#1
Weihenstephaner Vitus (Weizenbock)
My first thoughts on this brew were how totally and unbeleveably hop driven this beer is. It's allmost to hoppy. I think the Vitus referes to 'vitamin' or some type of health beer. The health benifits of hops are not in dispute, but. The hop hit is HUGE.
As a beer:
The colour is a rich wheaty amber thats slightly clouded. A quality German head formed by the big medium speed bead is sustained through out. The nose is a floral and with an abundant boquet of fruits and flowers to numerous to mention. To taste, ah, to taste. Well it's some what of an oral assult for this poor old Celt. The hop flavor burst is like a grenade going off. There is some bitterness but it's mostly complicated fruits. The malts come later and are quite caramel for a krout beir, but are totally over ridden but the hops. A drinkable brew but with a recomendation for serving that differs from the recomended suggestions.
Serve in a English pint glass not the brandy balloon, and chill it to somewhere around 4-6C not the 7-9C as listed on the back lable.
#2
Hoegaarden Grand Cru
In order to progress through the beer spectrum, one has to balance things out abit.
The Grand Cru fermentation is revered the world over and is regarded as one of the finest beers ever made. Hoegaarden go to great lengths to ensure people can enjoy their beir as it is ment to be. In order to serve the Grand Cru, premises are requied to meet several critera. These include, the right way of cleaning the glass, the correct use of a spatula to scrape the head, the use of a unique and specific glass.... So on, and so on. Only after these strict critera have been meet do the Hogaarden brewery grant access to the hallowed keg key. This key is unique to the Grand Cru keg. This is to insure that non accredeted premises are unable to serve the Grand Cru.
Hows that! AA+ for effort...
The beer turns out like this:
The colour is clasic golden wheat. A head is formed by a high quality,fine,numerous,slow speed bead. The result is a very foamy fine head that remains to the last drop. The nose is quiet well balanced, with the distinction that the malts permiate first, hops arive late and exhibit citrus, fresh grass, and jasmin tones. For taste, some how the master crafts men have managed to reverse the order of flavors customary to all other beers. That is the malts arive before the hops. It really is a five count untill you get a decent idea of the hops, then they just keep on comming untill they've mirrored the strengh and fade out of the malt. Grand Cru defenently fits into the miracle beer catagory. It's so good as to be almost without fault. One of my all time favourates.
#3
Innis & Gunn original
To painfully over simplify things it could be said: German beers favor the hops, English beers favor the malts.
This is where we arive at the other end of the beer spectrum.
Innis & Gunn original is by far and away the most malty beer I have ever tasted! Try this one: Take an old fashion toffie, a blade of grass, and two drops of lemon juice. Gob the lot and there you have it. Innis & Gunn original. It really tastes like that. But in the intrest of fairness I'll do the breakdown thingy...
Beautiful in color being that of golden honey. The head is slim but sustained, haveing formed as a result of a small, fine, and slow bead. The aroma on the nose is built from a base of toffie, dark honey, golden sryip and roasted barley. The hops play a backround roll and provide a faint grassy taste. An ambitious and prodigus lingering after taste of golden toffie, darkend honey, and roasted nut, combine to leave a sweet, oh so sweet finish.
This beer comes highly recomended. But only in the rareified group of beers reserved for serving with dessert....Yes, a dessert beer!
