Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier/Dark (GER)

Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan is a state owned brewery. You just don't see that sort of thing in the US. Both of these wheat beers are just over 5% ABV and both are, of course, brewed in accordance with the German Purity Law, though the brewery predates the law by half a millennium.Hefe Weissbier: This strikes me as being on the wheatier end of the hefeweizen spectrum. Of course, that's the style, but it comes across as fairly earthy. There's the usual banana and cloves, but it is more spicy and less sweet than other hefes, without any of the lemony notes you sometimes get. The texture is great: creamy and only lightly carbonated. Still, for all the praise this receives, I don't think I like it as much as Paulaner's take on the style. However, I'm not trying them side-by-side, and it's not hot outside.

Hefeweissbier Dark: I got a big whiff of banana out of the glass here, more so than for any other wheat beer I tried. It pours a murky amber with a great mouse pillow head. The dunkel version is more malty and less noticeably yeasty and wheaty than the straight hefe. It's ever so slightly sour as well. In his Great Beer Guide, Michael Jackson says this beer is reminiscent of maple syrup and recommends serving with pancakes. I can see what he's getting at: there's a banana walnut waffle quality here. In the aftertaste, cocoa and roasted malts appear. In fact, the aftertaste of Weihenstephaner reminds me of the main flavor of Erdinger's darker take on the style (Erdinger being the stylistic outlier).

Two fine beers. I preferred the dunkel this weekend, but I suspect that may be due to the cool weather.

Erdinger Hefe-Weizen Dark (GER)

This is now the third Erdinger wheat beer I've tried. I thought the two others were decent enough, probably not the best of Germany, but I bought this because it was on sale (a drink by date of 04-2008 being the reason).

My understanding is that it isn't entirely typical of the style. "A moderately dark, spicy, fruity, malty, refreshing wheat-based ale," says BJCP, which isn't too far off. Erdinger is in fact dark brown, with some lightness appearing only around the edges. The taste is mostly hefe, but with some caramel sweetness covering up the banana/clove. "A roasted malt character is inappropriate" is where we get into trouble. The finish of this beer is clearly of roasted malts, providing a light mocha flavor. If this is wrong for the style, it's also my favorite part of the beer. My least favorite is the carbonation, which is effervescent, but excessive. Probably this isn't incorrect, but just seems so because it doesn't fit the wayward taste. Ultimately, this doesn't come across as a heavy beer, but seems to want to be more than just refreshing.

Overall, I like this more than either of the other Erdinger's I've tasted. Checking out the rating it sites, it looks like Weihenstephaner makes a great dunkelweizen, so I'll have to try that.