The Swill: Franziskaner Dunkel Hefe-Weisse
The Still: Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau
Munich, Germany
http://www.franziskaner.com/
The Drill: Dark hefeweizen, 25oz bottle, 5.0% ABV
The Spill: This unfiltered wheat beer pours the color of mulled apple cider. The flavor is light, wheaty, and fruity, traditional of hefeweizens. It has a touch of banana from the esters, and a finish that's earthy, with just a touch of bitterness on the sides of the tongue. The slightly dirty finish is really all that jumps out with regard to the beer's dark color, so don't expect this to be a perfect marriage between light and dark; this is still hefeweizen all the way.
Says Bill: My buddy Victor and I had an unplanned gift exchange a couple weeks back. I brought a beer to work for him to try, and he brought a beer the same day for me. We laughed at the irony, and each went home and enjoyed the other's gift. I saved mine for when Holly got back from Ireland, since she's more the expert on hefeweizens than I am. She enjoyed the taste and detected the banana, which is her favorite aspect of a good hefe. That reminded me of the time I went to Bevmo to find her some beer she'd love. I followed the recommendations of a guy named Mike Haubrich that I knew there and bought a few different ones to try. The night we drank Victor's beer, I went downstairs and dug to the back of the beer fridge, and what did I find? Another bottle of the exact same stuff that we never drank. Sorry Vic, I coulda told you what I thought of that beer before you spent your money, but things sometimes get lost in Bill's Grand Vault of Beer.
Refill?: Next time I need to make the wife happy, I'll consider picking this up: 2 taps out of 5.