{"id":15789,"date":"2022-07-10T10:26:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T08:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vinhood.com\/uncategorized\/150-anni-e-non-sentirli-buon-compleanno-weizen\/"},"modified":"2023-04-27T18:09:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:09:52","slug":"150-anni-e-non-sentirli-buon-compleanno-weizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vinhood.com\/en\/magazine-en\/150-anni-e-non-sentirli-buon-compleanno-weizen\/","title":{"rendered":"150 years young! Happy birthday Weizen!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you call it Weiss or Weizen, it\u2019s always the king of summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the hottest months, this <\/span>light, mildly alcoholic, sweet, and creamy<\/b> beer can win anyone over, not just <\/span>beer lovers<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to <\/span>how easy it is to drink, how refreshing and thirst-quenching it is, and it\u2019s champagne-like bubbles<\/b>, every year it\u2019s voted among the <\/span>summertime best-sellers<\/span><\/i>, and not just in its hometown of Bavaria.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s name already tells us a lot about it: <\/span>Weizenbier <\/i><\/b>or <\/b>Wei\u00dfbier<\/i><\/b>, literally \u201cwheat beer\u201d <\/b>(<\/span>together with Blanche, Gose, and Grodziskie<\/span><\/i>) or <\/span>\u201cWhite Beer\u201d <\/b>(<\/span>not because of its characteristic milky color, but because of the color of the wheat<\/span><\/i>). <\/span>That\u2019s right, because contrary to most beer styles, <\/span>it\u2019s not produced with barley malt<\/b>, but rather with at least 50% (and even up to 70%) malted wheat.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE EDICT OF PURITY…IS A MASSIVE LOAD OF C**P!<\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s an ancient product, like all of the few survivors of the high fermentation brewing style in Germany, the unquestionable homeland (since the 15 century) of low fermentation beers. <\/span>Some proto-Weizens, or other <\/span>wheat beers, already existed in Hamburg in 1410<\/b>, which were then copied by master brewers in Berlin (<\/span>the well-known Berliner Weisse, add it to you list!<\/span><\/i>)<\/span>, Hannover, Vienna, and Bohemia, however it was only <\/span><\/i>in Bavaria that these developed into a true style<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in Germany (<\/span>you\u2019ll say<\/span><\/i>)… wasn\u2019t there the famous <\/span>Reinheitsgebot<\/span><\/i>, a.k.a. the Edict of Purity? …which, among other things, <\/span>imposed the exclusive use of barley in beer production<\/b>?<\/span><\/p>\n

beer = water + barley + hops<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a wonder that they <\/span>survived and reached the present day safe and sound<\/b>. <\/span>The elusive, and <\/span>almost always misquoted<\/b>,<\/span> Ingolstadt edict, of 1516, by Duke William IV of the Wittelsbach family, effectively imposed on the duchy, then on all of Germany, the <\/span>exclusive use of this grain in beer production<\/b>, condemning the country\u2019s many historic beer styles to extinction. With just a few \u201c<\/span>ifs<\/span><\/i>\u201d…<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, because <\/span>special licenses for certain incriminating styles were granted to nobles and clergy <\/b>(<\/span>noblesse oblige<\/span><\/i>). Case in point: our Weizen. Simultaneously to the edit, William conceded an <\/span>unicum<\/span><\/i> to all of Bavaria. <\/span>He granted a <\/span>commercial monopoly to the Degenberg family <\/b>(<\/span>who made a lot of silver thalers<\/span><\/i>), already ministerial officials of the Bogen Counts, as well as the title of \u201cbaron\u201d, in order to seal their loyalty and alliance, thus saving, albeit involuntarily, our endangered brew \u201cpanda\u201d (<\/span>and without bothering the WWF<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Good luck is blind, but bad luck has perfect vision, and less than one hundred years later, in 1602, the family was left <\/span>without male heirs to carry on the lineage, something which is fundamental for succession<\/b> according to the strict dictates of the <\/span>Geschlossener Hof<\/span><\/i>, or the Entailed Farm Law (<\/span>basically… the first born son gets everything!<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

It was another time, in which gender equality didn\u2019t even exist as a passing thought, and the new Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian the Great, seized the opportunity and <\/span>claimed the Degenberg\u2019s land, castle, and rights for himself<\/b>. <\/span>Game over<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weizen therefor returned to the capital, and <\/span>continued to be produced, and sold, in a new brewery<\/b>, located in the center for the city and specially constructed by the Wittelsbach, with the evocative name of <\/span>Weisses Br\u00e4uhaus<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>Weizen brewery<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"weizen\"<\/p>\n

THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND<\/b><\/h2>\n

But the world of beer has also always ben susceptible to trends, and the <\/span>popularization of <\/b>Lager<\/i><\/b> styles in the 19th century in Germany <\/b>and the rest of the world, the M\u00fcnchen Dunkel <\/span>in primis<\/span><\/i>, made the Wei\u00df lose some of its luster.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>high fermentation beers in Bavaria, in the decade from 1860 to 1870, dropped from 68% to 2% of the market<\/b>. As a result, it made no sense (<\/span>or money<\/span><\/i>) for the royal house to maintain a monopoly. Thus, in 1872, Duke Ludwig II (<\/span>sometimes called the \u201cFairy King\u201d, who lived in the caste which inspired the famous Disney castle and was more attracted to courtiers and stable hands than to saving the country from bankruptcy<\/span><\/i>) <\/span>rented out the new brewery and the recipe to master brewer Georg Schneider<\/b>, who, together with his son (<\/span>Georg II),<\/span><\/i> purchased them several years later, founding the <\/span>Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn<\/i><\/b><\/a>, or simply <\/span>Schneider<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if our <\/span>Steve Jobs <\/span><\/i>of this Germanic brewing style (<\/span>and the entire lineage of beers to come<\/span><\/i>) was more <\/span>crazy, stubborn, or delusional to fixate on a beer that, by then, had lost all popularity<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact remains that the Schneiders had to <\/span>wait a whole century, until the 1960s<\/b>, surviving the destruction of the brewery in the 1944 bombings and continuing stoically to produce white beer, <\/span>for Weizen to came back into fashion<\/b> and eventually become an unquestionable symbol of Bavaria. \u201c<\/span>Time is a gentleman<\/span><\/i>\u201d, as Voltaire taught us, and perseverance is rewarded, with <\/span>Georg\u2019s very first white beer <\/b>(<\/span>which became his \u201cNumber One Dime\u201d<\/span><\/i>) ultimately<\/span> shaping today\u2019s Wei\u00df style, now recognized in the <\/b>BJCP<\/b><\/a> (<\/span>a.k.a. the beer taster\u2019s bible).<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

THE WEIZEN IDENTIKIT<\/b><\/h2>\n

What are the characteristics of a perfect Weizen?<\/b><\/p>\n

This beer, with a <\/span>#Generous <\/b>character (<\/span>and if you still don\u2019t know what I\u2019m talking about, hurry and take the <\/span><\/i>Taste Test<\/span><\/i><\/a>! You might be the only one who hasn\u2019t yet…<\/span><\/i>), must be <\/span>light in color, between straw and golden yellow, with a creamy and long-lasting foam, a pronounced bubbliness<\/b>, and a characteristic aroma of banana (<\/span>a blessing and a curse<\/span><\/i>), banana, and… <\/span>did I already say banana<\/b>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus notes of <\/span>clove, vanilla, and a hint of bubble gum <\/b>(<\/span>think Bazooka Joe<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Bitter? N\/A. It\u2019s these very characteristics (banana and the absence of bitterness) that make it <\/span>the most bullied beer on the planet by <\/b>beer-geeks<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In actuality, following in the footsteps of the Schneiders, now, for the record, at Georg VI (<\/span>ah… how creative the Germans are!<\/span><\/i>), <\/span>every Bavarian beer, starting with the \u201c<\/b>Six Sisters<\/i><\/b>\u201d of Oktoberfest , has reintroduced this style in its <\/b>core-range<\/i><\/b>, and some like <\/span>Benedektiner<\/b><\/a>, <\/b>Erdinger<\/b><\/a>, and <\/b>Franziskaner<\/b><\/a> produce exclusively Weizen <\/b>and are absolutely worth trying.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be a dummy! Even in the world of craft beer, <\/span>including in Italy<\/b>, we find prestigious examples: from the <\/span>Hefe Weizen<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>San Gabriel<\/b>, to the <\/span>Domm<\/b><\/a> of <\/span>Lambrate <\/b>and the <\/span>Beat Weizen Generation<\/b><\/a> of <\/span>Birrificio Indipendente Elav<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Careful though, after 150 years <\/span>it\u2019s no longer enough to say Weizen<\/b>… there are now styles and sub-styles to satisfy every taste.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"weizen\"<\/p>\n

WHERE TO DRINK THE BEST WEIZEN IN MUNICH<\/b><\/h2>\n

Worried about getting lost or <\/span>ordering the wrong thing<\/b>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, I won\u2019t abandon you. That\u2019s what I\u2019m here for, a modern-day Virgil, to take your hand and guide you through them.<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, the most important distinction is <\/span>between Hefeweizen<\/b> (w<\/span>eizen with yeast<\/span><\/i>)<\/span>, the more famous, turbid, and traditional type, and Kristallweizen<\/b> (<\/span>crystalline weizen<\/span><\/i>)<\/span>, clear and sparkling<\/b>. And, before ordering your beer, remember:<\/span><\/p>\n