SCHNEIDER WEISSE “ORIGINAL”

I have an until-now unarticulated but dormant beer resolution for 2010 to actually drink a few German beers and try and develop some level of expertise on the great ones. I’m not a lager guy, but I totally love the hefeweizen, the dunkel weizen and even the hardcore eisbock, and I truly need to drink more of the original masters and less of the American copycats in order to get the proverbial big picture – and have fun whilst doing so. To that end, I ordered a SCHNEIDER WEISSE “ORIGINAL” the other evening at Café Biere. They had this beer listed as “ORIGINAL AMBER”, and that’s certainly fair since that’s its color, but this is rich, delicious dark hefeweizen all the way.

Tart and actually a little hoppy, this beer is probably closer to the “dunkel” side of the wheat beer tipping point, but who’s counting. It has an exceedingly fresh taste and smooth mouthfeel, giving it that whole I-could-drink-this-all-night feel that moves units & gets the German people good & drunk. Keep in mind that the brewer behind this, SCHNEIDER & SOHN WEISSBIERBRAUEREI, are the same masters behind AVENTINUS beers and the recent excellent collaboration with BROOKYLN BREWING. These guys don’t mess around. Definitely recommended. 7.5/10.