Hefeweizen

Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.
San Jose, CA

Available: CA, AZ, NV, OH

This hefeweizen is brewed in the German style with yeast that produce …esters.

Alcohol (vol.): 5.4
Color: 24.0 EBC (9.46 Lovibond)
Bitterness: 12
Original Gravity: 12 P
Final gravity: 2.1 P
Malts used: 58% Wheat malt, 38% Pale Malt, 4% CaraMunich Malt
Hops used: Hallertau Hersbrucker

Gorgeous turbid gold with stunning chartreuse highlights, enhanced by a breathtaking bubblegum aroma that sticks to your palate. In the mouth, the beer is playful—citric acidity and fruit balancing one another, like malt and hops in barley beers. The dryness complements fresh salads with oil and vinegar, something that wine can't do. Served with salad niçoise, it received rave reviews. Dan Gordon is a graduate of Weihenstephan, one of the world's greatest brewing schools. It shows.
- Charles Finkel

A notably rocky head augurs well for fidelity to the style. The beer has an attractive, warm, apricot color. Powerful aroma of toffee bananas. Textured, spritzy body. Orangey palate, with hints of lemon, apple, and faint suggestions of clove. Slightly spicy, medicinal dryness in a rather quick, slightly astringent, finish. In a style where there are many timorous "me, too" products, this beer knows its own mind. It is a German-accented hefeweizen, in a fairly traditional style. It started especially well, but I was disappointed when it faded in mid-palate and finish.
- Michael Jackson

Yeast compacted on the bottom the bottle won’t budge with simple rolling, but dislodging it (this took some shaking) is worth the trouble. Instead of a lighter bodied beer dominated by banana bubble gum, curious floral flavor and some acidity, you get a beer that looks like and tastes like a Bavarian hefeweizen. Begins with aromas of banana, some orchard fruits and subdued bubblegum, backed by pleasant spicy undertone. Fresh, tart wheat on the tongue, then a bit of back-of-the-throat cloviness to balance the sweetness. Quiet refreshing.
- Stan Hieronymus

Charles Finkel
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.

Michael Jackson
Author of Ultimate Beer, the Simon & Schuster Guide to Beer and numerous other works on drinks, Jackson has created legions of converts to fine beer.

Stan Hieronymus
Editor at Realbeer.com, a professional journalist for 40 years and amateur brewer for 15, Hieronymus is the author of four beer books, including Brew Like a Monk.

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