic Beer Styles book on Bavarian Hefeweizen? It's pretty outstanding and quite inspiring...to head out for a good Weizen too!

S.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by kevin
First off I thought Wheat beers where suppose to be cloudy and this beer is a clear golden color.


I love paulaner's hefeweisen (it was my conversion beer) and sometimes I pour it very carefully and leave the yeast in the bottle. Without the yeast, it is VERY clear.